Two weeks passed after the Battle of New York. It was late May 2012.
Across Western Europe and North America, financial markets tumbled and panic buying emptied supermarket shelves in London, Paris, and New York. In Sokovia, the morning streets remained completely calm.
Adrian arrived at Central Granary & Cold Storage Hub No. 1 outside Novi Grad wearing a canvas field jacket and work boots. Accompanied by the facility's director, an older agronomist named Vlado, Adrian walked through the subterranean vaults where fifty thousand tons of wheat and barley were stored in climate-controlled silos.
Adrian checked the digital readouts on the domestic alloy dehumidifiers and ran his hand along the intake seals.
"Moisture levels are holding under nine percent, Mr. President," Vlado said, tapping the pressure gauge with a pencil. "The cooling loops powered by the river station haven't dropped a single degree."
In the warehouse breakroom nearby, a dozen workers sat around an old television set showing foreign news broadcasts: armored police in Chicago dispersing crowds outside empty grocery stores, and protestors in London holding signs warning of extraterrestrial doom.
A senior logistics clerk shook his head, taking a bite of fresh bread. "The world has lost its mind over the Americans' alien fight, but our bread prices haven't budged by a single kopek. We have three years of grain stockpiled right here in the valley. Let the Westerners panic; our larders are full."
Adrian stepped into the breakroom, nodding to the men. "Keep the intake fans clean, boys. The southern harvest arrives next month, and we'll fill every spare bin to the roof."
The workers smiled, raising their metal coffee mugs in greeting.
Three weeks passed. It was mid-June 2012.
Adrian descended into the private palace workshop and locked the vault door, stepping through the dimensional threshold into the World Seed.
Resting on the dark stone pedestal was the authentic Tesseract, glowing with deep, limitless cerulean light.
Adrian approached the artifact, activating his Transmutation Authority while Sophia interfaced with the Kryptonian geo-engineering archives.
<< Sophia: Synthesizing crystalline containment siphon. Target: Stabilized spatial extraction field. >>
<< Process: Channeling Space Stone spatial curvature into the boundary horizon of the World Seed. Suppressing kinetic bleed. >>
Blue sparks flickered from Adrian's hands as he transmuted high-purity Sunstone prisms around the base of the pedestal, forming a geometric crystalline harness.
Instead of drawing explosive bursts of energy, the harness acted as a gentle acoustic funnel, drawing the Space Stone's infinite spatial expansion into the edges of the pocket dimension.
A soundless tremor rolled through the void.
The dark stone valley stretched outward exponentially. The localized spatial horizon retreated millions of kilometers into the distance.
Using the planet-forming parameters from the Kryptonian database, the empty vacuum filled with a breathable nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. Rugged granite peaks surged upward from the floor, vast fertile plains rolled out under an artificial solar projection, and clean freshwater rivers rushed through newborn canyons.
In less than an hour, the World Seed had transformed from an isolated rock plateau into an unmonitored, self-sustaining planetary realm.
That evening, Adrian brought Wanda through the dimensional gateway.
She stepped onto a grassy bluff overlooking a vast, sunlit valley that stretched to the horizon. The fresh breeze ruffled her hair, carrying the clean scent of pine and wild earth.
Wanda stared in stunned silence. "Adrian... what is this place?"
"Our private world," Adrian said, standing beside her. "No satellites, no foreign spies, and no sorcerers watching from the shadows. You don't have to hold back here, Wanda."
For years, Wanda had kept her volatile abilities tightly suppressed, fearful of drawing the attention of Ancient One's sorcerers or S.H.I.E.L.D. sensors.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Crimson mist erupted from her hands, surging into the sky like a tidal wave. She lifted both arms, laughing aloud in pure, unburdened relief as she tore a jagged granite spire from the valley floor, reshaping the raw rock into an intricate stone pavilion with a flick of her fingers.
Adrian reached out with his telepathic awareness, linking his thoughts gently with hers. Guided by Sophia's analytical calculations, he showed her how to smooth out the chaotic mental friction in her mind, turning her raw instincts into stable, structured patterns.
Wanda lowered her hands, breathing smoothly, a bright smile on her face. "The weight in my chest... it's completely gone."
"This is your sanctuary," Adrian said quietly. "Whenever the outside world feels too heavy, you come here."
One month passed. It was mid-July 2012.
Inside Adrian's locked palace office in Zubrovka, the secure terminal chimed with incoming signals intelligence.
Sophia routed decrypted feeds onto the screen.
<< Sophia: Signals intercept: Central Park, New York City. >>
<< Event: Thor has formally departed Earth with Loki in custody. Using a containment cylinder holding the Sunstone crystalline replica, the Asgardians activated the spatial bridge to return to Asgard. >>
<< Analysis: The replica successfully mimicked the quantum photonic frequency and mass density of the Tesseract. Neither Thor nor Heimdall flagged the substitution. >>
<< Domestic American Status: >>
<< 1. Congressional committees have opened aggressive inquiries into the World Security Council's unauthorized nuclear strike on Manhattan. >>
<< 2. Anthony Stark has retreated to his Malibu workshop, suffering from severe acute stress reactions and obsessively fabricating autonomous armor platforms. >>
<< 3. S.H.I.E.L.D. has quarantined Loki's scepter, but internal HYDRA channels have initiated covert transport manifests to divert the weapon toward European research sites. >>
A quiet knock came at the door, and Inspector Radovan stepped inside carrying the interior ministry's mid-year report.
"Mr. President," Radovan said, placing the ledger on the desk. "The immigration offices in Vienna and Belgrade are overwhelmed. Over four thousand diaspora Sokovians, along with hundreds of skilled Czech and German machinists rattled by the New York invasion, have applied for residency and work permits. They want stability, and they see it here."
Pietro strolled into the office, tossing a dispatch folder onto the table with a grin. "The southern freight rail just set an all-time record. Thirty electric trains running around the clock, moving domestic steel, tractor parts, and fresh produce without a single mechanical hitch."
Wanda walked in behind him, her demeanor calm and radiant, the strain that once lined her brow completely erased.
Adrian looked out the tall balcony doors at the sun setting over Zubrovka.
Down below, the city streets were lively and secure, lined with warm streetlamps and humming trams.
The Space Stone was secured, an entire hidden planet was growing at his command, and Sokovia's sovereignty was ironclad.
"Approve the skilled technician visas, Radovan," Adrian ordered with a steady smile. "We're going to need every capable hand for what we build next."