The Mind Stone was no longer sleeping.
Every hour we spent near it, it pulsed with more intensity. Like a heart rediscovering its own rhythm. And it wasn't beating for Loki anymore.
It was beating for Wanda.
And—worse—it was beating for me, too.
---
[System Update: Energy Signature Link – Mind Stone | Status: Semi-Synced]
Resonance Bond Strength: 31%
⚠️ Caution: Energy feedback risk increasing. Neural overload likely beyond 60%.
---
Wanda and I had stolen half an hour in the lab—Fury thought we were running diagnostics. In truth, we were isolating the Stone's psychic signature inside a sealed Faraday chamber. Wanda stood in the containment circle. I sat at the system terminal, fingers shaking.
> "You okay?" I asked.
> "Better when it's quiet," she whispered. "But it's never quiet around it."
I activated the sync sequence.
The Mind Stone flared.
Wanda screamed.
---
[ALERT: Chaos Surge Detected]
System Stability: Dropping – 84% → 72% → 61%
Ultron Fragment: Stirring…
---
Suddenly—
She wasn't standing in the room anymore.
Neither was I.
---
[VISION SEQUENCE: Shared Projection Space – Unknown Realm]
We floated in white void, surrounded by fractured shards of timelines.
One shard showed the Avengers dead.
One showed a world enslaved by Ultron.
One showed me—alone—facing a burning sky.
And one…
Showed Wanda destroying everything.
> "Do you see it?" she asked, voice echoing like a distant dream.
> "Yeah," I said, voice hoarse. "I've seen it a thousand times."
She turned to me.
> "But what if we don't follow the script?"
---
Then a voice shattered the vision. Calm, but commanding.
> "You're tampering with forces you don't understand."
The void twisted.
A shape emerged from the light. A man in red and gold, with a flowing cape and the Eye of Agamotto glowing at his chest.
Doctor Stephen Strange.
---
Back in the Real World – Lab Emergency Protocol Engaged
Wanda and I crashed out of the sync state, both panting, eyes wild.
The chamber's alarms screamed, warning of energy spikes and system corruption.
And standing just outside the glass?
Stephen Strange.
> "Mind Stones. Timeline fractures. Chaos magic syncing with rogue cosmic knowledge…"
"You two are a walking nexus event."
---
[System Alert: Magical Interference Detected]
> Stephen Strange attempting localized chronal lock
Countermeasures recommended: [Yes] [No]
I hesitated—then selected No.
I needed him to see me.
To believe me.
> "I'm not here to break the timeline," I said. "I'm trying to fix it."
He studied me in silence.
> "You're not from this universe," he said.
> "Not originally."
> "You carry echoes of hundreds of possible timelines. Millions of decisions that never happened here."
"That makes you dangerous."
> "And what does it make me?" Wanda asked coldly.
Strange's gaze softened for a second.
> "Something I should've stopped in another life. But maybe… not this one."
---
[New Quest Thread Unlocked: The Sorcerer's Bargain]
> Objective: Gain Doctor Strange's trust
Optional: Reveal System Interface (Dangerous)
Optional: Bind protection to Wanda before the invasion
---
Just as Strange turned to leave, Peter burst into the lab—still in his Stark internship hoodie, eyes wide.
> "Guys, guys—why is there an interface floating above your head? Is that, like, a game HUD?"
My stomach dropped.
> "You can see that?"
> "Yeah? It's like... XP bars and stat bonuses? Why do you have a +12 to 'Temporal Resistance'?!"
---
[ALERT: Exposure Event – System Visibility Detected by Peter Parker]
> Peter Parker is now Timeline Sensitive
→ New Bond Path Opened: The Prodigy
Option A: Explain
Option B: Deny
Option C: Recruit
---
I turned to him slowly.
> "Peter. You ever wanted to break the rules of reality?"
He grinned nervously.
> "Uh… define 'break'?"
---