In the Joint Office of Wayne Enterprises, it was late into the night, but the computer screen was still glowing. Suddenly a burst of red light flashed by, Jarvis turned around, and Wanda fell into his arms.
Jarvis gently stroked his wife's hair. Wanda held him for quite a while, then straightened up and said, "Where are the kids?"
"They went to the sea and played there all day, they're asleep now. Agents from the Rebirth Alliance are watching them, don't worry."
Wanda let out a long breath. "Do you ever feel like sometimes I live too carelessly? I don't care about any major cosmos affairs, just circle around our little family?"
Jarvis chuckled and stroked her hair again. "Not everyone has to care about major cosmos affairs. Sometimes, not caring means you don't add to the chaos, which is its own kind of good."
Wanda sighed deeply. "I just feel like others have done too much for us, and I don't know how to give back."
"You've already done a lot," Jarvis said. "Not to mention anything else—when Franklin was at his hardest age, weren't you the one who went to help? Susan practically sees you as God."
"That's about all I'm good for." Wanda shook her head, a little helpless, then suddenly remembered something, pulled a box out from behind her and said, "Reed asked me to give this to Iron Man. I almost forgot, I might have to make another trip."
"He asked you to pass it along?" Jarvis looked puzzled. "Why would he have you hand it over to Iron Man? You two don't really know each other, do you?"
Wanda froze for a moment, then said, "It's more than just not knowing each other—I don't really like this cosmos's Iron Man. I told Reed that before. How could he ask me to pass it on?"
"Maybe it's not meant for this cosmos's Iron Man?" Jarvis said. "Otherwise, even if it were for Magneto, he wouldn't have you deliver it."
Wanda fell into thought, hesitating a little as she said, "What if I send it to the wrong one? Maybe I should go back and ask him again?"
Jarvis took the box from Wanda's hand, paused a moment, then said, "This should be a micro-computer. It might store videos or files. I'll make a copy and forward it."
"Can you do that?" Wanda felt a bit guilty.
"It's fine. Even if it was originally meant for this cosmos's Iron Man, giving our cosmos's Iron Man a copy is no big deal. It's not like he'd use it to do anything bad."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. If it turns out it was meant for our cosmos's Iron Man, and you give it to this cosmos's Iron Man, once he learns some crucial data and uses it for sabotage, what then?"
Jarvis understood—Wanda wasn't worried about the White Can of the Central Universe learning certain information. She was worried that if this cosmos's Iron Man got hold of important information that he shouldn't know, it might cause trouble.
"Let's let our cosmos's Iron Man take a look first," Jarvis said. "Tony keeps his mouth shut. If it's something that doesn't concern him, he won't leak it. And if it's really important, he can help."
Wanda nodded. Jarvis didn't open the box; he just lightly tapped the side with his finger and transmitted the data files inside to Iron Man of the Central Universe.
Iron Man of the Central Universe wasn't coming to the wedding. These days he was obsessed with the Battleworld creation mode, busy hand-crafting cosmoses inside the System. Jarvis had barely sent the information when Iron Man of the Central Universe replied, "Got it, send it to him."
Jarvis didn't ask further. He simply handed the box back to Wanda and said, "It probably isn't anything huge. Go run it over to him."
Wanda nodded. Another flash of red light passed, and she vanished. Jarvis lightly pressed the earpiece on his ear and said, "Is he coming back?"
"Not yet," Iron Man of the Central Universe said. "It's not time. But I think it's getting close."
Even though it was already late at night, Iron Man couldn't sleep at all. He sat alone in the Stark Building office, turning that sheet of scrawled manuscript over and over in his hands. The computers were almost all parked on news pages, every one of them reporting on the Extremis Virus.
"Destiny… destiny…" he murmured softly. "Is this my destiny? Is it Iron Man's destiny?"
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of his desk, startling him so much he nearly jumped.
"Reed asked me to give this to you." Wanda showed no intention of greeting him, simply placed the box on the desk. Iron Man didn't have time to lose his temper before the box drew his full attention.
After Wanda put the things down, she left straight away. Iron Man reached out and touched that box, then hesitated. He remembered what Reed had said to him back in Jotunheim, when they'd been talking.
"The original Tony left something. Keeping it with me doesn't do much good. If you want it, take it." Reed had said.
"Why would I want his stuff?" Iron Man had said back then. "All he ever does is bang on those Robots. I'm not interested in that."
"He's not just someone who bangs on Robots, just like you're not just someone who makes the Extremis Virus." Reed's tone was very calm. "You know yourself better than anyone. You just don't want to admit it."
Iron Man no longer remembers how he replied at the time. Maybe he lost his temper, maybe he just pressed his lips together and said nothing. But he knows Reed was right: belittling the other Iron Man is actually belittling himself, because they are the same person.
Of course Iron Man understands that his former self was never that simple. This cosmos has been through so much; even the Stark Group has gone bankrupt several times. Iron Man has hovered on the edge of life and death more times than he can count. Even the mother code of the Extremis Virus was created by the previous Iron Man—he just feared it would get out of control, so he never used it extensively.
Iron Man knows he's been rejecting this matter all along. He's always wanted to downgrade that former self into some brash idiot who doesn't understand anything—just so he can run away from it. He's afraid the other really did make preparations and will come back someday to settle accounts with him.
The way everyone in this cosmos treats him leaves him feeling lost. They don't welcome him, but they don't quite reject him either. So if one day the original Iron Man comes back, how will they treat him? And how will they treat himself?
Most importantly: how is he supposed to face his former self? If that former self stood in front of him and asked about ideals, about justice, about family, love, friendship—what is there that can still make him answer with full conviction and a clear conscience?
Iron Man has no answer. He cannot find one, so he's kept running away. But once he learned that fate truly exists, he realized he'd fled into a dead end. There was no road ahead. He had to finally face some things.
First he pulled his hand back, then suddenly yanked the box toward himself and reached out to open it. It wasn't really a box, but a small secure computer, with a screen on top and a control panel below.
Iron Man reached out and turned on the computer. The screen Blinked twice, and then his own face appeared on it—more precisely, the face of the former Iron Man of the 616 Main Universe.
"Hello, the other me. If you're watching this recording, it means you've already met Reed. You know, he's a good friend of mine, so I left these things with him."
"What I'm about to say may sound unbelievable, but please don't doubt it, because this is a pattern summarized with the lives of countless cosmoses and countless Superheroes."
"Even though I've been to church a few times and say grace before meals, I don't actually believe in God. What I mean is, I know that Gods exist in this world, I know there are Avatars of certain cosmic rules—they even have Wisdom, Personality—but I don't believe there's some truly omniscient, Omnipotent being that has arranged the fate of each and every one of us."
"However, after my continuous investigations, it's a pity that fate does exist, and its operation follows these rules…"
Iron Man stared tightly at the screen, listening to the voice of this other self. That scrawled note didn't have many words; if you don't know yourself very well, you wouldn't dare make sweeping claims in this area, and Iron Man would never have been won over by just a few glib phrases.
But what's inside this computer is much more detailed than what was in the notes. It not only fully demonstrates the existence of fate, it also records the laws of fate that Iron Man has discovered.
For example, everyone has a role to play. When that role faces crucial choices, they may lose their reason or act against their Personality; certain events must occur; certain outcomes are inevitably the worst possible, and so on.
Iron Man doesn't want to believe such an absurd conclusion. But this other self uses countless examples and rigorous probability data to prove that all of it is real, leaving Iron Man unable not to believe.
And this is only the beginning.
"Once I learned all of this, I didn't hesitate for even a second. I had to end this ridiculous cycle and break the tragic fate of Superheroes. But it's not easy. Many attempts have failed, and I've come close to despair."
"My partners and I realized that to launch a direct assault on fate is only to fall into another trap. We have to take a different path, come up with a perfect plan to truly overturn fate. And the first step of that plan is to make our cosmos depart from this world."
"This isn't easy to achieve, and the key is that someone must first break free of fate's surveillance and control everything from a place no one knows about. That person can only be me. But more than the choice of person, the location gave us far more of a headache. Fortunately, there is an answer to all of it."
"Leaving this recording, besides giving you an Explanation about fate, I also hope you can help me with something. Too many people have paid a price along the way in carrying out the plan. Maybe they don't mind, but I still hope they can live."
"There are some things I can't explain in full detail in a recording, but I still have a way to convey them to you—please raise your head and look at the Stars. I am deep among the Stars, listening to the call from Earth."
As the low voice echoed through the office, Iron Man instinctively turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. The starry sky seemed to hide countless mysteries, heavy and obscure.