The holographic conference room slowly emptied as various Overseers disconnected from the meeting. Some vanished in flickers of blue light from distant facilities, while others remained physically present within Site-001, God's Blind Spot. The Foundation had long since abandoned ordinary video calls. The Star Wars holotransceiver technology was simply superior. Every movement, expression, and gesture could be transmitted across continents and even between planets with near-perfect accuracy.
I remained seated at the head of the table.
Julius stood nearby, arms crossed, clearly still thinking about his conversation with the Ancient One.
Alex had already disappeared halfway through the meeting. Nobody bothered questioning where he had gone. Experience had taught us that if Alex vanished, he was either building something revolutionary or something that would eventually require three task forces to contain.
The vote had been surprisingly close.
Seven votes in favor.
Four votes against.
The motion had passed.
The Sorcerer Supreme would officially be offered one of the vacant Overseer positions.
Not just the Ancient One.
Every future Sorcerer Supreme.
The seat would effectively become hereditary, passed from one Sorcerer Supreme to the next.
The advantages were obvious.
The Time Stone.
Kamar-Taj's vast magical knowledge.
Thousands of years of accumulated experience.
Access to information regarding dimensional threats.
Potential future cooperation against cosmic entities.
And perhaps most importantly, trust.
The Foundation and Kamar-Taj had coexisted for centuries without open conflict.
Formalizing that relationship was worth far more than most people realized.
I slowly tapped my fingers against the table.
The Foundation had changed.
Once we had merely contained anomalies.
Now we possessed multiple Infinity Stones.
Controlled interplanetary colonies.
Operated Star Destroyers.
Maintained the Herta Space Station.
Had infiltrated Hydra.
Controlled large portions of SHIELD.
And had successfully forced Mephisto himself to retreat.
The Foundation was becoming something far larger than it had ever been.
Which was precisely why we needed allies.
"You're thinking too much again," Julius said.
I glanced up.
"That's literally my job."
"Fair."
He pulled out a chair and sat down.
For several moments neither of us spoke.
The room was mostly empty now.
Only a handful of Overseers remained connected.
Omar's brain floated inside his containment jar through his holographic feed.
William appeared to be reviewing timeline projections simultaneously.
Cleopatra was reading several medical reports.
Everyone else had largely returned to their own responsibilities.
Eventually Julius spoke again.
"Do you think she'll accept?"
I thought about it.
The Ancient One was many things.
Wise.
Patient.
Dangerous.
Stubborn.
But she also understood responsibility.
"The odds are favorable."
"That's a very William answer."
"I spend too much time around William."
That earned a small laugh.
The conversation gradually shifted toward other matters.
Tony Stark.
The future Iron Man.
One of the most important variables on Earth.
Hydra.
Now effectively infiltrated from top to bottom by Foundation assets and Chaos Insurgency operatives.
Nick Fury.
A dangerous man.
Not because he possessed powers.
Because he was intelligent.
Intelligent people were often more dangerous than reality warpers.
A reality warper could destroy a city.
A clever politician could destroy civilizations.
Lincoln would continue managing that situation.
Then there were the open seats.
Three of them.
The Foundation's power had expanded dramatically over the past few decades.
The workload was becoming impossible even for Overseers.
Sooner or later those positions would need filling.
The question was with whom.
Finding individuals powerful enough was easy.
Finding individuals trustworthy enough was nearly impossible.
That was always the problem.
Power attracted ambition.
And ambition frequently created problems.
Charles had proven that.
I looked around the room.
Each Overseer controlled a different part of the Foundation.
Julius maintained security.
Darius controlled intelligence.
Shi Huang commanded military operations.
Cleopatra kept our morality intact.
Omar managed finances.
Louis handled the ugly necessities.
William protected the timeline.
Lincoln negotiated with governments.
Michael generated wealth.
Alex advanced science.
And I coordinated everything while overseeing magic and some of the Foundation's most dangerous departments.
A massive organization.
A terrifying organization.
Yet somehow it worked.
Most days.
Usually.
Provided Alex wasn't involved.
My communicator suddenly chimed.
I glanced at the message.
It was from Kamar-Taj.
A very short message.
The Ancient One has agreed to meet regarding your proposal.
I looked up toward Julius.
He had already seen my expression.
"Good news?"
I smiled.
"Looks like we're taking a trip to Kamar-Taj."
For the first time that day, Julius genuinely grinned.
The Foundation was about to gain one of the most powerful allies on Earth.
And possibly its newest Overseer.