Polarity (MCU AU) : Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I don’t, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.

December 1 2011

Manhattan, New York

–Samuel Jones–

He was in the middle of making his eggs, just the way he liked it when he felt something, something coming through the air, metallic in its construction and charged with electricity. Closing his eyes, he honed in on that object, whilst cooking simultaneously, and smiled once he realised that it was Tony Stark.

“Huh, neat. That man still walks around with shrapnel in his chest and a bomb in his chest. Ridiculous,” he commented to himself as he plated his eggs, got himself his coffee and sat down on his dining table, to have the delicious and more importantly, nutritious meal, all by himself.

He sighed at that. 

Yup, he was a loner. A certified nerd loner who was also a freak of nature because he was Sameul Jones, son of Sam Jones and Martha Jones, genius Programmer and also, controller of one of the four Fundamental forces of the universe.

Control of the entire Electromagnetic spectrum.

Or atleast, that is what he theorised his ability to be. As of now, all he could do was sense metal across the city, lift entire ships, he had tried, and rip apart buildings if he wanted to. There was a lot of scrap metal in New York City, despite its modern appearance and he could practice his abilities all he wanted to, from a distance, so that’s what he did.

The smart thing. Ofcourse, the smart thing would have been to tell his parents who loved him so much, tell someone who could help him train but then again, he never claimed to be wise, just smart. A kind of innate smartness that had him dropping out of college to start his own thing and that he did.

RIght up until he was offered an unimaginable amount of money by Stark Industries for the rights to his project, and seeing the debt his parents were under and the number of zeroes on that check, he signed it. A single sign, erasing all the debts his parents had, made them debt free millionaires due to the property not having any loan on it, made him rich, rich enough to not work for his life, if he maintained his current lifestyle, and he died when he was 50.

Because elderly care in America cost more than just an arm and a leg, it demanded a person’s newborn. It was fitting, in a way, to help ease someone’s life in their later years, they absorb enough money for some family in the Midwest to leave debt free for the rest of their lives, right up until they needed elder care as well.

See, Corporate America had it all figured out. They don’t let anyone escape.

He chuckled at his morbid own joke, while reviewing some PR requests, even as he tried to focus on using his -powers as well, not to lift stuff but to use it to create a sensory net all around him. 

Oh yeah, he worked for Stark Industries now, completely remote, obviously. The contract that he signed also stipulated a minimum of two years of service just so they have a good idea of what his software could do before they could let him go into the wind. And it was fine, the pay was good, the culture was good, he had no real supervisor, and he could work from anywhere in the Continental United States.

No going outside that because of some Data Protection Laws, which made sense, considering that he was working with a company that produced almost all of the flagship stuff that the US Military used.

Weapons, Missiles, jet Engines, Missile Launchers, and more, as was made aware to him during the company orientation. 

“Hmm?” He perked up, looking straight up as the ball of giant energy that Tony Stark carried in his chest at all times suddenly shot up into the air, with the suit still around him. 

Must have been bored and gone for a joyride, he thought to himself as he put the plates back into the sink and sat back down to work on some documentation, standard stuff that should not take more than a month if they were dedicated enough but apparently, everything has to be a meeting and not a succinct email so here he was, over a year later, still working on the same piece of software that he made in less than 9 months of dedicated work.

“Aaah,” He groaned as he saw yet another stupid request, to attend yet another middle management meeting to explain to them how his code worked and how it would benefit the company. If only he hadn’t given the same presentation to three different teams.

“And he was back down,” he muttered as he sensed Tony Stark’s suit, made up completely of metal, shoot back down into the Tower he was building in Manhattan. 

It was a little ugly, in his opinion but then again, the man was a Billionaire, he could have any building he wanted with his name on it.

“Just a year more and then… Whistles” he made an airplane gesture as he waved his hand in the air, “To the Bahamas or maybe Thailand, since that’s way cheaper.”

He muttered to himself as he closed the lid on his laptop and leaned back on his chair. Ah, this was so frustrating to him sometimes. Yeah, he woke up early, yeah he ate good, took really good care of his body, worked out properly, read books, studied really hard, worked hard enough, practised his powers more and more, and what did he get?
A lonely life, at the ripe age of 20. When his peers were out partying, he was working or watching some funny TV show, not because he needed to work but because he simply did not know how to interact with people his age.

Another thing his parents were really worried about. Speaking of his parents, Sam and MArtha were going to have yet another Family dinner back in their Long Island house. Now that they didn’t have to work so hard to get rid of their student debt, they could work as much as they wanted to, and have dinner with their only son anytime they wanted.

And since they knew that he worked remote, they made sure to mention the word MANDATORY in the RSVP invite. 

What’s the point of doing that then?

DING DONG!

“Ah!” He got up to get his delivery. The latest Sony Playstation was launched last week and the delivery was scheduled for today. Using his snes, he confirmed someone with a…nipple piercing? Standing outside his door.

Shaking his head at the image of some dude having a ring, he opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to see a woman, a redhead, with his parcel.
“Hi!”
“Hello.”
“You must be Mr.Jones. This is your PS6. Congratulations on getting one in the first wave itself.  I wanted one but apparently, the thing is sold out for weeks now. Anyway, enjoy gaming with it, Mr.Jones.” She said after taking his sign.

He took in the package in his hands and the pretty girl who was apparently interested in the PS6 as well and just as he was about to tell her, out of courtesy that she could come inside to help set it up, a mini-him popped up on his shoulder with pitchforks in his hand.

“We have been waiting for this for years now, for a hardware refresh. We also have all the mods and accessories ready for that Sim Game. You have been salivating over this for so long, why ruin it with a momentary thought from your lower half?”

And you know what? That sounded like a pretty reasonable thought. So, he shrugged and waved at the girl who was now in the elevator, and closed the door.

“Finally! Time to call in sick for the rest of the day.” He muttered giddily, never noticing the cold look flashing in that delivery girl’s eyes, or the fact that she did not have any other package or just the basic fact that delivery girls generally were not as attractive as that one was.

Ofcoruse, Samuel noticed none of that because he was a geek and an antisocial loner geek at that.

___xx___
“Primary contact initiated.

Secondary Mission parameters failed. Subject seemed either unaware of the advances or not sexually attracted to women.

Will try again tomorrow. Gym membership secured.” Agent Hayes, a level 6 Agent of SHIELD put in her voice report as she boarded the FedEx van she was using as a cover.

“Let’s go.”
She sat in the co-passenger seat, looking at a file that had a series of pictures along with the life data of one Samuel Jones, a suspected enhanced with a very potent power.

“Magnetic sensory and manipulation powers. Quite potent if used properly.” She said to herself as she closed it and worked on her next planned encounter with the subject.

She was authorised for everything to learn more about the subject because bringing him in without any reason would not go over well, especially since said person could become a particularly potent agency asset, if need be.

A/N - Another Brainworm. Enjoy!