Aryan paused, as if a minor afterthought had just struck him. "Oh. I forgot to mention something rather important."
Every head at the table snapped toward him with the speed of a closing trap. Tony's eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. "I don't like your tone when you say 'important.' That usually means 'life altering' or 'incredibly expensive.'"
Aryan raised a hand in a placating gesture. "If you want to communicate with any member here, privately. You can do so by using the honorific as a gateway."
Namor leaned forward, his interest sharpening, the earlier tension forgotten. "Explain this sorcery."
"It's a form of conceptual resonance," Aryan said. "You speak the honorific in your thoughts and direct your intent toward the person you wish to contact. The message will reach them instantly, regardless of the physical distance or the walls between you."
Wanda didn't react with surprise this time, she simply looked at him with a knowing gaze. "You used it before," she said quietly.
Tony glanced between them, his eyebrows shooting up. "Used what? When?"
"The honorific," Wanda continued, her eyes never leaving Aryan's. "He contacted me before I joined. When I was still in Sokovia."
Aryan inclined his head, acknowledging the truth. "I asked if you needed help."
"And you offered a new life," Wanda added, her voice soft but firm. "A way out for me and my brother, Pietro."
Namor's expression shifted… interest turning into a strategic curiosity. "Across borders?"
"Across realities," Aryan corrected calmly.
Tony let out another impressed whistle. "Okay. That's officially more than just a long distance call. That's a multiversal ping."
Wanda folded her arms, looking thoughtful. "When it reached me, it felt like… someone knocking, very politely, inside my head."
Tony tilted his head, his mind already trying to reverse engineer the concept. "Let me guess… secure, end to end quantum encryption and it completely ignores every known law of physics?"
"...Yes."
Tony nodded, a grimly satisfied look on his face. "Of course it does. Why would I expect anything less?"
"One more thing," Aryan added.
Everyone at the table groaned in unison, the sound echoing off the stone pillars.
Aryan continued, unphased. "You can also call for assistance using the honorific if you are in mortal danger. If a member is in peril, the others will receive a notification."
Tony's eyes lit up. "A cosmic distress flare? Now we're talking."
"But," Aryan cautioned, "the other members must choose to respond. It is a request. If they agree to help, the system can teleport them near your location instantly."
Namor's brow furrowed. "A teleportation of that magnitude… there must be a price. Nothing in the ocean is free."
"There is," Aryan replied. "The price for an emergency intervention is one million dollars, deducted from the account of the one requesting aid."
Silence fell over the table.
"...Please tell me that's not an entry fee just to say hello," Tony muttered. He leaned back, rubbing his face with his hands. "Even cosmic scale cooperation runs on a budget."
Wanda stared at Aryan, her eyes flashing with a mix of amusement and genuine exasperation. "You knew all of this and didn't think to tell us?"
Aryan shrugged, a picture of innocence. "You didn't ask."
Tony slapped the table, the sound a sharp crack in the silent hall. "That is absolutely not how critical system mechanics should be introduced! Where's the tutorial? Where's the pop up window?"
Aryan opened his mouth again and the table collectively tensed. "Oh… and one more thing."
"I'm going to start charging you for every 'one more thing'," Tony grumbled.
"There is a newcomer benefit," Aryan said calmly. "You should check your interface. Top right corner."
Wanda was already tapping at the air. "...There's a gift icon."
Namor and T'Challa found it simultaneously. "I see it," Namor muttered.
"If you select it," Aryan explained, "you can claim a function called the 'Transmutation Ledger.'"
Tony blinked as he opened the menu. "That sounds like a fancy word for 'bank.' Tell me it's a bank."
"It allows you," Aryan said, "to convert physical items, materials, or resources directly into usable currency within this space."
Wanda stared at him. "You forgot to mention that? Aryan, we've been talking about budgets and million dollar teleportation fees for ten minutes!"
"That is literally the most important part!" Tony exclaimed, throwing his hands up in disbelief.
Namor's expression shifted from curiosity to something much sharper. The King of the Deep, ruler of a kingdom of hidden riches, began to see the true potential. "You mean," he said slowly, "that objects from my kingdom… metals, artifacts and unique biologicals… can be converted directly into the currency of this castle?"
Aryan nodded. "Yes. I've tested it myself."
"But," Aryan continued, raising a finger to forestall the inevitable excitement, "it is not generous. It does not follow the arbitrary markets of the surface."
Tony squinted at his screen. "Define 'not generous.'"
"Gold, titanium, rare composites… it doesn't matter what your world values," Aryan said. "If the market value on Earth is two thousand per gram, the system won't give you two thousand. Sometimes it gives half. Sometimes thirty percent. The rate fluctuates based on the system's own internal logic."
Namor frowned deeply. "On what basis? Who sets the value?"
"That's the part I'm still analyzing," Aryan admitted. "It doesn't care about supply and demand, market speculation, or national inflation rates. My theory is that the Castle values items at their elemental purity and complexity… not the artificial bubbles created by human scarcity."
Wanda tilted her head. "So… no cheating the system by causing a stock market crash."
"No," Aryan said. "It doesn't accept inflation."
There was a brief silence as they all stared at their interfaces, the power of a universal exchange sitting at their fingertips.
"You hid that," Tony said flatly, his voice a marvel of restraint.
Aryan blinked innocently. "I… forgot?"
"That is not something a man like you forgets," Wanda said, half amused, half exasperated.
Namor crossed his arms. "You've been sitting on a universal recycling system and didn't think to mention it while we discussed the price of power?"
Tony stared at Aryan, his expression a perfect blend of awe and fury. "Do you have a checklist? Because I'm starting to think you're skipping the most important pages on purpose."
Aryan sighed, a picture of feigned sheepishness. "In my defense, this place comes with… a lot of footnotes."
Wanda shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "Is there anything else you've 'casually' held back?"
Tony leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. "Any buttons we haven't clicked? Any icons glowing ominously? Any fundamental truths about the reality you're sitting on?"
Aryan paused. They all leaned in, the air in the castle thick with anticipation.
"...Oh," he said, his expression one of sudden recollection. "Right. One more thing."
Wanda groaned loudly. "Of course."
"Klein mentioned," Aryan continued, his voice becoming soft again, "that in his universe, every member of the Tarot Club eventually became a god."
Dead silence.
Tony blinked, his mouth slightly open. "...I'm sorry, what? Did you just drop the 'G' word?"
Namor's eyes narrowed until they were like shards of obsidian. "Define 'god' in the context of this system."
Aryan lifted both hands in a gesture of uncertainty. "He said that through the process of growth and the exchange of power within the system, they all attained some form of divinity. He didn't explain the details… only that it was their eventual outcome."
Wanda stared at him, her heart hammering against her ribs. "And you're just mentioning this now? After the gold exchange rates?"
"I wasn't sure it applied here," Aryan said honestly. "Different universe. Different logic. Different outcomes. I didn't want to give you false hope."
Tony laughed once… a disbelieving sound that cracked the silence. "So there's a non zero chance we all end up divine? That's the 'loyalty program' reward?"
Aryan smiled faintly. "Klein wasn't certain either. He just said it was a possibility."
Tony leaned back, shaking his head in a mixture of awe and sheer exhaustion. "Fantastic. Join a mysterious fog castle, get terrible exchange rates on gold and maybe ascend to godhood. No pressure at all."
Namor exhaled slowly, a strange smile forming on his face. "And here I thought today was already unusual."
Wanda glanced at Aryan, her expression softening but remaining firm. "Next time… please… tell us everything first."
Aryan nodded solemnly. "I'll try."
No one at the table believed him for a second.