"We?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Dr. Banner and I."
"What do you need that thing for?"
"Uh..." Tony began to hem and haw.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why is everyone having such trouble getting their words out today? Just spit it out."
"All right, all right." Tony seemed to give up on hiding it. "We're working on a project, and we need to study the Mind Stone's structure and energy patterns."
"Wait there." With that brisk reply, Hermione traced a spinning Portal of golden sparks in front of herself and stepped through. It closed behind her, leaving Tom, Agatha, and Wanda exchanging bewildered looks in the Church.
A second later, Hermione appeared in the laboratory at Stark Tower.
Tony and Banner were gathered around a complex holographic model resembling a network of neurons, discussing something.
"Hi," Hermione greeted them.
Tony's eyes lit up when he saw her. Banner also stopped what he was doing and gave her a slightly awkward nod.
Tony pointed to the holographic model between them. "Look, we're trying to program a... well, a global AI defense system. We need a sufficiently complex neural network model, and the Mind Stone is the perfect reference."
Hermione said nothing, simply watching the two of them in silence.
Her stare left Tony and Banner a little unnerved. Finally, Banner sighed and volunteered the truth. "We're working on the Ultron Initiative."
Tony hurriedly picked up where he left off:
"Ultron will be an intelligent defense system covering the entire globe. With him, we'll be able to proactively defend against alien invasions. Incidents like the Chitauri or the Dark Elves will never happen again. This will build a suit of armor around Earth and truly protect it."
Afraid Hermione would refuse, he did his best to paint a bright future with