"Doctor, even if we kill him, we can still broadcast the frequency through the Stone." Okoye wasn't about to be swayed so easily.
"But that will take time! And time is the one thing we're out of!" Bruce Banner agreed with her in principle.
In truth, his interference was fueled by his own personal feelings, but his logic held up under scrutiny.
"We have no way of confirming he's friendly."
Bruce's point was valid, but Okoye had every reason to remain skeptical.
"He won't fight us. He just wants to protect Wanda," Bruce argued. "Madam Herta is going to save her; he has no reason to be our enemy anymore."
Scott Lang, however, cocked an eyebrow. "Unless he's looking to rekindle the flame once that Goth girl wakes up."
That comment silenced Bruce.
Looking at the situation they'd just witnessed, it was clear that Vision's love had already compromised his moral compass. This romantic scientific miracle had, in an instant, become a terrifying reality.
"Dr. Banner, I am sorry."
Vision looked pained; he knew exactly what he deserved. "I will preserve the frequency data. You can broadcast it globally to save this world."
His clear-eyed self-awareness, and the grim fate he had chosen for himself, caused the resentment and anger in the room to falter. It wasn't exactly forgiveness, but it didn't stop the others from feeling a flicker of respect for the choice he was making.
"I hate to be the one to say it, but Earth doesn't have a global broadcast system," Peter Parker said, tentatively raising his hand.
Whether the tech existed was secondary; the real issue was that no nation would ever allow such a thing to exist in the first place.
His interjection caused the "seen-a-ghost" expressions on the older Avengers' faces to soften back into reality.
For a moment, they'd actually thought that in less than a decade, Earth had somehow become a utopia of harmony and cooperation.
"Wakanda has one," T'Challa interjected. "And Wakanda has energy shields. The zombies can't breach them. It is safe there."
"Wait, Wakanda?" Tony's brow furrowed at the mention. "Why would you guys have that kind of tech? I remember the last international summit—weren't you guys a frontier nation of farmers?"
He gestured toward Okoye's spear. "And come to think of it, you called him 'King'? Does your tribe usually hunt with weapons like that?"
The spear was clearly made of no ordinary metal; parts of it even pulsed with a high-tech blue glow.
"Err..." T'Challa hadn't expected to have to explain his entire heritage starting from square one.
"I get it. We'll talk on the quinjet," Tony cut him off, moving the group along.
"Very well." T'Challa nodded, then turned his gaze back to Vision.
The rest of the group followed suit, waiting for Vision to make his move. But right then, a voice rang out from beside him. It was Herta.
"I wouldn't recommend killing him if I were you." The girl's voice was dripping with arrogance, a distinct tone that was easily recognizable even through the computer speakers.
"Madam Herta? I thought you were in the middle of an experiment?" The unexpected voice caught everyone off guard.
"I am. I'm just multitasking. If I don't keep an eye on you lot, you'll just go and screw everything up again, won't you?"
"Screw everything up?"
The group looked puzzled. Bruce, now back to his human form after being the Hulk, asked, "Are you talking about us killing Vision?"
"The power of Chaos Magic is beyond your comprehension. It doesn't matter much to me, but for you people, it's basically synonymous with the end of the world."
"...Wait, what?"
"Chaos Magic can rewrite reality and create entire dimensions. Granted, this current practitioner doesn't quite have that level of mastery yet, but if you kill that little robot of hers, all bets are off."
That... it's really that powerful?
The group's expressions turned complicated. So, between this husband and wife, if one died, the other would just end the world?
At least Vision seemed to have some self-control and knew when he was crossing a line; who knew what Wanda would be like?
The Avengers from the "testing team" were thinking a bit deeper than the locals.
Given the constant reminders, they were well aware they were currently inside the Simulated Universe. In other words, even if something did happen to Wanda, it wouldn't have any "real" consequences.
If anything, Wanda's sudden, explosive growth might have been a golden opportunity for Herta to collect more data.
Yet, she had stepped in to warn them. This felt out of character for the Herta they thought they knew.
Actually, if they were being honest, they didn't know Herta well at all.
All they knew was that her talent far exceeded what the universe could comfortably hold—she was a walking cosmic reset button. But she possessed a level of morality rarely seen in scientists of her caliber; she hadn't destroyed the universe just to satisfy her curiosity for truth.
Now it seemed Madam Herta's moral compass was even more calibrated than they had initially estimated.
"We understand. Thank you for the warning," Rogers replied on behalf of the group.
Herta didn't speak again. After a moment of silence, they assumed she was finished with them.
Parker couldn't help but chime in. "Um... since Madam Herta is the administrator, why don't we just ask her to solve this crisis for us?"
The Avengers remained cautious, not knowing what would happen if they revealed this was all a simulation.
They couldn't exactly explain that Herta was the examiner and wasn't about to hand them the answer key.
"She has more important things to attend to," Tony explained, feeling the weight of the others' stares.
What could be more important than a global apocalypse?
"She's not from Earth. And if she makes one wrong move, the entire universe could go 'poof'." Tony used that to shut down any further questioning.
The other Bruce Banner just stared. Even Thanos didn't claim he'd accidentally delete the universe. You're telling me she's more dangerous than the Mad Titan?
Though Bruce was skeptical, he didn't press it. He trusted his old teammate wouldn't talk nonsense, and the fact that she wasn't from Earth meant she wouldn't be swayed by any "moral obligations" to humanity. Her warning about Vision was already an act of grace.
"Anyway, before we head to Wakanda, let's clear out the zombies outside," Tony decided. "It'll be a tight squeeze, but my chopper can fit everyone if we double up."
Honestly, when he bought that helicopter, he never imagined it would have to carry this much dead weight—literally and figuratively. He just hoped the rotors would hold.
"There is a Quinjet in the hangar," Vision noted.
"Looks like we can fly in shifts then," Rogers said. "Vision, Dr. Banner—take the others and head to Wakanda first. The rest of us will follow shortly after."
Though he only named two people, everyone naturally fell into their groups: the "past" team in one, the "present" team in the other.
With the tasks assigned, Rogers walked over to Tony. "We'll hit the local Avengers base first to resupply, then meet them in Wakanda."
"Good plan." Tony smirked. The local team would go save the world, while the test team would go gear up. Everyone had a bright future ahead of them.
Besides, he was itching to get his hands on that nanotech suit.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.