Kamar-Taj's meditation chambers were always dimly lit, but when evening came, the golden light falling over the ridges of the Himalayan Mountains reflected off the white snow and into the round meditation windows, making the room seem brighter instead.
The two men seated across from each other by the window were both rather silent. After a while, Stark spoke first. "Do you think the notebook's owner was right when he said that 'the absurd has its own beauty'?"
Strange frowned and looked Stark in the eye with an extremely serious expression. "I may not have the answer you want. To mages, neither the fragile flesh nor the thin, vulnerable soul can be considered useful. They could even be called burdens."
"You sound exactly like a dark mage."
"I am one."
"Do you know, Stephen? You've changed a lot." Stark tilted his head as he looked at Strange, as though trying to pressure him with his gaze. But Strange shook his head and said, "You don't need to play that trick on me. That doesn't mean you haven't changed too."
"We are both exploring the path toward humanity's future, so we have entertained many thoughts we cannot share with outsiders. Of course, I have considered how human souls might ascend into more powerful forms of existence. And don't tell me you've never thought about doing the same to their bodies."
"You said 'their.'" Stark's eyes widened slightly, apparently displeased by that word. Yet Strange bluntly shook his head and said, "We both understand that just because you haven't ascended into the Iron God doesn't mean you are truly no different from the ordinary people working on the ground. That's impossible, Tony."
"Physiologically, psychologically, in what we see and hear, in what we think and feel, we can no longer remain completely