Before the safe zone unfolded, everyone remained in the previous silver space. Steve, who had just become the team leader, planned to hold a strategy meeting while they had the time.
Standing before the round platform with both hands braced against its surface, he looked around and said, "I think everyone here is smart—at least smarter than I am—so I won't try to boss anyone around. Speak freely, but try not to stray off topic. The purpose of this meeting is to analyze the rules we know and establish principles for our next moves. Let's begin."
Natasha gave him a thumbs-up and said, "That's what I like about you, Captain. If you gave that speech to Nick, he'd talk for at least half an hour."
Steve smiled and shrugged. "He wasn't like that when we were fighting wars. He's been Director too long. It's hard not to pick up some bureaucratic habits."
Stark pressed his middle finger to the space between his brows, pulling himself out of deep thought. He lowered his hand and tapped the tabletop with his index finger. "I won't stand on ceremony, then. I do have some thoughts about the rules we just heard."
"First, this is the simplest kind of zero-sum game. There can only be one winner, and the losers get nothing. That means two things: first, we will have to take resources from other people; second, whoever gets ahead first will have an enormous advantage that will be difficult to overcome."
"The reason I bring up the first point is..." Stark's gaze lingered briefly on Peter and Steve before he continued, "Competing with our counterparts—other superheroes—for resources is unavoidable. What do you think about that?"
After a moment of thought, Steve said, "I think our focus should be on making sure we clear