Aryan, his eyes reflecting the deep violet of the Castle's core, turned his gaze toward T'Challa and Namor. While Tony was ready to rebuild New York in the image of a shiny future, the two kings represented ancient civilizations that had survived the tides of history by remaining stubbornly in the shadows.
"The Illuminati cannot be a beacon of light if its pillars are hidden in the dark," Aryan said, his voice calm. "T'Challa, Namor… the Earth Federation is consolidating. We are dismantling the old borders of the 20th century. For this Council to have the moral authority to lead, your nations must step out of the myth and into the sun. Is Wakanda and Talokan ready to be known?"
The tension in the room spiked instantly. T'Challa tightened his grip on the back of his stone chair, his knuckles showing strain. Namor's expression hardened, his regal features becoming a mask of maritime stone.
"It is not that simple, Aryan," T'Challa began, his voice low. "Wakanda has watched the world for centuries. We saw the rise and fall of empires built on greed, exploitation and blood. My ancestors chose isolation out of a sacred duty to protect what the world was not ready to handle."
"And the surface world is a volatile storm," Namor added, his tone sharp. "For millennia, Talokan has been the ghost of the trenches. You ask us to hand over our anonymity to a 'Federation' that has existed for less than a year? Even if the old governments are gone, the nature of surface dwellers has not changed. They are covetous. They see a resource and they see a right to take it."
Tony leaned back, his armor clinking softly. "Look, I get it. Culture shock is real. But the Federation isn't the U.N. It's a unified administrative body backed by billions of people, Stark and Umbrella technology and... well, everything. We can protect you."
"You do not understand the scale of what we protect, Stark," T'Challa countered, his eyes flashing. He looked at Aryan. "You speak of the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. But the greatest 'anomaly' on this planet is sitting right beneath the soil of my home. Wakanda is the site of a prehistoric impact… a mountain of Vibranium."
The word "Vibranium" caused Tony to freeze. His Technopathic senses suddenly spiked, his mind racing to calculate the implications. "A mountain? T'Challa, I've spent my life thinking the small chunk in Captain America's shield was the rarest substance on the planet. You're telling me you have a geological deposit?"
"An entire Great Mound," T'Challa confirmed, the weight of the secret hanging heavy in the air. "It is the source of our technology, our spirituality and our strength. If we go public, we are revealing a prize that every greedy corporation and desperate nation would die to possess. The Federation might be peaceful now, but can it withstand the temptation of a metal that defies the laws of physics?"
Namor gave a jagged laugh. "And do you think the oceans are just salt and water? Talokan sits upon vast veins of the same ore, fused with the magic of the deep. My people have used it to build cities that would make your skyscrapers look like mud huts. To go public is to invite a gold rush that would turn the Atlantic into a graveyard."
The revelation left a heavy silence. Even Wanda looked surprised, her Chaos Magic fluctuating as she sensed the sheer density of power the two kings were describing.
Aryan pretended to look surprised, widening his eyes slightly. He had long known the true nature of their isolation, but the performance was necessary.
"You fear theft," Aryan said plainly. "You fear that by joining the 'Light,' you are painting a target on your treasure. You are right to be cautious. Greed is a fundamental human drive and Vibranium is the ultimate catalyst for it."
He paused, looking directly at T'Challa. "But isolation is no longer a viable defense. The age of hiding behind mirrors is over. My intelligence reports indicate that the technological curve of the surface world is accelerating toward your borders. Within my own laboratories at Umbrella, we have already developed a prototype sensor capable of isolating the unique resonance frequency of Vibranium. It is currently in the stage two mass production phase…"
Aryan's expression turned grim as he scanned the room. "And don't assume Umbrella is the only one. My surveillance of the old world's intelligence remnants reveals that several clandestine government bodies and private research groups are already on the way to perfecting similar detection arrays. It is no longer a matter of if you will be found, but when. If a satellite or a rogue sensor picks up that frequency, you will be invaded as resource deposits."
He leaned forward, his voice intense. "You must come out on your own terms… before you are dragged out into the light as targets. The frequency of your wealth is becoming a beacon and in the dark, a beacon only attracts predators."
Aryan stopped and looked at the two kings, letting the threat sink in. "What if you could keep the world, but hide the treasure?"
"Explain," Namor demanded.
"As the transaction logs of this place show, the 'System' governing this Castle offers more than just Mediumship," Aryan explained. "There is a specific function here… a protocol for spatial anchoring."
He looked at T'Challa and Namor, maintaining the appearance of a peer who had simply studied the Castle's capabilities more deeply than the rest.
"The System allows for the purchase of Pocket Dimension Anchors. These are 'Void Vaults'… roughly 10,000 cubic meters of vacuum sealed space that exists outside of Earth's physical coordinates."
Aryan leaned back, his tone casual, like a seasoned traveler explaining the rules of a new city.
"If you choose to initialize it, you gain a non living storage dimension. The cost is steep… the Castle demands 100 Billion Dollars of currency for each anchor. It's the ultimate security fee for an ultimate problem."
T'Challa and Namor exchanged a glance. The price was staggering, but for nations that had hoarded wealth for millennia, it was a price they could pay for absolute security.
"Anything non living… can be moved into this pocket," Aryan continued. "You can go public, show the world your culture and your face and let them wonder where the metal comes from. When they come to steal it, they will find empty mines and barren vaults. Your wealth will be in a place where no satellite or soldier can reach."
"A vault in the heavens," T'Challa whispered, the strategic brilliance of it dawning on him. "If we have this... we can join the Federation. We can explain our absence as a necessity of the 'Old World's' corruption. We can claim we only emerged because the Federation proved itself worthy."
"I agree," Namor said, his jaw setting with a newfound resolve. "If my treasures are safe, I will stand with this Illuminati."
Aryan turned back to the center of the table, his expression becoming more somber.
"However, there is a second issue. As we take custody of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets, we will find more than just metal. We will find monsters. We will find beings like the Winter Soldier and entities that cannot be killed by conventional means. We cannot keep them in Earth based prisons. If a breakout occurs, the Federation pays the price in blood."
"I am also purchasing the Phantom Zone," Aryan announced. "A larger dimension worth another 200 Billion Dollars. A timeless void where the most dangerous criminals and volatile artifacts can be cast. If we find a god that won't die or a virus that won't stop, we send them to the Zone."
Tony nodded vigorously. "It's the ultimate containment. No guards to bribe, no walls to tunnel through. If you're in the Zone, you're off the board until we decide otherwise."
"The Illuminati Parliament will hold the keys to the Zone," Aryan said. "We will be the judges, the jury and the jailers of the things that go bump in the night."
Internal to Aryan's mind, a cold thought flickered. The "Pocket Dimensions" and the "Phantom Zone" are indeed real to them, he thought, but they are merely sub sectors of my own Fog Dimension. By letting them 'buy' these spaces, I am ensuring that their most valuable assets… are stored within a reality I ultimately control.
If Wakanda or Atlantis ever turned against the Federation, he could simply "lock the door" to their wealth. It was the ultimate leverage, wrapped in the guise of a helpful solution.
"Then we have a plan," Tony said, his voice firm. "Wakanda and Atlantis go public as the 'Founding Ancient Nations' of the new era. The Illuminati Parliament manages the supernatural transition. And we do it all with the Federation's stamp of approval."