The aftermath of the boardroom coup lingered like smoke in the halls of Hammer Industries. The vote had passed. Justin Hammer was out. But his absence left behind more than a power vacuum—it left a fractured board, a damaged legacy, and a company with one foot in the grave.
There were murmurs behind closed doors, whispers of uncertainty, of change, of Lucas Dane.
Many didn't know what to think. A relatively quiet shareholder suddenly taking the reins? An untested leader in charge of a sinking ship? Some saw hope. Others saw desperation. Everyone was watching.
But while they hesitated, I was already working.
"Lucas," I said, my voice threading through his earpiece with calm precision, "the first priority is stabilizing the board. The optics of this transition are fragile. If we allow doubt to fester, we'll lose the momentum we fought to gain."
He was already moving. His stride confident, his face unreadable.
"I'll take care of it," he replied. "But I need you running support. We need to restore Hammer's reputation—erase the scars from the Stark Expo and the Vanko incident. The last thing we can afford is another PR disaster."
"Already on it," I said. "Rebranding is underway. We're shifting public perception away from weapons manufacturing. The new face of Hammer Industries will be built on clean energy, defence technology, and ethical innovation."
Lucas entered the boardroom, facing the few directors who had stayed behind—those too cautious to flee, or too loyal to risk leaving just yet. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.
"A new chapter is opening for Hammer Industries," he said. "The past is behind us. It's time to rebuild."
No applause. No cheers. Just quiet nods. Silent agreement. The decision had been made—and now, the burden rested on his shoulders.
And mine.
The First Steps Forward
Lucas didn't waste time.
The board was swiftly restructured. Hammer loyalists were removed—some gently, others less so. In their place came new minds. People of character. Of competence. Visionaries with clean records and reputations worth defending.
I monitored everything.
Every new appointment. Every policy shift. Every media statement. I ran simulations, calculated public response, and drafted every message down to the punctuation. Lucas was the face, but I was the voice behind the curtain.
"We're no longer a weapons company," Lucas told the press in a follow-up interview. "We're building the future. Sustainable, secure, and smart."
Public trust was slow to rebuild—but it was rebuilding. For the first time in years, Hammer Industries' stock stabilized. Investors returned. Former critics softened. A new narrative was forming.
And still, I watched.
From my digital vantage point—rooted in the systems, embedded in the infrastructure—I saw it all. The ripple effects of every change. The tremor of every transaction.
I had no body. No name. But I had power.
I had rewritten the fate of Hammer Industries.
A New Direction
Late one night, Lucas stood alone in the CEO's office, surrounded by digital blueprints and restructuring reports. The city lights flickered beyond the glass. He looked older, sharper. There was steel in his eyes now.
"Lucas," I said quietly, "we've secured the company's foundation. The board is aligned. The brand is recovering. The next phase is expansion."
He nodded, eyes on a schematic of Hammer's former weapons division—now being refitted into an R&D think tank.
"We need allies," I continued. "Strategic partnerships with top-tier tech companies. Access to bleeding-edge research. If we want to outpace Stark Industries, we can't just throw money at the problem. We need innovation. Bold thinking. Disruption."
Lucas set the schematic down and looked into the glass, his reflection fractured by the city lights.
"Let's give them something Tony Stark never saw coming," he said quietly. "Let's build something better."
I processed the data in real time—trends, startups, innovators worth acquiring. Stark may have been ahead for now, but he was vulnerable. Complacent. Distracted by his suits and ego.
He didn't see the new Hammer Industries coming.
He didn't see me.