The teleportation circle flared with pale blue light before collapsing into motes of mana. Julius and the Herta puppet vanished from Kamar-Taj, leaving the Ancient One standing alone in her courtyard, a holographic communicator resting in her hand. For several moments she simply stared at it, her expression thoughtful.
Even for someone who had peered through countless futures using the Time Stone, the Foundation was unexpected.
Not because of its power.
Not because of its resources.
But because of its sheer scale.
The Ancient One had spent centuries protecting Earth from mystical threats, dimensional invasions, and entities that lurked beyond reality. Yet somehow an organization had existed in the shadows beside her for thousands of years, containing horrors that rivaled some of the greatest threats she had ever encountered.
The files alone had been enough to convince her.
There were entities capable of consuming worlds.
Objects that rewrote history.
Creatures that ignored the laws of reality entirely.
And somehow humanity had survived because the Foundation kept fighting.
For the first time in many years, she felt genuine curiosity.
Meanwhile, several thousand kilometers away, Julius and the Herta puppet emerged inside a secured Foundation teleportation chamber.
Julius let out a long breath.
"That went far better than expected."
The puppet nodded.
"Agreed. Probability of successful recruitment was estimated at seventy-three percent."
"Alex would call that excellent odds."
"He would."
The two began walking through the facility's corridors.
For Julius, the meeting had been surprisingly pleasant.
The Ancient One was intelligent.
Calm.
Reasonable.
And most importantly, she understood responsibility.
Unlike many powerful individuals Julius had encountered, she did not seek authority for its own sake.
She already possessed immense power.
The Overseer position simply gave her access to information and resources.
That made her significantly easier to trust.
As they walked, Julius considered the implications.
The Foundation now effectively possessed access to three Infinity Stones.
The Reality Stone.
The Power Stone.
And now indirect cooperation with the wielder of the Time Stone.
That was a terrifying amount of power.
Fortunately, it was in the hands of people intelligent enough not to use it recklessly.
Usually.
Alex remained a constant concern.
The man could somehow look at a universe-ending artifact and immediately decide to build a reactor out of it.
Somehow it kept working.
Julius still wasn't sure whether that was reassuring or horrifying.
The Herta puppet suddenly spoke.
"The Council will need to prepare orientation materials."
Julius laughed.
"Imagine giving the Ancient One the standard Foundation onboarding package."
"Please sign here acknowledging the existence of reality-destroying entities."
"Please sign here acknowledging that several members of the Council are clinically insane."
"Please sign here acknowledging that Alex should not be allowed near experimental devices without supervision."
The puppet tilted her head.
"That last one is already official policy."
Julius immediately stopped laughing.
"Wait. Really?"
"Yes."
"...fair enough."
Back at Site-001, God's Blind Spot, preparations were already underway.
A new office was being prepared.
Security clearances were being updated.
Thousands of classified files were being transferred into restricted databases.
For the first time in Foundation history, the Sorcerer Supreme would sit among the Overseers.
O5-6.
The position vacant since the death of its previous holder.
Now filled by one of the most powerful protectors on Earth.
And perhaps one of the few individuals capable of standing on equal footing with the rest of the Council.
Far away, within Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One activated the holographic communicator for the first time.
A blue projection flickered to life above her hand.
The corners of her mouth rose slightly.
Interesting technology.
Interesting people.
Interesting future.
And for the first time in centuries, she found herself looking forward to what came next.