A Miscalculation

In the Mutant S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Loki showed no remorse as a prisoner, sitting on a simple bed, holding an instant coffee in one hand and a fashion magazine in the other, enjoying his leisurely life with complete ease.

Now that his brainless older brother has arrived, he's free and no longer needs to get involved in Thanos's affairs.

With Asgard heavily armed, Thanos's army couldn't easily invade Earth. Even though he had done many wrong things, given Queen Frigga's favoritism towards him, he would at most spend some time in prison. The prison was as luxurious as the Midgard King's palace, with unlimited supply of fresh fruits, vegetables, wine, and delicacies. It was much better than working for someone else and getting no benefit at all.

After finishing his cup of instant coffee, Loki suddenly gave a wry smile. Using the fashion magazine as a cover, he quickly switched to his signature devilish and arrogant expression, saying, "I really didn't expect to see you here."

The newcomer was none other than the Supergiant, wielding the Tesseract. Earlier, she had infiltrated the Helicarrier, attempting to create chaos in the enemy's headquarters, but after a round, she found herself unable to accomplish anything.

This outdated Helicarrier is equipped with a powerful artificial intelligence system. The identification cards worn by the staff and their individual devices are all part of this AI system and are constantly monitored. If anyone does anything outside of the orders required, their actions will be restricted and their personal privileges will be immediately revoked.

Supergiant are no strangers to treating individual lives as mere components; the Kree created the life-computer, which, as the ruler of the Kree Empire, acts with absolute rationality. Any Kree violates its rules will be punished, even a high-ranking fleet commander.

But even the Supreme Intelligence is not as overpowered as the artificial intelligence on this Helicarrier, calculating everything with impeccable precision, like a highly sophisticated instrument.

In order not to expose herself, the Supergiant did not make any rash moves and used her mental power to erase the memories of anyone who had seen her, putting herself in a state of psychological invisibility.

However, the appearance of one person later allowed the Supergiant to discover the flaw in the plan: Iron Man Tony Stark. He only had access to an outsider and did not have the tight communication and surveillance equipment that other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had. Moreover, with his Iron Man suit, any destruction Stark wanted to cause would be earth-shattering.

However, the Supergiant made another mistake. Tony Stark's heart was an artificial one, and in order to keep this artificial heart beating, he installed a new type of Arc Reactor in his chest. Howard Stark obtained New Element inspired by the Tesseract to protect Tony Stark, greatly reducing the chances of him being Mind Stone- controlled.

Just like facing an enemy who has erected multiple Mind Stone barriers, the Supergiant tried his best but only managed to leave a mental imprint in Tony Stark's consciousness, causing him to subconsciously stir up conflicts within the team while constantly using his intelligence to solve technical problems for Dr. Selvig. This is also why Stark was so eager when Wei Xiuming explained the spatial knowledge.

"You look quite pathetic, Prince of Asgard." The Tesseract in Supergiant's hand flashed, and Loki was teleported out of Solitary Confinement: "How does it feel to be defeated by a mere mortal in your eyes?"

"I surrendered on purpose; only then could I enter the enemy's headquarters... They bought all the iridium we needed, and it's now stored on this Helicarrier," Loki said. "And what defeated me wasn't the Midgardian, but my... throne contender."

Supergiant seemed not to hear Loki's excuses. She had seen the surveillance footage of how Loki was brutally beaten and didn't want to expose him now. "Follow me this way, I've found their warehouse where they store important items."

"I know, the scepter is there; I left a magical mark on it," Loki said. "Do we need a monster to wreak havoc here? I've found a very good target."

On the way to the prison, Loki discovered Bruce Banner and became very interested in his condition, believing that a little stimulation would awaken the other soul sleeping within him.

However, Loki's real intention was to get Thor... well, never mind. He wanted the powerful Wei Xiuming to notice the anomaly and rescue him from the clutches of the Supergiant. Following Thanos wouldn't last long.

"Don't complicate things," Supergiant refused Loki's request.

The back-and-forth has already dragged on for far too long.

Inside the Helicarrier's office, Tony Stark sat in a chair, with Nick Fury and Wei Xiuming on either side of him, arms crossed, looking at him. "Tell me," they said, "When did you start acting strangely?"

"People who are being Mind Stone- controlled are unaware that they are being controlled. The solution is simple: just reboot their brains," Wei Xiuming said very seriously, and then he actually did it.

A perfectly timed chop to the neck struck Tony Stark, the sudden lack of oxygen to his brain causing him to black out and pass out. When he awoke, he heard a piercing alarm.

"How long was I unconscious?" Tony Stark rubbed the spot where Wei Xiuming had slashed him with his hand. He didn't feel any pain; in fact, his neck, which had been tired from working at his desk, felt a little better.

"Thirty seconds." Captain America answered Tony Stark's question, then raised his shield in preparation for battle, though he didn't know why the intelligence voice had sounded.

"I feel like I was unconscious for half an hour," Tony Stark said in surprise. What exactly happened during the thirty seconds he was unconscious?

Nick Fury took out his personal terminal and asked, "Rain, what happened?"

Rain reported, "An unrecorded life form has been discovered active on board. A newly admitted prisoner named Loki has escaped from his cell. An individual named Loki, along with a non-human life form, breached the containment chamber and took newly added items and Iridium isotope metal."

Rain then teleported Loki out of his cell using Supergiant. The two opened the containment chamber door, retrieved the Mind Scepter and Iridium, and played the surveillance video.

"Where are they now?!"

"The two targets used technology not stored in the logs to leave the mothership's range." The AI Rain played footage of Loki and his companion finding the item they wanted and being teleported away from the Helicarrier.

"This is a huge problem." Nick Fury shut down his personal terminal, his face dark, and said to Wei Xiuming, "If you have other plans, please tell me now."