17154/Who owns the Cosmos

Who owns the Cosmos
Date of Scene:	11 February 2024
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Labs
Synopsis:	Plans form for the Cosmos, beginning with the merger of magic and science.
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Wanda Maximoff

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Pepper Potts has posed:
It's a grey day without; the cloud cover is heavy and low, giving rise to the decided chance of rain. Like Phil (the groundhog, not the SHIELD agent) said, the weather is warming up, however. So, with the good comes the bad, if one doesn't care for rain, that is.

With wet weather, then, there is a distinct preference for remaining indoors, and with that, there is either the choice to do absolutely nothing, or to be downstairs in the labs, working on mysteries wrapped in conundrums. Such is the case for some that seem to live their lives in one lab or another across the expanse of the globe.

Since the visit to the Exhibition, Astra Lumina in the Botanical Gardens, the small, crystal orb has been living in one of the containment facilities in the lab. JARVIS has been put to the task of monitoring levels of background radiation in the labs, in the basement and throughout the Mansion itself. Some anomalies can be explained, thank you Wanda, while others?

"Excuse me, sir." A soft but insistent voice comes from everywhere and nowhere, the sound a clipped British accent. Who that 'sir' may be for, well.. there are several that are in the Manor. But it's the message that pinpoints the recipients, "There is a slight increase in background heat and radiation. The noise that can be recorded is as follows," and just after, there is the distinct sound of static, though any familiar with astrophysics would immediately recognize the sound, the song of a universe. "It is eminating from the lab at the moment. Containment is holding at 95%, and I am shifting power to accomodate."

Just as JARVIS is finishing his announcement, Pepper is coming in the front door hurriedly, the *click*click* of heels on the floor carrying a rapid cadence. She has a light jacket on, a scarf wrapped about, and in hand, a tablet. "I found it," she announces, though green eyes are locked on her screen.

Tony Stark has posed:
    Tony spends most of his time these days in his workshop in Stark tower. Today, however, he's in the mansion. To be precise, he's currently in the kitchen making a fairly large batch of chili. It seems he may be planning to watch the Super Bowl, since when Jarvis reports in, he sighs and says "Of course that's going to happen just now. It hasn't had time to do this before."

    Turning the heat down, he says, "Keep an eye on this, will you? Let me know if it's going to burn." He heads out of the kitchen, heading for the nearest elevator down to the lab levels. "Who else is home right now? Might as well mess with their plans too, so send them down to the labs." He hits the button for the elevator and is stepping in as Pepper rushes in. He reaches out to hold the door open and asks, "Hi Pep, what are we finding today?"

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner is, as usual, lab adjacent so any notification or kerfuffle from that area certainly is likely to get his attention. He had a pad in his lap, reading through a book outlining some of the new discoveries gotten from the latest deep-space telescopes and observances. Of course, they also now had direct sources for what the universe was like through alien contact, but that wasn't the same as advanced knowledge of galactic physics.

Plus, it would be better to figure it out for themselves rather than just have the knowledge handed over. It felt like cheating that way, at least to Bruce.

He's wearing an Albert Einstein t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants - not exactly work clothes, but it's the weekend. He'll see the elevator coming down and meet Tony and Pepper as they arrive on the level, "Nothing that's going to try to murder us all this time, I hope," he says to Tony.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
When they first got hold of the crystal orb Wanda's green eyes were telling. This was something of _interest_. Not in scientifical term, not for her, but there was something there that called to her and even she hasn't verbalized so she has made sure to be at the labs studying it the last few days. Not that she has shared much on what she has uncovered but then again it's not like she can translate it to a graph to show on a powerpoint presentation.

She is at her room today, drawing an image of the orb itself, the colors those she can detect with her witch gaze but once that warning over comms comes she leaves the design unfinished. Getting up and making her way to the labs.

She isn't the first to arrive, not by a stretch, dressed in a pair of yoga pants, bare footed and a black turtleneck sweater. Casual Witch. "Who would try to murder us at the Avengers Mansion?" she asks before adding with a quirk of a smile, "Don't answer that."

Eyes then fall on Pepper, curious on what her findings were.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The intent was absolutely to head to the kitchen where Tony was making his (in)famous chili for the game. The Super Bowl is a thing that must be watched in the company of others in a warm, paneled living room with a cheery fire in the fireplace. Overstuffed chairs are a must, as are team jerseys. At least the chips, the dip, the chicken wings, potato skins and such are due to be delivered. Patrick, Pepper's personal robot that had initially been simply a cleaning 'bot, could answer the door and bring the snacks in. Might even be able to set it up in rudimentary fashion!

That was the intent, anyway. Reality for pretty much everyone with whom she keeps company is never quite up to it. She smiles at Tony as he holds the door, and upon seeing the rest, the thought of being murdered by.. anything within the mansion isn't a happy thought. "I hope not?" It's an honest hope.. and to see Wanda, there's a genuine warm smile for the woman. "I.. I think you're right. We won't answer that."

"93%." Why does it sound like JARVIS is counting down?

"Um.. I just found who didn't show up that night. How we were able to get the tickets is all." Pepper looks around at the gathered, "I was just wondering is all."

Tony Stark has posed:
    Tony keeps the door open for both Pepper and Wanda before letting go and hitting the button for the lab level. "Well, don't keep us in suspense, who was it? And is it a deep dark conspiracy? We haven't had a good conspiracy in a while, I think we're about due."

    "oh, I can think of lots of people who might want to, and you'd think the mansion might make a pretty obvious target. It's not exactly a Batcave" He glances at Pepper and asks, "That's what he calls it, right? It kind of fits his whole darkness thing."

    Looking back to Wanda he continues "But it's not all that easy. I've got a lot of defenses built into this place. Pretty sure we could hold off a pretty serious attack if we needed to. And one of these days, we'll need to. It's just the way things go."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner didn't even know it was the Super Bowl today. To say he's not a sports guy would be a wild understatement.

"Ever the optimist, I see, Tony," he says to the thought of them being attacked. He smiles to Wanda in greeting, but then frowns, "What kind of diagnostics have we gotten on this 'orb'? I hadn't even gotten a look at the thing. What's it made of? What kind of energy is it producing?" he says, immediately frustrated by the lack of data at his fingertips. Not too frustrated, though. Keep a level head, Bruce.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda wasn't much of a football fan either. But she had been made quite aware of what special a day it was today by a certain archer. Maybe that's why she had chosen to 'hide' in her room so she wouldn't have to be dragged off to watch it. Day was still young though.

Priorities first though! And that is the ominous countdown that JARVIS is going through. Wanda makes way with them into the lab, "The best way to describe it would be a universe in a ball." that's not very technical, Wanda! A faint, apologetic smile is then given to Bruce, "It is magic, but also not. There is a connection of it to primordial energies that date from before anything I have encountered. It feels _old_. Harmonious.." she doesn't tell them about the pull she feels towards it. No need to alarm the team about possible pulls the resident magical user may be feeling towards certain objects.

No need to alarm anyone!

Looking at Tony she then says, "Nothing lasts forever. And peace least of all." she knew that way too well, green eyes turning somber a moment.

"Who were the tickets supposed to be to?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
Brows rise, and there is that ghost of a smile that turns briefly into a smirk at Tony's comments. There is most definitely a fondness there; her eyes give it away. "No, I don't think it's a conspiracy, though even if I say that, there will be some that'll see //that// denial as a conspiracy, so..." the word is lengthened as she says it, and finally finishes with, "Dr Hamid Rassoul." A brief search has him listed as a PhD teaching down in Florida. He's attached to JPL, to NASA.. "I have no idea why he's in the City. I wasn't aware there was a conference?" That has her looking at Bruce, brows rising. If anyone knew that, he would.

Pepper looks back at Wanda, even as JARVIS is, essentially, doing a countdown. "Speaking of conspiracy theories, do you think it was meant for him?" Maybe? She considers the witch for a long moment before she nods. She doesn't know much about it; no pull for her, though the entire experience was, at least for her, sublime. Could the orb have had a part to play in that?

Tony Stark has posed:
    "Yeah, ever seen Men in Black? Same kind of thing. I am now going to say something that may elicit gasps of surprise - I have no idea how the thing works. I've been trying to analyze it for weeks now, and there's just something missing from the readings."

    He gestures at Wanda, saying "It might be that kind of magic thing Red was talking about, a kind of energy that just doesn't want to conform to the universal rules we're used to. But then, if it's a universe all it's own, it might play by different rules. Makes things difficult to try and work by two sets of rules that don't always agree."

    He snaps his fingers, "Hey, why don't we get Lang to shrink way down and go in for a look? It's a shrunken universe, it's right in his zone. Might not be able to get him back though, so we might have to think it through a little. Anyone else got any ideas to toss out?"

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner frowns, "No offense, Wanda, but magic kind of makes my skin crawl sometimes. I know there are rules to it, laws, ways it works, but I don't understand any of them. Logic seems to go out the window. Dangerous."

"I'm starting to think that storing this object here may have no been the best idea. The incremental tone of the alarm, however, indicates to me that we either need to intervene and step in to deal with this thing or we need to get OUT and make sure we don't get sucked down into some weird magic black hole into a special hell for science geeks where I'm forced to spend my whole life doing calculus grading."

"That last one may have just been a nightmare I had."

"Still, if it's energy, then it shoudl react the way energy does. It needs to be either contained safely or distributed h armlessly. It needs a way to bleed off the excess, a drain..."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"You are a glass half-empty kind of man, Bruce." Wanda states when they start discussing the crystal orb in more detail. A soft hum rises from her throat as she continues listening to that harmony that flows from the orb, the song of a universe. It has such a pull.. "Who's to say this may not be benevolent? Imagine what we can discover if we unveil it's mysteries. An universe within an universe."

Men in Black though? That only gets a blink out of Wanda. Clearly someone needs to update her on 90s movies. Or is it the 2000s? ANYWAYS!

"Maybe what's missing is the magic I feel. And maybe what I am missing is the scientific aspect of it." She then suggests to Tony. "We need to be able to cross that bridge." she looks at Bruce to see if he may have an idea on how they can do that before glancing at Pepper, "We could look for him, maybe we can understand where this orb came from. It didn't simply manifest." though it very well could have.

Pepper Potts has posed:
'Men in Black'? Pepper actually //did// see that movie, and she's got that same look on her face that Steve does when he understands a current day reference. "Like.. the thing that was on the cat's collar?" Huh. Almost immediately after, her expression shifts to a touch of concern, "I'm not sure putting Scott in there is a good idea." Her voice trails off on that bit of opinion.

Bruce's suggestion to perhaps do something about that shield drain, however, does get Pepper's attention once again. "I think perhaps that might be a good idea. But, if it's failing here, where could it go?" Green eyes turn to Wanda; perhaps she can help with it? The consideration of draining the energy safely, however? That's far outside her experience.

"I.. I think looking for him is a good idea," she concurs. "Or see if he's been looking for this, perhaps, in channels?" Once again, isn't that for Bruce and Tony to find out a great deal easier than she?

"Why am I wishing that it was just Super Bowl problems right now?"

Tony Stark has posed:
    "Probably because Super Bowl problems are usually simple and don't threaten our existence. And I don't recall any conferences that week, but I may have missed something. If they aren't calling to try and get me as a speaker, I haven't been keeping track. Enough to do without answering questions from a thousand scientific labradoodles."

    "Jarvis, could we absorb the energy and cycle it back into the shield? That'd take care of our problems for now."

    He nods, "Yeah, finding this Rassoul guy would be a good idea. Who knows, it may have been meant for him. Not saying we should give it to him until we make sure he isn't a HYDRA agent or something, but talking to him would probably be a good idea. And also, we really need to find someone versed in both magic and science. It's a problem when our top people don't have a common frame of reference."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner frowns, "While you're trying to track someone down, maybe I - perhaps with a bit of help from Wanda - can figure out a way to use some of our power siphons, the ones we used to remove excess radiation from the gamma and Pym sections of the laboratory, maybe we can find a way to diffuse the magical energies the same way. They must have some sort of...frequency or signal that we can tap into,' he says.

Sure, he's talking about doing an unheard of fusion of magical and technological systems that might upend the entire world of scientific endeavor but, like, the building might blow up, this is important. He has all his stuff here. And he's been homeless for long, long periods of time. It sucks.

"Reed's the most obvious answer. Hell, Doom might have ideas, but I...would not trust."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"Following the energy?" Which seems to be just another way of saying 'following the money'. But in this case there's a universe at stake. Wanda inclines her head in agreement about her help in this. "Let's do it." she says at Bruce with a faint smile.

"Maybe if you find the frequencies I can tap into it and figure where it is all going." she isn't particularly sure it might work but they may as well try it. Besides, Clint would never forgive her if the mansion blew up right -before- Super Bowl.

Nose turns at the mention of Doom though. Even Witches have standards! "We may want to keep Doom out of this."

She doesn't need ANOTHER person coveting this universe besides her.