[Wilson Estate] [Rooftop]
Alex lay on a long cushioned chair in the shade. He was wearing sunglasses, and one ankle rested over the other. Next to him was a tall glass of Citrus Ember Cooler. It contained blood-orange juice, lime, ginger syrup, crushed mint, sparkling water, and plenty of ice to keep it cold.
He lifted the glass and took a slow sip.
"Damn, that's really good."
He was a billionaire enjoying an aggressively relaxed morning.
Inside his head, things were much busier.
A second field of vision floated beside his natural sight.
Through Clone Alex's eyes, he could see the Iron Man set.
The clone sat behind three production monitors beneath a large black canopy while camera crews, stunt coordinators, lighting technicians, makeup artists, prop handlers, military advisers, and assistant directors moved around the desert set Titan had built outside Los Angeles. He actually planned to shoot the scene in a real desert, but sadly a sandstorm alert ruined that, and everyone was already locked in for that date, so instead of wasting it, he created one.
Alex lowered his sunglasses slightly even though that did absolutely nothing to improve the connection.
"So far, so good."
Clone Alex turned his attention toward the first monitor without needing direct control. The System was running him using Alex's instructions, directing habits, production preferences, and everything it had learned about how Alex handled a set.
Alex had given it one simple order.
'Direct Iron Man exactly the way I would.'
That covered far more than most instructions ever could.
The clone already knew the script, shot list, actor notes, production schedule, safety requirements, visual references, character arcs, and every conversation Alex had previously held with Robert Downey Jr.
It should work perfectly.
Should.
Alex took another drink and settled deeper into the chair.
"It feels like cheating, but I deserve some rest."
He had three children inside the house, Max recovering, an entertainment empire threatening to consume every free hour he possessed, and enough films scheduled for the year to make a normal studio executive develop heart problems.
If supernatural cloning allowed him to direct a movie while drinking something fruity on his roof, Alex had no intention of developing guilt about it.
He focused harder on the connection.
The rooftop disappeared from his attention.
The set took over.
...
[Iron Man Set]
The opening scene took place on a dusty road cutting through a fictional Middle Eastern country.
Titan's production department had built nearly half a mile of usable roadway through an isolated section of desert land outside Los Angeles. Brown hills surrounded the area, their surfaces dressed with additional rock, scrub, and imported sand so the location looked much harsher through the camera.
Three armored military vehicles waited near the beginning marker.
The lead vehicle carried four soldiers.
The second carried Tony Stark.
The third carried additional security personnel.
Several cameras had been positioned around the route.
Camera A sat on a stabilized tracking vehicle that would move alongside Tony's SUV.
Camera B was mounted low near the front wheel to capture dust, tires, and road movement.
Camera C waited inside the vehicle beside Robert Downey Jr.
A fourth long-lens camera stood on elevated terrain several hundred feet away, giving the convoy scale against the desert.
Clone Alex looked toward the first assistant director. "Let's keep the opening quiet. I want the audience wondering who they're following before Robert starts talking."
The assistant director nodded and repeated the instruction through his headset.
RDJ sat inside the second SUV wearing dark trousers, a white shirt with the sleeves casually rolled up, sunglasses, and a loose tactical vest that somebody had convinced Tony Stark to wear only because military personnel refused to let him travel without one.
Tony wasn't supposed to look frightened.
He looked mildly inconvenienced by the entire existence of security procedures.
Clone Alex stepped toward the open vehicle door. "Robert, first ten seconds, don't perform anything for us. Just sit there and watch outside."
RDJ nodded while adjusting his sunglasses. "So the billionaire is bored."
"More like comfortable in a place where everyone else knows danger exists."
Robert considered that for a second before nodding again. "Got it."
Clone Alex tapped the roof twice and stepped away.
The vehicle door closed.
The crew cleared the road.
One of the assistant directors raised his hand.
"Picture's up!"
The general noise across the set dropped immediately.
"Rolling camera."
Camera operators confirmed one after another.
"Camera A rolling."
"Camera B rolling."
"Interior rolling."
"Long lens rolling."
The sound department followed.
"Sound speed."
The slate appeared briefly before the interior camera.
"Iron Man, Scene 1A, Take 1."
Clap.
The assistant director stepped back.
Clone Alex watched the monitors.
"And action."
...
The convoy started moving.
Dust rolled behind the tires as the three vehicles followed the winding road between the dry hills.
For several seconds, there was only engine noise.
Camera B caught the front tire crushing loose gravel before the angle cut internally to Tony sitting by the window.
RDJ stayed perfectly still.
His sunglasses reflected the desert passing outside.
The convoy continued along the dusty road while the interior camera held on Tony Stark. Robert let several seconds pass before shifting his attention from the window toward the soldiers sitting around him.
The silence inside the vehicle had grown awkward enough to become funny. Nobody seemed willing to start a conversation with the billionaire sitting beside them, and Tony noticed immediately. RDJ tilted his head slightly, studying each soldier as though he had just discovered an interesting social experiment.
"Oh, I get it. You guys aren't allowed to talk. Is that it? Are you not allowed to talk?"
Across from him, Jimmy finally cracked a grin. His fingers moved around the orange NY Mets watch on his wrist while the rest of the soldiers tried to keep their expressions professional.
"No. We're allowed to talk."
Tony gave the smallest nod, as though Jimmy had just confirmed something deeply disappointing about the situation.
"Oh. I see. So it's personal."
Ramirez glanced toward the others before letting herself join the conversation, her amusement beginning to break through the military stiffness around them.
"I think they're intimidated."
Tony turned toward her properly for the first time. Robert let his eyes travel across Ramirez's uniform and face before delivering the next line with completely sincere surprise.
"Good God, you're a woman."
Jimmy immediately pressed his lips together while Pratt looked toward the window, both of them fighting the urge to laugh on camera. Ramirez kept her composure, although the corners of her mouth threatened to betray her.
Tony seemed completely unaware that he had said anything strange as he continued studying her.
"I, honestly, I couldn't have called that."
Another uncomfortable silence followed while the vehicle rocked gently over the uneven road. Robert let Tony realize how badly the comment had landed, then shifted into the kind of effortless recovery only someone with Tony Stark's confidence would attempt.
"I would apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I saw you as a soldier first."
Ramirez finally allowed herself a small smile, and the tension inside the vehicle loosened naturally.
Jimmy leaned forward slightly. His earlier nervousness returned as he glanced toward Tony, clearly deciding whether he actually wanted to ask the question sitting inside his head.
"I have a question, sir."
Tony immediately gestured toward him, welcoming the distraction with easy confidence.
"Please."
Jimmy hesitated for half a second before finally committing.
"Is it true you're twelve for twelve with last years Maxim cover girls?"
The mood inside the vehicle changed instantly. Pratt looked toward Jimmy in disbelief while Ramirez turned her head as though she wanted plausible deniability from the entire conversation.
Tony, however, looked delighted.
"Excellent question. Yes and no. March and I had a schedule conflict but, thankfully, the Christmas cover was twins. Anyone else? You, with the hand up."
Pratt had barely raised his hand before Tony noticed him. The young soldier immediately looked less confident now that every person inside the vehicle had turned toward him.
"It's a little embarrassing."
Tony gave him an understanding look while settling more comfortably against the seat.
"Join the club."
Pratt glanced toward the small camera he had been holding near his leg before looking back toward Tony.
"Can I take a picture with you?"
Tony's expression became unusually serious, as though Pratt had just asked a question with enormous philosophical consequences.
"Are you aware that Native Americans believe photographs steal a little piece of your soul?"
Pratt's face fell slightly while Jimmy tried once again to suppress a laugh.
Tony allowed the warning to hang there for another beat before the familiar Stark grin returned.
"Not to worry, mine's long gone. Fire away"
Pratt immediately shifted closer while pulling up his camera. Tony leaned into the photograph without losing the relaxed arrogance that defined the entire exchange.
Clone Alex watched the interior feed carefully.
The dialogue itself worked beautifully. Robert's timing felt loose, natural, and confident without making Tony look like he was deliberately performing for everyone around him. Ramirez had also handled the rhythm well, especially after Tony's surprised reaction to discovering she was a woman.
Jimmy was the problem.
Clone Alex lifted one hand before Pratt could finish positioning the camera.
"Cut."
..
The convoy slowed as the assistant director repeated the command through the radio network. Engines dropped into idle while camera operators stopped recording and crew members began moving carefully toward the vehicles.
Inside the SUV, Robert pushed his sunglasses slightly higher and looked toward the open door as Clone Alex approached.
"That bad?" RDJ asked as he remained seated.
Clone Alex shook his head while resting one hand against the doorframe. "You're good, Robert. Ramirez is good, Pratt is good. Jimmy, I want another one from you because you're getting stiff whenever the camera turns toward your side."
Jimmy immediately straightened, looking mildly embarrassed. "Yeah, I felt that halfway through."
Clone Alex nodded while keeping his tone relaxed. "You're thinking about the lines instead of listening to Tony. Forget that you're in a movie for a second. You're sitting beside Tony Stark, the guy whose name is probably stamped on half the equipment your unit uses, and you finally get permission to ask him the dumb question you've probably been joking about with your friends for months."
Jimmy laughed quietly as some of the tension left his shoulders.
Clone Alex pointed toward the orange Mets watch on his wrist. "Keep playing with that because it gives your hands something natural to do. When Robert starts talking, don't wait for your cue. Listen to him. Let yourself enjoy the fact that Tony Stark is actually answering you."
Robert leaned forward and gave Jimmy an encouraging nod. "And if it helps, assume Tony thinks your question is the most intelligent thing anyone has asked him all week."
Jimmy smiled properly this time. "That actually helps."
Clone Alex stepped away from the vehicle and looked toward Ramirez. "Same performance from you. Don't chase the joke because your restraint makes his reaction funnier."
Ramirez nodded while settling back into position. "Understood."
Clone Alex then glanced toward Pratt. "And keep the embarrassment before the picture request. It works because you've just heard Jimmy ask about Maxim models, yet somehow asking Tony for a photograph feels more humiliating to you."
Pratt chuckled and reset the small camera against his leg. "Got it."
Clone Alex tapped the side of the SUV twice before backing away. "Alright, reset everybody. Same convoy speed, same camera movement, and let's give ourselves another clean run."
The assistant director immediately began organizing the crew while the vehicles returned to their starting marks. Dust drifted slowly across the roadway as the tracking vehicle reversed into position and the long-lens camera reset on the ridge.
..
[Back to OG Alex in NY]
Alex remained stretched comfortably beneath the shade at the Wilson estate with his Citrus Ember Cooler resting against his chest.
He watched everything through the clone's vision and smiled.
The correction was exactly what he would have given himself.
"That's freaky as fuck," Alex murmured while taking another sip. "But useful as hell, though."
..
Back on set, the slate appeared in front of the interior camera once again.
"Iron Man, Scene 1A, Take 2."
The clap echoed through the SUV.
Clone Alex watched all four monitors as the vehicles began moving.
"And action."
This time, Jimmy stopped performing.
He simply sat beside Tony Stark, nervous, amused, and trying very hard to pretend meeting one of the most famous men alive wasn't the story he would be telling everyone back home for the next twenty years.
Clone Alex noticed the improvement before Jimmy even reached his first line.
..
From the rooftop, Alex noticed it too.
He smiled behind his sunglasses while the convoy rolled deeper into the artificial desert.
"Much better."
After a few hours, Clone 2 walked up to him with the animation sector's reports, games, and console reports. With Alex using his system's help to provide his team with technology, all they had to do was create a custom backlog and stock up.
At the start, he only wanted to dominate the GPU and Console industry, but after the upgrade, he can now dominate the entire PC and Console sector. Imagine having Ray Tracing as well as raw power to run 4k games at full native resolution without any fake frame generation in 2009... Mass Effect and all the other games Titan will release in the coming months will all have those features.
Also, he had Rachel take care of the production of RAM and other components.
Since monopoly isn't legally allowed, Alex planned to kill every other company out there by releasing all those things at a low price, plus his team only has to produce what Alex provides them without doing any extra research or all that shit.
On the other hand, Nvidia and AMD stocks have fallen way too much, thanks to Rachel and all the controversy. And the moment Alex announces something like that, both companies are just gonna disappear within a couple of years.
Alex took the reports and cancelled the clone. It disappeared with a blue flicker.
Then he made Yoda voice and said, "Illegal, monopoly is. Take over market, I cannot. Crush competition, forbidden it is. Hmm. Then legally fuck them all, I shall. Hmm."
--
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