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𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍
𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐔, 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀
ELEANOR
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It was true what they say. One finds limits by pushing them, and I had forced my boundaries so far that I had ended up at the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to take that single level towards the void I had once sunk in, let blame and guilt be my anchors once again. It was a place which I assumed had no return until a glistening beacon of hope had come jostling down on me in the form of a charismatic Tony Stark, the last person I would let myself get acquainted with at that momentous occasion. It was all a game of chance. If Tony had left the dull gathering years ago, without asking the colonel about me, we would've parted as strangers. And never had I felt more grateful until that day.
It had been two days since Tony and I had our little vendetta. I had sought but in vain to confront him over the phone but apparently, he had been out of range. One of his multiple suits went missing in the garage, that's when my real distress started to awaken. I had no choice but to contact Rhodey about him going MIA, without mentioning our feud, and his suspicions rose when I brushed off his advances to visit me at the house. Apparently, he was last seen over the Mariana Trenches, both our confusion heightened as the situation spread out.
His name was over the news by the third day, the only word accompanying his name was 'missing'. Just when I thought it was my fault this had transpired, there was more guilt weighing down on my chest. Like a hole that expanded by the second, my eyes kept traipsing to the screen with the ongoing news channel and his name echoing in my ears every time the anchor said so.
With that being said, staying in Tony's workspace was somewhat comforting in the past few days. I didn't leave the area, holing up like a lion in its den for hours till the end. I could neither eat nor sleep with the guilt whispering in my head every minute of the day, my focus trained on finding some opening - any clue - as to his sudden disappearance.
'Your leptin levels are dropping severely, Miss Preece. May I suggest a brief rest before tracking down Mr Stark?'
So Tony's highly-sophisticated AI wasn't all bad. Sure he tattled on me to his creator and poked humour at my every situation, but he was quite observant with every aspect that concerned me. I couldn't help but smile as I scooped up a generous serving of yoghurt into my mouth.
'Not sleepy, JARVIS,' I assured, bringing up the latest files runs from the airbase from the outskirts of California. Electromagnetic capabilities and higher IQ units could keep you levelled with an AI, apparently. 'Keep streaming ATC checks and frequency diagnostics around the globe. Anything faster than a sonic pulse goes by me.'
