Chapter 91: Performance Review

[Third Person's PoV] 

Tony and Melissa were back home after their second day interning with Stars and Stripes. Having just returned from spending time with their families, they now sat in their lab, eager to dive back into their work.

"So, shall we go over Mark 39?" Tony asked, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

"Isn't Mei supposed to arrive any minute now?" Melissa questioned, glancing at the clock, uncertain if they had enough time.

"Yeah, but this won't take long," Tony replied, waving off her concerns. "We're just looking at the nanosuit's performance and what could be improved."

Melissa shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "If you say so. Do you want to start?"

"Sure. For starters, the suit responds incredibly quickly to mental commands. When Mei caused that misfire, I managed to cover my hand and catch the arrow in seconds. The reaction time is practically instantaneous."

Melissa nodded thoughtfully. "I have to say, I'm impressed with the Energy Converter you integrated into the suit. You based it off Momo's quirk, didn't you?"

Tony grinned. "Yeah, I've been studying Momo's quirk for a few years now, and it really helped me out. The Energy Converter uses energy to create things, but instead of generating objects like Momo, it synthesizes chemical elements. With just a quick mental command, you can create practically anything."

"You know, you could have designed an entire suit around that alone. The potential is insane," Melissa said, her tone filled with admiration. "At least now, if we need to put out a fire, we won't need the suits with water tanks. We can just convert the energy into hydrogen and 2 oxygen, and problem solved."

Tony's eyes widened as he stroked his chin in thought. "Damn… I could make a whole hydrogen bomb with the Energy Converter."

Melissa shot him a sharp look. "Tony… don't even think about it."

He gave her a mischievous smile. "But it could be useful, couldn't it?"

"Useful for what? Killing us all?" she retorted, crossing her arms and giving him a stern glare.

"Alright, alright, no bombs..." Tony replied with a hint of sadness.

Melissa shook her head in exasperation until she heard Tony mutter under his breath, "For now..."

"Moving on," Melissa said, eager to change the subject. "We haven't really had anyone damage the suits, so we can't comment on their regenerative properties."

"And I say that's a good thing. If no one's been able to damage them, we must be doing a mighty good job," Tony replied with a grin.

"That, I can agree with," Melissa nodded.

"Wait, can we revisit the Energy Converter for a moment? You mentioned making it into a standalone suit, and honestly, that's not a bad idea—a suit fully focused on the elemental aspect."

"What's the point? Don't we already have that in our Nanotech suit?" Melissa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but that suit is centered around Nanotechnology, with the Converter as an added bonus. This one would be the opposite—centered around the Converter, with the Nanotech as the bonus. I'll call it Mark 40: The Elemental King Suit."

"Mark 41," Melissa corrected.

"What?"

"Mark 41," she repeated, "I'm already working on the Mark 40 suit. I'm just ironing out some details, and I should be done by tomorrow. It's about something I've been researching and studying. This one's a milestone, so it deserves to be Mark 40," Melissa said proudly.

"Alright then, it'll be Mark 41. And funnily enough, I already have an idea for Mark 42 as well," Tony said with a smirk.

"Already? We haven't even built Mark 40 or 41, and you're already thinking about Mark 42?" Melissa shook her head. "So, what's 42 about, then?"

"That's going to be a surprise, just like your Mark 40. But I'll give you a hint—I got the idea after studying Toru's mutation in combination with something we use every day."

"Okay, now I'm interested," Melissa smiled. "So, does this mark the end of our performance review? Although, we barely did any reviewing."

Before Tony could respond, Friday interrupted their conversation. "Boss, your intern has arrived."

"I guess that answers your question. Let her in, Friday. Have her meet us down here," Tony ordered.

"Sure thing, boss."

"Have fun," Melissa said sarcastically, spinning back to her seat with a satisfied grin.

"You seriously want to do this again?" Tony asked with a straight face.

Melissa began humming loudly, swaying side to side, pretending not to hear him. "Jarvis, I'm going to need your help going over these equations to make sure they're correct."

"Of course, Madame," Jarvis responded.

Tony rolled his eyes as Mei popped up into their lab once more. "Your favorite intern is here to learn some more! Let's make some babies!! Woohoo!"

*Snap*

They all turned towards the sound and found Melissa holding a broken stylus. "Oops, I guess I don't know my own strength anymore."

"..." 

'Those were made using fortified metal…' Tony thought.

"Hey, Melissa!" Mei greeted with a charming smile and a wave.

'Ugh, now I feel guilty about getting mad—she's so innocent…' Melissa thought to herself before greeting Mei back.

"Alright, boss! What will your favorite intern learn today?" Mei asked, practically glowing with excitement.

"What favorite intern? You're my only intern," Tony scoffed. "And today, I'm going to teach you about internal structure, planning, energy efficiency, and much more, yesterday was more of an introduction, today is when the real learning begins" 

Mei's eyes sparkled with anticipation as Tony pulled up a holographic display. "Support items are all about enhancing a hero's abilities or compensating for their weaknesses. The trick is to make them intuitive and integrated seamlessly into their use."

He swiped his hand, revealing various designs of support items. "First, let's talk about internal structure and planning. Whether it's a simple grappling hook or a more complex exoskeleton, the internal structure is crucial. You have to consider how the item will be used, what kind of stress it'll undergo, and how to make it as efficient and effective as possible."

Tony highlighted a design for a compact energy shield. "Take this, for example. It's designed to deploy quickly and withstand heavy impacts. But it's not just about slapping on some strong material and calling it a day. The internal structure needs to distribute the force of an impact evenly to avoid weak points. That's where the planning comes in."

Mei leaned in, fascinated. "So, it's like making sure the item can handle stress without breaking or losing its functionality?"

"Exactly," Tony said, pleased with her quick grasp. "And then there's energy efficiency. A lot of support items rely on some form of energy, whether it's electricity, kinetic, or something else. You need to ensure that energy is used efficiently. Otherwise, the item might fail when it's needed the most."

He pulled up a blueprint for a portable propulsion device. "This little beauty uses kinetic energy to propel a hero in short bursts. The challenge is to make sure it provides enough power without draining too quickly. That's where material choices and design tweaks come in."

Mei's mind was racing with ideas. "So, we need to think about the energy source, how it's stored, and how it's used?"

"Bingo," Tony said with a nod. "And don't forget about user experience. A support item is no good if it's too complicated to use in the heat of battle. It needs to be intuitive, something a hero can activate or control without a second thought."

He brought up a new design for a retractable grappling hook. "This one, for instance, is designed to be operated with just a squeeze of a handle. Simple, but effective."

Mei grinned, already thinking of ways to improve it. "Got it. So, what's next?"

"Next, we're going to take these designs and start prototyping," Tony said. "You'll get hands-on with the process—tweaking designs, testing them out, and making improvements. This is where the real learning happens."

Mei's eyes lit up with excitement. "Yes! Let's do this!"

Tony chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Alright, intern, let's get to work."

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