"What the hell is that thing?!"
"Alex—this is what you meant by a mechanical… lifeform? God Almighty!"
When Howard Stark arrived on the scene and laid eyes on the towering figure of the dead Decepticon, his entire worldview practically shattered.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Seriously, what era were they in right now? The very idea of robots was still a far-fetched concept!
Let alone actually seeing one with his own eyes—let alone something that massive.
The psychological impact was impossible to overstate. Even someone like Howard Stark, who prided himself on thinking ahead of his time, was stunned into silence.
As for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents he'd brought along? They were even worse—frozen like idiots, staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed.
But the most unbelievable part?
That Alex had killed it.
Howard Stark's heart skipped a beat just thinking about it.
How the hell did he pull that off?
It was insane. That thing looked like it could wipe out an entire battalion without breaking a sweat.
Howard had always suspected—like Peggy Carter—that maybe Alex was some kind of Super Soldier experiment using Steve Rogers' serum. But now? He was sure that wasn't the case.
Even if Captain America came back from the dead, there was no way he could do this.
The robot's massive torso was there. Its severed arm, too. But the head was missing?
Howard scanned the scene and finally spotted it—Alex was sitting on it.
Sitting on the head like it was a goddamn stool.
A robot. A literal, game-changing, world-altering robot—and Alex was using its head as a chair?
The man was way too nonchalant about all of this.
Howard forced himself to calm down and walked over.
He was full of questions. "What the hell happened here? On the phone, you said this robot came from my car? Sorry, I just… I don't get it."
And really—who could blame him? A car turning into a robot? That was pure science fiction.
"It's exactly what it sounds like," Alex replied calmly, standing up and dusting himself off. "This mechanical lifeform you see here used to be that Cadillac you gave me."
"Wait—hold on," Howard blinked. "You're telling me that the Cadillac you just drove off in… was a robot?"
His brain short-circuited a little.
That car had been lying in his garage for years. It was just a car. Nothing more.
And even if it was a robot—who the hell would design a robot to look like a car?
"Mr. Stark, come with me," Alex said, motioning for him to follow.
He led Howard to the massive wreckage of the Decepticon and pointed to a symbol on the twisted metal.
"Take a look. What do you see?"
No way. That was the Cadillac logo.
And now that he looked closer, the whole robot really was red—the same red as that Cadillac.
Did Cadillac make this thing?
Was their engineering department always this insane?
"Sir, I've gathered some intel," one of the agents approached and saluted. "The witnesses from the auto shop said Mr. Alex was about to dismantle the car when it suddenly transformed into a giant robot."
The story matched Alex's exactly.
Howard Stark fell silent.
The explanation sounded absurd—but everyone was saying the same thing. That consistency told him it was the truth.
Besides, there was no reason for Alex to make up such a ridiculous lie. There was nothing to gain.
Howard Stark wasn't just any ordinary man. He'd seen enough of the world's secrets to know that some things defied common sense.
So despite his lingering doubts, he chose to believe Alex.
"Alex," he said seriously, "I'm going to need a bit more of your time. Can I trouble you to come with me to headquarters? I've got a lot of questions."
"Of course," Alex nodded. "No problem at all."
In fact, he'd been planning to use this opportunity to reveal some things to Howard Stark—intel that would help accelerate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigation.
More specifically, their search for the AllSpark.
Soon, Howard had a team transport the remains of the giant robot back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base.
Alex followed him once more into Room 218.
There, he gave a full and detailed account of everything that had happened.
Howard listened carefully and took notes. But as he reviewed Alex's story, several details stood out.
He looked Alex in the eyes and asked, "So, this is why you insisted on that particular Cadillac, isn't it?"
Back then, Howard had assumed Alex was just a kid—someone who got overly excited when he saw a flashy car.
But now? It was obvious there was more to it.
That car had sat untouched in his garage for nearly a decade—and only transformed the moment Alex got behind the wheel?
That kind of coincidence didn't happen.
"Yes, Mr. Stark," Alex admitted without hesitation. It was a gaping logical hole—no point pretending otherwise.
But since he was already coming clean with Howard Stark, he had his explanation ready.
"When I was in your garage, I noticed something strange about that car," Alex said seriously.
"Strange?" Howard furrowed his brow. "What do you mean by strange?"
"To me," Alex said, "it felt… alive. I know it looked like an ordinary car, but I could feel something from it. A presence. Like it was… breathing."
"A presence? Wait, hold on," Howard raised a hand, "You're saying this thing is—what—alive? Like an animal or a plant?"
"Exactly," Alex nodded. "It might be made of metal, but it's still a lifeform. A mechanical lifeform. It may even have DNA."
Howard's eyes widened as realization hit him.
From the very beginning, Alex had been calling it a mechanical lifeform.
He hadn't been exaggerating at all.
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