Currently, I'm inside a dusty room. Remember how I said that I had achieved a certain understanding in the study of robotics and mechanical engineering, and that I wanted to start applying my knowledge in practice? Well, as you know, to assemble at least some invention, you need a workshop with the necessary machines and tools.
I don't have a mansion with a basement where I can build the necessary space for my scientific work—at least, not yet. That's why I bought this abandoned warehouse. Not long ago, it housed a fan factory, but the company went bankrupt and sold the premises. This purchase cost me $1.5 million.
Although the place is small, it's just right for me. For some time, I will conduct research here until I build my hidden refuge. After all, everyone dreams of having their own hidden refuge! After thoroughly inspecting the building, I hired people to do some minor repairs and help bring in and install all the necessary equipment.
I ordered machines, tools, various materials, and chemical elements. All of this cost me another $6 million. I was promised that within a week, the premises would be ready for full-fledged work.
Well, let's wait—the matter isn't urgent, and I do not complain about having too much free time because I don't have it!
So, today is the very day when I will be able to acquire artificial intelligence! You heard me right, I am heading to the Wayne Tower to meet with Lucius Fox. This is a very interesting character—he's not only the chairman of the board of directors of Wayne Enterprises, but also one of the most respected financiers in the world.
In addition to that, he is a brilliant engineer and inventor who helps Batman create various cunning devices. I look forward to meeting him.
Upon reaching Bruce Wayne's office, I found Fox there. He was a black man of about fifty, dressed in a strict suit and business glasses.
"I take it you are Alex?" he asked, holding out his hand. "I'm Lucius."
"Nice to meet you, sir," I shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, too. You know, because of you, our company has started having problems. Many employees started playing your game instead of working."
"I'm sorry, but that's my job—to bring joy and happiness to people."
"Ha-ha, I guess you're right. I play it quite often myself. I'm a big fan of your work. I'm glad I finally got to meet you. You've certainly caused Bruce some trouble."
"I know, I tried."
"You came to see the artificial intelligence technology. Let me show you…"
"Can't you just give me the AI?"
"At the moment, the cost of AI is estimated at $5 billion," Bruce said, getting up from the table and approaching us. "That would be too expensive a gift."
"What a greedy man you are, winged one," I said, smiling in an irritated tone.
"Nothing personal—just business."
"Maybe we can come to an agreement? You give me the AI, and I will dedicate my next book to you. Just imagine, such a great author as me personally writing a work for you, which will certainly become a masterpiece. You will be able to brag about it at social events, and everyone will envy you. You'd finally catch up with the Joker because I've already dedicated a book to him, but not to you. So, what do you think of my offer?" I asked, raising my eyebrows in anticipation.
"Do you see any change in my face?" Bruce asked, not even raising an eyebrow.
"No…"
"And my answer is the same... No!"
"Oh, you devil! I am with all my heart for you, and you…" my voice was full of resentment. "Well, okay, I will dedicate the book to you anyway, despite your heartlessness. Do you see what a noble person I am? Watch and learn!"
After listening to my performance, Bruce looked at Fox. "Do you see what I have to endure? You asked how he convinced me to show him our AI system? I just couldn't listen to his whining anymore."
"Hey, I'm actually standing here!" I crossed my arms over my chest. After finishing our squabbles, we went down to the artificial intelligence department.
Frankly, I expected to see a huge area filled with server nodes, nuclear and graphic processors. But to my surprise, there was nothing like that here.
My gaze fell on a round metal shape in the center of the room. This ball was about two meters in radius.
"Is this the entire artificial intelligence system?" I asked, shocked by what I was seeing.
"Yes, this is BYEIN 3001, codenamed Bethany," Lucius said. "I know the reason for your surprise. How can such a small processor support the computing power of AI? Everyone is surprised by this, even us."
"How did you do it?"
"It's a very interesting story. Many years ago, Thomas Wayne and I visited a small country in Southeast Asia," Lucius began his story, indulging in memories. "There, a famous collector had a small yellow stone. As he himself said, it was the pearl of his collection. None of the famous master jewelers could give this stone a worthy assessment. They believed that it consisted of a chemical element that humanity had not yet discovered. My friend and I became interested in this stone and approached the collector with an offer to sell it to us. But he did not make any concessions, no matter how much we raised the price. In the end, we gave in and offered to help him study the stone. Of course, we were looking for our own benefit. After all, if this really was a new chemical element, then what application could it have?"
Wait a minute! Yellow stone, artificial intelligence—this reminds me of something!
"We were in for a shock. Inside the stone, there was what seemed like a living brain. Having made such a discovery, we again offered the collector a fabulous sum, but he was unyielding. And we had no choice but to conduct our own small research in this country. Then we returned to America and began to study the data obtained. We later learned that others were also interested in the stone. Among them was our old friend, Howard Stark. This stone was a real phenomenon. When we returned to study it again, we discovered with horror that the collector had been killed, and the stone was missing. The most interesting part of the story was that several eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the collector killed by aliens who arrived on a ship. Of course, no one believed them then, and everyone considered them crazy. Wayne Enterprises continued to study the information received from the stone, and now we have our own artificial intelligence."
"This is not a soulless computing machine. Bethany doesn't just have a model of the mind; she literally is the mind. In the same sense that the human mind is the mind," Bruce added to Fox's story.
Hell, it was definitely one of the Infinity Stones—the Mind Stone. Now I understand how they were able to invent AI.
After all, the Mind Stone is literally the greatest artificial intelligence in the universe. But how did it appear on Earth? Shouldn't it be in Thanos's possession? Maybe his minions killed this very collector and took the stone? Well, it is a very plausible development of events, so why not.
So Tony Stark created Jarvis, also from the Mind Stone model? Sounds logical. His father, Howard Stark, definitely studied the Tesseract and left instructions for his son, enabling him to synthesize a new chemical element. Tony used it as a safe replacement for palladium for his miniature arc reactor.
Therefore, it can be assumed that Howard Stark also passed on to him the Mind Stone schematic. Everything is clear with these AIs, but how did Barry Allen create "Gideon" in the future? I doubt he was guided by the same principles.
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Thank you for reading, hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
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