Ultimate Iron Man

The workshop was eerily silent, with only the power supply of the computer making a bit of a noise today. The room was discarded wires and half-empty cups of coffee. Well considering his age, he tried his best to keep the caffeine to a certain limit, and there was a notebook spread open on the workbench. Its pages were crammed with lines of equations, hastily scratched-out ideas, and fragmented notes. On top of one page, underlined thrice, are the words 'Cloaking Algorithm' and 'Security Protocols'.

Tony leaned back in his chair, exhaling sharply. "Come on, Hermes," he muttered, his voice laced with exhaustion. "We've got this. We just need to figure out how to hide you from... well, everyone."

It sounded simple in theory, but in practice, it was anything but easy. Every attempt at creating a cloaking algorithm had ended in failure. The hardware was primitive compared to what Tony envisioned, and the software—though groundbreaking for the time—was rudimentary by the standards he knew were possible.

The first time he'd tried running a cloaking protocol, it had nearly fried Hermes' circuits.

"System error," the AI had crackled, its voice strained and distorted. "Critical failure in... cloaking protocol. Restarting..."

Tony had stared at the screen, his frustration boiling over as the AI rebooted. "Damn it!" he'd shouted, slamming his small fist onto the desk. "Oow!" He rubbed his hand and looked back at the door. 'Gotta keep it down.'

Failure was part of the process; he understood that. But the sting of it still gnawed at him. Despite his prodigious intellect, he was just a child—a child trying to build something that didn't exist yet, couldn't exist yet.

Tony's days bled into nights, an endless cycle of research and experimentation. He devoured books on cryptography, machine learning, and systems security, pulling dusty books from the Stark estate's library and uncovering hidden notes in his father's private study. But the knowledge he sought didn't exist. The theories were outdated, and the hardware too primitive.

"Well, if it doesn't exist, I'll simply create one... Oh, this will be fun..." He mumbled to himself with a smile.

Late one evening, Tony slumped over his notebook, the glow of the monitor illuminating the dark circles under his eyes. The page in front of him was filled with a list of problems:

Hermes lacks real-time adaptability.

Cloaking protocol crashes under data load.

Failsafe design incomplete—Hermes cannot self-destruct securely.

Underneath, in bold letters, he'd scrawled a single word: SOLUTIONS?

He tapped the pencil on the notebook. He was exhausted, but couldn't keep himself from thinking. He could feel the weight of what he was trying to achieve pressing down on him. But it was something he began to enjoy. It was his own choice in this life, no one told him to work that hard or do anything... If he wanted he could have enjoyed a normal childhood, but he wanted to achieve something. He wanted to do what he wanted. So, he continued on that path.

But no matter what path one takes, failure and success are a part of it. One might stop after facing hard failures, but not Tony.

"Maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew," he murmured. 

But giving up wasn't an option. He couldn't stop, not when the stakes were so high. He had to make Hermes work—not just for the satisfaction of creating something extraordinary but to protect his family and dismantle HYDRA's influence.

Over the next few weeks, Tony adjusted his approach. He broke his grand vision into smaller, more manageable steps:

Refine Hermes' basic systems for stability and adaptability.

Develop encryption protocols from scratch, combining existing techniques with new ideas.

Test small masking protocols to simulate cloaking on a smaller scale.

The progress was slow and often frustrating. One night, after countless failed attempts, Tony tested a basic masking protocol designed to reduce Hermes' visibility within a local network.

"Hermes, execute Protocol Beta-3," he instructed, his voice tight with anticipation.

"Executing..." the AI responded.

The seconds dragged like hours as Tony watched lines of code scroll across the screen. Finally, Hermes' voice broke the tense silence:

"Protocol Beta-3 executed successfully. Data visibility: 23% reduction."

A grin spread across Tony's face. It wasn't a full cloaking algorithm—not yet—but it was progress. For the first time in weeks, he felt a flicker of hope.

"Not bad..." He mumbled.

He shut down the workshop for the night and went to his room. He lay on the bed, staring at his notebook. His failures were glaring, written in bold, messy scrawls across the pages. But alongside them were ideas—small victories and glimpses of what could be.

He flipped to a blank page and wrote a single line at the top:

[The greatest failures pave the way for the greatest successes.]

For the first time in a long while, Tony allowed himself to feel proud. He wasn't there yet, but he was getting closer.

Two days later...

Tony sat slumped in his chair, his head resting on the workbench. His notebook lay closed beside him, its pages filled with weeks of calculations and failures. 

"You have been inactive for 42 minutes," Hermes said, its voice gentle but insistent. "Do you require assistance?"

Tony groaned, his voice muffled against his arms. "No, Hermes. I'm fine. Just... tired."

But it wasn't just exhaustion. After countless failures and the feeling of hitting a wall, he couldn't break through... Well, he finally noticed his limit. 

The workshop door opened, and footsteps echoed softly on the floor. Maria walked inside and her eyes fell on the cluttered space. She then looked at her son. 'Just what are you trying to achieve? You look so exhausted.'

"Tony," she said gently, walking over to him.

He didn't respond, too lost in his thoughts to notice her presence.

Maria placed a hand on his shoulder, and he jolted upright, startled. "Mom! I'm working—"

"Tony," she interrupted, her tone firm but kind. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, he turned to face her. The concern in her eyes made his chest tighten. 'Shit! I was so focused on the project that I didn't notice anything around me. Tsk. I made her worried. That old man was enough headache for her and now she is worried about me. But...'

"You need to take a break," she said, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead. "You're pushing yourself too hard."

"I'm fine," He replied stretching his arms, though the hoarseness of his voice betrayed him.

Maria knelt beside him, her hands resting on his. "Sweetheart, you're brilliant, but even geniuses need rest. Whatever you're working on, it can wait."

"It can't," Tony whispered, his voice cracking. "It's too important."

She didn't press him for details. Instead, she smiled softly and extended her hand. "Come outside with me. Just for a little while."

"Well, I guess I needed some fresh air," He nodded and stood up. 

They went to the garden.

The night was peaceful, the stars above twinkling. Maria and Tony sat on a bench beneath an old oak tree, the silence broken only by the rustling of leaves and the distant chirp of crickets. 

"See?" Maria said, draping her arm around Tony's shoulders. "Doesn't this feel better?"

He took a deep breath and relaxed for the first time in days. "It's... nice," he admitted, though his mind still buzzed with unfinished ideas.

She smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Your father and I are so proud of you, Tony. You're going to do incredible things someday. But do relax from time to time."

...

The next morning, Tony returned to the workshop with a clearer mind and a fresh perspective. He opened his notebook to a blank page and wrote:

Step One: Take care of yourself.

For the first time in weeks, he approached his work without rushing. The journey was just as important as the destination, and he realized that even failures were stepping stones to success.

He smiled, his mother's words echoing in his mind: "Incredible things."

...

That noon, Tony finished his regular studies and sat in his room, scribbling furiously in his notebook. But this time, his thoughts weren't solely focused on Hermes or cloaking protocols. He needed balance, and he knew it. Life couldn't be all about solving equations and debugging code.

"Edwin?" Tony called out, his voice carrying through the hall.

A moment later, the new butler appeared in the doorway. Edwin Jarvis, a composed and kind man in his late twenties, had recently taken over after his predecessor's retirement. He carried himself with quiet efficiency, but his eyes held a warmth that made Tony feel at ease.

"Yes, Master Tony?" Jarvis asked, his tone measured but curious.

"I need a favor," Tony said, tapping his pen against the notebook. "There's an empty room on the third floor, right? The one Dad used to store all his old junk?"

"Indeed, sir," Jarvis replied. "Your father intended to turn it into a second library, though he never quite found the time."

"Forget that." Tony waved a hand dismissively. "I want to turn it into a gym."

Jarvis blinked, his expression remaining neutral, though his eyebrows rose slightly. "A gym, sir?"

"Yeah." Tony nodded, closing his notebook and standing. "I've been spending too much time cooped up in the workshop. I need something... different. Something physical. You know, to clear my head."

"An excellent idea," Jarvis said, inclining his head. "Physical activity is vital for maintaining both mental and physical health. Shall I begin preparations immediately?"

"Yeah. Clear out the room, and we'll order the equipment. Oh, and make sure it has space for a boxing bag. I think I'd like to learn how to throw a punch."

Jarvis smiled faintly. "I shall see to it at once, sir."

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