MARVEL: BUYING GODHOOD

The attendant was still standing near the door waiting for an answer. Chris looked toward her and said, “Bring them in.” She nodded before leaving the office and closing the door behind her. I looked back toward Chris, still thinking about the question he’d asked me only a few seconds earlier, but his attention had already shifted toward the entrance as if he hadn’t just asked whether I would say yes if he asked me out.

Before I could bring it up again, footsteps came from outside. About a minute later, the door opened and two men entered. I recognized Gideon Malick immediately, while the man beside him was noticeably smaller in both height and build. There wasn’t anything about the second man that immediately stood out to me, but when I looked toward Chris, I noticed his expression change for a brief second. His eyes stayed on the smaller man slightly longer than normal before his face returned to the same calm expression he’d been wearing earlier. I didn’t know what Chris had noticed, but whatever it was had surprised him.

Malick stepped forward first and said, “Mr. Sterling, thank you for agreeing to meet us. This gentleman is Victor. He’s interested in some of your recent investments.” The smaller man stepped forward and offered Chris his hand before saying, “I’ve heard quite a lot about you, Mr. Sterling.” Chris stood from the sofa and shook his hand before replying, “I can’t say the same.”

Victor didn’t seem offended. He only gave a polite smile and answered, “Of course. My businesses aren’t nearly as large as yours, so that isn’t surprising. However, I’ve always been interested in future technology, and some of your recent investments caught my attention.” Once they released each other’s hands, Chris gestured toward the sofa opposite him, allowing Victor and Malick to sit while he returned to his own seat.

Victor looked toward Chris before continuing, “The Arc Reactor especially interests me. You’ve acquired the designs and rights from Stark Industries, and I assume you’re planning to do much more with them than simply own the technology. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to invest in whatever you’re planning.”

Chris didn’t even need to think before answering, “Currently, I’m not looking for investment.” Victor nodded as if he’d already expected that answer and replied, “Yes, I’ve heard you’ve taken some very large loans to fund all of this yourself. I can understand wanting to maintain complete control, but money isn’t the only thing I can provide.”

Chris remained quiet, allowing him to continue. Victor leaned back slightly and said, “I can help with logistics. International transportation, suppliers, specialized materials and contacts in places where normal business channels might become difficult. If you’re planning to work with advanced technology on a large scale, there will eventually be things money alone can’t solve.”

Chris looked at him for a moment before answering simply, “Not interested.” Victor studied him for several seconds, probably expecting him to at least ask for more details, but Chris didn’t. Eventually, Victor’s attention moved away from him and toward me.

He pointed slightly in my direction and said, “I think the rest of this conversation would be better discussed privately.” Chris followed his gaze toward me before looking back at Victor and replying, “It’s alright. She can stay. She knows everything. There’s no need to hide anything from her.”

Victor raised an eyebrow before glancing toward me again. After a short pause, he asked, “Even what you did to Arthur?” The moment those words left his mouth, my body went still. How did Victor know?

I immediately looked toward Chris, but his expression hadn’t changed at all. He remained sitting comfortably on the sofa, watching Victor as if he’d just asked about another investment. After a few seconds, Chris replied, “I think Arthur died in an accident.”

Victor gave a small smile. “That’s what the official report says.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “But kidnapping someone, cutting out his tongue, sending him to another country and forcing him to work there for the rest of his life, then replacing him with another dead body so everyone believes he died in an accident…” Victor leaned forward slightly as he finished, “I think all of that is more than enough to keep someone in prison for a few decades.”

I kept watching Chris. The fact that Victor knew about Arthur being alive was already bad enough, but he knew details that should’ve been almost impossible to discover. Chris had explained what happened to me inside a soundproof car after the board meeting. As far as I knew, there shouldn’t have been any normal record connecting Arthur to that mine.

Chris still showed no concern. Instead, he looked at Victor for a moment before asking, “Is it now?” There wasn’t any fear or nervousness in his voice. If anything, he sounded mildly interested in what Victor had just said.

Victor remained quiet, watching him carefully. Chris also stopped speaking for several seconds before leaning forward slightly and looking directly at him. Then he said, “You know, proving something like that takes a lot of money and resources.” The room became completely quiet after that.

Victor was the first one to break the silence. “I think I can afford it, Mr. Sterling.” A small smile appeared on his face before he added, “And if Arthur Reynolds really is alive, proving what happened becomes considerably cheaper.”

Chris looked at him for a few seconds before asking, “Are you sure about that?” Victor’s expression didn’t change, so Chris continued, “Let’s say you find Arthur in some mine in Africa. First you have to get him out. Then you have to get him onto a plane, bring him back to the United States and either file a complaint or put him in front of a judge or some other official body.”

Victor stayed quiet while Chris continued in the same calm tone. “Then you’ll probably need blood tests or something similar to prove he’s actually Arthur and not just someone you’ve found who looks like him. After that, you still have to prove I was the person who kidnapped him, removed his tongue and sent him there.”

I didn’t like where this was going, especially because Chris sounded as though he was explaining an ordinary problem with a business plan. He leaned back slightly and continued, “And that’s assuming nothing unfortunate happens before you reach that point. Mines aren’t exactly safe places. Maybe there’s a riot while you’re getting him out and everyone who went there dies. Maybe Arthur’s health is worse than you expected after living in those conditions for so long and he dies the moment you finally get him outside.”

Victor’s smile had disappeared by then, but Chris wasn’t finished. “Or maybe you manage to get him out safely, put him in a car and start driving toward the airport. Then the car passes over an old mine left behind from some conflict and…” Chris made a small motion with one hand. “Boom. Arthur dies, the people protecting him die, and suddenly you’re back where you started.”

Malick hadn’t said a word since the conversation changed. I glanced toward him and noticed that even he was watching Chris very carefully now. Chris continued, “Maybe it isn’t a mine. Maybe bandits attack the convoy. Maybe someone tries to kidnap him for ransom because they see foreigners moving through the area. Or perhaps everything goes perfectly until you get him onto the plane, and then some mechanical failure causes it to lose altitude and crash before reaching the United States.”

He paused, and for the first time since he’d started talking, a faint smile appeared on his face. “There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you’re trying to move one man halfway across the world.”

Nobody spoke. Chris looked directly at Victor before finishing, “So if you do find Arthur, I hope you can keep him safe long enough to actually prove something.” The silence afterward felt completely different from before. Victor had entered the office acting as though he possessed something that gave him control over the conversation. Now he was simply staring at Chris.

After several seconds, he finally spoke. “Mr. Sterling, I think you really don’t care what happens to you.” Chris didn’t answer. Victor slowly stood from the sofa. “Then perhaps I should ask what happens when the same kind of thing happens to someone you do care about.” His eyes moved toward me. My body tensed as he started moving in my direction. I didn’t know what he intended to do, but he’d barely taken another step when a horrible screech suddenly tore through the office.