The folding bed in the monitoring room has been set up for a while now.
Banner practically lived and ate in the lab; his white lab coat collar was stained with coffee, and half a sticky note covered in formulas was tucked into the temple of his glasses.
On the morning of the fourth day, Phastos, unable to bear it any longer, came in carrying his toolbox. Seeing him staring at the screen with his oily face and yawning, I threw the bag onto the table next to me with a thud.
"Go back to your dorm and get some sleep. I'll keep an eye on things here."
Banner rubbed his dry eyes, not even looking up. "No need, time is a bit tight, I can hold on for a while longer."
"Feel your face; you could scrape off enough oil to fry an egg. What's the point?"
Phastos reached out and nudged his shoulder. "I just looked at the data; the fluctuations are all within the threshold. Nothing will go wrong. Go get some sleep. I'll call you if there are any problems."
Banner touched his cheek, his fingertips stained with a faint trace of oil, and finally stood up, a little embarrassed. When he returned, he had showered, shaved clean, and was carrying two cups of hot coffee, placing one gently beside Phastos.
The two argued about the algorithm framework of the monitoring network for four whole days.
Phastos was responsible for the signal filter and energy attenuation curve, Banner worked on the anomaly detection model.
The whiteboard next to it was covered with formulas, half in Banner's neat handwriting and half in Phastos's flamboyant calculations, with a crooked hot pot base packaging bag drawn in the corner.
It was a sketch that Phastos made on a whim one day when he was having a headache from calculating.
The two of them nitpicked over the parameters every day, arguing from morning till night, and the wrappers from takeout sandwiches piled up like a small mountain in the trash can.
On the evening of the fifth day, after Phastos finished adjusting the last set of parameters, a smooth and clear curve appeared on the screen, finally clearly distinguishable from the background noise.
Banner stared at the line for half a minute, then let out a long sigh, "Alright."
"Of course I did it, I adjusted it."
Phastos curled his lip, but a hint of smugness lingered in his eyes. Banner ignored him and turned to send the data packet to Tony.
Tony replied quickly, with just three words: Enter terminal.
Half an hour later, the phone rang again, getting straight to the point. "If this model encounters a deformed, trans-cosmic signal, will it still be able to recognize it?"
"Theoretically, it's possible, but if the deformation is too large, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed."
Banner stated frankly, "Unless there is training data to feed into the adaptive module."
"Wait."
Tony hung up after saying only two words. That night, he locked himself in his office and ran simulations all night using the data provided by the Mind Stone.
The next morning, Banner opened his terminal and found twelve sets of analog data in his inbox, ranging from mild distortion to severe warping, covering all possible signal patterns.
Phastos leaned closer for a couple of glances, muttering, "This thing can be made using simulation?"
Just then, Tony, carrying a cup of coffee, passed by the lab entrance. He overheard the conversation, leaned against the doorframe, and raised his chin. "We haven't met, but the tenant in my head has!"
Phastos immediately shut his mouth and lowered his head, pretending to adjust the parameters.
The monitoring network project was over, but Tony didn't relax.
The heavy artillery emplacements on the tracks were being worked on day and night by Ivan and his logistics team.
On the day the first one was completed, Tony took the shuttle up to inspect it. The two of them, wearing extravehicular activity suits, floated next to the base of the asteroid belt, with distant meteorites slowly passing by, and only the sound of their breathing could be heard inside their helmets.
Ivan pointed to the cannon barrel, his voice coming through the communication channel, carrying a metallic quality. "The power is 10 percent lower than you requested, but the rate of fire is increased by 20%. Even if it can't penetrate Reed's ship's hull, it can still deflect the approach angle, forcing him to change course."
Tony floated around the base, tapping the weld with his fingertip. "Not bad."
"Of course, I've been watching the whole thing. The next one will be finished next week, but the micrometeoroid density at the designated location is too high, so we'll need to add two more automatic welding machines."
Send me the list.
Ivan paused for a moment, then said, "Why are you approving things so readily lately? Before, you'd spend half an hour haggling with me over the budget, wouldn't you?"
"Extraordinary times."
Tony floated back to the shuttle's hatch. "Get to work. All three must be tested by the end of the month."
On the way back, Tony leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes for a while. The Mind Stone had been talking less and less lately, unlike before when it would always jump out to argue. When it did speak up, it was always about serious matters; it seemed it was also a bit anxious.
Pepper has been going to his office much more often lately.
Sometimes I'd bring him a glass of hot milk, sometimes a document for him to sign, but more often I'd just stand there and watch for a while, making sure he still knew how to eat and drink, before turning away.
Around 10 p. m. that night, Pepper blocked the doorway. She leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, wearing only a loose cardigan, her tone leaving no room for negotiation. "If you don't come for dinner tonight, I'll have JARVIS lock down your research and development terminal."
Tony didn't even look up. "I can unlock it even if you've locked it."
"Why don't you try solving one?"
Tony tapped the screen twice, and the permissions were indeed grayed out. He looked up, somewhat incredulous. "Are you serious?"
JARVIS said you've been sitting here since eight in the morning, and you've only eaten one sandwich in between.
Pepper walked in and snatched the electronic pen from his hand. "That sandwich isn't even as big as my palm. Tony, you're not made of iron."
" Reed might arrive at any time; I need to get the plan straight."
Even if you straighten things out, you still need to eat!
Pepper pulled him up from his chair. "The cafeteria kitchen has some stew left over; it'll get cold if we don't go soon."
Tony sighed, but finally stood up. "Alright, alright, let's go."
The canteen was long gone, with only the lights still on at the corner table. Stewed meat was served in a porcelain basin, steaming warmly, accompanied by two bowls of rice and a plate of stir-fried vegetables.
The two sat facing each other. Pepper took a few bites, then suddenly put down her chopsticks. "Have you been pushing yourself too hard lately?"
"Fine."
Tony shoveled some rice into his mouth and mumbled, "We can't wait until they're blocking our doorstep before we're even ready."
"Ready? And you?"
Pepper looked at him. "The dark circles under your eyes are almost as bad as Rhodey's."
Tony paused for a moment, then laughed, "You'll hurt Rhodey's feelings if you say that."
Pepper reached out and lightly touched his eye bags with her fingertips, then quickly withdrew her hand. "I'm not afraid of the enemy coming; I'm afraid you'll wear yourself out first."
Tony chewed his rice and said to Pepper, "I'll try to be back in my room before ten tomorrow."
Pepper rolled her eyes at him. "Just remember to eat dinner."
Harley has taken over all ground operations. The patrol density in key cities has doubled, and all communication channels with local emergency departments have been established.
One evening, Harley and Peter bumped into Tony in the hallway, both carrying their laptops. Harley stopped and said, "The duty roster and evacuation plan are finished. I've sent them to your terminal."
"Um."
Tony glanced at the screen but didn't stop walking.
Harley stood there, his fingers gently clenching the corner of the notebook.
Tony took two steps forward, then turned back. "Is there anything else?"
"I just wanted to ask, if Mr. Reed's negotiations break down, is five minutes enough for the field team to prepare from receiving the signal to deploying the perimeter interception?"
Tony thought for two seconds, "If you think the time is too short, I can give you a ten-minute response window."
Five minutes will be enough.
Strange's three-layered barrier was completed on Wednesday of the second week.
He arranged to meet Lynn on the hillside behind the base. The wind was strong in the evening, and his cloak billowed as he raised his hand to unfold a golden light pattern, its intricate lines resembling a spiderweb.
"Three layers. The outermost layer is spatial shielding, which interferes with positioning accuracy. The middle layer is a mirrored front layer, which can directly redirect conventional attacks to the Mirror Dimension for digestion."
If the innermost emergency isolation layer is breached, it can buy three to five minutes of evacuation time.
Lynn stared at the light diagram for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Three minutes isn't enough."
"I know."
Strange put away the light map, his brow furrowed. "The fourth-dimensional anchor point is still under construction; it'll take at least two months."
"It's too late. We don't know when they'll arrive. You'd better hurry."
Strange gazed at the city lights in the distance. "I know, I'll do it quickly. At least buy more time for the ordinary people on the ground to evacuate."
The first unusual signal appeared in the early hours of the second weekend. Tony had only been lying down for less than half an hour when Banner called.
He threw on a coat and ran towards the lab. Only the emergency lights were on in the corridor, making his footsteps all the more distinct. On the screen, a faint fluctuation hovered at the edge of the monitoring threshold, its characteristics closely matching the trans- Cosmic Energy described by the Mind Stone.
"Run the filter again."
Tony stood in front of the screen, his voice steady. Banner's fingers flew across the keyboard, and a few seconds later the waveform reappeared, exactly the same.
"Is it Reed?"
It's not certain yet.
Banner shook his head. "Signals are distorted when they cross the boundary of the universe; a single sample isn't enough to determine the nature of the signal."
Tony stared at the undulating curve for a long time, then lightly tapped the table with his fingertips. "Mark in red, track it separately. Notify me immediately if another signal on the same frequency appears, no matter what time it is."
"Good."
After that incident, the pace of life at the base quickened considerably.
No one shouted slogans or sounded the alarm, but the chatter in the cafeteria decreased, and everyone ate faster.
Thor also sent back a message that the Asgard advance team was already waiting in Jupiter's orbit.
Tony moved all the schedules forward by one day.
His daily schedule was packed: checking R&D progress in the morning, overseeing fieldwork in the afternoon, and verifying barrier parameters with Strange in the evening. Pepper stopped locking his terminal, but every night at nine o'clock, she would have the kitchen deliver a hot meal to his office.
Friday night was unusually quiet. Tony had JARVIS make a reservation in advance at the Italy restaurant outside the base, without telling Pepper.
When Pepper arrived at the office door, he was shutting down his terminal and had already put on his coat.
"Walk."
Where to go?
"Have a meal."
Pepper glanced at the untouched kitchen lunchboxes on his table. "Not planning to keep an eye on things today?"
"You need to relax sometimes."
Pepper didn't ask any more questions and got into the car with him.
The restaurant was small, tucked away among a row of old houses on the edge of town. A brass lamp hung by the door, and the interior was dimly lit. The tablecloths were white, and a small vase of flowers sat on the table. The owner recognized Tony, nodded, and led them to a seat by the window.
Pepper sat down and looked around. "When did you find this place?"
"Last time Ivan and I argued, I drove around for a bit and that's when I found it."
Pepper glanced at him, said nothing, picked up the menu, flipped through it, and ordered a few dishes.
The food arrived. Tony ordered steak, and Pepper ordered fish. After they ate for a while, Pepper asked, "How's your schedule going lately?"
"Tight. Reed doesn't know when he'll arrive, Kang is following behind. Ivan's turret still needs debugging, Banner's monitoring network is already running, and Strange's fourth layer of barrier is still under construction."
I was asking about your scheduling, not the projects.
Tony paused, his knife pausing slightly as he cut the steak. "I'm fine."
What time have you been going to bed every night lately?
"... two or three o'clock."
"That's considered good?"
I didn't stay up all night!
Pepper put down her fork. " Tony, do you remember the last time you were in this state, and what happened afterward?"
Tony didn't respond.
"You exhausted yourself, and then it took us even longer to get you back to normal."
"You have Lynn, Banner, Phastos, Harley, and Peter now. You don't need to handle every little detail."
Tony finished chewing the piece of meat in his mouth, and after a while said, "I know. It's just a habit."
After the meal, the two of them didn't rush back, but took a walk on the main street of the town.
The street wasn't long, lined with closed shops and brightly lit shop windows. Pepper linked arms with him, and they walked slowly.
Do you remember the last time we took a walk like this?
Tony thought for a moment, "I can't remember."
"I can't remember either. So you'll have to do this a few more times."
"Okay. Let's have a good look around after everything's finished."
Pepper glanced at him sideways and smiled.
It was almost 11 o'clock when we got back to the base.
He turned and walked towards his office. After a couple of steps, Pepper called after him, " Tony."
He turned around.
"You did great today, keep it up."
Tony smiled, waved, and continued walking.
Just as he arrived at the office door, Lynn came from the other end of the corridor, carrying a canvas bag and with a row of communicators hanging from his belt.
"Perfect, saves me the trouble of looking for you everywhere."
Lynn pushed open the door and went in. "In my perception, besides the two signals you've synchronized, there are three anomalies. One is outside the Kuiper Belt, one is on the outer edge of the Orion Arm, and one is in the direction of Aquila."
Tony followed him inside. "Are you planning to go take a look?"
"I'll go the fastest."
Lynn took a communicator from his belt and placed it on the table. "Take this. I'll synchronize my location with you when I arrive."
How long will you be gone?
"It's just a blink of an eye."
Lynn raised his hand and made a gesture in the air, and a portal with orange edges unfolded in the office.
Tony put the communicator in his pocket. "Be careful."
"Knew."