Finney hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Although he never intended to deliberately befriend Tony, he had no desire to become his enemy either. This incident was purely accidental.
Having spent so much time in Kamar-Taj, Finney had grown used to the habits of mages, and that made him careless. He had approached this situation through the lens of magic, completely forgetting the power of modern science. At the same time, he had misjudged Tony's personality, leading to a further breakdown in communication and culminating in the current standoff.
"Jarvis, what are you doing?" A flash of shock crossed Tony's face. He kept his eyes firmly on Finney, not relaxing in the slightest. Confirming that Finney hadn't made any sudden moves, Tony questioned Jarvis, the artificial intelligence he had created.
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't understand what happened. I believed it was your order," Jarvis responded calmly. After all, it was only a machine—no thoughts, no emotions—just logic and algorithms.
"Then you'd better check yourself thoroughly." Tony didn't direct his frustration at the AI. He knew exactly where the problem stemmed from. Controlling the tension in his chest, he turned to Finney with a forced calm and said, "Very clever. Did you hack into Jarvis ahead of time? Or is someone else helping you?"
Finney, watching Tony Stark trying to mask his nerves with composure, didn't push back. After all, he had broken in without permission. He decided to admit fault.
"I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to enter uninvited. As an apology, I can offer you a helpful suggestion for what you're working on. What do you say?"
Tony was far too proud to accept advice—especially about the Iron Man suit, his greatest achievement. He immediately declined. "No thanks. I think I'm doing just fine on my own." Then, with a smug smirk, he added, "Besides, I doubt a college kid still studying ancient scripts can offer anything useful."
Tony's mouth never stopped.
Finney felt a flicker of annoyance. Right now, Tony clearly needed a few lessons from society to knock some humility into him.
"You're sure you don't want help?" Finney asked again, calmly.
Tony was ready to refuse again, but after recalling the oddities surrounding Finney—the armor's sudden appearance and disappearance—he hesitated. Turning his head slightly in that classic stubborn fashion, he said with tsundere reluctance, "I doubt it'll help, but go ahead. Let me correct you afterward."
"Hmph!" Finney gave Tony a look of disdain, then offered his insight. "Your suit probably has a flight function, right? Have you considered the issue of freezing at high altitudes?"
"For freezing to be severe, we're talking about altitudes of 40,000 feet or higher..." Tony replied instinctively, as though the thought hadn't occurred to him yet.
Perhaps because the Mark II wasn't finished, or because of how rudimentary the Mark I was, Tony didn't seem overly confident in the armor just yet. It made sense that he hadn't accounted for such extreme altitude effects.
But Tony Stark being Tony Stark, he didn't take it as a limitation—only a new challenge. He immediately turned to Jarvis and ordered, "Jarvis, log this issue. Add aileron devices and screen materials for the suit. Also, consider using the gold-titanium alloy from the Seraphim tactical satellite as the primary shell material."
He paused, then added, "Record all that after you finish the self-check."
Turning back to Finney, he said awkwardly, "Hmm... Given current weather conditions, icing isn't exactly a priority, so... your suggestion is, at best, marginally useful."
Finney rolled his eyes at the half-hearted gratitude. Then, pointing to the small arc reactor on Tony's chest, he said bluntly, "That thing is poisoning you. You're aware of that, right?"
He had already noticed a green liquid on the table earlier, likely some kind of detox. That's when Finney guessed Tony had already discovered the palladium poisoning.
This time, Tony's face truly changed. He had only recently discovered the issue himself—and hadn't told anyone. The arc reactor, which powered his heart magnet, also introduced palladium into his bloodstream. As long as it remained active, the poisoning continued. Unless he powered it down—or gave up the suit entirely—he had no way out. And giving up the suit? That wasn't an option.
"Do you have a solution?" Tony asked, trying to appear indifferent, but his subtle body language betrayed how deeply he cared.
"Nope."
Tony was stunned again. It was a cruel joke—dangling hope, then snatching it away. Furious, he snapped, "I should've known better than to take advice from a kid. You should focus on your studies. Maybe I'll donate to your school and get them to hire teachers who can actually teach you something useful."
"I may not have the solution, but I know someone who does—and I know how to find them," Finney said coolly, arms crossed, giving Tony a knowing look.
"Maybe we should go back to the matter of your illegal entry into my house," Tony said casually, trying to keep the upper hand. But in truth, he was starting to worry. He still hadn't figured out Finney's real purpose—or how he knew so much.
Finney gave a silent sigh at Tony's evasiveness. "It's not the right time yet. I'll tell you when the moment comes."
One of the core principles of being at Kamar-Taj was not revealing the future prematurely. You couldn't ruin the flow of time just because you knew what was coming. Besides, some of his father's relics were still with the S.H.I.E.L.D. director. And if Tony's house was already this hard to sneak into, how could S.H.I.E.L.D. be any easier?
Although... maybe just shouting "Hail Hydra" would help.
Finney drifted into his thoughts, but Tony misinterpreted the silence, thinking Finney was about to make a demand. He stiffened. "What do you want? Money?" The billionaire went straight to the point. "How much? Is a hundred million enough?"
Stunned by the offer, Finney resisted the urge to fall over from shock. Still, he shook his head. "It's not about money. But aren't you worried I might be lying to you?"
"Don't lie to me. The consequences will be serious!" Tony said, parroting the exact words Finney had thrown at him earlier.
Initially, Finney had considered using the "Golden Great Technique" to wipe Tony's memory of today's events. But upon reflection, he decided against it. Tony's intelligence wasn't something to be underestimated. If he suddenly lost a chunk of memory, he would only dig deeper—and the consequences could be even worse.
"Anyway, it's not time yet," Finney said firmly. Tony was evolving, bit by bit. Intervening too much might prevent him from becoming the Iron Man the world knew.
Honestly, if it weren't for his desire to defeat Iron Monger, Finney wouldn't have come here at all.
Seeing Finney's unwavering attitude, Tony also got stubborn. He believed he could find a solution on his own—and he had his pride. "Well, then you just missed your best shot at becoming a rich man. You'll regret it later."
"We'll see."