Chapter 3637: The Movie Plan (I)

The Sanctum Sanctorum was as busy as ever, staff coming and going. Phones glowing with magical light flew nonstop. Besides the customer service reps' urgent tones, there were the booming voices of various demon gods. The click-clack of heels and dress shoes on the wooden floor mixed in. The coffee machine's sharp, piercing chime rang out like a sudden rest.

Strange's office, however, was remarkably quiet. Floating bookshelves trembled slightly. Scrolls piled up on the equally levitating magic carpet. A large pot in the corner of the room gave off a strange spice aroma. The Cloak draped over the single sofa somehow managed to look drowsy on a piece of soft fabric.

Stark entered the office, unbuttoned his suit jacket, and sat on the other single sofa by the window. Strange walked out of the break room and waved a hand to shut the door behind him.

He set the red wine and decanter he was carrying on the side table, and while pouring said, "Where are you coming from? The Avengers base, or Stark Tower?"

"Neither. I just got back from Arkham Asylum. Shiler praised your congressional hearing remarks to the skies, calling you 'the toughest Sorcerer Supreme in history.'"

Strange held a glass in one hand, placed the one in his right hand before Stark, and sat on the other single sofa himself. He took a sip, then gave a cold snort: "Doesn't sound like a compliment."

Stark leaned his body toward that side, elbow propped on the armrest: "Seriously, your speech was good. You scared the hell out of those drowsy old geezers. How did you think to persuade them like that?"

"Think of it? I'm not so sure." Strange took another sip. "Our good doctor probably anticipated I'd say exactly that long ago."

"If he taught you, that's not surprising. But didn't he say he wasn't getting involved in this?"

"Not that he taught me word for word. Just that what he said made me understand a principle." Strange roughly recounted what he and Shiler had said that day.

Stark made an expression of realization, then said: "So his meaning is, you should honestly tell the congressmen the truth about magic as a fellow ordinary person, then let them choose for themselves?"

Strange gave a cold snort: "His meaning is, instead of wasting effort arguing with them, make it so they have no choice!"

"Haven't you noticed? Shiler almost never argues, never chooses for ordinary people. He just chooses for all of us — without ever telling us!"

Stark still looked somewhat baffled. Strange spread his hands: "When he wants you, wants us, wants the whole Earth to do something, does he ever hold a meeting to ask our opinion? Which time wasn't it that we only found out when things were practically over?"

"But..." Stark shook his head. "What he said does make some sense. When he suggested we research aerial transport tech, it really was just a suggestion. We ourselves thought the model was good, so we went and researched it..."

"When he made the suggestion, did he tell you it might cause unemployment?"

"Uh... come on, he's not a prophet. We can't expect him to foresee the future, right?"

"You think he can't foresee it?"

Stark fell silent a moment: "You mean he indeed didn't force us, he just guided us, showed us the good side of something, but hid the potential bad outcomes?"

Strange shook his head again: "No. He only lets you know the information that can push things forward, but conceals the information that would hinder them. The information that pushes things forward can be good or bad. The good part is temptation by profit — telling you what benefits doing it will bring; the bad part is coercion — telling you what dangers not doing it will bring. Just like what I did at the congressional hearing."

"I told them magic is dangerous. If you don't build a school and research institute, magic might well go out of control. That left them no choice. At the same time I told them building the school is to recruit multiverse talent, give our universe more magical talent — that's the benefit, making them willing to do it. A slap and a sweet date, two-pronged approach, makes it easy to persuade people."

"When he said those things, I started thinking about some of his past behavior." Strange rested both hands on the armrests. "Then I realized how to persuade Congress."

"So he wants to build this magic school?"

Strange shook his head again: "When he started investigating environmental issues, it proved the magic school would definitely be established. No matter how many twists and turns in between, the final result won't change. Only he doesn't plan to build it right away — dragging it three to five years, even ten-plus years, is normal."

"What if you hadn't learned this negotiation tactic?" Stark still turned his head to look at Strange. "He didn't say it outright. What if you didn't catch on, or didn't perform that well at the hearing, so the verbal duel wasn't won?"

"Before long, a case of a mage losing control would break out somewhere. The federal government, fearing panic, would suppress it and send people to handle it. Only Congress would surely realize through this just how dangerous magic is. Factual evidence is far more powerful than a speech."

Stark leaned back against the chair: "Mages all listen to you, how would they lose control? If he did it himself, there'd inevitably be a gap between him and you orthodox mages. Then you could step in and expose him."

"He wouldn't go stage a real attack. Just need to simulate one. The congressmen won't go verify if it's real — they couldn't find out even if they tried." Strange took a sip of wine.

"What would he simulate it through? Short video platforms?"

"S. H. I. E. L. D., of course! As long as agents discover, agents investigate, agents handle it, the whole thing can be resolved inside S. H. I. E. L. D. The FBI and such don't understand magic, so the congressmen can only get info from S. H. I. E. L. D. Whatever they say goes, right?"

"But why would S. H. I. E. L. D. help Shiler? You know, Nick opposes building a magic academy."

"Precisely because handling a magic-out-of-control case needs at least an agent, an intern agent, and an agent assistant — burning through 3 billion in defense funds!"

Stark clicked his tongue; he'd forgotten that angle. Strange added: "And he opposes it only because monitoring extradimensional visitors would pointlessly add a mountain of work for S. H. I. E. L. D."

"But that means more funding, right?"

"Money's no use if you're not alive to spend it. Spending money watching Spider-Man is a guaranteed profit — they're mostly obedient, don't stir up trouble. Even if accidents happen, Nick can clean up the mess. But Batman? Unless next year's defense budget doubles and all goes to S. H. I. E. L. D., the risk definitely outweighs the reward."

Stark sighed: "That is a problem. Can't we just not let them come?"

"Batman won't pass up this chance. If he sends an adopted son that's fine, but what if he sends his biological son? However you put it, you can't stop a father from seeing his son."

Strange turned his palm over, eyes glancing aside, let out a light sigh: "And we have to find a way to verify they're all our own people. If a few evil Batmen slip in, that's when the real trouble starts."

Stark clearly understood this too. He said: "Still, there are a few Batmen we know inside out, right?"

"Still have to ask Shiler. He has some beyond-reality knowledge of people from both worlds. His picks shouldn't be wrong. But we can't rely on him entirely either — we need to have our own grasp."

"If that's the case, I feel there's a lot more to prepare, probably can't rush it." Stark tapped the wine glass wall lightly with a finger. "To solve the problem at its root, the school buildings must have sufficient security. Best if completely isolated from the outside world. Looks like Shiler researching environmental protection wasn't without reason."

"Of course. If true isolation from the outside world can be achieved, many problems become easy. But in reality it's very difficult. Kamar-Taj hasn't fully achieved it either, and that's in the Himalayas. In Massachusetts, it might directly form a magic town nearby."

The more he thought, the more troublesome it felt. Stark exclaimed: "You think that opposing senator will still use a pocket veto?"

"At least not at the next session." Strange said. "They're also afraid I'll publicize magic's danger. If I let ordinary citizens know what's going on, but they still pocket veto, it'll definitely piss a lot of people off."

"Would you publicize it?"

Strange shook his head: "No need. Actually, what I said at Congress was exaggerated too. We're different from mutants after all. Magical energy isn't a very active energy — you could even call it an inert energy. Mobilizing it takes some effort. If you don't disturb it, it won't cause any effect."

"True. Your portals are small and discreet, hardly make a stir. By comparison, Magneto's wormholes make a much bigger ruckus. This might also reflect the difference in energy nature."

"I'd rather think it reflects Magneto's personality. He doesn't care how many people his actions affect. But mages are different. We keep as low-profile as possible, best to stay completely detached from society, avoid causing too big an impact."

Strange drained his glass: "Mages aren't born powerful. Even if magical talent is innate, and compatibility with some demon god's energy is innate, if we don't cultivate, even infinite energy can't be converted into anything useful. In a sense, this is very similar to most ordinary people — both improve through learning. So we have a complete education system."

"Exactly opposite of mutants." Stark said. "Their power types and forms vary wildly, control methods completely different. Makes it hard for them to establish a complete education system. Whether strong ones emerge is luck. So I think they can only be humanity's spearhead, not its cornerstone — but mages can."

"Precisely." Strange set down his glass. "Mutants have partially reversed public perception through propaganda. I think mages can too. So I won't emphasize magic's danger to the public — on the contrary, I should package magic as romantically as possible. At least make them not averse. That way if they have magical talent and need to enroll, they won't be too resistant."

"Looks like you've already got ideas." Stark said. "Let's hear it?"

"This isn't even my idea. You remember our experience studying at the magic academy inside Shiler's Gao Ta? I thought that was great. Shiler said it was a novel, but obviously we don't have it here. I plan to ask him more about the plot and such, then blend in our own stories, make it into a movie. What do you think?"

"Not bad." Stark nodded. "I think Stark Industries can invest too, but I strongly demand cutting the boating scene. Who thinks rowing a boat in the cold wind late at night is romantic?"

"Right, you wouldn't — because you can't row a boat at all. You nearly got us all dumped in the lake!"

"It's clearly because the boat was too small, and I wasn't used to being a kid. And the wind on the lake was too strong. Ever heard of aerodynamics? This obviously isn't my fault..."

(End of Chapter)