Six months had passed.
Orion's life was now fully integrated into Stark Manor. He was awakened in the mornings by Jarvis' gentle but slightly sarcastic warnings, ate his breakfast, and spent most of his time with Tony in the lab. Each day Tony was more amazed by his son's intelligence. Orion was learning things at an incredible rate, asking questions and coming up with his own solutions.
This day was like any other day in the lab.
Orion put on his loose-fitting white lab coat, put on his glasses, and sat on his stool next to Tony as usual. Tony stood at his workbench, staring at the holographic screen and sipping his coffee.
"Jarvis," Tony said without taking his eyes off the screen, "get the materials for the experiment."
"Yes, sir," Jarvis replied and the automated compartments on the counter opened and some supplies were placed in front of them.
Orion looked at the counter and raised his eyebrows. "What are we doing today?"
Tony replied with a smile. "Today we're working on a system that can transfer energy by manipulating magnetic fields."
Orion cocked his head sideways. "Wireless energy transfer? Like Nikola Tesla tried to do?"
Tony looked at Orion proudly. "That's exactly what it is. They really made you a genius, little man."
Orion shrugged. "It's impossible to spend time with you and not learn something."
Tony grinned. "Then let's get started. But safety first."
Tony handed Orion a pair of gloves. Orion rolled his eyes but put them on anyway.
"Okay, here's the plan," Tony said, picking up a cable and pointing, "if we can transfer power efficiently from one point to another, we'll be less dependent on cables. We're going to test this in its simplest form."
Orion opened his eyes in excitement. "And how?"
Tony pointed to a small device on the table. "This little transceiver system will allow us to send energy wirelessly. The problem is that the power loss is too high at the moment."
Orion studied the device carefully. "If we optimize the routing of the electromagnetic waves, we can reduce the loss."
Tony looked at him with a puzzled expression. "You're kidding, right?"
Orion looked sideways at Tony. "What?"
Tony laughed and patted Orion on the shoulder. "You really are smarter than most adults your age."
Orion smiled slightly. "So how do we do this?"
Tony showed the data and changed some parameters on his screen. "Right now the wave propagation is erratic. To stabilize it, we need to synchronize the resonant frequencies."
Orion quickly grabbed a pen and notebook and began making notes. "If we optimize the coil inside the receiver, we may be able to minimize the wave drift."
Tony nodded. "Absolutely. Let's try it."
Father and son worked for hours in the lab. Sometimes Orion put the circuits together with his tiny hands, sometimes he did the calculations. Tony taught Orion and let him test the solutions he came up with.
After a while there was a noticeable improvement in the power transfer of the device.
Orion looked at the screen excitedly. "Did we do it?"
Tony pushed up his glasses and studied the data. "Power loss is down from 35 percent to 10 percent. It's not perfect, but it's a big improvement."
Orion smiled. "So we need to run more tests?"
Tony winked. "That's right, little genius. Science is all about patience."
Orion turned to Tony and smiled warmly. "I like doing science. Especially working with you."
Tony felt his chest swell at Orion's words.
"That's the best part for me too," Tony said.
It was an ordinary day for them. But ordinary days made for the most special moments.
When Tony left the lab and went to the kitchen, he saw that Pepper had already made her coffee and was sitting at the kitchen island. She was reading and sipping her coffee, a busy to-do list open on the tablet screen above the table.
Tony reached for the coffeemaker to get a cup of coffee. "Working at this hour, Miss Potts? It must be against labor laws to work while eating breakfast."
Pepper spoke without taking her eyes off the screen. "I wonder if I'm ready to argue with a genius immersed in scientific experiments at this time of morning."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Interesting. What are we going to argue about?"
Pepper finally looked up at him, her eyes a little tired but determined. "Orion has to go to school, Mr. Stark."
Tony took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. "No, he doesn't."
Pepper crossed her arms over her chest. "He needs an education."
Tony put down his coffee and raised his hands defensively. "He's being educated! By the smartest man in the world himself."
Pepper rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you."
Tony smiled. "Exactly."
Pepper took a deep breath. "Mr. Stark, Orion needs to be socialized. He really has no contact with the outside world."
Tony shrugged. "He spent some time with a boy the other day. Henry, I think it was, am I remembering wrong?"
Pepper glared at him. "A few hours with an eight-year-old is not enough."
Tony rolled his eyes. "I think it is. He already said he didn't like childish things."
Pepper took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Look, Mr. Stark. Orion needs to be around people his own age. He needs to have a normal childhood."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Normal? Miss Potts, a few weeks ago this boy was developing energy transfer through electromagnetic wave guidance. I thought a normal kid would be working on LEGO building, but my son is working on energy transfer. So, with all due respect, I don't think he's normal."
Pepper narrowed her eyes. "Mr. Stark, this isn't about him being a genius. There are things children learn by playing. He needs to develop his emotional intelligence. Cooperation, friendship, competition..."
Tony leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "And he's going to learn all that in school? Because as far as I know, the basic principle of school is 'memorize, test, forget'."
Pepper rolled her eyes. "You're exaggerating."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Me? Think about it, Miss Potts. What Orion will learn there in a few hours, he's already learning here, helping me."
Pepper pointed a finger at Tony. "But the school won't just teach him academics. It will also teach him about social life."
Tony shook his head from side to side. "Social life? Don't you know how cruel kids can be at school? Do you remember how smart kids were treated at that age? I do, and I'm still traumatized by it."
Pepper raised her eyebrows. "You?"
Tony touched his chest dramatically. "Yes, me! One day in school I realized that everyone else was learning slower than me, and my life changed. I was alone, Miss Potts. Because nobody thought like me."
Pepper placed her hands on her waist. "That's no excuse for not going to school."
Tony took a deep breath and put down his glass. "Miss Potts, Orion is an individual. You can't expect us to take a child and force him into a certain mold."
Pepper hesitated for a moment, but didn't give up. "He may be an individual, but he's still a child. Have you considered if he has a choice?"
Just then Orion came in.
"What's going on?" he said, approaching the table. "They're arguing."
Tony smiled. "No, we're having a civilized exchange of ideas."
Orion looked at him suspiciously. "Jarvis, were they arguing?"
Jarvis' voice was heard immediately. "The discussion literally took place."
Orion took a deep breath. "Okay. What's this about?"
Pepper turned to Orion. "Do you want to go to school?"
Orion tilted his head thoughtfully. "Actually... No."
Pepper flinched slightly. "Why not?"
Orion shrugged. "Because I learn more here and I enjoy working with my father."
Tony raised his eyebrows in pride. "See? The boy made his own choice."
Pepper glared at Tony.
Orion continued. "But... maybe sometimes it's nice to go out and spend time with my peers. But sitting in a classroom for hours listening to the same thing seems like a waste of time to me."
Pepper was surprised. "Have you really thought about that?"
Orion nodded. "Yes, I have. The best way for me is practical learning. But there may be other ways to make friends."
Pepper was silent for a moment, then turned to Tony. "I didn't expect that."
Tony shrugged. "My son is a smart kid. He can make his own decisions."
Pepper took a deep breath. "Okay. Then we have to find a solution. Instead of forcing him to go to school, we can find other ways for him to socialize."
Tony smiled. "That's a reasonable idea."
Orion smiled slightly. "Thank you for trying to find out what I really need instead of forcing me to go somewhere."
Pepper ruffled Orion's hair. "The important thing is that you grow up happy and balanced."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, now that that's settled, can we get on with breakfast? Or do I have to do more arguing this early in the morning?"
Orion smiled slightly. "You like to argue when you know you're going to win, don't you?"
Tony grinned. "Absolutely."
Pepper took a deep breath and went back to her coffee. "You two are hard to deal with."
And so began another mundane but important morning for the Stark family.
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