To say that Stark Industries was normal was far from the truth. While to the world SI was just an amazingly innovative and excellent business mogul, Stark Industries was a cult through and through. If outsiders truly knew, then they would think SI would go figurative Skynet on their asses. But SI was nothing if not secretive- even the bitter ex-employees refused to say anything on the topic lest they either get sued for every penny they've got and ridiculed for being crazy. Ex-employees who parted on good terms happily helped in fabricating that the bad eggs were simply revenge driven and spouting nonsense.

Now that we've got that covered, it's time to move onto Stark Industries' Unspoken Rules that someone had written down in a firewall covered shared Stark Document; it was unsaid that JARVIS was the one who fortified it.

-------------

----SI Nuances----

--SI may seem like a normal business- as much as a worldwide multibillion-dollar company owned by Tony Stark and led by Pepper Potts could be; but it isn't. STARK Industries is a cult and that's that and it cannot be changed.

Former Agent Davidson, having quit SHIELD when Tony Stark revealed that he had stopped the leak of all SHIELD's information when Rogers and Romanoff had so graciously dumped the files with no regard to actually think of the fallout, had joined STARK Industries as a janitor for some of the R&D floors. He had his wife and their ten year old twins to worry about and he wasn't willing to risk his family. Luckily Stark promised that he would personally see to the removal of all files on his new employees from SHIELD if they chose to transfer over. While so many agents, after knowing that nothing got out thanks to Tony Stark, stayed with SHIELD, a few thousand agents chose to go to SI or accept the help that had been offered to transfer to another job. Stark gladly paid for everything and did everything himself.

Anyways, when he was being led around the floors, the small, mousy woman who was leading him never even flinched at the explosions and cursing, nor did she even skip a stride as she smoothly pulled him to duck at the same time she did when a flying projectile came at them. She never hesitated or stopped, simply continuing on unfazed. There were tired scientists in a huddle, murmuring to some electronic to work. A R&D worker flew past them, looking scared and shouting apologies as an angry coworker chased them down with a fire extinguisher, yelling something about 'you breaking something for the fourth time this week'. It was a Tuesday.

When Martin Davidson asked about that, his tour guide Suzie just waved off his concern. "You'll get used to it. Jack tends to be a little more careless than warranted and annoys his partner he's collaborating with. Poor Luther, he's on the edge of his rope and the project is due by the end of the work week."

Honestly, Martin thought to himself, SI was a cult. It worried him that he heard no whispers of this in SHIELD.

--SI will protect their own- from janitors to legal. If you are an SI employee, you are family. Every department will be up in arms for you.

Lexi was a new employee at STARK Industries. She was fresh out of college with a law degree and was looking forward to working in the Law department. The senior advisor that was currently on this floor (there were multiple senior advisors for each floor to help guide everyone or provide help) suddenly burst in with some papers in hand. "You know that new janitor Davidson? He was cornered by his former partner from SHIELD who was mad at him for leaving. Lets let him know that you don't mess with what's ours."

Lexi was honestly scared and grateful that she was now a part of SI and that she was not the one Legal was going after.

--The rubber ducks are sacred. You may admire other's ducks, but never touch them without permission. This is enforced on pain of death. (There are more rules on this further into the document)

"Okay newbie," a stern female voice from behind Carson spoke up, "You might not know this, but if you touch those ducks on my desk I will castrate you without a second thought."

Carson wisely stepped away from the ducks.

--We do not mention Howard Stark or Obidiah Stane in this establishment, unless on tours in which the history of this company is explained. It is considered blasphemy and you will automatically be blacklisted.

"So why are we ignoring Dave again?"

"He mentioned our traitorous 'founders' where we could hear. And it wasn't like he was just inquiring and unknowing of the rule, he's been here for going on a year and knows the rule and the reason why. He still has a week. He is folding; don't pity him, he knowingly got himself blacklisted."

"Okay- that's reasonable. Fucking Dave."

--Anything and everything that happens in STARK Industries STAYS in STARK Industries. We have never had a leak and we pride ourselves on it. We suspect that Overload JARVIS has helped significantly along with the many NDA's we have signed.

An explosion rocked the floor but a happy yell quickly followed the loud sound.

"So that's why we have to stay silent about what goes on."

--While you can only very vaguely talk about SI to your family or friends; you can talk about it freely with any SI employee from any department. Seeing a therapist is very much encouraged.

"Oh my god Tiffany, my husband knows that I'm working on the next StarkPad but honestly it would be so funny to tell him about the virus that the IT Department and Quality Control had to fight off. I swear if I hear the sound of Pac Man within this month I will cry."

"I feel ya Greg. But you can talk to me and I'm at least glad that your husband understands that you have to keep some things under wraps."

"You're the best Tiff."

--Pillows, blankets, hammocks, and cots are available to each employee to use. And yes, they are washed after each use.

Matthew, a senior advisor led the relatively new R&D employee to a quiet corner and set them up a hammock and ushered the employee onto it. After getting Steph to text that she was staying overnight at SI to her roommates, Matthew laid a blanket over her and let her sleep. He couldn't wait to see her face when the girl realized that SI was prepared.

--There are multiple coffee machines on each floor. They are sacred; and if they are broken purposefully or vandalized, JARVIS will not allow any machine to work for you for an appropriate amount of time. Your coworkers will NOT be as lenient. You will regret your life.

This rule was always kind of self explanatory. No one was to mess with the blessed coffee machines. Ricky from HR was still scarred when he tried to play that prank two years ago.

----Departments and Individuals----

--Legal and HR are fucking terrifying. When they team up, which is often, pray that they will give you a quick death if their wrath is pointed in your direction.

"Jerry, you'd better explain why you slandered Dr. Stark. Your career will be ruined. You will wish that you took my advice."

The politician who stood confidently in front of his shaking secretary scoffed. "I am not so weak willed to go back on what I said, especially if I stand by it and especially if it is true. Stark is a war profiteer and is no better than his father and Stane." The poor secretary paled and quickly quit his job.

A week later politician Jerry Nicholls had not only lost the election of Governor of Montana by a landslide, his bank account had a few less zeroes due to court fees.

--JARVIS sees ALL.

"Excuse me Ms. Rebecca, I would recommend that you delete that picture of those blueprints." Rebecca soon found herself fired.

....

"Good job Mr. Jeffrie, I commend your work today. Go treat you and your significant other to some time together. You deserve it."

....

"Are you okay Mr. Lucas?"

"Uhhh... could you call me Ms. Hailey?"

"Of course Ms. Hailey, I will change that right away. STARK Industries healthcare does pay for transitions and other medical costs. If you would like, there are a few therapists in right now that specialize in dysphoria and other issues that may come up because of this. One that I think would fit you is Zander. They are very apt at their job and they are very patient. If you like to talk to them or would like to schedule a quick session, I think that Zander would gladly take you in today. Also, there is a group that meets on Saturdays to support our transgender and gender queer employees."

"O-oh. Thank you so much JARVIS. That means a lot."

"Any time Ms. Hailey."

Later that day after returning from lunch, Hailey saw that her SI email name was quickly changed, her name plate on her desk fixed, and a notification that Zander had a free spot in their schedule at two, had the woman crying. "Thank you so much JARVIS. Who did this? I was gone for less than an hour!"

"Mr. Stark takes pride in making sure each and every employee feels safe and accepted within STARK Industries, so he handled this himself. He wishes you well and if you need anything to just email him. And Sir does mean anything."

--Pepper Potts sees ALL.

"Jeremy I knew you were the one who pranked Legal. I suggest you apologize."

"Wha- how?!"

....

"Thank you Cynthia; if you hadn't caught that, there would have been a rather exploitable loophole in that contract."

....

Ms. Potts was walking away and without even stuttering she called out. "I swear Hector, if you try to poke at Gwen one more time, I'll let her get away with what she does to you."

--And anything that may slip by them, Harold Hogan and Colonel Rhodes WILL SEE. And you will regret not having it caught before.

Former Agent Lily Jasper heard whispers of an attempted theft that happened just earlier today. She was honestly kind of worried what would happen. SI was such a surreal place that she couldn't predict what would happen.

Suddenly the elevator doors opened and out marched Head of Security Harold Hogan and behind him Colonel James Rhodes. And they looked pissed off. Richard, who was at the desk diagonally to her upper left suddenly scrambled to his feet and ran, knowing that he had been caught. Colonel Rhodes, without blinking had overtaken the man, tackling the man to the floor. Lily watched in awe as Mr. Hogan leisurely walked up and cuffed the thief, cool as a cucumber.

When Richard was frog marched past her desk, Lily could see the man's black eye and pronounced limp. Even if she had been a field agent for SHIELD, Mr. Hogan genuinely scared her. And don't even get her started on the Colonel.

--Every employee can tell if an explosion was caused by one of the Departments such as R&D, Quality Control, Tony Stark, or even one of the Avengers. It can't exactly be taught, it tends to just happen.

Gabby looked up, spooked as an explosion actually shook the building. "What was that?" Gabby had worked at SI for less than a month and it had actually been free of big explosions that could actually affect them up in HR.

Without missing a beat, two dozen voices called out, no hesitation to drag their words down. "Quality Control."

"And just how do you know that?"

A fellow coworker just shrugged. "We kinda just... learn. You'll get used to it and be able to tell yourself." This coworker was correct. Three months in, Gabby was getting better at telling the difference between certain explosions.

--Do not cross Pepper Potts or Colonel James Rhodes. You will die. Painfully.

Both Pepper Potts and Colonel James Rhodes had proven themselves proficient in being badass motherfuckers. Colonel Rhodes was a rocket scientist who had earned both his diploma and his rank as Colonel. Ms. Potts had proven that she was scarily adept at using her high heels and even, when pressed, her clipboard that one memorable time.

--All SI branches often consult with one another. Hologram conferences have been a godsend. With areas with too great of a time difference, videos, texts, or emails will be used.

Even if the SI of New York and California could communicate rather easily, it was quite a bit more difficult to find convenient times to have the SI's from Germany, England, France, China, Japan, and Russia (each country having at least two buildings) all communicate for this new project that they were all consulting each other for. This not only helped fix problems and expand ideas, it also helped with people around the world to connect and make new friends.

--Protect the science children at all costs. Harley Keener is awesome but deadly. Peter Parker is soft and cute. Keener has a deadly potato gun- he isn't afraid to threaten those who he deems as threatening to his 'brother'. Every department has been warned by Keener- a video of some weird old guy threatening Parker was shown. He was demanding money and Keener came out of nowhere and knocked out the man with his potato gun. The man must have flown thirty feet- it was honestly scary. Everyone was thoroughly warned.

Whenever a newbie saw either Parker or Keener, they were shown the video after either or both science child left. No one bothered either child after that. Sometimes when potatoes were mentioned, a few employees would shiver and pray that Keener would never use his powers for evil. He probably wouldn't considering he was basically Mr. Stark's kid, but you never know these things.

----Specialty Floors and Other Exceptions----

--Because each SI building is off the power grid and offers Free wifi, the second and third floors are for the kids. Those two floors are the most protected floors in the whole building. The windows have three layers of Hulk-proof glass and is monitored by a new learning AI named 'FRIDAY'. FRIDAY and the two floors run on a separate power source, one that is kept in an undisclosed location.

There were kids flooding the elevators, employees smiled at them. No child was left out, but they tended to be from third to middle class families. When Tony found that children hung around the outside of his tower to get the free wifi his tower produced, he freed up the second and third floors, renovated it, enforced it, and made sure it was exceptionally well protected. He even created and installed a new AI named FRIDAY and an independent source of energy so that if the tower was attacked, JARVIS didn't have to deplete his processing power, nor would the floor be unprotected as the floors had their own power source.

When he realized that some kids were constantly staying on the floors and not going home, he added beds, blankets, and a large kitchen. There were so many outlets just ready for use. Clothes of every size, type, design, and color were put into closets that were put in.

After a few parents who actually cared where their kids were but were obviously abusive, Tony and SI sued them for all that they were worth for child abuse or neglect. SI Legal was also happy to fight that Tony and Pepper got guardianship of the children. This allowed the children to stay at the tower and the courts were happy to give guardianship because of all of the evidence that pointed that where the kids would be staying was a far safer place than anywhere else they could be placed. The layers of Hulk-proof glass, the constant monitoring AI, the extra power source that figuratively separated the two floors from the rest of the building, the fact that the Avengers lived in that same tower, the fact that Tony would personally pay for each child's whole education, and that they could all get job experience had totally sealed the deal.

Therapists, nutritionists, and childcare professionals were all hired so that there would be multiple adults on each floor at all times. Tony made sure that a few times a week, he would stop by and learn about all of the children who had a new home in his tower, no matter if they were under his care or if the kid was staying with an adept, caring family. After a few months, for Christmas, these kids, whether they lived in the building or with caring families, elected to all write Tony notes, thanking him for all that Tony sacrificed and given them. Tony actually cried and thanked each kid.

Tony made sure that this was happening in every SI around the world, people from each building stepping up to claim guardianship in order to keep kids all around the world from abusive or negative situations. After all, SI's legal teams were infamous all around the world for their ruthlessness.

(On a night after seventy two hours of no sleep, Tony spent the hours that he should have been sleeping designing t-shirts and hoodies that had 'Stark's Kid' across the front, the arc reactor printed in the center of the chest, 'Stark's' above the arc and 'Kid' on the bottom. Across the shoulders on the back of the shirt or hoodie would be the last name of the kid. Instead of a number like one would see on the back of a jersey, would be four numbers. The top two would be the month and the bottom two numbers would be the day that either Tony or someone else of SI had gained custody. When he fell asleep, JARVIS, with the help of FRIDAY who knew every child, copyrighted the design and started to make short and long sleeve t-shirts along with hoodies, each getting one of each. A week had passed and he saw his kids wearing the clothes he designed, he started crying and began reaming out both JARVIS and FRIDAY.

No one told Tony that the instagram that had popped up called 'Tony's Kids', which only posted pictures of the kids wearing the black clothing proudly, was manned by FRIDAY.)

--FRIDAY has been put through her paces by not only Tony Stark and the Overlord JARVIS, but the IT department in every SI building. No one is getting through her to those kids.

There were hushed whispers around SI about literally every tech department in every SI, which amounted to over twenty different SI's coming together to test the abilities of a new AI. While they did have JARVIS, who was honestly scarily competent, they didn't know the reason for the new AI. When it was revealed in an impromptu business meeting (which was actually a large video conference in which the only face they saw was Stark's. Having thousands upon thousands of workers made it unable for everyone to be seen- but they could be heard) where Tony was in his personal lab.

The man was covered in grease and old tattered clothing. They could tell Pepper was holding the camera. Tony was at least wearing his bluetooth- something he always wore during work hours (one memorable time he had attended a meeting while on an Avengers mission. He somehow balanced orders from the Captain and the meeting- Tony's under his breath narrative was hilarious to listen to, but also scary as they realized all that their boss had to do to stay safe). "Einstein damn it DUM-E! Give it back to me right this now! I swear I will donate you to the nearest kindergarten where there is no way for you to poison anyone with your motor oil smoothies!" He made a mad leap and managed to get on top of his oldest robot and grabbed his wrench from the bot's claw.

"Tony."

"Yes Pepper Pot, light of my life?" Tony spun towards Pepper as she giggled at Stark's antics. "Oh. I forgot about that. Hello everyone. Sorry you saw that; kids these days. Anyways, I wanted to let you all know the changes that have been happening. Thanks to our tech departments all around the world, we have created and raised a new AI named FRIDAY. This AI's job is to protect the two floors for the children; she will protect each child and help us provide the best care for each child. She doesn't manage SI like JARVIS does, her processors are fully focused on these children. Say hello baby girl."

"Hello all. It is a pleasure to meet you."

--Every SI building has at least one floor dedicated for a children's sanctuary and in every single one Tony Stark himself personally installed the separate power source and FRIDAY.

"How are you sure that you can keep these children safe? The Avengers live there after all and it can result in attacks on the tower." The reporter called out.

"Don't worry; the courts gave them to me because I could protect them better than who they were with originally. I personally installed the security myself. If you have seen the security for my suits- then you haven't seen anything yet." Tony smiled and put his sunglasses back on his face and swaggered away.

--The only people allowed around the building without an ID pass are the Avengers (related personnel have to at least show identification) and the kids who go to floors two and three. ID passes are easily lost, stolen, or broken in irresponsible or young hands; thus, FRIDAY works as their pass, but only to the aforementioned floors.

Lizzie let a few teenagers run past her without saying anything to them. When two SHIELD Agents tried to do the same, she stopped them. "Ah ah ah! ID please and what is your business here today?"

Lizzie made sure that they had the correct identification and made sure JARVIS also approved. Twenty minutes later, the two were on their way."

--There are therapists to see and groups/clubs to join on the fifteenth and sixteenth floor. The therapists work in STARK Industries and thus have the qualification to be told the happenings in this building. The clubs also meet together on the higher of the two floors.

Honestly this was crazy. There was a lowkey cult for both Pepper and Tony. There was a group for talking about each Iron Man Armor, one that met and talked about the Avengers, another one that talked about Tony's science kids. There were groups of former SHIELD Agents and ones that formed of the people who were in SI during the Afghanistan incident, the Stane incident, the Whiplash encounters, the Battle of New York, the Mandarin attacks, and Ultron respectively. One of the bigger groups were made up of mainly older employees that talked with the younger employees about all of the times that Tony had been kidnapped.

----Inferior Tech Companies----

--Hammer Tech is shit and is not allowed within 100 ft of any and all SI building.

"This bitch useless! YEET!"

"Okay who thE FUCK THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY TO BRING HAMMER TECH HERE? WE DON'T BRING TRASH IN FROM THE STREETS!"

--When something doesn't work, fails, or is frustrating, employees tend to curse Hammer Tech. Alternatively, when encouraging something to work, employees have started to say/chant for the tech to not be Hammer Tech and to instead be Stark Industries

"Come on Helen. I know you can work! I just fixed your code! Do you really want to be Hammer Tech. Come on me Stark be Stark be Stark." The red screen turned blue as it finally started to work. "Hell yes!"

....

"WHAT THE ACTUAL ASS HAMMER TECH?! Why are they completely fucking with our shit!"

"Damien I fixed it. All you had to do was to turn it off and then on again. You are obviously way too tired for this. Take a nap, I swear to Stark!"

"Fine, fine. Whatever."

--When something bad happens, employees tend to blame Justin Hammer. In fact, when employees are only functioning off spite, they tend to want to prove Hammer wrong. One memorable employee wanted to get into a fist fight with the man.

"I SWEAR TO THE GREAT TONY STARK I WILL FUCKING FIST FIGHT JUSTIN HAMMER! IF HE SHOWS HIS UGLY MUG I WILL FIGHT HIS HOLE FACE WITH THOR'S HAMMER!"

"Janice you are like four eleven calm the fuck down."

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN. I HAVE BEEN AWAKE FOR THIRTY SIX HOURS AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR ANY OF HAMMER'S BULLSHIT!"

--When Tony Stark found out, he nearly blew a gasket laughing so hard. He then asked Jarvis to record all of the times Hammer or Hammer Tech was mentioned and put it into a compilation video. It is always shown at the end of each quarterly meeting. This also makes sure every employee attends because no one wants to miss the video.

"Okay all. Thank you all for tuning in to this quarter's end meeting. You have done amazingly and well, JARVIS and I have put together a compilation of sorts. I hope you like it."

The videos began playing of people cursing out Hammer in about a dozen different languages, subtitles provided by JARVIS for each employee personally. It finally ended with four fool eleven Janice actually getting ready to throw down with the man. And no one doubted that she would win. Janice was honestly scary and Hammer was a wimp.

Everyone looked forward to the next meeting now.

----Tony Stark----

--Every employee has been honorarily adopted by Tony Stark. He and Pepper Potts share joint custody.

A tired, bedraggled, caffeine infused Tony Stark slid into the room. "I'm adopting all of you!" Tony announced loudly, "Even you Gerald!" Tony turned and pointed at an older man in his mid to late seventies, who in response, raised his arms and cheered.

The newbie SHIELD agents looked at each other. This job was going to be one hell of a rollercoaster.

--Tony Stark adopts kids when he's distressed. All of STARK Industries loves his unofficial kids and they like to pull them aside, teach them and get input from them when the kids have times

"This is my violent child Harley. I adopted him during the Mandarin attacks." A boy with a lethal looking potato shooter nodded.

"This is my sweet summer child Peter. He is soft and I adopted him because someone has to be his father." Peter blushed and waved shyly.

"This is Princess Shuri of Wakanda. I adopted her as another of my science children and she adopted me into her broken white boys club. It's called recycling." Shuri laughed mischievously and waved. She was going to have fun here.

....

Sometimes bots made their ways around the floors, just checking people and things alike out, beeping all the while. Employees tended to just pat them on the claw and let them be, sometimes calling out their names so they could say hello. It was easier than one might think to tell them apart; not only did they all act different, but their names were plastered on them.

You were a fool if you couldn't see the words and thus called them the wrong thing. (We're looking at you Smith)

--Tony Stark is an affectionate person. A tired Tony Stark is even more so. Stark is good at knowing whether or not you like the affection and acts accordingly.

"Good morning Pepper." The redhead received a kiss on the cheek and she distractedly kissed his forehead before returning to her work.

"Good morning Hap." A smooch on the cheek had Happy actually looking happy and the man made sure to place one on the crown of the smaller man's head as he walked past.

"Morning Sour Patch" Rhodey's cheek was smooched and the Colonel made sure to pull his pseudo brother in for a hug before kissing the mechanics cheek back.

Tony trailed around SI, sometimes dropping a kiss on his science children's foreheads if he could find them, giving hugs and pats on the back to his employees.

For some he gave them a thumbs up or finger guns. The man was super tired once more but he loved his employees and screw it. He was Italian and his mother raised him to be just as affectionate as she was with her side of the family.

--Tony Stark is a fucking cryptid. It is said that good coffee and music can lure him out of his workshop.

R&D was having a nightmare. Everything was going wrong and nothing could possibly go right. Whispers were told in hushed voices and a few people departed to get the needed items. Cathy returned with an extra strong hot black coffee while Harold came in blasting Metallica from his wireless speaker.

Tony looked up from his welding on the Iron Man Suit. "My people need me."

--Tony Stark just somehow always has food or just procures it out of nowhere. SI employees do not go hungry. We hypothesize that Mr. Stark is part chipmunk.

Bill's stomach grumbled. He had forgotten his lunch at home and he didn't really feeling like leaving his project to go get food. Out of fucking nowhere, Tony Stark started to talk with him for a little bit, helping with the project. When Bill turned back around, there was a small pile of granola bars and a few apple slices in a bag.

....

Janine was about to go to the vending machine to get some chips or something to satiate her urge to eat something. Tony Stark then sauntered over. "Blueberry?"

....

Grayson stood at their desk, unsure of if they were hungry or not. Sometimes they were hungry but their body gave them no appetite whatsoever. Stark quickly distracted Grayson, having them tell him about what they were currently working on. Suddenly Stark handed them a protein shake that was still sealed shut safely. Grayson was unable to shout out a thank you as Tony quickly left the area.

--SI has had multiple occurrences with the multiverse. They know their own Tony Stark from others but those others are honorary adopted by the employees, even the villains.

Okay. It was a Thursday and the techs honestly didn't mean to rip a hole in the space-time continuum. Honestly and truly. Only Dave was happy but that was fucking Dave. The techs made friends with the people on the other side of the rip, the two universes even talking about their villains and how they differed from universe to universe. The rip thing eventually closed, but not before Tony came out of his lab to take a look at himself. It was kind of funny to see the same yet different Starks talk to one another. Talk about trippy.

Everyone who didn't see the proof were doubtful. But this was STARK Industries so it honestly wasn't that weird.

--Many a villain seem to have adopted Tony Stark. Be thankful- we now have one less villain gunning for our buildings

Honestly, SI had a wall. It wasn't actually a wall per say but everyone called it that. It was a Stark document that had a constantly updating list of villains that Stark somehow got onto their good sides. Some villains fluctuated off and on, but others stayed on. The villains respected Stark and didn't attack the building, but were always ready for a fight with the man. He was supposedly a worthy opponent and even greater man.

It didn't matter that much to the employees. As long as they got an interrupted lunch break, they were satisfied.

----The Rubber Ducks----

--The rubber ducks are sacred, as stated above. To touch one, you acknowledge that you open yourself up to the possibility of bodily hard or any kind of retribution the owner sees fit.

"Felicia knew that by touching my ducks she was going to die. She's lucky she only got bruises."

"Calm the fuck down Terry. Jeez."

--These rubber ducks are used to talk to, to explain out their coding or design to be able to catch errors in one's work.

Rubber ducks are often used by coders when their code isn't working. The programmers will often take their duck and explain their code to it, making sure to explain it simply. Often, one duck is enough to catch the mistake. Sometimes it's a multiple duck problem. For the very stubborn bits of code, SI brought out The Big Duck. Once out, the programmers ALWAYS found the error. Thank you Big Duck.

--Every department has their own dedicated duck. They are designed by Tony Stark and are unique to each department

They were tiny little yellow rubber ducks that were attached to key rings so they could be attached to an employee's lanyard. While it wasn't mandatory for someone to put it on said lanyard, it made it a hell of a lot easier to tell which department someone is from. And honestly, these ducks are so fucking cute it would be a shame not to show them off.

--Major projects are allowed to have a duck. The head of the project gets to design the duck for the whole team.

When Tony allows a project to develop their own duck, the employees are so hyped up. Getting to display a duck that showed you worked on something was just amazing.

Tony's office was made of glass and facing outwards and sitting on many glass shelves were mini customized rubber ducks from every project that was worked on since the establishment of such a silly tradition. Penelope from accounting had a spreadsheet with a picture of each duck and the description of what project it belongs to.

--Sometimes, when major people come around (not the Avengers), they leave their personalized ducks on people's desks.

Tony Stark, Iron Man, and Pepper Potts are the most regular ducks seen. Harold Hogan, James Rhodes, and War Machine ducks come in at a close 'second.' The really coveted ones are the Peter Parkers and the Harley Keeners. Those two types of ducks were the rarest. Harley's just appeared on people's desks. Peter Parker though, hands them to you, blushing really hard and stammering.

———————

At the end of the day though, no one (except a choice few who were honestly anomalies) ever wanted to leave STARK Industries. It was fun despite all of its chaos and its benefits were honestly out of this world.