Meanwhile, back on the screen in front of Tony Stark, basic information on Rosalie and Mark had already popped up.
“Jarvis, are you sure that’s the right address for the hacker’s IP?”
He asked, a note of surprise in his voice.
According to what Jarvis had dug up, only two people lived in that household.
Rosalie, a graduate of some third-rate college, worked as a background extra in Hollywood and had no prior background in networking or tech whatsoever.
Mark was only five years old and hadn’t even started school yet.
Neither of them looked remotely like the kind of person who could hack into CAA’s official website, let alone break into Cathy Dale’s personal computer.
“I’m certain, sir.
I also pulled satellite footage of the area, and no outsider has entered that residence recently.”
Jarvis confirmed.
“Interesting.”
Tony’s interest was piqued.
“So which one of these two is the real hacker?”
There were only two possibilities left.
Either Rosalie had been hiding an extraordinary skillset this whole time, secretly teaching herself networking without ever showing a hint of it before.
Or this five-year-old named Mark was some kind of prodigy on par with Tony Stark himself, self-taught into a top-tier hacker before he’d even started kindergarten.
Back at Mark’s house.
“So then, Ms.
Rosalie and Mr.
Mark, which one of you broke into Cathy Dale’s home computer?”
Jarvis relayed Tony’s question directly.
“That was me.”
Mark knew there was no point hiding it any longer and nodded, owning up to it immediately.
Given how protective the U.S.
legal system was of minors, even if this whole thing blew up, the worst he’d likely face was a few mandatory counseling sessions.
No real punishment to speak of.
“Who taught you these hacking skills?”
“I taught myself online.”
“But you’re only five years old.”
“So what if I’m five!
I heard Tony Stark could build his own circuit board at four and an engine at six.
If he could do it, so can I.”
Mark put on his best petulant, childish tone.
He was fine letting his intelligence show through, but he had to be careful never to let anyone glimpse the adult mind underneath.
Fortunately, the Marvel world was remarkably forgiving toward children; no matter how big the mess, “he’s just a kid” tended to smooth things over. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“Well then, child, prove it to me.”
Jarvis’s voice came again.
The webcam swiveled to focus squarely on Mark, capturing his every move.
*Clack, clack, clack…*
Mark’s fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly stringing together a block of code and executing it.
*Zzzt…*
A burst of static crackled through the speakers as Jarvis’s connection to the computer cut out instantly.
Three seconds later, Jarvis had already reclaimed control.
“Not bad at all, kid!”
Jarvis’s voice rang out again, tinged with genuine admiration.
With that one move alone, five-year-old Mark had just proven himself among the top five hackers on the planet.
Jarvis then pulled up the browser history on the machine and, sure enough, found a trail of computer science, network security, and applied cryptography texts Mark had worked through.
Digging deeper, it turned up something far more startling.
“Oh, my.
You’ve been studying advanced mathematics, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, cell biology…
child, have you genuinely been learning all of this yourself?”
“Of course I have.”
Mark answered without hesitation.
At the Stark mansion.
“Sir, this child is a genuine prodigy.
Twenty years from now, he might well be a second Tony Stark.”
Jarvis projected the browser history onto the big screen, his tone unmistakably impressed.
Tony scanned through the list of subjects and nodded slowly.
“The kid’s clearly a genius, no argument there.
But there’s only ever going to be one Tony Stark.”
“Of course, sir, you’re one of a kind.
But this child is a bit different from your usual prodigy…
While looking into Rosalie and Mark’s background, I came across something rather unexpected.”
Jarvis then pulled up, side by side on the screen, the hotel records from Tony and Rosalie’s night together years ago, Mark’s birth certificate, and the old San Fernando Valley Entertainer article claiming Mark was Tony’s illegitimate son.
“Sir, based on my calculations, there is an eighty-three percent probability that Mark is your biological son.”
*Pfft!*
Tony had just taken a sip of red wine, and at Jarvis’s words, he spat it clean across the table.
“Cough, cough…
that’s impossible.
Jarvis, don’t be ridiculous.”
Staring at the screen, where Mark’s face bore an unmistakable resemblance to his own, a rare flicker of panic crossed Tony’s expression. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
He remembered that night, the one when things fell apart with Cathy Dale, when he’d grabbed the first decent-looking woman at the wrap party and taken her back to a hotel.
He’d been in a foul mood that night, rougher than usual, and there was a real chance he hadn’t bothered with protection at all.
If Jarvis hadn’t dug this up, he would have forgotten the whole night ever happened.
“Sir, if you don’t trust my probability calculation, you could always arrange a DNA test with Mark…”
Jarvis suggested.
“No need.
There’s absolutely no way he’s my kid.”
Tony cut him off sharply, giving a firm order.
“Cut the connection with them.
Stop the investigation.”
He rose from his seat and strode out of the dining room in a hurry.
Tony had grown up starved of family warmth, and it had left a deep scar.
He’d always been terrified of ending up like his own father, Howard, too consumed by work to ever be present for a child.
That fear had made him avoid marriage entirely, and the thought of having a child of his own terrified him even more.
Now, faced with the possibility that he might already have one, his mind was in total disarray.
Just as he was about to leave the dining room, Jarvis’s voice cut back in.
“Sir, I’ve detected three top-tier hackers working together to track down Mark’s IP.
They’ve already cracked through the decoy traps he set up and are close to pinpointing his real location…”
“That’s not my problem.”
Tony snapped, cutting him off.
Then, after a moment’s hesitation, he added, “Though, three hackers ganging up on a kid is a bit much.
Go ahead and stop them.”
“Understood, sir.”
Back at Mark’s house.
*Phew…
finally gone.*
The moment Jarvis disconnected, Mark let out a huge breath of relief.
In front of Jarvis, he’d felt like he had no secrets left to hide at all.
*Clack, clack, clack…*
He hurried to patch up his computer’s security.
He had no idea how long a patch like that would actually hold up against something like Jarvis, but it gave him at least a little peace of mind.
Ever since leveling Super Brain up to level six, a quiet arrogance had crept into Mark without him even noticing, a tendency to look at everyone else like they were still swinging from trees.
His reckless hack into CAA’s website and Cathy’s computer had, in no small part, been driven by that same overconfidence.
Getting completely outclassed by Jarvis in the world of networking had knocked that arrogance right out of him for good.