industries | horizon

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horizon | abraxas

The Tower

> Welcome to Avengers Tower. My name is JARVIS.
               
> Mr. Stark has asked me to guide all visitors through the building. Could you stand in front of the scanner and state your name, please?▐

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G - Lobby

> Excellent. Now, if you would be so kind as to wait a moment while I assess your clearance level.
               
> In the meantime, please enjoy this brief presentation regarding the history of Avengers Tower, and Stark Industries' clean energy initiatives.▐

1F - Avengers Lounge

> Mr. Stark has granted you clearance to the Penthouse Lounge.
               
> The team isn't here at the moment, but please make yourself comfortable while I let them know they have visitors.
               
> Odd... no one has answered. They must be otherwise engaged – please stand by.▐

2F - Malibu Mansion

> Mr. Stark has granted you clearance to the Malibu Annex.
               
> He's most likely on the garage level, working on... something. Just a moment.
               
> Ah – he'll be up shortly. Please help yourself to the bar in the meantime – I'm told the Chateau Canon is an excellent vintage.▐

1B - Lab / Garage

> Mr. Stark has granted you clearance to the Garage.
               
> Please don't touch anything, and please note that joyrides in the cars are strictly prohibited... unless you're Mr. Stark.
               
> The door at the end of the room? I'm afraid I don't understand. There ᵢs ₙₒ dᵒᵒᵣ.▐

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>Yₒᵤ dₒ ₙₒₜ  ₕₐᵥₑ cₗₑₐᵣₐₙcₑ.
               
>Yₒᵤ ₛₕₒᵤₗdₙ'ₜ bₑ ₕₑᵣₑ.
               
>ᴹʳ. ˢᵗᵃʳᵏ ˢᵃⁱd ₙₒ ₒₙₑ ₛₕₒᵤₗd bₑ ₕₑᵣᵉ�̶̖̗̝̬͙͂̆̉̉�̵͇̫̹͖̺̊�̸̽͑̎͘▐

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[He’s long overdue for this, he thinks.

Stephen hasn’t been putting it off so much as he’s been too busy — his little assigned trip, taking him to every little corner of the kingdom of Thorne, had postponed any further business he had queued up to attend to. After that, it had been the matter of shared memories assailing them all, where they could find no sanctuary even within the Horizon. After that, Sam’s meeting for the Summoned, and after that—

(Well, Stephen’s run out of excuses.)

Tony’s accusatory little call-out, back when Stephen was taking questions with the grace of a man called on stage who had forgotten his cue cards, had left him little choice. As much as Stephen doesn’t look forward to exchanging quips and little hidden insults with the man, there’s only so much they can leave hanging between them. Only so much he can pretend to push the reality of his choices aside, and look at them with empirical eyes, like a numbers game — make one sacrifice to achieve a greater result. Give away the Time Stone, allow a man to give his life, too; the endgame plays out, and they’re allotted a win.

Looking up at Avengers Tower, the way it glistens in the light, a huge sentinel of technological achievement, the biggest flex here on the Horizon, he’s sure— Stephen doesn’t think cold, calculated logic is going to fly very well, this time.

Still, he’s here. His expression is tired and vaguely impatient as he stands at the entrance. Is he being scanned? Maybe he’s being scanned. But either way, he calls out—]

Are you really going to just make me stand here, or can I come in?

[ Sam is back on his feet and more or less back to his normal self, which means that Steve is finally willing to let him out of his sight. For all that he might have been accused of overreacting, he thinks he handled himself pretty well. Sam had been dust for five years, and when he'd returned, they'd had only a brief reunion back home before Steve arrived here. He came to the city, Sam wasn't even in town, and then he showed back up unconscious and remained that way for over two days. So, with all that in mind? Steve could have been a lot more obnoxious about it.

But Sam is back on his feet, they've had time to catch up, and Steve even got shown into the Horizon. Which had been an odd experience in retrospect, now that he has his memories (and reflecting on what it was like to be without them, he can only think about one thing; one person), but it's about time that he explores the place with all of them intact.

He shuts himself in his room at the inn and locks the door, not all that comfortable with entering a state where he isn't aware of what's going on around him. Meditation itself is also not really his thing, and it takes a few tries to successfully quiet his mind. Frustration builds until he breathes it all out, lets it go, and finally finds his way inside.

As he sees elaborate structures and mountain ranges and quaint villages scattered around, he understands that each spot belongs to another one of the Summoned, a place they've made for themselves. It would be nice to return back to Sam's dockside home with context now, and he intends to go there, but it's hard to miss the monolith that is the Avengers Tower standing off in the distance, begging to be acknowledged.

Steve scoffs and shakes his head to himself, but ends up moving in that direction all the same, unable to resist the nostalgia of it. He knows the tower could only belong to one person.

When he steps inside, he's greeted by a familiar voice. Vision's voice, before he was Vision. It's all just a mental construct, he knows, but he wonders if Wanda's experienced this.

(No, she would have avoided this place at all costs.)

He's asked to give his name, and when he does so, JARVIS is pleased to let him know that he's been granted full clearance within the Tower. The artificial voice carries on with describing each of the floors, but Steve only half pays attention.

Full clearance, huh? ]

Edited 2022-07-10 01:43 (UTC)

I'm sorry, stand? I thought you guys just... floated.

[ The kiosk beside the door lights up with an audio wavelength. The voice that projects through the speakers comes across as distracted, or maybe even bored. The charade is a pretty poor one, though, considering the words came out immediately on the heels of Strange's.

Yeah. Definitely being scanned. ]

Either way, pretty bold to march up to 200 Park Ave. without an appointment – hey, [ Tony's voice continues as he turns from the mic, ] just because you're a projection of my Jungian subconscious doesn't mean it's an excuse to – yeah. Put it down. Good boy. [ A chair swivels. ] Hey, JARVIS–

Shall I grant Dr. Strange access to the Malibu Annex?

[ There's a slight pause, as if the voice is still a surprise to its operator despite him being the one who called out its name. ] You know what–

[ The audio cuts off. A few seconds roll by.

The kiosk display lights up. The large clear doors slide open, to the glass-and-steel cage of the giant atrium at the heart of the famous Avengers Tower. ]

Welcome, Dr. Strange. [ JARVIS' voice projects from the kiosk, as well as the intercom speakers inside the lobby. ] Please proceed to the elevators, and I will gladly direct you to your destination.

[ Inside the lobby level of the atrium, Strange finds a perfect facsimile of an upscale New York high-rise – right down to the coffee cart near a cluster of tables and chairs, to the workers in varying levels of business attire sitting at them, chatting with each other or playing with their phones over paper cups. There's welcome desk by the door, staffed by a woman drawing directions on a brochure for a visitor, and a polished convenience counter with a couple of customers already in line.

But despite the exceptional photorealism of the crowds normally not encountered in summoned Domains, none of the people making their way through the lobby react to the guy in full wizard gear as they stride past him. In fact, in the thirty seconds or so that it takes from Strange to get from the front doors to the elevators, none of them seem to shift in the nature of their activities much at all. If he were to glance back at the woman at the welcome desk in particular, he might, at a distance, be able to see her still drawing on the brochure, in a single perfect circle. ]

[ The nearest elevator beeps. JARVIS' voice speaks again. ] This way, please.

[ If Strange chooses to enter the elevator, its doors will close and it will rise up, smooth and fast, through its see-through casing, allowing a view of the atrium and the Horizon's skyline beyond it. Then, the view will darken and disappear as it rises beyond the ceiling of the atrium, and–

The elevator beeps again. The doors open, to the modern, concrete interior of a large living area with a view through palm trees of – impossibly – the blue waters of Malibu, California. ]

Mr. Stark will be up shortly – please make yourself comfortable in the meantime, and feel free to enjoy the bar. [ A cluster of recessed lights brighten the counter at the far end of the room. ] I'm told the Chateau Canon is an excellent vintage.

[So, despite the fact that Viktor is increasingly annoyed with not being called his name, he is not going to turn down an invitation to go to Tony's domain and see all of his stuff. A part of him is sure it's just to show off--he'd been quick to remind Jayce that he's got at least a century on them, technologically speaking, but Viktor isn't so proud as to take personal offense to that. No, he'd very much like to see the computers and the televisions and everything else, so he nudges Jayce about it, and arranges a meeting time.

The tower is...not hard to find. He thought that his recreation of Piltover was strikingly vertical, but this place goes above and beyond even that. The lobby is sleek and clean, using lighting fixtures that he's never seen. When a voice greets him, he nearly jumps.

But it seems they have some kind of clearance, so Viktor does his best to shrug it off and head for the elevator. He gives Jayce a little look that says more than words can--but he offers a few of those, too.]

Ostentatious, don't you think?

[ Jayce has enjoyed going into the domains of those from later times; a television was exciting as it is. He knows Tony's Horizon will have more technology leaning in their direction, so it seems like a great idea. He shrugs off the reminder about the time difference; if they were born there, they would be peers, he has no doubt. So this is information gathering and he looks forward to taking on new ideas. They are not able to copy anything from the future, not truly, but there is every reason to learn regardless.

Plus he has offered Tony the chance to sell his inventions at their store, it seems polite to get to know one another better. Jayce is also startled at the height of the tower, theirs was the tallest in all of Piltover, although it is hard to tell if this is to scale or Tony made it this way on purpose.

Jayce steps onto the elevator too and glances over at Viktor, smiling because he saw that one coming. Since they are in the elevator and not at the top yet, he leans over to press a kiss to the top of Viktor's head. ]

Yes, I do think, but it's not surprising.

[ Jayce has been accused of having an ego (although he's really an insecure mess) but he's got nothing on Stark. It isn't said with much judgment though, everyone has their quirks. He only gets annoyed at the nicknames. ]

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horizon | abraxas

some indeterminate time in June

july 5

let's call it v. late june.......................

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