Stark's Winged Daughter (S.P.N.D. Book 3)

Chapter 8: A Visit From Coulson

***

"The key to the future is... where?" dad asks himself, looking down over the newly assembled table, blowing off a lawyer of dust. "J.A.R.V.I.S. Could you kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wire frame? I need a manipulatable projection."

A blue light goes over the table, scanning each part of the model.

"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, sir."

Dad lifts the projection and begins to move it away from the table. "How many buildings are there?"

"Am I to include the Belgian waffle stands?"

I laugh as my dad goes, "That was rhetorical. Just show me."

He plays with the model a bit before the buildings all come up.

"Mark the pavilions red."

On the projection they turn red, standing out from the blue.

"Let's do some color coding. Color code every causeway, footpath, tram, restroom, waffle shack, everything. Anything with a concrete wall."

As he lists these off J.A.R.V.I.S. follows.

"Ah," dad says, getting an idea. He spins the projection, as he walks around it becomes vertical, allowing a better angle.

"What does that look like to you, guys?" dad asks both me and J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Like an atom," I answer, studying the image. Pointing to the center where a globe rests, I say, "That would make this the nucleus."

Dad nods. "Highlight the unisphere." He expands the sphere in his hands, pulling it apart from the rest. "Lose the footpaths."

"What is it you're trying to achieve, sir?" J.A.R.V. asks.

"I'm discovering... correction. I'm rediscovering a new element, I believe."

He looks at it again, squinting as he tries to understand what hints we need to find. "Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, the trees. Parking lots, exits, entrances."

I gesture and take those off one at a time, trying to understand what my dad sees.

"Structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework."

As J.A.R.V.I.S. does this, I take a step back. My dad makes the hologram even bigger- to where it now takes up almost this whole area -and I see just what my grandfather did.

"Dead for almost 20 years, and still taking me to school."

Dad smiles, the first true and big smile in a while, and I can't help but to do the same. I watch as the image shrinks, becoming a small sphere in my dad's hand.

"Mark VI, up and center," dad says, the diagram from the latest Iron Man armor appearing. Carefully, he places the hologram of the element into the center where dad's chest piece would rest.

"Sir, this implies that a theoretical element not currently found on the periodic table.

"I think you're going to be alright, kid," dad whispers.

"I will run a simulation to check element viability," J.A.R.V.I.S. tells us.

"Yeah, listen, you have a ball with that. I know it's gonna work. I'm gonna take a shower."

I nod, still partially in disbelief.

A moment later J.A.R.V.I.S. speaks up. "The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium."