"Then all is lost," Steve murmured.
If he couldn't be removed, and the machine couldn't be fixed, then the collision was inevitable.
"No," Tony said. "No, it's not. We don't accept 'impossible'. Okay. We can't fix the old car. So we build a new one. We have the brightest minds on the planet. We have the resources of Stark Industries, Wakanda, and Umbrella. We can figure this out."
He turned to the council. "Principles are the same as the defective device, right? We just need to scale it up and figure out how to navigate."
"The principles are similar," T'Challa agreed. "But the scale is... exponential. To create a traversable wormhole to a specific parallel reality... it would require a power source of unimaginable output."
"And a navigation system that works outside of known spacetime," Tony added. "We'd have to pinpoint the exact quantum frequency of Earth 199999 out of an infinite number of parallel universes."
He looked at Steve. "You would be our only way to even know what frequency to look for. But building the machine to do the looking... it's a one in a billion shot."
"It's the hardest thing anyone has ever tried to do," T'Challa affirmed.
"But we have to try," Tony said. "We have a year."
The next several hours were a blur of high level scientific debate.
They theorized, they argued, they simulated. They designed a theoretical power core that would need to tap into the energy of the planet's molten core itself.
They outlined a navigation system that would require a network of quantum computers so vast it would take up a small city.
As the hours bled on, the initial energy began to replaced by a sobering reality.
"It's the material science," Tony said. "To build a containment ring for the gateway that could withstand the temporal stresses... it would need to be forged from a material that can exist in multiple dimensions at once. We have nothing like it. Even pure Vibranium would likely tear itself apart."
"And the processing time," Tony continued, rubbing his tired eyes. He pointed to a simulation that was still running, its progress bar moving at a crawl. "Even with JARVIS, the Umbrella network, and Wakanda's entire processing power combined, it would take us six years just to calculate a stable pathway."
The damning conclusion settled over the room like a shroud.
They could do it. Theoretically. With the right materials that didn't exist and about twenty years of focused R&D, they could build a bridge between universes. But in one year?
"It's not possible," Tony said, the words a quiet admission of defeat.. "We can't build it in time. We're not fast enough."
The room was silent.
They had the greatest minds and the greatest resources in the history of their world, and it wasn't enough.
It was the Leader who spoke. He had been listening quietly throughout the entire technical debate.
"Perhaps," he said, "you are trying to solve this problem with the wrong tools."
Tony, T'Challa, Aryan… all turned to look at him, their expressions a mixture of confusion and exhaustion.
"You have been approaching this as an engineering problem," the Chancellor continued, his gaze moving to T'Challa. "But, King T'Challa, if I recall correctly from our briefing on the Asgardian incident, you possess... other methods. You spoke of a Wakandan tradition of divination. A way to ask a direct question of a higher power."
The entire mood of the room shifted.
"You said it was costly," the Leader pressed on. "But surely, no sacrifice is too great when the fate of two universes is at stake. The Earth Federation, and I am certain the kingdoms of Wakanda and Talokan, would be willing to contribute whatever is required for such a ritual. We are talking about saving trillions of lives. The cost is irrelevant."
A dawning light of realization spread across Tony's face. He looked at T'Challa, then at Aryan, then back at T'Challa.
"He's right," he breathed. "My God, he's right."
They had been so focused on the impossible physics, on the tangible problem of building a machine, that they had completely forgotten about the far more powerful tool at their disposal.
"Why... why didn't we think of that?" Tony asked.
"Sometimes," the Leader said with a smile, "those closest to the extraordinary forget that not every problem requires an ordinary solution."
Steve was confused. He looked at T'Challa, a deep frown on his face.
He had spent a lot of time in Wakanda in his own universe. He had seen their incredible technology, their vibrant culture.
But he had never heard of a spiritual ritual that could provide a specific answer to a question.
It sounded more like something from a fantasy novel than the scientifically advanced nation he knew.
"A ritual?" Steve asked. "Forgive me, Your Highness, but in all my time in Wakanda... I never encountered such a tradition."
He looked around at the others. Was this a new development? Or another sign that this universe was fundamentally different?
The T'Challa of his world had been a young king, tragically lost too soon. Perhaps this more experienced version had uncovered deeper secrets.
T'Challa met his gaze.
"It is not a tradition that is widely known, Captain," he said. "It is a deep and sacred rite, accessible only to the king in their role as the Black Panther. A form of divination, a deep focus ritual that, with a symbolic sacrifice of our most precious resources, allows one to ask a specific question of the spiritual plane and receive a clear answer."
He looked around the table. "We have used it before. It is... effective."
Steve accepted the explanation. It was a strange blending of magic and science he didn't quite understand, but he had lived a strange life.
He had watched the global broadcasts during the fall of SHIELD.
He had seen a man in an iron suit single handedly dismantle the Triskelion, casually manipulating the fundamental force of magnetism to tear apart helicarriers and turn enemy weapons against them.
He had seen a unified world rise from the ashes in a matter of months. He was in no position to question the impossible anymore. If the king said it could be done, he had to believe him.
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