“This is all great, how you two are bonding and all, but we were talking about a delivery system. Remember?”

  “That is right,” said Tony. “I feel like helping you guys out, even trigger-happy Ahmed.”

  “What’s the system? How does it work?”

  “I call them TOTs. Tiny insectoids that can fox any surveillance. Disposable, too, and biodegradable. Once they drop their package, they become playthings for the kids. No one will ever weaponize these babies.”

  Liz frowned. “Are you talking about drones? But drones are weapons.”

  “They used to be weapons,” said Tony, and his heart felt happier just saying the words. To go with his lightness of heart, he flashed a smile that was brighter and more genuine than any of the thousands he had produced for the world’s media. “But now they’re toys.”

  And rightly feeling that he could not top this statement as his parting words, Tony Stark pulled down his faceplate, switched to flight mode, and shot like a reverse falling star into the African sky.

  As a farewell gift, he dropped a pod webcam into the garden, and Saoirse’s face stayed on the wall beside the mural so the sisters could talk every day until he got a satellite phone to Liz in the first TOT shipment. Saoirse’s face still wore the not very attractive long-term constipation look, which made Tony chuckle as he flew away.

  EOIN COLFER is the author of the New York Times best-selling Artemis Fowl series and the critically acclaimed WARP series, as well as many other titles, from picture books to novels for adults. He was drawn to writing about Iron Man because “I’m a smart aleck, and the character is a smart aleck. Also, we’re both in great physical shape.” In 2014, he was named Ireland’s laureate for children’s literature. He lives in Ireland with his wife and two sons.

 

 

  Eoin Colfer, The Gauntlet

 

 

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