November 17th, 2014
"Are you almost finished yet?" she groaned from her slouch on the table.
"Almost. You need to be patient, Jayden," Bruce tutted as he poked through her collar.
"But you've been looking at it for ages. You would think two supposed geniuses would've figured out how to get past a little defensive mechanism by now," she complained, kicking her feet.
"It's hardly been an hour, Smalls," Tony debunked from across the room, tablet in hand. "Even with our research, this is still a remarkably complex piece of technology. Cutting one wrong wire could end in an explosive boom, so pardon us if we need a moment to verify."
Jayden pressed her lips together. She recognised the danger, but the waiting was torturous. Knowing she was so close to getting the thing off made every second behave like an itch she couldn't get rid of.
She chewed her lip and started mindlessly pulling at the cluster of heavy cables they had connected to the side of her collar. She followed the wires with her eyes as they led to a desk crowded with large monitors by the wall. Her brow furrowed as she studied the findings displayed, filled with alternating numbers, and wondered what they meant and why they were so important, seeing as Bruce repeatedly glanced at them.
"Don't fiddle," Tony scorned, lightly slapping her hands away.
"What is it anyway?" She questioned, laying her hand on Theo's head, who watched everything with interested excitement.
"A strong, multidimensional, homemade stabiliser that averts and hinders amalgamation of the electrical charge of the collar's main functions, including its magnetic panel access to its defensive mechanisms wires," Tony informed her, half-distracted by a thin metallic object he picked up from the table.
"So it lets you get to the wires in my collar?" She affirmed, receiving a nod in confirmation. "And what's that?" she pointed at the strange rectangular contraption he held.
"Call it a key. The documents in SHIELD's database noted that in case of emergency, the collar could be unlocked without the need for biometrics, and while yours is updated, the main structural integrity is still there, so JARVIS was able to find and fabricate an exact likeness through that scan we did a while ago."
"Then why do we need to shut down the defence mechanism?"
"Because it's Hydra. They always have assurances to keep their secrets hidden. If I were you, I wouldn't want to risk it."
"Worrywart," she muttered, but secretly, she couldn't help but be relieved. It would suck to die when she was so close to getting it off.
Silence swept the room, only broken whenever either man had something new to comment on or instructed Jayden to stop squirming or move her head to give access. Throughout the process, Tony repeatedly had JARVIS verify the probability of their success; adamant about getting as close to 100% as possible. When he was finally satisfied at 96, he declared they were ready to begin.
"Wait, really? Already?"
"Jadie, you were complaining about how slow we were going not even ten minutes ago."
"I-I know. I'm just- I thought at least Pepper would be here to see it happen."
Tony looked thoughtfully at his watch. "Hey J? Get Pepper out of her marketing or whatever meeting. Tell her that we're ready, and the kid wants her."
"But what about work?" she frowned as JARVIS obeyed his creator's demands.
He raised a brow as he grabbed a tool resembling a wire cutter. "Might as well get started. Gonna take ten minutes anyway."
YOU ARE READING
Unforeseen¹
FanfictionJYD2641 had enough. In her seven years, she's only ever known the cruel hands of her doctors, who were determined to make her the next Winter Soldier. All she'd ever known was death, pain, and fear. Instead of a parent's loving embrace, she had the...
