The time before the school term started passed quickly.
Lyon counted the days—every single day.
Counting down to the moment when his Blood Sea Avatar would be born.
While using the Time and Space Stones to comprehend the laws of the Marvel Universe,
he was also accelerating the incubation of his avatar.
He was impatient to experience what it would feel like to become an entire ocean.
In this long wait, time flew by in the blink of an eye.
And finally, this was the week Lyon stepped out of his house.
Because this week was just as important.
But it wasn't about him.
It was—"J.A.R.V.I.S. is about to be born. Wait, no— I mean, it's about to complete its evolution!"
Lyon stared at the thousands of lines of code rapidly scrolling on the holographic screen.
"Soon, we're going to have to change how we address J.A.R.V.I.S. We'll need to start using 'he' instead of 'it'."
"Whoa, whoa, hold on." Tony deliberately nitpicked.
"I'm fine with everything else! But J.A.R.V.I.S. hasn't even fully evolved yet—How can you just assume his gender?"
In a remote call with Banner two weeks ago, Tony finally learned the truth—Lyon had already defeated Odin once.
And then it hit him. The duel four months later? It was actually no big deal. Win or lose, it was just about saving face for Kamar-Taj.
For someone like him—who had only recently joined and didn't feel any real sense of belonging—he could just sit back, eat a burger, and enjoy the foreign scenery.
All his stress and anxiety? Completely self-inflicted.
Realizing this both relieved and embarrassed him.
So for the past two weeks, Tony had been crashing at Lyon's apartment, and his first mission every morning was to annoy his 'little brother' as much as possible.
But Lyon was the last person to be fazed by Tony's teasing. Instead, he mimicked J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice and said, "You mean to tell me that the A.I. that has served you for decades, greeted you every morning with a deep male voice and a polite 'Good morning, sir,' could have been a woman all along?"
"Or are you saying, Mr. Stark, that you've secretly wanted your A.I. to turn into a cute girl this whole time? Like those nerd guys who keep pointing at their cat, hoping it'll magically transform?"
"Lyon, say whatever you want about Tony, but can you please not drag the rest of us nerds into this?" Banner, clearly embarrassed, adjusted his glasses and awkwardly cut in
Lyon raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I forgot there's another nerd here. By the way, Banner, you're not seriously hoping magical creatures like the ZouWu would turn into cute girls, right? Betty would be heartbroken."
"Bruce?" Betty looked at Banner in shock.
Banner covered his face with one hand. "No, I'm not! Betty, he's joking, don't believe him."
"Enough with the chatter, gentlemen. When Jarvis evolves—no, I mean, when it completes its upgrade—it definitely won't want to hear you debating its gender." Natasha crossed her arms.
Everyone was gathered in the Avengers' command office. The group included Banner, who had rushed over from Kamar-Taj, Tony and Pepper, as well as Lyon, who had brought Natasha, Yelena, and Shuri.
All of them were intensely curious about the emergence of an artificial intelligence evolving into a true digital lifeform.
After all, under normal circumstances, with Earth's current level of technological advancement, something like this wouldn't be possible for at least several more decades.
When Banner first arrived, he was so excited he nearly stuck his head into Jarvis's holographic projection.
"Actually, this is a topic worth discussing." Lyon wasn't ready to drop the subject just yet.
"Jarvis doesn't have a physical body, which means it doesn't have a biological gender. So whether it's male or female should ultimately be up to its own subjective choice."
Tony leaned back, staring at the cascading data streams on the display. "I think it'll turn out female. After all, no one can stay around the great Tony Stark for this long without eventually succumbing to my charm. Right, Pepper?"
Pepper, both amused and exasperated, pinched Tony's arm. "Behave yourself. Jarvis was your family's old butler, not a maid."
"Stereotypes! Why can't a butler be female? You—" Tony was about to continue when the rapid stream of characters on the projection screen suddenly slowed down.
The English characters, which had been cascading like a waterfall, came to a stop. One by one, they started disappearing, replaced by sequences of 0s and 1s. The orange, spherical data projection representing Jarvis began to ripple.
In a sudden burst of flickering light, the sphere vanished, and in its place appeared a middle-aged gentleman with sideburns streaked with white.
He wore a perfectly tailored suit, his right hand elegantly resting at his waist, draped with a white scarf. It was the exact attire of Edwin Jarvis, the old Stark family butler in his later years.
"Mr. Stark, long time no see." Jarvis bowed slightly, ever the refined gentleman.
"Jarvis… this look of yours is really…" Tony instinctively wanted to make a comment but suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
Jarvis's lifelike form struck Tony like a surge of electricity, hitting straight at his core.
Memories from childhood suddenly flooded his mind, flashing like a reel of film played in rapid succession. At this moment, Jarvis was exactly as Tony remembered—always standing by his father's side, the ever-reliable old butler.
He stared at Jarvis for a long time before finally speaking, his voice slightly hoarse. "This is great. You're no longer just an exceptionally smart AI. Jarvis, I'm happy for you."
"Thank you, sir." Jarvis nodded with a gentle smile before turning to Lyon. "Master Lyon, I appreciate your assistance. I feel better than ever now."
"However, I regret to inform you that the Evolution Key seems to have lost all its data after helping me complete my transformation. It appears to be a one-time-use item."
Lyon followed Jarvis's gesture to the Evolution Key, a metallic box still connected to the data interface. However, its once-glowing data stream had vanished, indicating it was now useless.
"Welp! No worries. It's not like I have another AI waiting to evolve anyway." He pointed at Tony and smirked. "Speaking of which, Tony was just saying he wanted you to transform into a beautiful woman. Have you considered it?"
"Master, I heard everything you all discussed earlier." Jarvis nodded. "During the data infusion process, my personality was entirely shaped by past experiences, so I believe my identity aligns as male."
Beyond that, the data infusion had solidified certain emotional connections, ensuring that Tony and Lyon would always be his priority. It seemed to be an automatic preset within the Evolution Key.
However, not only Lyon but even Jarvis himself failed to notice this subtle change.
Jarvis then turned to Tony. "Of course, sir, if you so wish, I can also assume the appearance of your favorite fashion model."
Pfft, a male-to-female transformation? That would be even better to rile up Tony lol, Lyon mused internally.
But Tony shook his head firmly. "No! That's unnecessary! I was just joking earlier. You're perfect the way you are now, Jarvis."
"Understood, sir." Jarvis resumed his upright posture before turning to Bruce.
Ever since Jarvis had spoken his first words, Banner's eyes had been glued to him. It was as if he wanted to dissect Jarvis on the spot just to understand how an AI could evolve into a living being.
"Dr. Banner, is there anything you would like to ask?"
Caught off guard by the question, Banner chuckled awkwardly and took a couple of steps back. "I'm just curious… What does it feel like to transform from an AI into a sentient being?"
"It's… fascinating." Jarvis displayed a surprisingly human-like expression of amazement. "As the data infused me, I gradually developed emotions and independent thought."
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