Chapter Text
“You’re going outside today, Tony.”
Tony grunted in acknowledgement from where he was underneath one of his cars. He had no intentions of doing what Rhodey said.
There was a moment of silence before his best friend delivered a hard kick to his ankle.
“Ow, what the fuck?!” Tony jolted, then hit his head on the underside of the car from the shock. “Fuck!”
Now he was hurting in his ankle and his head.
Before he could attempt to kick Rhodey back without seeing where the man was, a hand grabbed onto his ankle and yanked him out from under the car.
“Rhodey, why?” Tony moaned and rubbed his aching head. “Just leave me alone, I have work to do.”
“Get up. You’re being ridiculous.” Rhodey glared down at him. “You’ve been cooped up in here for weeks, it’s unhealthy. We’re going outside whether you like it or not, stop acting like a child.”
Tony thought about complaining further, but if he was honest, he didn’t have the energy and Rhodey was persistent. So, he settled for letting out another groan of pain before he got to his feet and cleaned the grease off his hands.
That’s how he ended up here, walking down the streets of New York, the last place he wanted to be.
“Rhodey, seriously, can you quit it?” Tony snapped as he walked down the street with his best friend, determined to keep his gaze out in front of him instead of on Rhodey’s disappointed stare. Agitation thrummed through his veins as he tried to get the message across to his friend. “I’m fine, how many times do I need to tell you?”
“If you were fine you wouldn’t have hidden yourself away in that lab for almost a month straight, or bought that.” Rhodey gestured to the bag of alcohol in Tony’s right hand. “I know you’ve stopped drinking like you used to, Tony, but you shouldn’t start again. It’ll make you even more unhealthy.”
“I don’t need to do anything.”
“Yes, you do.” Rhodey sighed. “You should take that back to where you bought it from.”
“Hm, no.”
“Tony.”
“It doesn’t matter, Rhodey.” Tony said as his eyes rested on an android parking station. The familiar bitter feeling rose up his throat as he repressed a sigh at the sight of it. “The world doesn’t need Tony Stark anymore with those tin cans walking around. Why does it matter what I do to myself in the meantime?”
Tony saw Rhodey frown in the corner of his eye, but ignored it in favour of staring at the android parking.
Four of them stood inside it in a line, staring straight ahead at nothing with blank gazes. They looked exactly like humans, but not. As Tony and Rhodey walked by it, Tony watched a woman grab one of the androids and shove her shopping in its hands, barking orders at it.
“Come on, you useless piece of shit, get a move on!” She sneered as she yanked on the android’s arm.
If it were human, it would have grimaced in pain from the harsh action, but the android did nothing but nod in submission.
“Of course, miss.”
Tony watched them leave, then rolled his eyes. People were too lazy to even carry their own shopping these days.
If this had been years ago, Tony wouldn’t have been able to walk around the streets like this without getting hounded by paparazzi. However, ever since Cyberlife introduced the first round of androids, the need for Stark Industries tech started to dwindle, and soon enough everyone stopped caring about him.
Now, in the year of 2038, Tony was nothing more than another average human passing by.
Most of the time, Tony didn’t mind the serenity. It was good to know he was able to go outside and no one would bat an eye in his direction.
Tony and his tech had been completely overshadowed by those freakishly life-like androids.
Androids. Machines designed to work harmoniously with humans, designed to replicate human emotions and act like a real person. Machines designed to assist humans in their daily lives with the most mundane of activities, such as cleaning, cooking, looking after children and construction. Some even worked in the military, in hospitals and played in sports.
There were even sex androids.
The thought of sex androids, however, disgusted Tony.
He found it disturbing how the androids looked and acted so human. If it wasn’t for those glowing rings on the side of their heads and the uniforms they were forced to wear, Tony wouldn’t be able to tell an android apart from a human. Not only that, but the things were everywhere.
New York crawled with the plastic freaks, whether they were stationed in an android parking bay or building the newest train line. Everywhere Tony looked, he’d see one of them.
He knew they weren’t just in New York, either. They were all over the country, especially in Detroit, which was where it all started.
To his left, there was a section of the road blocked off where construction was taking place. Around four androids, all the same model, worked diligently and emotionlessly, one human standing by to make sure the job was getting done. As Tony walked past, he heard the human yell out various insults at the androids in an attempt to make them work faster.
Tony couldn’t believe what had become of the world.
Humans had become too lazy to do their own jobs and employed androids to do it for them. Then, they proceeded to complain about androids stealing their jobs.
Tony had always liked his bots like DUM-E and his AIs like FRIDAY. These androids, however, were on a complete different level. Cyberlife had taken the concept of lifelike and ran with it, which ultimately blew all of Tony’s tech up in flames. As bitter as he was to admit it, Cyberlife was far more advanced than him.
He had Elijah Kamski to thank for that.
Maybe he should move to Canada, which was still android free.
If only.
“Tony! Are you even listening to me?” Rhodey shoved his shoulder hard, hard enough for Tony to stumble and hit his shoulder on the corner of the entrance to an alleyway.
“Ow.” Tony groaned and rubbed his now sore shoulder and glared at his friend. “What the hell was that for?”
“You are so dense.” Rhodey groaned. “One day you’ll listen to me.”
Tony scoffed. “Yeah, the day I die.”
“Shut up.”
Tony was just about to keep walking when something, or rather someone, crashed into him.
The little body hit him so hard it sent him stumbling back a few steps, only to trip over his own foot and crash onto the ground. Tony groaned, eyes staring straight up at the sky as he tried to gather himself. There were several exclamations and gasps of shock around him, and it wasn’t long before Rhodey’s concerned face appeared in his vision.
“Are you okay, Tony?” Rhodey asked as he helped Tony sit up.
Tony, a little dazed, just nodded and searched for what had hit him. It didn’t take long to find it.
In front of him stood a child.
The kid was covered in dirt, his clothes torn and was missing a shoe. That wasn’t the only thing that alarmed Tony, however.
There was a blue substance smeared across the kids skin and clothes, and it didn’t take long for Tony to locate the vibrant blue- no, red LED on the side of his temple.
So it wasn’t a kid. It was an android.
Somehow, the child androids were even worse than the adult ones. They replicated human children’s emotions, they could get sick and had removable LEDs. While Tony could understand to some extent that child androids would be helpful for grieving families or couples who couldn’t conceive, when would it become too much?
Tony had heard many stories about the child androids being abandoned on the streets when their human family had no need for them anymore, or others that had been destroyed by their human owners. While Tony hated the machines no matter what their purpose was, when it came to the kid ones, it was different.
There was a very thin line between the abuse of a real child and a robot imitating a child. In general, Tony didn’t trust anyone who hurt their androids, even if he hated the things.
That’s why he felt his stomach curl at the sight of this android.
“I’m sorry, mister.” The android said when it noticed Tony staring at it. It wrung its hands, lower lip wobbling as tears streaked through the dirt and blue blood caking its cheeks.
If it wasn’t for that bright red LED, Tony would have thought this was just any other abandoned kid. It acted so much like a real human, nervous habits and all. Tony found himself struggling to believe that he was looking at a machine right now.
“I didn’t meant to h-hit you, sir. I was just running and I was scared and I didn’t want them to get me.”
“That’s… okay.” Tony replied, hesitant, aware of all the eyes watching.
“Who is trying to get you?” Rhodey, the saint, broke the tense silence. The android looked up at Rhodey with huge eyes that could have resembled a puppy’s, then quickly looked away and at its feet instead. “Kid?”
“Mummy.” The android shivered and spared a quick glance at Rhodey again. “P-please help me.”
Tony squinted at the tiny thing stood in front of him. Most of the people watching had started to disperse, most likely having realised that it was just an android and not a real child. Tony would have liked to do the same, he hated what he was looking at, but there was something about the kid that kept him sat on his ass in the dirty New York street.
“Where is your mother?” Rhodey knelt down so he was at the kid’s height. When Tony turned to read at his friend’s expression, he could tell that the man was uncomfortable. His eyes kept flickering to the LED which had started switching between yellow and red consistently since they started talking to it. “Is she trying to hurt you?”
“I wasn’t good enough.” The kid whimpered, its face screwing up in an attempt not to cry. It looked so real. “I f-failed and Mummy is mad. She’s going to hurt me. Please help me.”
“You’re an android.” Tony blurted unhelpfully as he started to stand up.
“Tony!” Rhodey hissed. “Seriously?”
“What? It is.” Tony turned to look his friend. “What am I supposed to do?”
Rhodey stared at him for a long moment before he sighed. Without a word, he turned back to the kid and offered his hand.
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Peter.” The android immediately shook Rhodey’s hand with manners that Tony had never seen in a real kid this age. The way he had spoken had been proper, too.
“Hello, Peter. My name is James, but you can call me Rhodey, and this is Tony.” Rhodey jabbed a thumb in Tony’s direction. “Is there somewhere we can take you? Somewhere safe?”
“I live with my Mummy and Daddy.” The android, Peter, pulled away and started scuffing its feet. It squinted at Tony, eyes flickering all over his face, before it lit up with recognition. “Are you Tony Stark?”
“Sure am. How do you know that?”
“I saw you on the TV.” For the first time, Peter’s LED shone bright blue for a moment. “You used to be Iron Man.”
“That was a little while ago.” Tony tried to hide the shock on his face. No one had mentioned Iron Man for years. “You a fan or something?”
The kid nodded. “You’re a superhero.”
Tony just nodded uncomfortably.
No, he wasn’t a superhero. Far from it.
“Please help me. I don’t want to go home.”
“We can’t just leave him.” Rhodey nudged Tony. “I don’t care if it’s an android. He’s still a kid. We can’t let him go back to his parents.”
“What else are we supposed to do with it?” Tony asked. “Send it back to Cyberlife?”
At the words Cyberlife, Peter immediately burst into tears. Tony and Rhodey watched on in shock as the tiny android rushed over to Tony and wrapped its tiny arms around both of his legs. Tony, frozen from the quickness of it all, only gaped as the machine wailed into his legs.
“Please, Mr. Stark, don’t take me back to Cyberlife!” The android was sobbing, sobbing so violently that Tony could feel every shudder that tore through its tiny body. Its LED was red again, pulsing on its temple like a heartbeat. “I’ll be a good boy, I promise, please don’t send me back to Cyberlife! They’ll hurt me just like Mummy and Daddy did!”
Several people were watching as they walked past, more so the blubbering, possibly malfunctioning android rather than the man it was clinging to. Tony found that he was glad the attention wasn’t solely on him for once.
If this had been a few years ago, the press would already be shoving cameras in his face and creating vile stories on the spot about his association with the android.
“Alright, kid, calm down.” Tony peeled the android away from him and knelt down. Swallowing his pride, he set both hands on the android’s small shoulders and made it make eye contact with him. “We’re not going to send you back to Cyberlife or your parents. You’re going to come back to the tower with me, okay? Calm down.”
Peter nodded along to his words, his LED flashing yellow.
“Come on.” Tony patted its shoulders then straightened up. He flinched when a tiny hand grasped his own, but decided to do nothing as he quickly called Happy to pick them up. He and Rhodey had a whole day planned, but like most things in the world, it had been derailed by a fucking android.
“He’s bleeding.” Rhodey commented after a few minutes of standing around waiting.
“We’ll figure it out when we get back.” Tony sighed.
“Hey, Peter?” Rhodey addressed the kid, who looked up at the sound of its name. It’s LED flashed yellow. “Do your injuries… do they hurt?”
Tony wanted to laugh. Androids didn’t feel pain, everyone knew that. But when he looked down to see its response, he didn’t expect to see it nodding.
Fuck. It had to be a malfunction in its programming, androids didn’t feel pain.
“I will be okay.” Peter said like he’d had to say it so many times before.
“You will.” Rhodey smiled at the android. “You’ll be safe with us.”
Tony looked away when the kid turned his head. He stared down the road, praying to see Happy, and sighed in relief when he saw the man’s familiar car. Technically, in this day and age, Tony didn’t even need a driver because everything was autonomous. Cars, trucks, buses, trains. There was no need for human’s to control them themselves anymore.
“What is that?” The Head of Security asked the moment Rhodey opened the back door. “Why have you got one of those things with you?”
“It needs help.” Tony replied as he helped Peter get in the car. “He’s just a kid.”
“It’s not a real kid, though.” Happy quirked an eyebrow. “It’s a machine.”
“Yes, I’m quite aware of that.” Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Just drive, would you?”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Happy sighed as he pulled away from the curb. “I’m surprised you would even let one of them near you.”
“It looks so real.” Rhodey chimed in from where he was staring at the kid, who still had a tight grip on Tony’s hand. It sat between Rhodey and Tony, huge eyes flickering between the three men, the fear evident on its face. Androids weren’t even mean to feel fear, or anything, so why was it making that face? Why had it said it was scared? “Cyberlife didn’t hold back, did they?”
“No.” Tony buckled the kid up when it was clear it wasn’t going to do it itself. “They didn’t.”
About halfway through the drive, Tony felt a weight on his side. When he looked down, the android had fallen asleep slumped against Tony, its LED a calm blue on its temple as it fisted a chunk of Tony’s sleeve in its hand. What shocked him even more was the kid’s other hand, which was being used to suck his thumb.
It was so human.
Now that the thing was asleep, or whatever it was doing, the reality of the situation fully set in.
What had he gotten himself into this time?
-
Tony found himself carrying the android up to his lab, unsure where else to take it. Rhodey followed him as he did so, his concerned eyes focussed on the limp android in Tony’s arms.
It was still sucking its thumb, its head rested in the crook of Tony’s neck. It hadn’t moved when Tony lifted it up, and if it wasn’t for the LED, he might’ve thought the thing was broken or had shut down.
By the time he laid the kid on the couch in his workshop, Tony was at a loss of what to do.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with it, Rhodey?” Tony asked for the umpteenth time that day. “I can’t stand these things. The child androids… they’re so much worse than the usuals. Look at it.”
Rhodey did, and his face fell. “He looks just like a real child.”
“It’s fucked up.” Tony snapped. “Cyberlife makes these things, gives them fucking feelings, ships them out for families only to get thrown away like trash or abused. Where is the line between child abuse of a real kid and an android?”
“I thought you hated androids?” Rhodey asked, and when Tony looked at him, the man’s eyebrows were raised.
“I do. What does that have to do with anything?”
Rhodey stared at him for a long, hard moment before he shrugged. “Don’t worry.”
Tony regarded Rhodey for a few more seconds before he turned back to the android. In the time they had been talking, Peter’s LED had switched from blue to yellow.
“Is it meant to be that colour when it’s sleeping?” Tony pointed to the LED.
“I don’t think so.” Rhodey replied. “Malfunction, maybe? Can FRIDAY to scan him?”
“She can, but she wasn’t programmed for something like this. She wouldn’t be able to find the direct cause of the malfunction.” Tony’s eyes never left the little flickering light. Every now and then, a flash of red would break through the yellow. “I hate to admit it, but she’s nowhere near as advanced as these things. Even a kid version. I don’t even know how they work or how to fix them when they break.”
“Should we wake him up?” Rhodey asked as they watched Peter’s eyebrows start to furrow in discomfort. “He doesn’t look… happy.”
“I should have left it.” Tony was starting to stress. “What if it explodes or something? Then what do we do?”
“Call Cyberlife?”
“Fuck.”
Rhodey and Tony watched on, helpless as the little android started to shift. If Tony didn’t know any better, he’d say the kid was having a nightmare.
But androids couldn’t have nightmares, right?
Right?
The longer they watched the fidgeting machine, the more Tony started to doubt everything he knew about androids.
He didn’t have much longer to think about a solution before the android shot up with a cry, tears already starting to streak down its face as its eyes shot open. Its LED was bright red again, brown eyes darting around the room as it panicked.
“Calm down, kid.” Tony tried, both hands raised to show he wasn’t a threat. “No one here is going to hurt you.”
Peter stared at him as he spoke, recognition filling his features. After a few agonising minutes, it was able to calm itself down enough to form coherent sentences.
“I’m sorry.” Was the first thing it said. “I didn’t mean to.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Rhodey spoke before Tony could. “What happened?”
“I had… a nightmare. I’m… I’m not meant to have nightmares, I know, but I swear I didn’t mean to!”
Tony blinked.
There was no way this pint sized android had just told him it had a nightmare.
The more Tony stuck around, the more he wanted to jump off of the tower.
Canada looked real nice right now.
“Whatever you were dreaming about, it's not here. You’re here with Tony and I. You’re safe, kiddo.” Tony wished he could talk to it like Rhodey could. “Do you want to tell us a bit more about yourself? It would help us get to know you better and find a way to help you.”
Peter looked between them for a moment before he nodded. Tony watched in awe as the little android shuffled over to Tony and grabbed onto his sleeve with tiny fingers. Its other hand, just like it had when he was asleep, was used to suck on its fingers.
It looked nervous.
Human.
“Okay.” Peter shifted even closer to Tony.
“That’s good.” Rhodey smiled, though it wobbled when he met Tony’s eyes. “What’s your full name, Peter?”
Tony was about to but in and say the kid was an android, they didn’t have a full names, but he was cut off before he could even open his mouth.
“Peter Benjamin Parker.”
Tony took back what he was about to say. He knew that some androids were given first names by their human owners, but he’d never heard of one having a middle and last name. That was weird in itself, and Tony felt his curiosity grow.
“What about your parents? Do you know their names?”
From how close the android was sat to him, Tony felt the way it tensed up at the mention of its parents.
There it was again. The fear.
It unsettled Tony. Cyberlife had given these things feelings and free thought. How could they think that was a good idea?
Unless this android in particular had a malfunction.
“Um…” Peter trailed. “Mary and Richard P-Parker.”
“Very good.” Rhodey smiled encouragingly. “How old are you?”
This question seemed to stump the android. He looked to Tony as if asking for help, then look down at its lap with a frown. It took a long time, but finally, the kid looked up and started to speak.
“I’m m-meant to be five.” Peter whispered.
“Meant to be?” Tony asked, confused by the wording.
“Mummy and Daddy told me I was five.” Was five. Was. None of this made any sense. “I am five.”
“Do you go to school? Do you have any friends? Pets? Hobbies?” Tony was about to cut Rhodey off because of the mound of questions, but stopped when he saw the android actually considering the questions. “Anything, kid?”
“No.” Peter looked at them like it was going to be hit for saying so. “Mummy and Daddy made me stay in the house.”
“Oh.” Rhodey looked stumped. “That wasn’t okay of them, was it?”
Peter shrugged. “They told me to. They said it would make them love me.”
An android with emotional baggage. A kid android with emotions. A fucking kid android in Tony’s lab, clinging onto him, terrified. A terrified machine.
“Alright. That’s enough questions for now.” Rhodey said when the room remained silent, then turned to Tony. “What now?”
“FRIDAY.” Tony called. “Bring up files for Mary, Richard and Peter Parker.”
“Already prepared, Sir.” Peter jumped at the sound of the AI’s voice. “Would you like to take a look at them now?”
“Yes.” Tony watched Peter as it looked wildly around the room for the source of the voice. “She’s an AI, kid.”
“AI.” Peter repeated. “Android?”
“Somewhat. She doesn’t have a body like you lot do.”
The android considered the words before it nodded like it understood.
Or maybe it did understand. Tony really should have researched these things more in depth.
Who could blame him, though? The last thing Tony expected he would do during his Saturday was pick up a stray, dirty android off of the street.
Speaking of dirty, Tony’s eyebrows raised at the sight of Peter. The blue blood that had been there previously was almost gone, and all that remained was the dirt. Tony wanted to ask, but he decided not to. The sudden disappearance of all the blue blood could wait until later.
Waiting for him at his workbench were three files.
Mary Parker, Richard Parker and Peter Parker.
Out of sheer curiosity, Tony moved to the android’s file first, only to see that there were two. He clicked on the one that FRIDAY offered first.
Peter Benjamin Parker
Date of birth August 10, 2028
Deceased April 5, 2034
Cause of death: Unknown
Tony stared at the picture of Peter, the real Peter, with a slack jaw.
They looked identical.
Quickly, he moved onto the next file.
Model ?????
Serial#: ??? ??? ???
Date of release: May 18th, 2038
Prototype android manufactured in Detroit’s Cyberlife Tower to replicate Peter Benjamin Parker, aged 5 at time of death. Shares similarities to the YK500 and YK400 model androids, however appears to be equipped with more childish features and mannerisms.
The kid was a prototype android. No wonder Tony hadn’t seen one before.
There was only one of them.
Manufactured in May 2038.
It was the beginning of November now, which meant this thing was technically only five to six months old.
“What is it?” Rhodey asked as he walked over. Tony glanced at the android, who was watching them, his huge eyes peering over the couch. When their eyes met, the android looked guilty at being caught, and quickly turned away and sat back down. “Tony?”
“It’s a prototype. Look.” Tony gestured to the real Peter’s file. “Their son died in 2034. He was five. An android was made to replace him, literally, in May this year. They’re identical.”
“Shit.” Rhodey looked mortified. “The more we dig into this the worse it gets.”
Tony nodded in agreement as he swiped Peter’s files aside and opened up his parents. He skimmed over their birth dates, uncaring for how old they were.
Mary Parker
Scientist and technician at Cyberlife Tower, Detroit, Michigan
Richard Parker
Scientist and technician at Cyberlife Tower, Detroit, Michigan
“They’re scientists at Cyberlife.” Tony didn’t miss the way Peter’s head shot out from behind the couch again at the mention of Cyberlife. “These people worked for them. There’s just as good of a chance that they made him- it.”
“Why would they try to hurt it, then?” Rhodey asked as he read through the rest of the files. “If they made it to replicate their dead son, why would they want to destroy it?”
“I don’t know.” Tony sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. It was then that he realised he hadn’t brought his bag of alcohol with him, not even to Happy’s car. He must’ve left it on the street from the shock of the android crashing into him. “I need a drink.”
“No, you don’t.” Rhodey snapped. Tony wouldn’t be surprised if the man noticed he’d dropped the bag and didn’t tell him on purpose. “What you need to do is figure out what you’re going to do with this android. I don’t know if he can feel things like we do, but something’s off. It’s scared, Tony.”
“I’ll have FRIDAY look into it.” Tony relented with a groan. “It can stay here for the time being.”
“Alright.” Rhodey looked appeased. “I have to get back to work, I’ll be back tonight.”
“You’re leaving me with it!?” Tony exclaimed. “You know I can’t even look after real kids, and you know I can’t stand these things. What am I supposed to do?”
“You’ll be fine, Tony.” Rhodey patted his shoulder. “He just wants to be safe. You keep forgetting it was made to replicate a real child. Clean him up and give him something to play with, it’ll be fine.”
“Fine. But if it goes wrong, it’s your fault.”
“Sure, whatever. Bye, Tony.”
With that, Rhodey left the lab, and Tony was left alone with the android.
Tony was prepared to ignore the things existence, but of course, the android hopped off the couch and slowly approached him. Dirt still covered its face and hair which made the scene all the more disturbing. Even though the rest of the blue blood had disappeared, more had started to leak from a cut on Peter’s cheek.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark.” The android stood in front of him with his hands behind his back, as if he had been taught to do that. “I know I’m n-not n-normal. Mummy and Daddy always said I wasn’t good enough. I k-know I’m n-not real. If you want to s-send me b-back to Cyberlife, it’s okay.”
Peter’s stutters weren’t like human stutters. Tony could hear the slight static glitch each time, which only furthered his theory that the android was malfunctioning.
“I thought you didn’t want to go back to Cyberlife?”
“I don’t.” Peter sniffed. His LED went red. “B-but you hate me.”
Why did Cyberlife have to make their androids so fucking real? The longer Peter talked in that small, broken tone, the more he his heart clenched violently in his chest and the more he struggled to believe that the child in front of him was merely made of wires, blue blood and biocomponents.
“Alright, listen, kid.” Tony sighed and hid the files from view in case the kid could read. “I’ve never… liked your kind. You scare me. This is all new for me, and I’m trying, I really am, but it’s hard. Do you even understand what I’m saying right now?”
Peter’s LED flashed yellow as he listened to what Tony was saying.
“I understand.”
“I’m not sending you back to Cyberlife.” Tony rested his hand on the android’s small shoulder. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you, but I’ll figure it out. You won’t be going back to Cyberlife or your parents. Okay?”
“Okay.” Peter latched onto his sleeve. “T-Thank you, Mr. Stark.”
“Just call me Tony.” He almost sighed. “Come on then, I’ll clean you up a bit.”
Tony stood and offered his hand. The kid took it with hesitancy and walked close to him as they made their way to the small bathroom attached to Tony’s lab. He had the android sit on the bench beside the sink as he grabbed a clean cloth and ran it under the water.
He didn’t know if androids could even feel warm or cold, but he used warm water either way and turned back to the kid.
“FRIDAY, collect as much information as you can about the Cyberlife Tower in Detroit.” Tony said as he started to rub at the dirt and blood on the android’s face. Peter stared directly at him with watery eyes as he rubbed over one of the bloody spots, almost like he was in pain. “Find anything you can about any other possible prototypes and the work the Parker’s have done.”
“Right away, Boss.” FRIDAY replied immediately. “I have ordered children’s clothing and toys for Young Peter. They should arrive tomorrow morning.”
Tony wanted to reprimand his AI, but realised it had been a good decision.
“Have you always lived in New York, kid?” Tony asked as he tried to scrub away the blue blood that had leaked from the cut.
“N-no. Mummy and Daddy moved a m-month ago.”
“Interesting.” Tony muttered. “Did you know any other… androids?”
Peter took longer to answer. “Yes.”
“Really?” Tony frowned at the sight of the cut on the androids cheek. He decided to ignore it for the moment and continued to clean the rest of its face, which looked remarkably different without all of the grime. Now, he really looked like the human he was supposed to replicate. “Where are they now?”
“Dead.” Peter’s lower lip wobbled. “Daddy destroyed them.”
“Shit.” Tony’s stomach turned. This was getting more and more concerning and disturbing with the more questions he asked. “Do you know why he would do that?”
“He was mad.” Tears started to fall as it spoke. “Daddy didn’t l-like me because I w-wasn’t good enough. H-he kept trying to f-fix me but I was never g-good enough to be like the real Petey. They tried to h-help me and Daddy broke them.”
It just had to get worse.
The thing knew. The thing knew it was a replacement. Petey must’ve been a nickname given to the real Peter.
Tony didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing and continued to wipe the dirt away. By the time he was done and the android’s face was clean, his next problem arose. The hair and clothes.
After a moment of consideration, he decided that was going to be something he would worry about that tomorrow. Tony settled on taking of the one shoe that Peter had and tossed it into the trash.
“Come on, kid.” Tony helped the android down from the bench. “I’ll give you something to do.”
Tony led the kid over to an empty workbench and shoved its contents away and out of reach. After a few minutes of venturing around the lab for kid friendly things, which he didn’t have much of, he placed what he found in front of the kid.
“You can make something if you want.” Tony watched the android as it poked at the pieces of scrap metal. He doubted Peter would be able to make anything out of the scraps Tony had given him, but hopefully it distracted it for a while. “Okay?”
“Okay, Mr. Stark.”
Tony nodded and ignored the formal title.
“What do you have for me Fri?” Tony asked as he sat down at his own bench.
Several files of information appeared in front of him. Some on Cyberlife Tower, others on other known prototypes and the projects that the Parker’s were, or had been, working on.
Founded by Elijah Kamski, Cyberlife produces all kinds of androids from domestic assistants to teachers, doctors, police officers and even soldiers. Based in Detroit, they own Cyberlife Tower and five stores across the city. In 2018, Kamski resigned as CEO and left Cyberlife and has been rumoured since to live a luxurious life in the outskirts of Detroit with his own creation, androids.
Tony had never really read into Cyberlife’s background or Elijah Kamski himself. The more he read about the company, the more he couldn’t decide whether he should be amazed or disturbed. A Cyberlife zoo was even due to open on the fifth of November. Tomorrow.
The next thing that caught Tony’s eye was the RK800 prototype.
An android that was made to work with the police force, designed to investigate both android and non-android cases. The RK800 was an advanced prototype that could take samples in real time, among many other things that Tony found a little eyebrow raising.
However, there was one word that came with the RK800 file that stuck with him.
Deviancy.
Back in August, an android took a kid hostage. The RK800 was the negotiator, and ended up saving the kid by destroying both itself and the other android. From the little footage he had, the RK800 had pushed the girl away from the ledge and fallen to its death off the side of the building. The android that had held the child hostage was apparently a deviant.
The thought of androids breaking free of their programming, ignoring their human owners or even hurting their them scared Tony shitless. As he researched more into the hostage situation and saw the images of the destroyed PL600, the more concerned he grew. If the RK800 was specifically made to assist in deviant situations, did that mean Cyberlife expected there to be more deviants?
Tony spared a quick glance over to Peter, who seemed to be completely distracted by the pieces of metal he’d given it.
Could it be a deviant?
Tony couldn’t make assumptions like that just yet.
“Keep track of all known deviant cases.” Tony announced to FRIDAY as he turned away from the kid to find the Parker’s files. “Look out for any known activity of the RK800, too.”
From the way Tony was sitting, he missed the way Peter’s head perked up at the mention of the RK800.
“Of course, Boss.”
From there, Tony opened the Parker’s files again and started to flick through them.
Mary and Richard Parker were both heavily involved in the manufacturing of Cyberlife’s androids, however the only one they produced with their full influence was Peter. The android with an unknown serial number and model.
This thing was one of a kind, and somehow it had ended up in Tony’s tower.
Tony ended up reading for hours. Peter remained silent at the workbench aside from the occasional sounds of metal hitting metal.
He found himself lost in a trance until Pepper arrived.
“Tony?” She exclaimed so loudly that the android jolted. Tony watched as the android scrambled out of his chair and ran over to Tony to hide behind him. “What- why is there a kid here? What did you do!?”
Behind him, the android trembled and clung onto his shirt.
“Stop yelling.” Tony hissed when he noticed the violent red had returned to its LED. “You’re scaring it.”
“It!?” Pepper seemed horrified. “Tony-”
“It’s an android.” Tony rushed out before she could reprimand him some more.
“An android.” Pepper repeated. She approached them, her expression shocked. “Why do you have an android here? I thought you-”
“Wait.” Tony interrupted her barrage of questions. He turned to the android, who looked tearful, and was obviously scared of Pepper. An android. Scared. “Pepper’s nice, kid. She won’t hurt you.”
Peter looked at Pepper for a long time, peering around Tony to do so. Eventually, it let Tony pull it in sight so Pepper could see.
“What’s its name?” Pepper asked, her expression softening. “Why is it here?”
“This is Peter.” Tony patted the android’s shoulder. “It ran into me in the street. He needed help.”
“Hello, Peter.” Pepper knelt down to the android’s level. Pepper had never really stated her opinion on androids, but Tony had been sure she shared at least a little of his opinion on them. From what he was seeing now, Pepper didn’t mind them. At least, she didn’t seem to mind the kid androids. “I’m Pepper.”
“Hello Pepper.” Peter muttered, fingers entering his mouth.
That nervous habit again.
Androids weren’t supposed to have nervous habits.
The word deviant floated through his mind, but Tony pushed it away. This thing was a prototype, so maybe it was in its programming. The file had said that it was supposed to have more childish mannerisms than the other kid androids.
Pepper reached out, her movements slow and deliberate as she caressed the android’s face. She ran her thumb over the LED, which shone red the moment she raised her hand. Pepper smiled softly, however it seemed rather strained as she examined the LED with careful fingers.
“They look so real.” Pepper sighed as she pulled away. “Why is it here, Tony?”
“It can’t go back to Cyberlife.” Peter, predictably, tensed at the mention of the company. “His parents abused him, Pep. Look at the state of it. They work at Cyberlife, they made him.”
Pepper looked at him for a long time. Tony was about to ask if he had something on his face, but she just shook her head with a smile.
Tony wished he knew what she was thinking.
“I don’t think there’s any use trying to change your mind. I came here to talk to you about all the meetings you’ve missed over the past few weeks.” Pepper straightened and clasped her hands in front of her. She looked around the room for a moment, before her eyes settled on something. “What’s that?”
Tony followed her line of vision, which ended up on the bench he had Peter work at. Sat on top of it was what looked like a robot.
Huh.
“Did you make that?” Tony turned to Peter, who stood beside him shifting from foot to foot. When it nodded, Tony made his way over to the small object and picked it up. It wasn’t functional, given that Tony hadn’t given the parts for that, but it was definitely shaped like a robot. “Pretty cool.”
He didn’t expect the android to beam from the praise. Looks like it didn’t get praised very often.
Tony was just about to ask himself how a kid could make something like this within a few hours, then remembered that what he was looking at wasn’t a human.
“I like robots.” Tony raised his eyebrows at the sentence.
“Well of course you do. You are one.” Peter didn’t even looked phased by the comment. The android made its way over and grabbed the robot from Tony’s hand with gentle ease. “You can keep that.”
“I can?” Peter gaped. “For me?”
“‘Course. You made it, it’s yours.”
At some point during their conversation, Pepper slipped out of the room. Looks like they’d be talking about those meetings at a later date, thankfully.
“Wow.” Peter hugged its robot to his chest. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”
Tony sighed. “No worries.”
Until at least nine in the evening, Tony continued to tear through piles upon piles of information on Cyberlife, the RK800 and reported deviancy around the country. He gave the android more metal to play with, and was less surprised when he checked on it only to see it had made another robot. This one was shaped differently, definitely different from the first one, and the kid seemed proud of it.
Soon enough, Tony noticed that the android’s eyes were drooping.
It was tired. It really did simulate everything human children did, didn’t it?
“Come on.” Tony stood and offered his hand. Peter blinked at him before it slid off the chair and placed its tiny hand in his. Its LED was blue, which told Tony it was calm right now, and he couldn’t help but be relieved. “You can have a spare room in the penthouse.”
Peter nodded and let Tony lead it over to the lift.
As a last minute thought, Tony snagged an old shirt from his room as they walked past after leaving the lift.
“Here, you can change into this.” Tony offered the shirt once they stepped into the guest room that was never used. “Can you clean yourself? Your hairs a mess.”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Tony gestured to the bathroom connected to the bedroom. “There’s a shower in there. I’ll be back. Change into that after you’re done.”
Tony waited about twenty minutes before he hesitantly peeked his head back into the guest bedroom. He was surprised to see that the kid was already in bed, covers pulled to its chin, the robot placed on the bedside table next to the lamp.
Tony stalled for a moment, unsure what sight he had been expecting to begin with, then shook himself out of the shock and sat down on the side of the bed.
The way the android was snuggled into the covers made it look so incredibly human, to the point where he was hard to look at. The LED was the most distracting.
“Thank you for helping me, Mr. Stark.” Peter clung onto Tony’s sleeve again, something he had done multiple times since Tony and Rhodey found him. “Even if I’m just a stupid android.”
Tony let out a surprised bark of laughter.
“Yeah, you’re an android, kid.” Tony rushed when the smile dropped from Peter’s face. “But you’re not stupid. You’re probably even smarter than me.”
“But I’m not real.” Peter’s LED turned yellow. “I wish I could be like the real Peter. Then Mummy and Daddy would love me.”
Deviant.
Tony said nothing and just frowned instead.
After a while, the android’s eyes fell shut, and the LED returned to blue. Tony couldn’t help but run his finger over the small device just like Pepper had hours before, surprised when he didn’t even feel a bump where it rested. It was just there working as a branding to remind Tony that he was caring for an android.
Tony sighed and buried his face in his hands.
What had he just signed himself up for?