— Day 6 in the Ten Rings' Mountain Cave.
The construction of the Iron Man suit was progressing smoothly.
Thanks to Kagura's electronic hacking of the surveillance cameras, the Ten Rings were completely fooled by the fake footage. The clueless terrorists sat outside, watching the fabricated progress of the Jericho missile, dreaming of their new advanced weapon.
'Ah, ignorance is bliss', Kagura thought.
With the final subsystem in place, the Mark I Iron Man suit was nearly complete.
"Data transfer complete. Driver integration successful. Installation finished," Kagura announced, typing away at her keyboard.
"Mr. Stark, do you want to test the full startup?"
"Not yet. Let's rest first, then connect the main program and integrate the power module," Tony said, closing the armor panel.
"We've got time. We'll do the startup test tomorrow morning."
"Thank you for your help, Kagura," Tony said with a smile.
"I don't know how many roadblocks I'd have hit without you. This might not even be finished."
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Stark," Kagura replied with a sweet smile. She closed the data link on her computer and sighed, looking up at the silver giant hanging on the black frame.
'In the original timeline, you built this all by yourself,' she thought. 'I've just done a little bit to help.'
The Mark I suit was far from the sleek, high-tech armor Tony would create in the future.
It was essentially a reinforced tin can—clunky, with a rudimentary control system and limited mobility.
Still, Kagura had suggested a few improvements where she could, like covering the exposed drive belts with movable armor plates and adding compressed air cannons to the arms, modified from missile components.
She had even added a transparent inner lining to the helmet to protect Tony from headshots.
Every detail mattered. This was a life-or-death mission, after all.
That night, Kagura sat on her bed, reviewing the suit's data systems and drivers to ensure everything was perfect.
"Kagura," Tony called, pulling back the curtain. "Are you asleep?"
"No, Mr. Stark. What's up?"
"Nothing important. Just wanted to chat, like friends do. You're not undressed, are you?"
"Of course not! Come in," Kagura laughed.
Tony sat down on her bed and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Kagura asked.
"Just nervous about tomorrow. It's going to be a tough fight."
"We'll make it, Mr. Stark. I believe in what we've built."
"I know we will," Tony said. "But, Kagura, I realized I don't know much about you. Do you have family?"
Kagura hesitated. Her memories of her past life were fragmented, almost unreachable.
"I… think so," she said softly. "They're probably far away, living their lives."
Her family in her original world must have been devastated by her sudden disappearance. She didn't even know if they were still alive.
"You should reach out to them when we get out of here," Tony said gently. "They'd want to know you're safe."
"I don't have a way to contact them," Kagura admitted, her voice trembling. "I don't even know where they are or how they're doing."
Tears welled up in her golden eyes.
Tony pulled her into a warm hug.
"Everything will be okay, Kagura," he said softly. "No matter where you are, your family loves you. They're watching over you."
Kagura wiped her tears. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."
Tony smiled. "I'm not great at comforting people, but… if you'll have me, I'd like to be your family."
Kagura laughed through her tears. "I'd like that, Mr. Stark."
"And since you saved my life, promise me you'll take care of yourself too. I don't want to lose family again."
"I promise," Kagura said, her heart feeling a little warmer.