Evening settled over Queens. The sunset painted the apartnt buildings a warm, golden hue.
Mira Vale parted ways with Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy at the school gates. She strolled ho with her backpack slung over one shoulder.
She had just survived another day of classes. Her mind debated the life-altering question of what to eat for dinner. Simultaneously, she conversed with The Builder through their neural link.
She listened to the AI report the deep-space maiden voyage test results of their Raider-class corvette.
[An abnormal life signal has been detected inside your apartnt.] The Builder's monotonous voice echoed in her consciousness. [I am also reading energy fluctuations matching a Stark Industries miniature arc reactor. Origin point: Tony Stark.]
Mira stopped in her tracks. Her casual composure cracked.
Tony Stark? In my apartnt?
What was Iron Man doing in a high schooler's cramped rental? He belonged in his Long Island mansion with Pepper and Happy. He certainly did not belong here uninvited.
Mira took a slow breath to bury her shock. I am speechless, she grumbled internally. It is one thing for Nick Fury and his eyepatch to break into private residences. Why is Tony Stark pulling the sa stunt? Do they enjoy giving people heart attacks?
[Confird. Tony Stark has occupied your living space for forty-seven minutes.] The Builder replied. [J.A.R.V.I.S. is conducting a full-spectrum scan of the premises. I have activated information barriers. All traces of Siren technology and the Mirror Sea are cloaked.]
Good work. Mira adjusted her expression. She restored her mask of teenage indifference. She walked up the stairs, pulled out her keys, and unlocked her door.
The living room ca into view.
Her apartnt was small and cozy. It held one bedroom, a living room, and a single bathroom. A beanbag chair sat near a coffee table. A giant projector screen dominated the wall for gaming.
Ani figures occupied a corner shelf next to stacks of programming textbooks. It was a standard student hideout.
Tony Stark sprawled across her fabric sofa. He wore a sharp, dark suit. He held the ga controller she had left on the coffee table and clicked the buttons idly.
He looked up as the door opened. He flashed his signature playboy grin.
Anyone else would think he owned the place.
Mira stood in the doorway. She stared at him with deadpan eyes. She waited three seconds before speaking.
"Mr. Stark. On a scale of one to ten, my current mood is a one point four."
Tony paused. He raised an eyebrow at the obscure tric. "One point four? What does that an?"
"It sounds like 'a little bit dead' in Mandarin." Mira shut the door behind her. She dropped her backpack onto the shoe cabinet and walked into the room.
"I have a question," she continued. "Why is the CEO of Stark Industries sitting in my rental apartnt instead of his seaside mansion? Why are you ssing with my save files and ruining my kill-death ratio? Are you trying to embrace the local culture and play breaking-and-entering?"
Her tone dripped with dry sarcasm. She showed no starstruck excitent. She displayed zero panic. She spoke to him like a stray cat that had wandered onto her porch.
Tony blinked at the rapid-fire sass. A laugh escaped his lips. He dropped the controller and raised his hands in surrender.
"Whoa. My apologies. I did knock, but nobody answered. Your door lock had a minor vulnerability. I let myself in to wait. I didn't realize the genius behind the neural translation algorithm had such a sharp tongue."
"You picked my lock." Mira pulled up a chair at the coffee table. "Mr. Stark, that is called burglary. Under New York State law, I can call the police and report Iron Man for a ho invasion."
"Let us not overcomplicate things." Tony waved his hands. His smile widened. "I wanted to et you in person. Seeing you face-to-face is much better than reading surveillance reports."
Mira rolled her eyes internally. He ca specifically for .
She ignored his bait. She reached for the traditional Chinese tea set resting on the table. The water in her electric kettle was still hot.
She ward the porcelain cups, added the loose leaves, and poured the water. The fresh fragrance of jasmine blood across the living room.
Tony watched her fluid movents. Curiosity flashed in his eyes. He had t countless prodigies and billionaires. None of them possessed the sheer nerve to sit down and brew tea while Iron Man occupied their sofa.
She pushed a cup of clear jasmine tea across the table.
"I do not stock whiskey or expensive coffee. This will have to do." Mira took a sip from her own cup. "Speak, Mr. Stark. You did not cross city lines to play my video gas and drink jasmine tea."
Tony picked up the delicate cup. He inhaled the floral scent and took a sip. The clear sweetness offered a stark contrast to his usual scotch.
He set the cup down. The playboy persona vanished. Genuine appreciation replaced it.
"I will cut to the chase," Tony said. "I reviewed your neural translation code. I saw the chanical prosthetic you built with Dr. Connors. Your talent rivals the best engineers I have ever t. It might even rival mine."
He leaned forward. "I am offering you an olive branch. Co work at my private laboratory. Be my Chief Technical Consultant. Na your salary."
He spread his hands. "Resources, equipnt, specialized teams. Whatever you want, it is yours. Artificial intelligence, materials science, robotics. I will give you the best platform in the world."
The offer was staggering.
Top scientists would kill for a position in Tony Stark's inner sanctum. He casually tossed the keys to a sixteen-year-old high school student.
Mira felt no thrill. She just sighed and put down her tea.
"Mr. Stark, you are overestimating ." She offered a helpless smile. "I am a normal student. I wrote a small program to help Dr. Connors fix a signal latency issue. I just wanted so Columbia University internship credit for my college resu. Did you really need to co here in person for that?"
She played dumb. She minimized her contributions. She acted like a background character dragged into the spotlight.
Tony raised an eyebrow at her stubborn retreat.
He was used to people begging for scraps of his attention. Geniuses usually stamred and fainted when he offered them a job. Mira treated his blank check like a tax summons.
She was much harder to handle than he anticipated.
Tony smiled in defeat. "Fine. If the Chief Consultant title scares you, let us pivot. Co to Stark Industries as an intern. Build up that resu."
He listed the terms. "You will intern in my private R&D departnt. Flexible hours. You co when you want, or you work remotely. It will never interfere with school. I will pay you the highest intern bracket rate. Weekly settlents. No delays."
He assud she would jump at the compromise.
Mira laughed. "Mr. Stark, child labor is frowned upon. I am only sixteen. I am still a student."
"In New York, you can legally intern at sixteen," Tony replied without missing a beat. "Besides, I make the rules at Stark Industries."
Mira weighed her options.
Working close to Tony carried massive risks. He could uncover her Siren technology. However, it offered a perfect cover story. Any anomalous technological breakthroughs she made could be brushed off as the eccentricities of a Stark intern.
Plus, rejecting him outright would only fuel his paranoia.
She pretended to hesitate. She looked up and held up three fingers. "I accept. But I have three conditions."
"Na them." Tony's eyes lit up. "I will agree to thirty."
"First, I only work weekends." She lowered one finger. "I have school on weekdays. I refuse to work overti."
"Done," Tony said.
"Second, my als are covered." She lowered another finger. "I want access to the executive restaurant at Stark Tower. Unlimited afternoon tea and beverages."
Tony laughed. "Done. I will move the restaurant into your lab if you want."
"Third, and most importantly." Mira paused. She tapped her final finger against the table. She delivered a distinctly Chinese corporate demand. "You must provide the five insurances and one housing fund."
Tony froze. His smile faltered. "A what?"
"Pension, dical, unemploynt, work-related injury, and maternity insurance," Mira listed without missing a beat. "Plus a housing provident fund. I need standard labor protections."
Tony stared at her. He had negotiated billion-dollar defense contracts. He had never been strong-ard for a housing provident fund by a teenager.
A loud laugh ripped from his chest. "A housing fund? Miss Vale, you are sixteen. Are you planning to buy real estate in Manhattan?"
"I like to plan ahead," Mira said righteously. "New York mortgage rates are brutal. This is basic labor protection. Does Stark Industries skimp on employee benefits?"
"Never." Tony waved a hand, still chuckling. "You get the five insurances and the housing fund. I will put you on the executive benefit tier. If you want stock options, I can arrange that too."
"Keep the shares." Mira shook her head. "I have no desire to play boardroom politics with your directors. Weekends only, free food, full insurance benefits, and my hourly wage. Do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal." Tony stood. He extended his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Vale. Welco to Stark Industries."
Mira shook his hand. She offered a polite smile and pulled back. "Likewise, Mr. Stark. But be warned. If you pick my lock again, I will pack my bags and move back to Asia."
"You have my word." Tony grinned. He downed the rest of his jasmine tea in one gulp.
He had achieved his objective. He had the mysterious prodigy under his roof. He would soon uncover every secret hiding behind those blue eyes.
His phone buzzed. It was Pepper, demanding his return to sign board docunts. Tony waved goodbye.
"See you this weekend," he called out, swaggering out the door like he owned the building.
The door clicked shut. Silence reclaid the apartnt. The faint scent of jasmine lingered in the air.
Mira leaned back against the sofa. She stared at the empty tea cup and shook her head with a faint smile.
Her weekend at Stark Tower was going to be very interesting.
Down on the street corner, Natasha Romanoff sat in an unmarked sedan. She watched Tony Stark climb into his Rolls-Royce. Her brow furrowed.
Tony had likely swept the apartnt for secrets. Natasha knew he found nothing. It was just a normal teenage bedroom devoid of illicit tech.
It matched the S.H.I.E.L.D. dossier. It was spotless.
She activated her encrypted comms.
"Director. It is Romanoff." She kept her voice low. "Stark just spent an hour inside Mira Vale's apartnt. He just left. He likely offered her a position at Stark Industries."
Nick Fury remained silent on the other end.
"Understood," his gravelly voice finally replied. "Keep surveillance on both of them. It seems our Avengers Initiative might have a new candidate."
Back in the apartnt, a blue portal materialized in the living room. The Builder stepped through the rift and nimbly hopped into Mira's arms.
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