Ultimate Iron Man

AN: I know some of you will drop in numbers and all in this chapter. Please don't. I ain't good with numbers, you already know by now. 😬😅And don't compare this to the real world. 

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Tony stood tall under the lights, the weight of the moment shifting in his tone. This was the moment he had been waiting for. The first step toward a better future.

"I want to show you something," he said. "And I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Some will love me, and some will curse me for this. But for a better future, it has to be done."

The screen behind him darkened. Then, grainy footage played. Real, unfiltered. A child in a hospital bed convulsing as doctors scramble. A man screaming as he's wheeled into emergency surgery, his leg already showing signs of necrosis. A woman screaming as her leg twisted unnaturally, the result of a misdiagnosed bone condition.

The images kept coming. The raw truth.

Overlaying those images were statistics.

[UNNECESSARY LOSS – 1975–1990

Preventable Deaths Due to Diagnostic Error – 251,000 Annually (US)

Average Cost of Full-Body Diagnostic Imaging – $800 + Taxes & other expenses

Undiagnosed Internal Trauma – Leading Cause of Complications in Emergency Care]

There were audible gasps in the audience. Some flinched. Others went still.

The video continued. A man losing an arm to an untreated infection that wasn't caught early enough. A teen dying from an internal hemorrhage after a sports injury. Patients being turned away due to cost.

Then came the chart. A clean, brutal line graph.

The red line climbed: deaths due to misdiagnosed conditions, organ failure due to late-stage detection, and permanent disability from injuries left unscanned. Another line, blue, traced a parallel rise: the average cost of medical diagnostics.

Tony didn't flinch.

"This is what happens when systems are slow, biased, or worse... built for profit, not people."

He paused. The screen froze on a still image of a young boy, his chart reading "undiagnosed neurological disorder – expired, 18 hours after intake."

Tony turned toward the audience.

"This is not just about failure. It's about injustice."

He stepped aside, and the display changed. A phone-shaped handheld device floated into view on the screen. The render rotated, its metallic shell gleaming with fine etching along its sides. A pulse of blue lit from the core.

"AMS," Tony said. "The Anatomy Mapping Scanner."

The screen split to show a person standing inside a circular platform. A gentle scan swept over them, projecting a full 3D internal map: bones, tissue, nerves, even microfractures and early-stage cellular decay. Every single minute detail, depending on the need.

"Full-body, non-invasive, radiation-free. It scans down to the capillaries. No contrast dye. No delay. Five minutes flat."

He gestured to a new slide, side-by-side images of a traditional X-ray and the AMS output. The AMS showed early nerve inflammation missed by conventional imaging.

"It identifies anomalies, traces genetic markers, flags infections, and even tracks micro-tears before they become ruptures. It can link with a diagnosis network or work standalone, no hospital needed."

Tony's voice lowered slightly.

"And I'm not selling it to insurance companies. Or any private investors so that they could earn profits. It's going straight to communities. Clinics. Relief camps. Refugee sites. Schools. Anywhere it's needed. And I'm pretty sure everyone is dying to know the price. 80 dollars. At the end of this presentation, a live demo will be provided. Plus, a free checkup for everyone present here."

The crowd erupted in applause. Everyone just jumped up from their seats, except for those poor investors who invested in traditional medical equipment. 

He let the moment hang, then raised a hand to quiet them.

The screen faded again. Tony stepped forward, face steady. The silence in the hall was heavy now, expectant.

Tony spoke...

"While some suffer in silence, others suffer in the chaos of the streets. In neighborhoods that get headlines for the wrong reasons. In raids gone wrong. In arrests that turn fatal. In the crossfire of outdated tools and outdated thinking."

The display shifted to bodycam footage. Officers crouching behind rusted vehicles. A suspect fleeing down an alley. Shouts, confusion, a flashbang going off too close to a child. Then, stats again:

Law Enforcement Fatalities – 1986 to 1990

Casualties due to outdated gear: 43 percent

Injury rate during civilian confrontations: 62 percent

Civilian deaths involving non-lethal escalation attempts: 38 percent

Tony nodded slowly, grimly.

"We keep giving our frontline officers tools from a war zone and expecting them to operate like surgeons. That doesn't work. Never has."

The screen changed. A figure stood under cool white lighting. The image sharpened. A suit: matte black with cobalt trim, shaped to the body but clearly reinforced. No sharp edges. No weapons visible.

"Aegis Suit. The next generation of protection."

The figure on the screen moved. Jumped. Rolled. Took a round to the chest and barely flinched. Another screen zoomed in on the material's layers. A titanium-polymer weave, flexible but unyielding.

"Lightweight. Breathable. Fully mobile under fire. High-caliber ballistic resistance without bulk."

A wireframe breakdown appeared, showing internal systems lighting up in sequence.

"Built-in trauma sensors. AI threat detection with real-time HUD feedback. Heart rate monitors, spinal alignment support, emergency defibrillator pads, and... non-lethal stun gloves."

Another clip played. A training simulation. The suit's user took down two aggressors using precise movements and a short, targeted electric discharge. Both subjects immobilized. No permanent damage. No excessive force.

Tony looked out over the crowd again.

"This isn't about giving officers more power. It's about giving them better choices. Faster data. Safer outcomes. For them. And for everyone else."

He took a breath.

"The Aegis Suit isn't going to every department. It's going to departments that agree to transparency. Oversight. And reform. You want it? You sign the code of conduct. You train with it under human rights doctrine. No exceptions."

The audience was quiet again, but not from lack of interest. They were processing it. The implications. The tension between fear and progress.

Tony gave it a second, then continued.

"There will be criticism. That's fine. There should be. But this is how we fix it. With tools that de-escalate, protect, and save lives... not take them."

He let that settle, then turned toward the side of the stage again.

"And before we close, there's one last thing to show you."

The footage of highways, city streets, and open deserts... empty of tailpipe smoke, and a map of the country with blue dots.

Tony stepped forward, voice steady and clear.

"Today, I'm proud to introduce the next revolution in transportation. Stark Motors."

The screen split into three panels: a compact city runabout, a sports car slicing through desert highways, and a heavy-duty transport truck climbing a mountain pass.

"Zero fuel vehicles, from small to big. 100 percent eco-friendly. No petroleum. Diesel. No coal. No fuels. No compromises."

He tapped the podium. The left panel zoomed in on the sports car's wheel arch. A translucent overlay revealed the Micro-Reactor beneath the chassis, pulsing with blue-white energy.

"Ten thousand miles on a single charge. Ten thousand miles. Quiet. Emission-free. And built for performance."

The center panel switched to a grid of glowing points mapped over a city skyline, charging stations lighting up in sequence.

"But power means nothing without distribution. Meet the Stark Localized Charging Grid. Mini reactors placed exactly where you need them... gas stations, parking garages, and temporary charging boxes for your personal use, up to 6 charges. 1 charge, 10k miles. Plug in anywhere. The price for each charge is half of what you currently pay for your gas, and it'll be fixed for all vehicles."

A moment passed after Tony finished.

Then the silence broke.

The crowd's reaction was instant and divided.

One section of the audience erupted into cheers. Students, researchers, activists, and environmentalists stood up, clapping hard, some even whistling. A woman in a lab coat fist-pumped the air. A teenager shouted, "Yes!" while pointing at the car. "That car looks sick."

But not everyone looked happy.

Near the middle rows, a group of older men in dark suits murmured among themselves, faces tight. Two of them leaned toward a third, clearly trying to stay calm while typing on their tablets. One man with a corporate security badge shook his head and whispered, "He's about to kill the energy sector."

A few others didn't clap. They just stared. Processing. Calculating. Some skeptical. Some annoyed. Some terrified.

One investor folded his arms and muttered, "That's impossible. He's bluffing."

Another, older man seated next to him didn't respond. He just stared at the projection of the charging grid, his fingers twitching slightly over the edge of his briefcase.

Cameras flashed from every direction as journalists scrambled to cover reactions. Headlines were already being written.

Howard and Maria exchanged a glance from the upper balcony. Maria's expression was calm. Howard just exhaled slowly, a small, impressed smile forming on his lips.

In the tech VIP zone, Susan crossed her arms, a quiet grin tugging at her mouth.

Behind her, Julian, the biochemist from earlier, leaned over and whispered, "He just lit the world on fire."

"Yeah," Susan said softly. "But it's the good kind."

[Back to the stage]

"I know what you're thinking," Tony said, voice rising over the buzz. "Ten thousand miles on a single charge? Zero fuel? It sounds impossible."

The room quieted. Everyone wanted to hear how he was going to explain this one.

"I expected skepticism. In fact, I welcome it. Because I'm not here to peddle hope without proof. So here's what I'm going to do."

He turned slightly toward the screens again.

"Next week, I'm inviting international regulators, engineers, media reps, auto industry watchdogs, energy experts, and every one of those angry investors to a secure facility outside Nevada."

Behind him, a map blinked on, highlighting a restricted zone marked "Horizon Test Sector A12."

"There, I'll run a full live demonstration. Real car. Real road. Real diagnostics. Measure the emissions. Check for fuels or whatever you want. And if any of you find a gas tank in that chassis, I'll eat it."

Laughter rippled across parts of the audience. The tension broke just enough to let some oxygen back into the room.

"But here's the part some of you won't like," Tony added, his tone shifting.

He looked directly at the section of suited men who still sat stiff in their seats, jaws tight.

"I'm not selling patents to oil companies. I'm not licensing the tech to automakers who want to bury it under a decade of delay tactics and boardroom red tape. This is happening. Whether it cuts into someone's profits or not."

He let that land.

"My goal isn't market domination. It's not another billion dollars. It's a livable planet. Breathing cities. Clean skies. Quiet streets. No more poison in the air. No more kids growing up next to refineries. No more wars over barrels."

The screen behind him lit up again, this time showing a time-lapse of a major city skyline going from gray to blue, smog fading, stars returning overhead.

"I don't care if a handful of people lose their investments. I care if my future generation can walk outside in eighty years without a respirator. And if that means some old stock portfolios crash, so be it. As for job loss... We are opening multiple facilities around the world. So, there will be plenty of job opportunities."

There was a pause.

Tony scanned the crowd again. A quiet confidence settled into his posture.

"I didn't build these technologies to be stored in a vault or to feed boardroom greed. I built them because I could. Because they should exist. And now they do."

He gave a small nod.

"So, for those of you still in denial, still whispering to each other about lawyers and delays and sabotage... I dare you..." Tony smiled. "...try it. See how far you get. I've already made the data open to international regulators, safety boards, and environmental councils. And after the live demo, the global open license distribution begins. No one can bury it. No one can steal it."

He paused. Then, just as the stage lights dimmed slightly, he said one last thing.

"And if you still think I'm bluffing..."

He pointed at the main screen.

"Next week. Nevada. I'll be there. Bring your doubts."

The lights dropped.

The crowd roared.

Cameras flashed.

Some people stood to applaud. Others stood just to storm out.

Tony didn't care. He had just thrown down the gauntlet on the old world. And this time, he wasn't waiting for permission.

This was just the beginning...

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