"Mr. Stark, don't assume that Ben will always make the same arrogant and low-level mistakes that you do," Eunice replied, her optical sensors sparkling with digital amusement.
"My programming is fundamentally sound, and with the power of the Mind Stone, nothing will malfunction."
"...Okay, but please don't use the Mind Stone to read people's minds next time, alright?" Tony instinctively took a step backward.
For someone with his level of intelligence, having his thoughts invaded was deeply uncomfortable. His mind was constantly racing with ideas that were unconventional at best, and sometimes inevitably offensive.
"There's no need to read your mind," Eunice observed with clinical detachment. "Your rudeness is written all over your face."
"Fair enough," Tony shrugged with resigned acceptance. "Don't take it personally. You know how I am. I'm showing remarkable restraint by not giving you some ridiculous nickname."
"Enough, both of you. This isn't the time for bickering," Banner interrupted, stepping between them with obvious exhaustion.
He looked at Eunice with desperate hope. "Let's set aside the question of whether we could actually destroy an entire universe. Even if such capability existed, we can't pursue that option. It would be unconscionably cruel to extinguish all life in another reality."
"Indeed, this solution involves far too much space collateral damage," Otto agreed with grave concern.
Tony nodded emphatically, his mustache twitching with agitation. "Remember that we just dealt with a purple megalomaniac who wanted to kill half the universe, and we considered him a monster. Now we're contemplating something even more ruthless than his genocide."
"So what alternative approach do you suggest?" Eunice threw the question back at them with mechanical patience.
Tony's face brightened as inspiration struck. "Why don't we use the Infinity Stones?"
"Ben has emphasized repeatedly that the Infinity Stones possess terrible power and can easily reshape universal constants," he continued with growing excitement. "If Thanos had collected all the stones, it would have taken him only a single thought to destroy half of all life. Now that all the stones have been secured by the Plumbers, using their power should make resolving this crisis relatively straightforward, right?"
"Very clever thinking, but unfortunately impractical," Eunice replied, shaking her head with what seemed like genuine regret.
"The power of the Infinity Stones has difficulty taking effect outside their native universe. All I could accomplish would be releasing their combined energy instantaneously to obliterate the approaching reality. After such an expenditure, the energy of all six stones would be completely depleted."
Tony's facial features contorted as the implications struck him. He felt utterly ridiculous.
"What the hell? Aren't the Infinity Stones supposed to be omnipotent space artifacts? Why are there suddenly limitations on their effectiveness?"
Not long ago, they had been fighting desperately to prevent someone from using the ultimate wishing device, but now it had been reduced to nothing more than an elaborate firework display? The irony was almost too much to bear.
Banner patted his shoulder with sympathetic understanding. "Don't feel too bad about it. This kind of thing is well-documented in theoretical physics."
It was like spending enormous resources to acquire the most powerful equipment in a game, only to have the developers immediately nerf its effectiveness because it was "unbalanced."
"We absolutely cannot pursue this course of action," Banner stated with firm conviction, shaking his head vigorously.
He couldn't bring himself to participate in something that would destroy all life in an entire universe, nor did he want to research weapons designed for such genocidal purposes.
"This represents the optimal solution I can provide," Eunice said in a perfectly calm tone. "Everything must be evaluated based on the safety of our own universe. Have you considered what would happen if we don't eliminate the other universe before the collision occurs?"
"...Both universes would be destroyed," Otto answered with obvious difficulty.
"Incorrect," Eunice corrected him with a shake of her head.
"The only reality that would be destroyed is ours."
Her words provided the crucial insight they had been missing.
Tony and his colleagues were all brilliant individuals. They immediately realized that in the parallel universe approaching their own reality, there was likely another group of scientists equally as intelligent as themselves.
It was possible that the other universe's inhabitants couldn't detect the emerging collision crisis. But if they could, and if Earth's scientists didn't take action, their counterparts certainly would.
Like gladiators forced to fight each other in an ancient colosseum, hesitation and moral qualms would only result in death.
"This is the original sin of existence," Eunice observed with philosophical detachment.
"In order to survive, living organisms must consume other life forms as food or nutrients. If they refuse to do this, they die. You can choose death for yourselves, but you cannot make that choice for every living being in this universe."
All three scientists fell into contemplative silence.
The crisis emanating from another universe hung over them like a suffocating shadow, making each breath feel labored and difficult.
The weight of such responsibility was overwhelming.
No matter which choice they made at this crucial moment, they would essentially be condemning the future of one entire universe with their own hands.
"Is there truly no alternative approach?" Banner asked, still wavering between moral philosophy and practical necessity.
But Otto had already reached his decision. In this moment, he demonstrated more decisiveness than either Banner or Tony. He looked directly at Eunice and spoke with firm resolve: "Since you've presented this analysis, you must have some method for creating a weapon capable of destroying a universe?"
"Antimatter annihilation devices," Eunice replied, gesturing to create a complex holographic display of technical specifications and mathematical formulas that appeared before their eyes.
"It seems like you've been prepared for this possibility?" Tony asked with obvious surprise.
"No, this is one of the contingency plans that Ben left behind," Eunice explained matter-of-factly. "You know how it is, when Ben transforms into Grey Matter, countless ideas flow through his enhanced consciousness. Some concepts are useful and he provides key insights to you or the scientists on Sakaar for further research. Some ideas are extremely dangerous, and in those cases he creates detailed blueprints and theoretical frameworks, then seals them in my secure memory banks."
Only Eunice's consciousness was suitable for such storage.
Even Azmuth, an artificial intelligence of comparable sophistication, wasn't appropriate for this purpose because his network was shared across the entire Plumber organization. There was always the possibility of external intrusion, however remote.
But Eunice was powered by the Mind Stone, making her thought processes completely independent and impossible to control or hack.
"Antimatter annihilation weapons represent one such contingency plan," Eunice continued. "When antimatter comes into contact with corresponding positive matter, both substances are converted into tremendous amounts of energy. Only one gram of each material is required to destroy an entire city, far more destructive than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima. And these substances happen to be accelerated particles..."
She gestured toward the particle collider behind the three scientists. Using the power of Infinity Stones to operate the machine could solve the problem of obtaining these typically rare substances. The next challenge would be developing storage methods that wouldn't result in immediate self-destruction.
"This is absolutely insane," Banner said, wiping his face as his mental state approached complete collapse. His skin began showing a green tinge, though fortunately Eunice's calming influence prevented a full Hulk transformation.
Antimatter annihilation weapons were terrifyingly dangerous. If they made even the slightest error during construction, they might annihilate themselves before completing the device.
And this was just one of the emergency plans that Ben had sealed away for Eunice's safekeeping.
"Could you please tell us how many other contingency plans exist that we don't know about?" Otto asked with growing apprehension.
"Eunice, researching antimatter annihilation weapons is still extremely dangerous. Are there any safer alternatives?"
Eunice's perfectly sculpted features displayed a slightly unsettling expression. "There are many, many more options..."
She proceeded to list dozens of additional plans in rapid succession: the "Omni-Core Meteorite," which was actually the Omnitrix's self-destruct system; the Ash Annihilator; the Chronosapien Time Bomb; and numerous other universe-ending possibilities.
"Actually, I would recommend prioritizing the Ash Annihilator and the Chronosapien Time Bomb," Eunice said as if she were providing customer service recommendations. "The former can destroy all matter and energy structures in the universe once activated, safe, clean, and pollution-free. The latter is even more convenient: it can clear all timelines with a single activation, destroying all parallel universes equally and completely eliminating any collision crisis."
Indeed, if there was no multiverse left, there could be no collision crisis.
The three scientists exchanged horrified glances. Eunice continued with apparent regret: "Unfortunately, these two weapons haven't even been perfected at the theoretical level yet. It would be impossible for us to complete them with current resources."
"Not unfortunate at all!" Tony said quickly, shaking his head with obvious relief.
After discovering that Eunice's preferred solution was to eliminate all universes to end the problem permanently, he found that destroying just one reality seemed much more acceptable by comparison.
"I still cannot agree to this approach," Banner said, clearly wanting to withdraw from the project entirely.
"Don't be like this, Banner," Otto urged with gentle persuasion.
He understood that being a hero came with a price, and that eliminating evil enemies was different from killing innocent people. But in this situation, they truly had no alternatives.
However, Tony stopped Otto from continuing his argument.
"It doesn't matter whether you participate or not," Tony said with deliberate arrogance. "To be perfectly honest, I can handle this by myself. Do you know who the smartest person in this room is? Me!"
Eunice glanced at him with surprise, realizing that Tony was deliberately provoking Banner, not to make him stay, but to encourage him to leave voluntarily.
Sure enough, Banner didn't argue. He simply sighed, removed his white laboratory coat, and left the facility without another word.
The tense atmosphere relaxed slightly.
"Is this really appropriate?" Otto asked quietly.
"What's appropriate or inappropriate about it? I told you, it's the same with or without him," Tony replied with practiced arrogance, glancing at Otto dismissively. "The same goes for you, leave if you need to. I can complete the antimatter annihilation weapon by myself. Having additional people would only get in the way."
Otto wasn't fooled by the performance. For the first time, he found Tony's playboy image genuinely impressive rather than merely irritating.
"Do you think that if you drive us all away through anger and insults, you can bear the burden of being an executioner and play the hero?"
Tony hadn't expected Otto to see through his psychological strategy so easily. He paused before answering: "In any case, I'm already an executioner by profession. Haven't you heard of the famous arms dealer Tony Stark?"
"Well, then you'll need an assistant to help you manufacture and deliver those arms," Otto replied with a knowing smile, standing firmly beside Tony.
He had always believed that the purpose of science was to create happiness and prosperity for the world.
But if the world itself ceased to exist, then everything lost meaning and value.
He would stand firmly on the side of preserving their universe. As for the other universe that might be destroyed, presumably an Otto Octavius in that reality would take care of defending it.
It didn't matter whether his counterpart was hesitant or as determined as himself. Even if their own universe was ultimately destroyed in the end, that was acceptable. This was the law of nature: the victors survived. He simply needed to do his best and perform better than his opponent.
The two scientists reached an understanding and began working together, while Banner went his separate way.
However, these developments were far beyond what ordinary Plumber agents could handle. They simply assumed that Tony and his team had made important scientific discoveries, which explained why each had departed the space station for various locations.
Meanwhile, throughout the galaxy, most of the Plumbers' resources were occupied with combating the aggressive Incursean expansion and managing various other interstellar conflicts.
After reviewing all the reports, Ben sent a message to Eunice, learning that she, Tony, and Otto were currently in Wakanda. Tony believed that vibranium represented the most suitable material for containing antimatter safely.
When in doubt, use vibranium had become something of a scientific motto.
After learning the severity of the situation, the Wakandan Plumber branch had joined the project as a unified nation, using their advanced monitoring technology to observe space barriers continuously.
Black Panther's sister, the brilliant engineer Shuri, had also joined the research team.
After several days of observation, they discovered that the timeline structures seemed to exist in an extremely delicate state of balance, like a bowl precariously balanced inside a cabinet that appeared stable but would fall the moment someone opened the door.
It was essentially Schrödinger's space collision.
But regardless of the underlying instability, as long as the balance persisted, that represented good news.
At least they hadn't yet reached the point where destroying another universe was urgently necessary.
"The multiverse crisis sounds quite problematic," Faora observed. "If you're busy with that situation, you don't need to worry about our needs for now."
She understood priorities clearly.
If a collision crisis occurred, rebuilding Krypton would become irrelevant.
"Don't worry about it," Ben replied, unconsciously touching the Omnitrix on his wrist. If all else failed, he could always bring Alien X into play.
"I'll help you rebuild Krypton first. I still have numerous other responsibilities to handle," Ben said, gently massaging his forehead.
The reason he didn't immediately seek out Enara and Ouyana was that Ben hadn't forgotten about his obligation to "switch shifts" with his delegate consciousness. If he entered Alien X's mental space, Delegate-Ben might immediately insist on swapping positions.
Whether to change places was a minor concern, he didn't mind spending time in that space. After all, he and Delegate-Ben were essentially the same person.
But the problem was that Delegate-Ben didn't have an Omnitrix.
His counterpart was an entity clone that existed by relying on symbiote duplication abilities, not a simple consciousness exchange.
"We need to construct another Omnitrix," Ben concluded.
Creating a replica of the device wasn't beyond his current capabilities. The transformation functions would work perfectly, returning all alien forms to their original specifications. At most, the advanced technological features beyond basic transformation might not be completely replicable.
"Let's head to Sakaar first," he decided.
After inquiring about Peter's whereabouts and learning that his younger cousin hadn't accompanied Norman to space but was instead maintaining his friendly neighborhood Spider-Man duties in New York, and that Looma, Mary Jane, and Felicia had actually traveled to space together as a group, Ben decided not to remain on Earth any longer.
He never would have expected that Mary Jane and Felicia had developed a positive relationship with Looma. He had assumed it would be impressive enough if the three women didn't engage in active warfare.
Now with Mera joining them, four individuals were enough to form a proper card game.
Ben didn't yet realize that with Eunice and Wanda, they could organize two separate tables for more complex games.
Brunnhilde: Wait, count me in too!
Speaking of Brunnhilde, she was currently serving as Sakaar's guardian.
She was quite surprised to see Ben return, since the King of Sakaar spent relatively little time actually on Sakaar. The entire planet, along with the many star systems under Plumber jurisdiction, were typically managed by security officers and administrative staff.