Work Text:
Technology isn’t always designed with the consumer in mind. Well, depending on your definition of the word “consumer.”
In many ways, Tony viewed being a genius as both a blessing and a curse. An overthinker by nature, he couldn’t help but view his situation—your situation—through two completely different lenses.
Lens one: Erasing your memory through the use of StarkTech was doing you a boatload of favors. You had been seriously traumatized, permanently altered by what you had endured. Granting you the opportunity to be free from that pain was Tony’s gift to you. That was what this really was, wasn’t it? A gift. An act of selflessness intended to better someone else’s life.
Your life.
It wasn’t like it was undeserved. You had put in some seriously long hours as Tony’s intern. Assistant. Whatever.
You missed out on birthdays, holidays, plans with friends, family gatherings—hell, even your own college graduation—just so you could be there when he needed you. And god, did he need you. Did you not deserve to be compensated for your unprecedented level of devotion and dedication?
So, like. Okay. Maybe you didn’t have much choice in the matter. But it wasn’t like he had you handcuffed to his bedpost or something. There was some degree of flexibility here. He had agreed to pay all of your father’s medical bills along with your tuition and living expenses under the condition that you worked for him on-call, around the clock. You knew what that meant when you agreed to take on the position.
Killer deal, right?
Yes, you were poor. And yes, your father had been critically ill. And yes, it would have been next to impossible for you to survive had someone not intervened and helped you out financially. But again, you had every opportunity in the world to tell him to fuck off. You could have turned the job—and his offers to help you when you needed it most—down. You could have walked away, trying and failing to keep yourself and your father alive just that much longer. But you didn’t, because you were one smart cookie. Because you needed his help.
Because you needed him.
Through erasing your memory, Tony was paying it forward. He was rewarding you with a mind and body void of all of that darkness. You wouldn’t have to relive those moments of watching your father undergo painful medical treatments, only for him to end up dying anyway. No, you would never have to relive those memories ever again.
Because you wouldn’t have any memories at all.
What an amazing opportunity, to be a blank slate. Tony simultaneously feared and longed for that level of freedom. Granted, you would be very disoriented at first. But you wouldn’t feel lost or alone or confused for long—Tony would make sure to fill you in on what happened; how you had an unexpected seizure that resulted in a serious head injury, causing you to forget everything you had once known. He would bring you up to speed on how you had been living the life you had always wanted, the life you deserved to have. He was really looking forward to telling you about how emotionally fulfilled and financially successful you were. And hey. If you just so happened to get a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist husband out of the deal…lucky you.
Everyone was already speculating that you two were together, anyway. Why not give the people what they wanted, make ’em feel smart by proving them right?
Now, switching gears to the dreaded lens two. Because if there was anything Tony loved most in the world, it was torturing himself.
Lens two: Erasing your memory through the use of StarkTech was a gross misuse of power and resources. Tony was knowingly and actively choosing to harm you for his own benefit. He had taken advantage of you by using your father’s illness, medical expenses, and the crushing weight of student loan debt as leverage. He had fashioned a dynamic wherein your focus was all on him, all the time. He was an innovator, after all. Building, constructing, creating, thinking ahead. That was what he did. It was what made Tony Stark, Tony Stark. And in knowing that, he had used his strengths to undermine yours.
Leading up to the decision to use this new invention on you was a steadily growing sense of panic. Beneath his cocky veneer, he was petrified. Your father wasn’t sick anymore. He was dead, and so there was nothing left for Tony to pay for. You had gotten your degree with not one cent of debt hanging over your head, and with all of the earnings you had compiled in your savings account, you would be free to pursue other ventures without having to worry about paying rent for a very long time.
Now that all of your needs had been met, who was to say you wouldn’t just up and abandon him? You seemed like a genuinely loyal person (that was just one of many things he loved about you), and you often acknowledged how much he had done for you. But what if, deep down, you resented him for not being able to keep your father alive, even with the most expensive treatments and qualified doctors known to man? What if you were already plotting to pursue other endeavors? If that was the case, you had to have been well and truly out of your mind. Did you seriously think you were going to be able to survive without him? Would you really sink so low as to leaving him hanging like that, after everything he had done for you?
As someone that cared for you deeply, Tony was willing to be the bad guy in order to save you from yourself. Not only that, he was willing to do this proactively. You hadn’t exactly stated that you wanted to stop working for him, but he knew that day would most certainly come. It was not an if, but a when. You were young, and young people needed change. He could sense it.
He didn’t like lens two, but he simply couldn’t avoid looking at everything from all possible angles. He was willing to live with his guilt so long as the ends justified the means.
And they would. You would be happier this way. Tony would give you everything you ever wanted.
And so, in this case, he would argue that this particular device had been designed with the consumer in mind. Both consumers, because you were each benefiting from yet another one of Tony Stark’s brilliant inventions.
What you didn’t know wouldn’t hurt you, right?