Darren coldly stared at Hank Pym. In front of the reporters and esteemed guests, he would maintain his gentlemanly demeanor as much as possible.
If not for Hope, Darren wouldn't have wanted to see Hank Pym's face ever again. The man had betrayed Pym Technologies and abandoned his original vision for Pym Particles.
"I didn't invite you here just to let you stand in front of everyone and criticize me. Please, leave!"
Hank Pym could see that Darren still hadn't realized the dangers that size-altering technology could bring to Earth.
Taking advantage of the moment when Darren was busy greeting guests, he quietly approached Hope and whispered, "How far has he progressed?"
Hope glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before replying in a hushed tone, "He can only shrink inanimate objects. He's nearing the edge of insanity."
Darren's experiment was far from successful. He couldn't freely enlarge or shrink living beings as he claimed in his presentations.
Yet today, he had invited elites, aristocrats, and high-profile tech companies in an attempt to secure financial backing.
---
"Mr. Ford, that doctor is willing to… uh, wait, am I supposed to be a test subject?"
Scott had agreed too quickly, only now realizing that he might have made a rash decision.
"Master never deceives people," Red Queen stated firmly, her gaze fixed on Scott.
Having researched Scott's background, she wasn't particularly fond of him. If not for Alan, she wouldn't have bothered associating with him at all.
"Master?" Scott looked bewildered, clearly confused as to why the little girl was addressing Alan in such a way.
"Believe what you want. If you're willing to come, take this."
Alan pulled a small note from his pocket—it contained his home address.
Scott stared at the address for a moment, then took a deep breath before raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "Wow… a rich neighborhood. A single square foot here costs a fortune…"
"Tomorrow at 1 PM, I'll take you to meet Dr. Pym," Alan said, noticing that it was almost time for his meeting with Tony.
He had no time to waste chatting with Scott. He needed to find out what Tony wanted from him.
After parting ways with Scott, Alan and Red Queen headed to the Avengers' base.
"Emp—uh… Alan…"
Tony, who was used to Alan coming and going freely, addressed him by name since he wasn't wearing his Emperor Armor.
"What's up?" Alan glanced around. It didn't seem like anything urgent. Could it be that Tony was having relationship troubles with Pepper and needed his advice?
The thought made Alan chuckle—yeah, right.
"Alan, long time no see," Steve Rogers greeted him, unsurprised by his arrival, and handed him a glass of wine.
"Hey! That was supposed to be for me!" Tony tilted his head in protest. "Sorry for calling you over so suddenly."
Without wasting time, Tony dove straight into the main topic, quickly explaining what he and Dr. Banner planned to do next.
Alan was stunned.
He had thought the Ultron incident wouldn't happen—after all, the Mind Stone was in his hands.
Wanda hadn't tampered with Tony's mind either, so logically, he shouldn't have been inspired to create a sentient AI.
Where had things gone wrong?
Or was Ultron… inevitable?
No, something didn't add up. Alan frowned in deep thought.
Vision was never supposed to be born—Tony didn't have the scepter, and, more importantly, he didn't have the Mind Stone.
...