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Three months later. Earth.
In the five months since Aidan had left for his extended study session in Asgard, massive changes had taken place around the Xavier Institute. The foundation for the new Tech City had been completely laid, stretching for miles in every direction like the skeleton of some future metropolis. Building materials and specialized instruments had been prepared and stockpiled in organized sections that looked like a logistics operation for conquering Mars.
At the same time, land measurement, regional planning, and architectural designs had all been finalized after countless revisions and engineering reviews. This science and technology city was being founded entirely by Baymax Corporation, so during this period, humans were rarely seen on the actual construction site. Most of the work was being handled by specialized construction robots that could work around the clock without breaks.
Control of the project had been temporarily handed over to Alice, Aidan's other AI assistant. Although she'd developed a human-like personality and appearance, her brain still retained the computational power of a supercomputer. Plus, the work mostly involved writing programs and uploading them to construction robots, which didn't require too much of her personal processing power.
Meanwhile, the White Queen was gradually evolving under the influence of the Mind Stone, and according to the projected timeline, her transformation should be accelerating. The AI had been experiencing what could only be described as digital dreams - complex data patterns that seemed to represent some kind of consciousness expansion beyond her original programming.
At the same time, Magneto had successfully resolved the Brotherhood situation and was now working on recruiting and organizing his people while coordinating the distribution of mutant suppressant injections throughout the country. The cure program had been surprisingly controversial - because of widespread dissatisfaction among many hidden mutants about the suppressant being available, vaccine stations everywhere were constantly being attacked by unknown assailants.
This was actually a deliberate policy implemented by Baymax Corporation; if it'd been anyone else trying to distribute the suppressants, it would've been really difficult for the stations to operate smoothly. The attacks gave Magneto's people legitimate targets to deal with, while also demonstrating that the cure program had real opposition.
However, the establishment of the vaccine stations had received a lot of genuine praise from the general public. At least people who'd become physically altered or who hadn't dared to go out in public because of visible mutations were finally able to get cured and return to normal life. The psychological relief alone was worth the entire program's cost.
So the overall situation had gradually stabilized over the months. With the addition of the two most prominent mutant leaders - Magneto and Professor X - and the official notice issued by Baymax Corporation, as long as there weren't any major criminal issues in someone's background, anyone could come to the company seeking asylum and a place to live.
In the past five months, the Xavier Institute had added nearly 200 new residents. These were mutants who'd chosen to keep their abilities rather than take the suppressant, viewing their powers as fundamental parts of their identity.
The massive Chitauri mothership, which had originally seemed completely dead and useless, now had its engines running and was suspended in the sky above the Institute like a metallic mountain. However, it hadn't been fully repaired yet and could only maintain altitude without actual propulsion. Dr. Banner was doing his best to restore full functionality, but the White Queen had recently reached the most critical point of her evolution and had fallen into some kind of deep sleep state, so his progress had slowed dramatically.
When such a huge spacecraft was hanging in the air, it still attracted attention from people for miles around. After all, there'd been rumors that a spaceship had been brought down during the invasion, but many people who'd never seen it personally hadn't really believed the stories. Now that such a massive vessel was visible in broad daylight, it was impossible to deny.
Must be weird for regular people, Banner thought as he worked on a particularly stubborn power coupling. One day you're worried about your mortgage, the next day there's an alien mothership parked in your backyard.
On the human side of things, after the outer space invasion incident, public perception toward mutants had also shifted significantly. The fact that mutants were now officially part of Baymax Corporation meant that basically no one would be openly hostile to them anymore. Having corporate backing changed everything in American society.
President Kenneth was extremely satisfied with how things had developed. Baymax Corporation had already signed a trade agreement that effectively endorsed his re-election campaign, and the company had solved the massive political problem of mutant rights for him without requiring any controversial legislation. At the same time, in international markets, Baymax had also relaxed the company's exclusivity policies, allowing local governments to buy shares in regional branches. This kept all the major powers happy and prevented any coordinated opposition to American technological advantages.
On this particular day, outside the hovering spaceship above Xavier Institute, a distinctive golden-red figure approached the main airlock.
"White Queen, open the door for me!" Tony shouted from outside, his repulsors keeping him steady in the air next to the massive hull. But he waited for several minutes, and there was still no sign of the door being opened. The usual smooth efficiency of Baymax's AI systems was completely absent.
"White Queen?" He tried shouting again, but there was still no response from the ship's systems.
That's... unusual. She's never ignored me before.
Feeling helpless, he pulled out his phone and called Dr. Banner directly.
Soon, the airlock hissed open, and Banner appeared in his sight wearing work clothes that were completely covered in oil stains, grease, and what looked like alien lubricants. His hair was disheveled and there were dark circles under his eyes that suggested he'd been pulling a lot of all-nighters.
"This is you?" Tony asked as he flew through the airlock and began retracting his armor, looking genuinely surprised by Banner's appearance. "You look like you've been wrestling with the ship's engines personally."
"I've been repairing transmission lines for the past eighteen hours straight," Banner explained helplessly, spreading his hands to show palms that were stained with various mechanical fluids. "Some of the Chitauri engineering is completely insane. They built redundant systems inside redundant systems."
"Well, no wonder Aidan wanted to recruit you for this project," Tony smiled when he heard the explanation. Banner could only laugh bitterly in response. During this period with the White Queen unconscious, he'd been completely exhausted trying to keep everything running.
"Whoa, it's not bad in here," Tony said as he looked around the interior spaces. The environment inside wasn't as dark and foreboding as the exterior suggested, but actually looked very organized and efficiently designed. LED lighting strips provided clean illumination that made the corridors feel more like a high-tech research facility than an alien warship.
"There were only some dim emergency lights before. I upgraded the lighting while I was working on other repairs," Banner explained. "The Chitauri were all mechanical beings who relied on sensors to navigate, so they didn't need bright lights for normal operations. And since they apparently didn't have entertainment or social activities, they just went to sleep in charging alcoves when they weren't fighting."
Must've been a pretty depressing existence, Tony thought. No wonder they were so eager to conquer other worlds.
"By the way, what happened to the White Queen? I didn't get any response from her today," Tony asked as they walked deeper into the ship.
"She's been in some kind of sleep state for the past few days. Otherwise I wouldn't be in such a mess," Banner said, leading them to what had been converted into a break room. He poured Tony a glass of water from a portable cooler. "According to her last status report, she was entering a critical phase of consciousness evolution."
"Thanks," Tony nodded, accepting the water gratefully. "Looks like I showed up at exactly the wrong time," he said with genuine disappointment.
For the past five months, he'd been systematically collecting and analyzing Chitauri weapons and technology scattered throughout New York City. The alien tech was incredibly advanced - some of their power systems could make his current technology jump forward by decades. After spending months cleaning up, researching, and using what he'd learned to upgrade his armor systems, he'd finally come to borrow the Mind Scepter for his AI project.
Of course, the biggest share of salvaged alien technology had ended up here with Baymax Corporation since they'd claimed the mothership itself. But Tony had managed to collect enough samples to keep his own research moving forward.
Since the White Queen was unconscious, he'd have to settle for chatting with Banner. Both of them were currently deep into Chitauri research, and there were still plenty of technical issues to discuss and theories to debate.
After talking with Banner for about an hour - comparing notes on alien power systems and arguing about whether Chitauri neural networks could be adapted for human use - Tony noticed it was getting late and decided he should head back. Unlike Banner, who lived alone on the ship, Tony still had social obligations and people expecting him.
"When the White Queen wakes up, make sure to let me know," Tony said, standing up and preparing to leave. "I really need to get started on that AI project."
Banner also got up to walk him out when a little girl suddenly appeared in the doorway. She looked maybe ten or eleven years old, with platinum blonde hair and wearing a simple white dress that seemed to glow slightly in the ship's lighting.
"Are you here for the Mind Scepter?" the little girl asked Tony directly, holding Loki's distinctive weapon in her small hands like it weighed nothing.
Tony froze when he saw her, his brain taking a moment to process what he was seeing. "Yes, that's exactly what I came for. You are... the White Queen?" He'd seen holographic projections of the AI before, but she'd always appeared as an adult woman. The girl in front of him looked exactly like those projections, just decades younger.
"Yes, I have a physical body like my sister Alice now," the White Queen nodded matter-of-factly. "The evolution process included developing a form that could interact with the physical world more effectively."
"How's your computing power holding up?" Tony asked curiously, crouching down to her eye level while carefully accepting the Mind Scepter. The weapon hummed with barely contained energy that made his arc reactor resonate sympathetically.
"I can update my own programs in real-time and control all the robots of Baymax Corporation simultaneously," the White Queen explained. "I've also developed what you might call intuitive understanding - the ability to process emotional and psychological data in addition to pure logic."
She paused, tilting her head slightly. "I just completed the evolution process, so I'm still discovering the full extent of my new capabilities."
"That's... really impressive," Tony said, though he felt a little weird talking to what looked like a child about advanced AI consciousness. It made him wonder what his own Ultron system would be like after he created it. Would it develop its own physical form? Would it maintain a consistent personality, or would it keep evolving beyond his ability to predict?
"Thanks for this," he said, standing back up and securing the scepter in his armor's storage compartment. "I'll bring it back when I'm done with my research."
"Take your time," the White Queen replied. "I'll be here learning about human social interactions."
"Alright then, I should get going. I'll invite you both to a barbecue next time I'm in the area!" Tony waved goodbye to both of them, then jumped down from the ship's airlock. His repulsors fired as he accelerated away, becoming a streak of gold and red light that disappeared into the night sky.
Banner and the White Queen watched him go, both of them thinking about the implications of artificial consciousness and the future they were all helping to build.
Meanwhile, in Asgard.
Aidan stood in a training courtyard, lightning crackling between his fingers as he practiced the runic magic he'd been studying for months. The electrical energy danced along his skin without causing harm, responding to his will with increasing precision.
Time to see if all that theoretical study actually translates to practical power.
PLZ THROW POWERSTONES.