The Conceptual Deck

The next hour or so was a blur. Tony kept talking, explaining just what STARS was and where it was located. There was a lot of scoffing and shaking of heads in the crowds, but when Tony and I eventually started leading people through the portal, their disbelief slowly shifted to awe and disbelief. After we guided the first group we had to lead them further away from the portal, as most of them immediately stopped and stared up at the ceiling with wide, disbelieving eyes.

Slowly but surely the guest transferred from Earth to the Moon, settling in a new set of chairs, this one facing a new temporary podium with Earth floating behind as the backdrop.

Once everyone had crossed from the terminal into the STARS park, Tony and I began answering questions. To keep things simple and to keep from overwhelming the public, I kept the explanations of my own creations as scientific as possible. The existence of magic, as well as my own brand of bullshit, would trickle down eventually, but now was not the time to try and get everyone on the same page.

The questions were mostly directed at Tony, at first at least, and those were slow as the crowd took a while to really build up and break through the utter shock and awe that everyone not in the know was feeling. The most seasoned of the reporters started first, asking simple, almost automatic questions before they could get their brains into full gear. Once the tempo was set, however, a deluge of questions came forth. Many of the questions boiled down to "how?" and while Tony fielded some of those questions, he also passed most of them to me.

"The primary driving force behind making all of this possible was the creation of a certain few advancements," I explained, answering a male reporter's question. "The most important of which you all utilized moments ago. The ability to travel between the Earth and the Moon reliably, with little delay and extreme reliability was key to this whole process. A few other advancements, such as machines that could reliably build structures without human input, artificial gravity generators, and efficient life support systems were also important, but more from a cost-effectiveness standpoint than anything else."

"And who exactly is responsible for these advancements?" Another reporter asked, notably out of turn, as Tony had been pointing to people with their hands raised.

"Anderson, come on, you know better than that," Tony said, shaking his head. "I will answer your question, but you're lost your next turn as well. Carson has a unique ability to combine and connect technology in ways many people miss. Sometimes it's almost like magic. He is responsible for many of the major advancements that made STARS possible. My job has been to fill in the gaps and help with funding."

The questions continued, reporters wanting to know what kinds of specific research we would be conducting, how our findings would be presented to the world, and how we would be financing the research. Pepper piped in for a lot of those questions, while Tony covered the rest.

Quite a few questions were asked about the base itself, and what a fully functioning lunar community would mean for the rest of the Earth. Tony assured the audience that we were more than willing to discuss lunar research with any group that spoke to us, as long as the research was kept neutral and did not involve weapons. He joked that he had specifically left his phone in his room because he was sure NASA would be trying to reach him already.

Eventually, the question and answer section of the event came to a close, and people dispersed to walk around the park. Most news agencies quickly moved their cameras along the edge of the dome to get footage of the Moon's landscape. I was thankful that my warehouse, the expanded Octopit, and the ships under construction inside of it were still hidden under a projected cloak. I can't imagine four mostly completed warships on the surface of the moon would go over well at this point.

With the cameras distracted and reporters satisfied, for now, Tony, Pepper, and I did some mingling again, shaking hands and chatting with people. Unsurprisingly I was treated much differently than I had been before the announcement and shook hands with quite a few people, learning names I had no chance to remember even with some of my enhancements. At some point Councilwoman Hartford and Nick Fury managed to pull me aside, her security detail keeping the curious people at bay.

"This is not what we expected." The older woman admitted, unable to stop herself from looking down at Earth through the dome. "We were functioning on the theory you and Stark were assembling a research team of some kind, after reviewing just who had been hired on… But a base on the Moon… Why? And none of that watered-down crap you fed the press."

"Because it's the ultimate neutral location, and there isn't much anyone can do to us. No government can pressure us, and anyone we hire and keep here is completely safe. Sure the portals will be located in Stark Tower, but I can set up new ones wherever I want," I explained with a shrug. "Not to mention it's a hell of a way to get people's attention."

"I hope your security is up to snuff," Director Fury said.

"Please, your psych profile on me is way too detailed for you to think I would do something like this without being sure," I said, shaking my head. "Tony hired the best, and I'll be equipping them with several pieces of custom equipment."

"Like what?" he asked gruffly, enough for me to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but that kind of stuff stays in house," I explained, raising my hand when he opened his mouth. "Look, I get it. This is a lot and you've got a lot of dangerous scenarios running through your head. Give it a few days, put together a list of your greatest concerns and Tony and I will sit down with you, peacefully, and discuss their relevance and what we can do to stop them from happening."

Both Nick and Councilwoman Hartford looked surprised at my statement, though they both quickly covered it up.

"I know, not what you expected, but STARS is going to be different from the EDF and shield system. This is not 'It's happening so get on board or get out of the way.' type of situation. STARS is an attempt to change the world for the better, and we can't do that by kicking down doors and running roughshod over everyone. At least not without taking over the planet first. We want to work together for a better future," I explained. "Don't, however, think that this means you can run roughshod over us. I won't make any threats about the consequences of that, because I'm sure you are both imagining significantly worse scenarios than I am."

"...We will be in touch." Fury said after a long pause, stepping away and heading through the crowd.

I gave Councilwoman Hartford a look, and she rolled her eyes at his dramatic exit, before walking away as well. As they left I tapped my ear, activating my communicator.

"How many bugs has he planted?"

"Just two, one by the portal and another attached to the fountain," Ema answered. "Looks like he is giving up for now."

Ema had agreed to man the security station, which was two floors below the park, and could monitor the entire facility at once. Ordinarily, it would be staffed by a dozen people, but since it was just one floor for now, Ema was by herself.

"Alright, keep an eye on him, have someone pick them up and mail them back. Any other Shield agents here?" I asked, chewing my lip.

"Probably, but they haven't been anyone I recognize, and they have behaved themselves so far," She responded, pausing for a moment before answering the real question I had been asking. "Natasha isn't here."

"It's fine, I'm sure she just got called on a rushed mission or something," I said, mostly to myself. "I'll be going back to the warehouse soon, I can't stay here much longer. For all his bluntness, I don't know how Tony takes all the fake smiles and empty words."

I spent a while longer walking around, answering questions and shaking hands. Eventually, Pepper pulled me aside and told me to go home, as she could tell I was starting to get antsy. I eagerly agreed, walking back through the portal and finding an empty room before traveling back to the warehouse.

The next few days were a combination of moving and orientation, where some of the staff was moving into STARS. I offered to help, but Pepper and Tony assured me that while, yes, I could move the contents of an entire apartment in less than an hour, doing so would be counterproductive. This was a day for people to meet neighbors, and future coworkers as well as meet administrators and managers. Trying to rush through it with the Deck would just leave people disoriented.

I did end up lending a hand to Jane Foster, however, though only with her lab equipment. A lot of her equipment was custom made and she didn't trust a moving company, even one that Tony trusted. I helped her move into her lab, while she and Thor moved into her apartment, which they would be sharing until he was eventually required to return home. I was happy to keep busy, as I had a dark seed of worry embedded in my stomach. Natasha still hadn't responded to my texts.

Ordinarily, that wouldn't be such a big deal, especially since she was such a busy woman with an extremely erratic schedule. But I couldn't banish an uneasy feeling, a feeling in my gut that something wasn't quite right.

It didn't take too long for the first requests for specialized, conceptually crafted stuff for STAR to come in. They were smaller stuff for now, the various scientists and researchers clearly wondering what I was capable of producing. They may be standing on a moon base made possible by the Conceptual Deck, but a lot of them were still skeptical.

The first request was from the engineering branch, and they were looking for a device that could read electrical currents inside of something without taking it apart. It took me five minutes to combine a few different electrical readers with a TV, adding in an enhanced scanner and a few Stark Tech laptops to mix in precision and intuitive organization.

The result was a hand scanner that would attach an object to the readouts of the TV, allowing people to scan an object and then work on with life readouts. I included a bucket of grounding rings, the highest level of electrical resistance I had managed to create so far, for them to use. I warned them they were for safety, and not to let them ignore standard precautions, since all it would take is one time to forget you weren't wearing one. They understood completely, but still wanted to test them.

Instead of letting them set something up I just summoned my armor around my hand and tazed the crap out of them, the ring protecting them completely.

Smaller requests kept coming in after that. The biology branch wanted as many of the digital microscopes as I could make, which I provided in a large crate, as well as a few larger models that were connected to a TV. It wasn't until the chemistry branch got in touch that I had my first challenging request. It seemed that a common problem in chemistry was isolating chemical compounds. If you needed a certain chemical grouping most often you had to break it off of a more common compound, or by syphoning it off a reaction of two other chemicals. The problem was that this process was time-consuming. If you relied on outsourcing it became expensive, and you always had to wonder if the labeled concentrations were accurate. Or, at least, that is what I was told.

It took a bit of trial and error, but after a day of work, I created a vending machine-like device that you use to scan an element or a chemical compound. The device would remember that compound, or compounds if the sample carried multiple, and would create more on demand, ex nihilo. The primary ingredient was two UCMs that I used as a base for a dozen different books on chemical filtration, distillation, and other processes, as well as the equipment those processes required. My first attempt simply poured the compounds out onto the floor, which could have been a lot worse if I hadn't been using water as a test compound. After some modification, I was able to create a dispensing system of near-indestructible non-reactive vessels, which changed depending on the phase of matter the material was in.

I had just finished going over the limitations and safety requirements for the device when I finally got a message back from Natasha. I quickly finished with the chemists, promising to create a few more of the machines for ease of access and to prevent having to transport dangerous chemicals any further than necessary, and traveled to the warehouse, quickly calling her back.

"Natasha, everything alright?" I asked, chewing the inside of my lip. "You kinda just vanished for a while, did something come up?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry Carson but I… someone came by looking for some help," She vaguely explained. "Listen… I don't want to pull you into my problems, but… I could use a hand."

"Yeah Nat, of course. What do you need?"

"Honestly… I'm not calling you because it's anything up in your level of play," She admitted. "But I could use someone who is neutral, and that I can trust. I would ask Clint, but he is handling his own stuff at the moment."

"Don't worry about it Nat, just tell me where you're at and I'll meet you there," I assured her. "I take it this is off the books?"

"Yes, very much so…" She confirmed. "Fury would be pretty pissed if he found out I was doing this."

"Okay, we can talk when I see you. Give me a few to grab my stuff and get Ema, send me your location and I'll meet you there."

"Alright. If Ema is busy she doesn't need to come, you are already overkill for this by a lot."

"Yeah, but she will kill me if she found out I went somewhere even remotely dangerous without her," I responded, already pushing out my storage shed to make sure everything was in place.

We said a quick goodbye and hung up, an image of a map coming through a moment later. It seemed like Natasha was up to some sneaky shit in Budapest, which meant didn't ring any alarm bells for my Marvel Comics knowledge. I did one final check of the Deck to make sure I had everything that I needed before heading off to get Ema.

Natasha needed my help, and I wasn't about to let her down.