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Chapter 107
Technomancer in MCU
Royal Court, Asgard
–Ed–
Here they were, an hour after Alfred had recorded some sort of magical interference that ran across the nine realms. For reasons he could not understand, Odin and Frigga were suddenly on board with Alfred’s crazy plan. They had also asked for ways to evacuate the entirety of the population of Asgard to a safe place, most likely, on Earth. The evacuation was supposed to be temporary of course but with the forces in play, none of them could guarantee complete success and as such, Frigga had asked them for alternate arrangements for a more permanent settlement on Earth.
He could only imagine the chaos that would happen across the planet when they realised that a society of superpowered bulletproof people would be living on the planet. More so, for people who follow the Norse religion, realizing that their Gods would once again walk the Earth. The mere thought of religion coming in and murkying the already turbulent waters made his head hurt even though it should have been impossible given he was in a puppet
Nevertheless, it was a no-brainer to evacuate all the nonrelated personnel off Asgard because of the ritual that was about to take place. He had asked Alfred about it and apparently, underneath Asgard, right below the Royal Palace actually, there existed a “safe” space. The space was intermingled with the roots of Yggdrasil, making it the place with the highest level of stability across the nine realms. It was also apparently an alternate dimension so the chances of the rest of the universe sniffing out about the multiple Infinity Stones in a single place would be quite nil. Asgard’s deterrence also added another layer of safety because even if somebody did find traces of Infinity Stones on Asgard, as long as Odin was alive, not many had the guts to find out if the Old Man still had his strength or not.
So, there he was, communicating with Frank and Skye to create a settlement capable of housing just over a hundred thousand super-powered people.
“You want us to do what?!” Skye shouted across the comms. Frank just looked on dispassionately, waiting for further orders.
Skye, on the other hand, “You go for a trip across the galaxy for some important medical procedure and the next moment, you call us and you want to create a small city overnight?” She nearly shouted across the screen.
He sighed, “Look, it’s just as a precaution but the chances of it being permanent are not zero. So, we have to take that into account. I am sure Alfred has already built a design for something like that,”
“I’m slightly offended that you even have to ask,” The voice of Alfred could be heard speaking over the speakers in the base as well as right next to him. It was slightly creepy.
Skye’s and Frank’s eyes looked in another direction as Alfred must have shown them the plan for the city.
“What is this? Multiple locations? Single Access Point, Landlocked place, city-wide barrier, cloaking technology, flying island!? Multiple Large Arc Reactors, the foundation built with vibranium alloy? Are you nuts? This will cost us a fortune. Even the Inhumans didn’t get anything this advanced.”
He was about to explain the probable reasoning behind Alfred’s actions but Frank beat him to it, “Skye, it’s simple. Just compare the numbers. The ratio is 10:1 and the Inhumans can be trusted to be by themselves.”
“Yes, the city is supposed to act like a natural blockade between regular squishy humans and bulletproof Asgardians,” Alfred chimed in between.
“Ohh,” Skye exclaimed.
He turned his attention back to Frank who was going over all of the different designs that Alfred must have made over the years, “What do you think, Frank?”
“Well, if you have said so, we have to build it. I am just looking for a city that can be built in the least possible time. The floating island will take too long and I am not about to take the chances of a floating island malfunctioning and slamming down somewhere because some angry Asgardians decided to drink a bit too much and destroy some critical infrastructure somewhere,” Frank said.
Yeah, that was a very valid concern. Even here on Asgard, they must have an astonishingly skilled repair crew because things were broken by drunk people all the time. Sometimes, they were not even drunk and liked to break things for just fun. It would not be funny if, by some miracle, they managed to get past the reactor housing and blew themselves up.
He shuddered as he imagined that scenario. THor would be so angry and by the time THor grew into his powers, nobody in his employ would want to mess with God King Thor. It would just not be worth it.
“What do you think, Alfred? Which is the most optimal design?”
“Well, if we had time, we could have just built them another planetoid like this one but since we are short on time, I would suggest we go with a landlocked area somewhere in the poles, hidden by the natural cloaking abilities of the environment there,” Alfred said.
“That’s genius!” Skye added, “We could place the city in the most inhospitable environment possible, deterring any humans from coming nearby, and with the Asgardians being as hardy as they are, that level of cold would be nothing for them,”
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“And even if they did feel cold, we can just manipulate the weather inside the barrier that will no doubt surround their city. They are space Vikings anyway, so this should be perfect for them. This should work,” Frank added in his two cents as well.
He then clapped his hands, “Great! We have a location and design ready. I suggest you all get to work. We were able to build a huge section of Upper Manhattan within hours. This much should be done in less than a day, right?
He cut the call before Frank or Skye could voice their objections. This was going to put a dent in the resources they had and a bunch of manpower would probably be diverted from non-critical missions to make sure everything was done on time but they were ready. They would be able to do all the things in time.
“Ugh, this sucks. I can't even remember when I felt this week in my entire life as a demon,” Toby groaned as he stumbled out of his bedroom and sat down on the dining table they had converted into their office space. It was huge so space was not an issue.
“Here, this should help,” Alfred said before tossing something at Toby whose hand snapped up and caught it before it could hit his face. As Toby opened his fist, he could see a small ball of darkness that seemed to suck all the light surrounding it.
“What is it?” He asked the question Toby must have wanted to ask, Alfred.
“Oh, that is something I cooked over the night. COncentrated Darkness essence from an unclaimed alternate dimension. Should be like an energy booster for him,” Alfred pointed at Toby before going back to work on his virtual workspaces that were invisible to everybody but him.
“Hmm, this feels weird but it's a potent source of energy. Much better than slowly drawing strength from the surroundings,” Toby said as he continued to munch on the ball of darkness. He could see the effect too as colour returned to Toby’s haggard face. Honestly, he felt a little guilty seeing his condition but it was not as if the reason he was exhausted so soon was because of Toby’s tantrum. A tantrum so destructive that he had to overdraw on his abilities to help imprison him.
“Alfred, how many sorcerers can you spare with accurate portal opening capabilities?” He asked Alfred because the section of city creation was done now. Now, they had to figure out a way to transport everybody along with their items of luggage to Earth, especially to the North Pole.
“Hmm, that won’t be necessary. I can create large gates on all the corners of the city. They can be easily anchored using my brand of runes. The only caveat will be that since I will be the one powering them, that too for such long distances and time, I will be unable to participate in the ritual immediately.” Alfred said as he projected the schematics for the gate that would be anchored in the city. It looked pretty big in the model. At Least as large as the Rainbow Bridge observatory.
“Okay, that works. I will go and brief the Queen on this then,”
“Alright.”
“Just go.”
He turned around and left the dining area. Just as he was about to cross the hall, he froze and immediately turned around. Alfred and Toby were looking at some magic circle together when both of them looked up at him in confusion.
“Alfred, what is the status of Jane?”
He had a hunch that she was going to play a very important role in the upcoming events.
“Oh, she is resting currently, well at least according to Asgardian standards that is. She is now a full Asgardian and as such, needs next to no rest. Her intellect has been enhanced as well, judging by the sheer research ideas she has sent to me. Her magic has yet to be tested though,”
“I am talking about the Reality Stone inside her,”
“Oh, that. No, both Odin and Frigga have forbidden me from even touching that. So, I have no idea about that. Why?” Alfred looked at him curiously.
“What are the chances of training her under a time dilation powered by the Time Stone?”
Alfred suddenly gained an interested look on his face as he replied, “Well, normally, doing that would result in a subpar result at best and an explosion at worst since I myself am not yet capable of wielding two stones properly. Just like that, if the energy of the Time Stone washed over Jane, the Reality Stone could take that as a threat and retaliate. I would have to conduct some experiments but I could probably reach a balance where time could be slowed down for Jane as she practices her powers,”
“That was exactly what I wanted to hear. Now, calculate the chances of the ritual succeeding should the Reality Stone come into play. Even if she is unable to use it precisely, the Reality Stone should be able to alter some factors and increase our chances,”
Alfred looked at him before slowly floating away from the table and casting a spell on himself. He looked completely still for a minute or two before he opened his eyes and he found himself sighing in relief when he saw Alfred smiling.
“So, what are our chances now? Toby asked.
“Addition of the Reality Stone that alters the basic underlying parameters of the ritual in our favour increases our chances of success from 20.22% to 81.1%,” Alfred said in a jubilant tone.
His body sagged in relief once he heard the news.
“I’ll go tell Frigga and Odin about this new development. Do you have anything that I can give to them?”
“Oh, yes. Take this,” Alfred handed him a piece of stone that was imbued with a message spell, containing all the data.
“Oh, right. Alfred, has Strange arrived yet?”
“Oh, yeah. He has already started breaking the rules of Kamar Taj. I am very delighted seeing Wong frustrated by Strange,”
“Great. Once Jane goes to Kamar Taj, train both of them in the time dilation. I am sure Strange will benefit from it as well. We are going to need all capable hands for the upcoming battle,” He reminded Alfred before leaving the room.
Strange was someone who would go on to become even more skilled than the Ancient One but the reason he was able to master his skills so fast was because of the very nature of the Dark Dimension where Dormammu resided. Now that they had pretty much neutralised Dormammu and his realm, they would have to resort to artificial time dilation so that Strange could once again come into the skills and powers he knows he can reach once again.
Also, having two Sorcerer Supreme-level sorcerers backing the team up would not hurt anyone, especially against someone like Thanos who would most likely be armed with multiple Infinity Stones by the time they meet face to face.
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Word Count - 2111
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