Author Note/AN = edited, removed :|
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A terrible, apocalyptic sight greeted me when I awoke.
For a moment I thought all was okay in the world—Yelena was asleep in my arms, the morning sun filtered into my bedroom basking it with warm golden rays. I felt rested, along with that deep satisfaction of not waking up alone.
Yet the Force had been screaming at me, a killing intent pouring towards me from the staircase.
I almost didn't want to look, but it was like watching a car crash—only, I was caught in the midst of it.
Natasha Romanov, Ex-assassin, Avenger and cold-blooded killer was staring at me with white-knuckle fisted, crossed arms. Her auburn hair burned in the morning rays, blue eyes illuminated with crystal-like intensity, eyes narrowed into daggers.
A disappointed snarl on her face.
Our eyes met, and I could shake my head ruefully, desperately trying to withhold a wry chuckle.
Well… I'm not going through this alone.
I cleared my throat, loud enough to stir Yelena awake. Her eyes fluttered to life, a soft smile on her lips as she looked up at me—about to lean into a kiss until she saw the wry smile on my lips. I nudged my head to the foot of my bed and instantly her eyes widened, a shiver slicing down her spine.
Her head twisted slowly, wincing the second she saw Nat's glowering stare of disappointment.
To her credit, Yelena merely cleared her throat, lightly patting my chest as if she was saying 'Job well done' , before unceremoniously getting up out of bed and sauntering over to Nat. Her bare body in full-view, save for a pair of crimson red underwear.
"Sooo… breakfast?" She unashamedly asked Nat. For a moment I thought her older sister was going to take a swing at her, a swat to the back of her head.
Yet she only shook her head, giving me one last death glare before descending to the lower floors.
Yelena let out a resigned sigh, gave me a wink and followed her sister down.
I… need to install a door.
After taking a shower and dressing in comfortable sweats, I made the executive decision to avoid the stairs and portal directly into my base.
[You're in deep shit.] Nex immediately chimed to me.
I laughed, "Such is the price of lo—"
[Lust. I hope you mean, dear Riven. Unless you're truly intent on courting the Ex-assassin who's also nearly double your age.]
I cleared my throat, "...thats classified." I declared unashamedly, quickly changing the topic. "How's project Robin Hood going?"
Nex clicked her non-existent tongue, [Its fine, we have all the dirt we need on Mr. Ham—it helped that he is also currently embroiled in a lawsuit regarding the ownership of the island. Coupled with his ties to Fisk, who's currently in prison, he's in quite a vulnerable state. Would you like me to make him an offer he can't refuse?]
I tilted my head with a proud smile. "And what sort of offer is that?"
[That's classified.] She said dryly.
"Touché, Nex, touché. Timeline?"
[Give me a week.]
"Works for me, how about the other projects?"
[It's only been a day so I haven't gotten much done, but with our previous research and experiments with Vibranium energy inoculation—developing VMO's should be a cake walk. The only hiccup here would be a long and boring application and trial process with the FDA.]
I clicked my tongue, "Yeah, I guess that would be a pain, nothing we can do about it, maybe I can give Fury a call, or ask him directly… hmm, I'll probably have to provide some incentive for a partnership of some kind. What about the energy projects?"
[Better, we're already far ahead of the game with the MTAR, but we obviously can't use Vibranium or the Mystic Arts, which seriously hampers our full potential. But pulling designs from Wakanda and Tony's Arc reactor, as well our own work I've come up with a number of ideas for TEG's that could fit our needs.]
"Thermo-Electric Generators huh. Are you thinking portable emergency power?"
[Exactly. Three variants, all using state-of-the-art technology developed in-house and filling needs from: Natural disaster response, general civilian usage, Military usage, and as a basic core power systems for communities in rural areas.]
"Hit me."
Three holograms appeared in front of me, all faintly reminiscent of the MTAR, just stripped of Vibranium and magic alike.
Nex named it Nexium Gen. 1, which was a little on the nose but it rolled of the tongue nicely.
She settled on using a Solid-State Battery that pulled from Wakandan design with Tony's practicality — reaching a stupendous 750Wh/kg, which meant that a 15kg (33lbs) unit would have a total 11,250Wh, or 11.25kWh.
The Solid-State battery also meant that its minimum & maximum operating temperatures were -40c to 150c respectively, along with instant power up, and 40-50% fast charging in 15 minutes.
It also wouldn't catch on fire and combust, which was a nice bonus.
The other two units were 50kg (37.5kWh) and 100kg's (75kWh), with stupid easy modularity built-into the design, allowing you to chain up to a hundred units before you needed a dedicated monitoring system.
The smallest unit meant carrying enough juice to power your average U.S home for about half a day in a backpack. You could charge your laptop 311 times, and a typical smartphone 1,247 times. Which really just goes to show the insane amount of energy the average U.S home guzzles.
The larger units allowed for continuous power for emergency response operations for 1-2 weeks of careful cycled use.
For reference, the largest 100kg unit could power a standard 1200kW space heater for 2.5 days, continuously.
Solid-State Batteries were truly the next step in battery technology—and we had already started to scratch the theoretical 'upper limit' of its capabilities.
To go even further I'd need to begin incorporating Vibranium and other rarer materials, but for now, it would do.
Yet it this wasn't the end of the Nexium Generator, as its biggest boon was in its energy input versatility. Allowing for Liquid fuels such as Gasoline and Diesel at 20-30% efficiency, Solid fuels like coal and wood at around 15%, and built-in inverters for renewable sources such as solar and turbines.
Fully powering the smallest unit with purely diesel at 30% efficiency meant you'd only need one gallon (3.75 Liter's ) of fuel. The largest unit would need 6.6 gallons (25L) of diesel to power.
That's a little more than your standard jerry-can, so you'd get 2.5 days of power to your home from a single jerry-can. In this economy that's like, $14-18. Not to mention the Nexium had little to no carbon emissions, operated at a quiet hum, and lost little to none of the energy it stored overtime.
Hell, there was even a hand-crank attachment that allowed for raw human muscle electricity generation in truly dire straits.
—
The info Nex dumped on me thoroughly quenched me of the excitement of last night. Perhaps too much, my causal steps into the living room were met with a number of mischievous looks from all the Ex-Widow, and a healthy Nat death stare.
Yelena was just lounging on the couch, snacking on some microwave popcorn.
Nat then proceeded to drag me into my study. The silence was heavy, her anger through the Force palpable enough for me to taste blood.
I scratched my cheek, "Are we going to talk about it, or…"
"No." She said sternly. "But, if I find that you hurt a single hair on her body I'll castrate you, and it wouldn't be the first time I've done so—only this time, I'd find enjoyment out of it." She growled at me.
I gulped, though I'd regenerate my balls… I shuddered, giving her a honest nod.
"She'd probably do it for you."
Nat smiled devilishly, giving me a satisfied nod, "We're sisters, after all."
She then waved her hand through the air, dismissing the awkwardly fatal subject.
"I came to talk about a mission we have in a week."
"Fury?"
She nodded. "We're going to pickup some fellow business acquaintances."
Ah, I see.
"Is the Raft not comfortable enough for them?" I chuckled.
Nat softly snorted, "Clint's getting old, beds aren't soft enough for him."
"I'll be there, I assume ya'll and the Widows are gonna be moving out soon?"
She nodded. "Most are leaving when their identification arrives."
I hummed, "That's good, Fury really is useful."
"He is very convenient." She said, and I almost choked. Nat's eyes narrowed at me, before letting out a disappointed sigh.
Oh good heavens… this really will be the death of me.