CH 17: Recruiting the Scientists

A/N: Proofreader has exams today, so he wasn't able to proofread the chap, so please bear the mistakes. And sorry for the delay in uploading the chapter.

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After Fury had left, Marcus didn't waste any time scanning his house for transmitters or any kind of bugging. He finally took a sigh of relief after removing everything Shield and Hydra had planted in his absence.

He had also called his servants and guards back and the mansion was shining again in a day's work.

Marcus had planned to meet Killian and Maya today and acquire the company itself, either by hook or crook.

"Uncle, ready up, we have a meeting to attend."

"What? Can I not even rest for a while after fighting so much? And when did I become your bodyguard?"

"C'mon now, we don't have time, hurry up."

"You kid! You're just ignoring my questions now."

This time, instead of saying anything Marcus just gestured for Barnes to hurry up by tapping on his wristwatch.

"Alright, fine."

After a few minutes, Barnes was ready after wearing a mark I Armor.

"This one feels clumsy and restricting, unlike the other one you gave me before."

"Well, that's only because the parameters for this one aren't set according to your superhuman strength and because it was the first prototype it hasn't got that much dexterity or agility."

"Well, I just hope I don't have to fight wearing this thing."

Marcus smiled and said, "Don't worry, you won't have to, today's meeting is going to be peaceful."

After their conversation, they both got in the armored SUV and the driver drove them to their intended location. It was a small building which was located a little far away from the main area of New York.

Marcus and Barnes got out of the SUV and opened the front gate of the building where a receptionist was sitting at the front desk.

When the door opened, she lifted her head to look at the visitors and was surprised when she found out it was the young genius who had been renowned for his looks and inventions.

In the recent decade, Hunt Industries had released many new products including video game consoles and smartphones but because the prices were a little high, they were only a multi-million dollar industry.

But everybody knew where these inventions came from, it was from the brains of Marcus Hunt, he had changed the course of his family company from leather and textiles to technological innovations.

And the recent news of him making power Armor for the military, boosted his company's share prices overnight to make it reach the category of a multi-billion dollar company.

She had always wanted to work there, as she had heard of the generous pay and the facilities provided to the employees but couldn't because the seats were filled faster than the time it took her to apply.

But seeing the head of such a big company in front of her made her excited, she hurriedly stood up and welcomed him in.

"Sir, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, tell Mr. Aldrich Killian that I am here for an important meeting."

"Understood, sir."

The receptionist called Killian and told him that the CEO of the Hunt industries was here to meet him for an important meeting.

Just a few seconds after she had put down the phone, the door of the main office swung open on the second floor and the employees could see their boss hurriedly making his way to the elevator.

Marcus didn't have to wait longer than 40 seconds before Killian stepped out of the elevator and appeared in front of them with a smile on his face which faltered a little at the sight of the tall armored man behind Marcus.

Marcus noticed this and said with a smile, "Don't worry Mr. Killian, this is just my bodyguard."

Then Marcus turned towards Barnes and said, "You can wait in the car, for now, Mr. Killian and I have some important things to discuss."

Barnes cursed Marcus in his heart, 'why did you bring me when you didn't even need me? Were you jealous that I could have rested today and you couldn't? Damn you!'

But on the outside, he just nodded and went back to the car.

"Alright, Mr. Killian, let's proceed somewhere a little more private, in your office perhaps," Marcus suggested.

"Yes, yes of course."

Killian and Marcus used the elevator to get to the second floor and Killian's office.

"To tell you the truth Mr. Marcus, I have always wanted to contact you. Since the day you announced that your company was going to open up a new biological research division, unfortunately, I have been busy with research."

"I appreciate your honesty, Mr. Killian, by the way, would you mind telling me about this research of yours?"

"Oh, that…that's kind of confidential."

"Don't worry, I can sign a non-disclosure agreement if you want. I am just really interested."

"Well, if you say so. Actually, I have been researching, what I call, Extremis. Extremis enhances the user's physiology by rewriting their DNA. It harnesses the body's bio-electricity and uses it to activate parts of the brain that govern repair and chemically recode them. This can allow Extremis to hack into the basic operating system of living organisms. If the user's body chooses to accept it, they will gain regenerative healing abilities, enabling it to heal all wounds, including previously-amputated limbs or even physiological damage. But that is still just a concept, we haven't been able to make it stable yet, and we also need more funds to keep our research going."

"Hmm, that's quite interesting. So interesting in fact that I would like to fund your research even further and give you better facilities to perform your research. So, I have a proposal: I want to acquire your company, and you can keep working on your research. What do you say?"

"Acquisition? Umm… I am not so sure about that. The thing is, we want to have the freedom of research but working under someone else…that's something we haven't thought of."

"Oh, really…Let's see."

Marcus took out a pen from his pocket and instantly jammed it in Killian's neck. The pen was a syringe, which had instant-acting anesthesia contained in it.

The injection worked instantly and Marcus caught Killian's unconscious body and laid him down on the sofa.

"Alright, let's see if you say the same thing in a day or not."

Marcus used his telepathy and entered Killian's mind, and after scouring through his memories and finding all about his research and its status, he proceeded to plant a seed of trust inside his subconscious.

And after his work was done, he deleted the most recent memory of getting injected by him and returned back to his body. Then he took out the pen injection and proceeded to jam the other end into Killian's neck.

Which caused Killian to wake up after a few seconds, "Huh? What happened to me?"

"You suddenly fell unconscious, so I laid you down on the sofa. I think your unrelenting research is not helping your health, take a little rest from time to time. Oh, and here is my card, call me whenever you have thought about my proposal."

After saying those things Marcus left Killian's office and went back to his car.

"So, you are done here?"

"Yeah, the meeting was successful, he agreed to my proposal pretty easily."

"Well, good for you, I guess."

"Now, Uncle, you don't need to be so frustrated. Just one more place and then we are done for today and then you can be the lazy ass you want to be."

"Hey! It's not that I am being lazy, it's just…I want to play Doom. There's a boss level that I haven't beaten yet."

"Ohhh! I see now, don't worry tho, I will play with you when we get back."

Marcus consoled Barnes and ordered his driver to drive to another location, which they reached after half an hour.

This time, the meeting was with Dr. Curt Connors, due to HYDRA's attack Marcus had already delayed his meeting with Dr. Connors by a week.

"Dr. Connors, Nice meeting you. Sorry for the delay in the meeting. Unfortunately, it was due to important circumstances, I hope you haven't taken that to heart."

Marcus put forward his hands for a greeting and Connors took it happily, "The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Marcus. I can understand that handling such a big company has its complications and you are doing so at such a young age, I don't mind at all."

"I am glad, Dr. Connors. My reason to meet you was to personally recruit you as the Chief Researcher of the genetic research division of my company. I have read your papers and I was quite impressed with your thesis of using animal or reptilian DNA, specifically speaking, and merging it with a human's to cure disabilities."

Connors was shocked, to say the least. All of this was really above his expectations, he never thought he would be asked to become the Chief Researcher for such a prestigious company.

He smiled brightly as he quickly accepted the offer, mainly because he knew that he would get enough funds to continue his research and maybe even cure his arms in the near future.

For a long time, he had been working on a serum that was made by splicing and mixing the DNA of Lizards and his own. But he wasn't able to complete it because neither did he have enough time nor money for his research.

But joining the company would give him like-minded associates to work with and enough funds and time for him to keep working on his serum formula.

"I will be happy to join your company, sir…"

After Connors had agreed, Marcus completed the pleasantries and returned home with Barnes.

"Uncle, let's go and take care of the boss you were talking about."

Marcus folded up his sleeves and picked up the…controller.