Pierce trails off there, curious to see how Tony will respond. The other man grimaces and looks down at his tablet for a moment.
"… I know, sir. And no, I don't think he's HYDRA material, unfortunately. Part of the reason for why I want to give him the suit… is so that I can make it painless if we ever need to neutralize him, sir."
Now that gets the Secretary's attention. He searches Tony's face for any sign of deception for a long moment … but doesn't find it. Furthermore, Tony suddenly holds out his tablet.
"I… I've been working on something. Here."
Taking the tablet, Pierce begins looking over what Tony is talking about. His eyes widen further and further as they take in what they're looking at.
"This is…"
"It would all operate on an algorithm developed by Dr. Zola and JARVIS, sir." Frowning, Pierce gives Tony a look.
"An algorithm?"
Nodding his head vigorously, Tony taps the tablet's screen.
"They're already starting to take over, sir. Algorithms that is. In ten years, the lives of every single citizen in every first world country on the planet will be run by algorithms. They'll basically be living off of them, even if they don't realize it. I' m proposing we get ahead of the pack, so to speak. Companies like Google are already starting to use algorithms to figure out how they can best monopolize their users and make the most money off of their true customers … the marketing agencies. But we … we can use it for more important things. We can use it to finally bring peace, safety, and security to the entire world."
Alexander Pierce's breath hitches at that last part. His eyes stare down at the SIX Helicarriers that Tony's plans call for. After a moment, he looks up at the younger man.
"Tony… the first Helicarrier isn't even finished yet. It'll be done in 2012. These are… I mean, the specs on these are insane."
Grinning sheepishly, Tony runs a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, sorry. I was just perusing SHIELD files when I came across the first one. I recognized some of my dad's hands in the work, but honestly … I was just too inspired to stop myself. I call it Project Insight. I know it's probably still pretty far off… but what do you think?"
What did he think? In the end, Pierce decides to be honest.
"I think it sounds incredible, Tony. This Project Insight… it's exactly what HYDRA needs. And Helicarriers with Repulsor Technology instead of wind turbines… I didn't even know you could make Repulsors this big, Tony."
Unfortunately, the genius playboy is too smart for his own good.
"… I sense a but coming along, Mr. Secretary."
Smiling apologetically, Pierce sighs and hands the tablet back to Tony.
"It's going to be a tough sell to the WSC, Tony. Obviously they don't need to know about the algorithm or the true nature of Project Insight, but even just six Helicarriers is going to be hard to sell them on. The one we've been building is already going to be a pain in the ass to hide from the rest of the world as it is."
"Surely it's necessary, sir. We had an alien masquerading as a Norse God visit our planet several months ago. If he'd been anywhere but my base, the automaton that his sister sent after him would have destroyed a lot more than it did, and probably hurt people as well. Imagine if Thor had landed in a major city like Los Angeles instead… or even New York City."
A frown spreads across Pierce's face at that. He'd watched the video of 'The Destroyer' firing its energy weapon. He imagines for a moment if the damn thing had appeared in New York and swept that beam through the bottom floor of a skyscraper. It would have been nine-eleven all over again, but worse.
Frankly, Tony doesn't need to convince Pierce. He's well aware that there are dangerous entities out there who want to turn Earth into their playground. More aware than most. And he will stop at nothing to prevent them from sinking their claws into his planet. Even still…
"… I understand where you're coming from Tony. Truly I do. It's just the rest of the World Security Council that has to be convinced. I promise I'll start working on them. Like you said, we got lucky with our last alien visit and the next might not be so happy. In the meantime though … things like the Iron Legion will help protect us if anything happens. And… your friend Rhodey in his new suit as well, I suppose."
Tony lights up, just as Pierce knew he would upon receiving approval.
"Sir? You really mean it?"
Chuckling, Alexander Pierce tilts his head to the side, giving Tony an affectionate smile.
"You have a good head on your shoulders, Tony. I know you can use this to make inroads with the US Government that HYDRA hasn ' t managed quite yet. If you can lockdown President Ellis, get him on your side… well, it might be even easier to convince the others on the WSC that more Helicarriers are necessary. In the meantime, your friend gets to fly again."
Left unsaid are the words 'for as long as that lasts'. Tony had already made it clear that he knew there would come a time when he would have to put James Rhodes down. It doesn't need to be said out loud again, not really. It's that unspoken sacrifice that they all have to make sometimes. For the greater good, even close friends have to die.
One day, it would be Nick Fury on the chopping block and Pierce dreaded whenever that day came. He and Nick had known each other for over thirty years now. He considered the man one of his closest friends. Unfortunately, he also knew that Fury was in no way recruitable for HYDRA.
The SHIELD Director simply wasn't compatible with many of HYDRA's ideals. He was willing to get his hands dirty, he was willing to do a lot of things and compromise plenty of his morals to get the job done… and yet, he would balk at the thought of going that final step that Pierce knew they would have to one day take. To truly bring peace, prosperity, and order to Earth and the human race, sacrifices would have to be made. Nick Fury and James Rhodes would be two of those sacrifices.
Reaching out, Pierce offers Tony his hand and the two of them shake for a moment.
"Excellent work, Tony. Keep it up and keep me informed of how things go with the President. Hail HYDRA."
"Hail HYDRA, sir."
The rest of the World Security Council would balk at the expenditure necessary for six more Helicarriers, but having seen the specs on them, Pierce knew he had to have them. And if they were going to give Tony's algorithm some real teeth, they would need to get serious. He'd start working on his fellow council members. And if some needed to be replaced so that they all saw reason… then so be it.
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