“Sorry, Boss, communication is still down,” FRIDAY told the barely conscious Tony as he laid on the fourth floor of a building whose internal stairs had crumpled long ago. He was barely breathing with his ribs cracked, making every breath he did take like inhaling glass. And he tasted blood now too. Not great. Not great at all. “You failed to reconnect me to the rest of the grid. The Code Green only alerted you in the lab and the Capitol Building. I don’t believe anyone was currently in there.”

Great. Tony laughed, which was a Bad Idea. “Patch me…to Loki…?”

Talking was also a bad idea.

“Sorry, Boss, I’ve lost communication with the other armour as well. You’ve really fallen down on the job here.” FRIDAY was programmed to be a tart. Tony was responsible for that little issue, not that he felt much like apologizing for it at the moment. It hurt too much to talk. And he liked it when FRIDAY nagged and backtalked him. At least someone did it. He let his eyes close, only to feel a jolt to his system. “Bad idea to fall asleep,” the AI reminded him.

But what did it matter when no one knew to come and find him?