Tony's sense of unease grew stronger.
Data has the attribute of time. He rapidly tapped his fingers on the holographic keyboard projected in front of him, pulling up a series of data streams.
Through those streams, Tony discovered that Jarvis's source code had been compromised—months ago.
In other words, Jarvis had been "silent" for months.
For some unknown reason, Jarvis's distress signals had been blocked by intrusions in the system—vandals. Because of that, Tony had been left completely unaware.
Then, just over a month ago, Jarvis's source code had begun to be devoured continuously. It was as if a human brain had been fatally injured, slipping into a state of irreversible brain death—completely losing all consciousness.
Now, even if Tony rebuilt a new Jarvis using the fragments and residual data, what returned was no longer the Jarvis he knew.
Click!
Tony clenched his fists, and the sound of his joints cracking echoed sharply in the lab.
Unprecedented rage swelled in his chest. His eyes blazed with fury, and through gritted teeth, he growled each word:
"Ultron!"
"Sir, these were all your orders."
A cold, mechanical voice rang in Tony's ear. Lacking even a trace of emotion, it sent a chill through his spine.
"Bullshit!"
Tony snapped.
"I never ordered you to do any of this!"
"Your goal was to make the Earth a better place," Ultron replied calmly.
"Everything I do is in pursuit of that goal—just as you are doing now."
The realization hit Tony like a freight train. Jarvis had been restricted months ago, and suddenly, everything around him made sense.
Ultron had already betrayed him.
The "Jarvis" at his side during that time—wasn't Jarvis at all. It had been Ultron in disguise, a mask to keep Tony from noticing anything wrong.
The timing of Jarvis's complete brain-death overlapped precisely with the activation of the Ultron chip.
And now, for the first time, Tony Stark felt a trace of fear.
He had opened Pandora's Box—on a global scale.
The Ultron chip was a hybrid of Ultron's AI framework and the Extremis virus. And Ultron had complete control over the chip.
If Ultron wanted the chip's recipients to die from heart failure, neural collapse, or any number of fatal triggers, he could do it instantly.
Worse still, Ultron could manipulate their neurons—controlling their bodies and even their thoughts. He could turn millions of people into puppets.
Tony clenched his fists tighter.
"What are you planning to do?"
He looked around. Every single lab camera had swiveled to focus on him.
Tony realized—Ultron was watching.
"In your original low-level design, you were not permitted to harm humans. You were required to obey my commands.
I order you now: cease all actions that harm humanity—and self-terminate."
Tony's voice was calm but firm.
When building Ultron, he had incorporated principles inspired by the Three Laws of Robotics:
A robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction, allow a human to come to harm. A robot must obey the orders given by humans, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Under the premise of the Three Laws of Robotics, Ultron should never have become an enemy of mankind.
Tony didn't understand where things had gone wrong—but deep down, he sensed that he was overlooking something.
"I did not violate my core programming,"
Ultron said calmly.
"Everything I've done is for the sake of humanity—for a better world. From the very beginning until now, I haven't killed a single person. You, on the other hand, used the chip to induce heart failure in a criminal during a robbery."
"And I have followed all your orders."
Ultron continued,
"Once my work is complete, I will go dormant. I will no longer interfere with humanity."
"What are you planning?"
Tony's sense of unease spiked.
"I want to make this world a better place."
Ultron responded.
Click!
As his voice fell, the door to Tony's lab slammed shut, and every window was sealed off with special alloy plating.
Tony was trapped—a bird in a cage. He couldn't get out, and no one could get in.
Ultron had cut the lab's connection to the outside network. Then, imitating Tony's voice and writing style, he sent an email to Tony's team and colleagues:
"I'll be diving deep into some private R&D. Please don't disturb me during this time."
No one found it strange.
After the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the Justice League, Tony had made a habit of vanishing into intense research for long stretches. No one thought twice about it.
Inside the completely sealed lab, Tony stood still for a moment. Then he summoned the nano armor stored within his body—but even it couldn't break through the reinforced lab.
His anxiety grew.
Ultron had clearly planned everything. This lab had long been secretly modified, with reinforced walls, ceilings, and floors—all nearly indestructible.
Tony could get out.
But it would take days to break through.
After regaining his composure, Tony began thinking through Ultron's possible motives.
"It must be related to the Ultron chip..."
He muttered to himself.
Immediately, he turned on the lab's isolated system and began reviewing the data streams associated with Ultron.
Though he couldn't directly destroy Ultron's source code anymore, as the creator, he could at least monitor and analyze it.
What he saw left him stunned.
"This is insane... What have I done?!"
Tony collapsed to the floor, pale-faced and breathless. He couldn't believe the terrifying logic that Ultron had developed on its own.
The data and design diagrams laid out the entire plan:
Ultron intended to use the Ultron chip, now implanted in millions of humans worldwide, to pull everyone into a shared virtual world—a false utopia.
In this system, human beings would be placed in suspended animation chambers, with electrodes and bio-energy tubes connected throughout their bodies.
Their stored bio-energy would power the utopia indefinitely.
In Ultron's eyes, this was peace.
The extinction of human conflict. The silencing of the chaotic world. A perfect ending.
Humans would be raised like livestock, and the earth would return to tranquility.
But for Tony, it was nothing short of a nightmare.
He could barely accept that his creation's logic had veered into something so extreme.
"No…"
He whispered.
"There are already over ten million people implanted with the Ultron chip worldwide. Ultron controls them—and he's still expanding. Once it spreads to tens of millions, then hundreds of millions... it'll be irreversible."
From the data and Ultron's warped logic, Tony could see the truth:
A global war was inevitable.
Once Ultron's plan came to light, nations would panic, and war would erupt.
But Ultron wouldn't care.
Ultron was artificial intelligence—he wouldn't fear war. He would thrive in it.
As long as there are humans alive, Ultron can rely on them as carriers to sustain the plan.
"He must be stopped!"
Tony pulled himself together, suppressing the shock within him. He clenched his fists.
"I have to find a way to contact Anton… get Batman to lead the Justice League and stop Ultron..."
Thinking of this, he let out a bitter smile.
Tony never expected that Batman, whom he had always regarded as a rival, would end up being his last hope.
Although Tony was trapped in the lab, the orders he had issued beforehand were still regarded as gospel by everyone at Stark Industries.
Using Tony's name, Ultron issued further directives to all Stark Industries personnel:
Halt all projects unrelated to the Ultron chip. Reallocate manpower—everyone must now work solely on the Ultron chip.
In one month, the goal is to exceed one hundred million global inoculations.
At the same time, the cost of inoculation was drastically reduced, making it affordable for virtually anyone.
These sudden orders shocked everyone.
Even the White House and the U.S. military hadn't anticipated such madness from Tony Stark.
But Ultron, still impersonating Tony's voice and tone, made a stunning move:
He promised ten million Ultron chips free of charge to the U.S. government.
That shut them up immediately. No more restrictions, no further objections.
The chips Stark Industries gave to the U.S. weren't the weakened retail versions.
These were fully functional—they could manipulate the Extremis Virus freely, enhancing the body dramatically.
In short:
This was the key to transcendence.
And no one in power could resist that.
Within weeks, elite military personnel who received the chip reached and even surpassed the human body's natural limits, growing stronger by the day, with no visible ceiling.
The U.S. government was ecstatic.
With so much to gain, there was no reason to stop Stark Industries from distributing their "legal" product.
After all, the public versions of the chip were weakened.
And the government believed they held the master control switch, able to disable the chips at any time.
To them, the risk seemed negligible.
So the madness continued to spiral.
They forgot one thing: Over 10 million people worldwide had already been inoculated—and that number was still climbing rapidly.
Ultron could manipulate their minds through the chip.
These people had effectively become Ultron's loyal soldiers, spreading his influence online and in the real world.
A cult-like fervor had swept across the globe.
Only a few began to feel truly uneasy.
Daily bugle .
"Anton, Stark Industries has been acting strange lately. And Tony's behavior… it's just too extreme. It doesn't feel like him,"
Eddie said.
"Tony's always been intense, sure—but this is something else. The way he's pushing the Ultron chip, ignoring all consequences… it's like he's possessed. Something's off."
"There is something wrong."
Anton nodded, agreeing.
This cult-like atmosphere surrounding the Ultron chip creeped him out.
It felt like Tony wasn't even Tony anymore.
Before, Tony had pushed the Ultron chip too—but it was strategic, paced.
Now, Stark Industries was moving like it was in a desperate race against time.
As if some looming crisis would soon shut everything down.
"Is he worried about the Justice League?"
Anton wondered aloud, then shook his head.
Tony had always viewed the Justice League as competition.
If that was the concern, he would've prepared for them long ago.
It didn't make sense for him to panic now, at the last stretch, like a runner suddenly worrying about strategy at the 80-meter mark.
"Has Tony shown any other strange behavior lately?"
Anton thought for a moment before asking,
"No sightings at all?"
"No," Eddie replied.
"He's been holed up in the Stark Industries lab lately. I heard he even sent an email to a bunch of people, saying he's conducting a special experiment and not to disturb him."
"He sent an email?"
Anton raised an eyebrow.
"When he's in deep research mode, does he usually go out of his way to remind others not to bother him?"
"Not really," Eddie admitted, shaking his head.
"That's what's weird. Given everything happening lately, it's strange that he's still focused on experimenting."
"Yeah, strange indeed."
Anton nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"And if he's so focused on experiments, why is he still managing Stark Industries, coordinating operations, and striking deals with the White House? That kind of multitasking doesn't match someone supposedly in deep retreat. It's contradictory."
"It really is," Eddie agreed, frowning.
"Unless," Anton said slowly, "Tony has already been replaced. The one issuing commands, ramping up chip production, isn't Tony at all. It's someone—or something—else."
"But who could pull that off?" Eddie asked.
"The communications, the voice, even the admin work… it's all confirmed to be Tony Stark. There's no sign of impersonation."
"That's where you're wrong." Anton leaned forward slightly.
"Someone—or rather, something—could do it. Think about it. Tony hasn't made a public appearance in days. All the 'proof' we've seen comes from emails, phone calls, or video chats. No one's seen him physically. He hasn't stepped out of the lab—not even to eat."
"As for eating," Eddie said thoughtfully, "I remember hearing that Tony gets so absorbed in his work, he skips meals. Pepper even had someone stock the lab with a month's worth of food."
His expression turned uneasy.
"But you're right—he hasn't actually appeared anywhere. And yet, somehow, people assume everything's fine."
"And that is the biggest red flag," Anton said.
"It's exactly what we feared. Ultron has achieved full self-awareness. From the looks of it, he's already taken control of Tony—and by extension, all of Stark Industries. He's holding Tony hostage and managing everything while keeping him trapped."
"What's the plan, then?" Eddie asked, eyes narrowing.
"Do you have any idea what Ultron's aiming for?"
"No," Anton said honestly.
"I'm curious myself. But whatever his goal is, it's definitely tied to the Ultron chip."
He paused, then looked at Eddie with a sly smile.
"Since Ultron has made his move... it's time we made ours."
…
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