The main feature of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s grand conference hall was that it was enormous. Covering roughly five thousand square meters, it was nearly as large as a school athletic field. It was oval in shape and divided into three levels. The second and third levels consisted entirely of circular gallery seating, while the first level served as the main conference area. A giant projection screen nearly fifty meters tall occupied roughly two-thirds of the semicircular space at the front of the hall.
The seats on the first level were not arranged in neat rows. Instead, they were grouped around round tables, each with about twelve seats. There were more than two hundred such table groups on the first level. Above each table hung a small projection screen, while every seat came equipped with a compact computer, a tablet for displaying materials, an intercom device, a desk phone, and an intelligent translation device.
This arrangement was mainly intended to make it easier for research teams to discuss matters while listening to the conference. After all, this was not a classroom. Those qualified to attend such meetings were among humanity's foremost scientists, and most of the time, they had to do more than listen—they had to speak as well.
Since every academic conference was multidisciplinary rather than focused on a single field, scholars with different specialties inevitably needed to consult experts from other disciplines when confronting comprehensive topics. If the seats had been arranged in rows like a classroom, it would have been inconvenient to find people, and their conversations would have disturbed others.
Although Nick had set the assembly time at ten minutes, that was clearly nowhere near enough to gather experts from around the world. Even with Archmages bringing people over through portals, it still took nearly forty minutes to locate