Tony sense of foreboding grew stronger.
Data has a time attribute his fingers rapidly typed on the holographic keyboard displayed before him, listing a series of data streams.
Through these streams, Tony determined that Jarviss source code had been under attack for several months already.
In other words, Jarvis had been silent for months.
Due to some reason, Jarviss pleas for help were blocked by the saboteur, so Tony was oblivious to it all along.
Until over a month ago, Jarviss source code was continually consumed, ultimately like a human brain suffering trauma, falling into a brain-dead state, completely losing consciousness.
Now, even if Tony were to rebuild a Jarvis on the corpse that was Jarviss remaining data foundation, the revived Jarvis would no longer be the artificial intelligence Tony once knew.
Crack!
Tony clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles cracking loudly.
Unprecedented anger converged in his heart, his eyes ignited with fierce fire, and through gritted teeth, he said emphatically:
"Ultron!"
"Sir, this was all your command."
A voice rang in Tony ear, its cold mechanical tone devoid of human emotion, chilling Tony to the core.
"Bullshit!"
Tony exploded with rage, coldly stating, "I never ordered you to do these things."
"Your goal is to make the world a better place, and all I have done is work towards this."
Ultron replied, "Just as you are doing now."
Realizing that Jarvis had been restricted months ago, Tony instantly understood what had been happening right under his nose.
Ultron had betrayed him!
The Jarvis by his side for the past few months was Ultron in disguise, all to prevent him from noticing anything amiss.
And the complete death of Jarvis coincided with the launch of the Ultron chips.
Tony began to feel a hint of fear.
He knew that he had opened Pandora box for this world.
The Ultron chips, a product of Ultron and the Extremis Virus combined, gave Ultron the authority to control the chips.
Simply put, if Ultron wanted those who received the chips to die from cardiac arrest, or neurological diseases, etc., it would be an easy task.
Ultron could even control these people bodies and thoughts by stimulating their neurons, turning them all into puppets.
Tony clenched his fist tightly.
"What exactly do you intend to do?"
Glancing around, all the cameras in the laboratory were aimed at him.
Tony knew that this was Ultron monitoring him.
"In your fundamental design, you are not allowed to harm humans. Moreover, you must obey my commands. I order you to immediately stop all actions that harm humans and self-destruct."
Tony spoke slowly.
When creating Ultron, he had referenced the three laws of robotics.
First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Under these three laws, Ultron should not have become an enemy of humanity.
Tony couldn't understand what had gone wrong, but he faintly felt that he had overlooked something.
"I have not violated my fundamental design."
Ultron said, "Everything I have done has been for humanity, for the world to become a better place. Including from the beginning until now, I have not killed a single person, whereas you once used the chip to induce a heart attack and killed a criminal during a robbery."
"And I have always been following your orders."
Ultron stated, "After I complete all this, I will enter into slumber, no longer interfering with humans."
"What are you going to do?"
Tony sense of foreboding grew even stronger.
"I am going to make this world a better place."
Ultron responded.
Crack!
As his voice fell, the doors of the laboratory Tony was in shut instantly, and all windows were covered with a special alloy.
Tony, like a bird caged, was trapped inside the lab, unable to leave.
His network access was also cut off by Ultron.
Ultron even mimicked Tony tone to send an email to everyone around him, stating he would be conducting some research and asked not to be disturbed for a while.
Everyone thought it was normal.
Ever since Tony had faced setbacks at the hands of the Justice League, he frequently engaged in such isolated research. Thus, no matter how long Tony disappeared, nobody would care.
Inside the completely sealed lab.
Tony stood still, summoning his nanotech armor, but was unable to break out of the sealed lab, growing increasingly anxious.
He guessed that Ultron had long been preparing for this.
The lab had been covertly modified by Ultron. Everything from the ceiling to the floor was reinforced to an extent that was terrifying.
It not that Tony had no way out.
Rather, if he wanted to escape, it would take him several days to break a hole big enough for him to get through.
Once Tony calmed down, he pondered what Ultron ultimate goal could be.
"It must be related to the Ultron chips…"
He muttered to himself.
Then, he turned on the computer in the lab to check Ultron data streams.
As the creator of Ultron, he could not destroy Ultron source code now, but at least he could observe Ultron actions.
What he saw left him dumbfounded and horrified.
"It like this... This is insane... What have I done?!"
Tony collapsed to the ground, pale and disbelieving that his creation, Ultron, had come up with such a terrifying plan.
The data and designs before him finally made it clear what Ultron intended to do.
Ultron planned to use the chips implanted in human brains to drag the entire world into a virtual realm, creating a false utopia.
Humans would be placed in cultivation pods, their bodies hooked up to tubes for biopower supply, ensuring the "utopia" continued to operate.
The end result would be humans corralled by Ultron, and the Earth, due to the cessation of human activities, would return to tranquility.
To Ultron, this was the perfect conclusion.
Naturally, Tony could not agree.
He could hardly believe that Ultron, his own creation, could have taken such an extreme line of thought.
"This is bad…"
Tony murmured: "Over ten million people globally have been injected with the Ultron chips. If Ultron controls these people, it can continue to expand the number of recipients. Once the numbers swell to tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, the situation will become irreversible…"
Through the data and Ultron skewed logic, Tony could clearly foresee that once Ultron ambitions were exposed, it would inevitably lead to a global war.
As an artificial intelligence, Ultron naturally wouldn't fear a war, and might even thrive in such conditions.
As long as there are surviving humans, it could rely on hosts to keep its plan going.
"I must stop him!"
Tony gathered his spirit, suppressing the shock in his heart, and clenched his fists: "I need to find a way to alert Anton, have Batman lead the Justice League to stop Ultron…"
Thinking this, he let out a bitter smile.
Tony never imagined that Batman, whom he had always considered an enemy, would ultimately become his last hope.
Although Tony was trapped in the lab, the orders he had issued previously were still being executed by all of Stark Industries employees as if they were sacred.
Ultron, under Tony name, issued further instructions to all Stark Industries employees.
Stop all work unrelated to the Ultron chips, free up personnel, and have all employees work towards spreading the Ultron chips. In the coming month, the goal was to have over three hundred million people worldwide injected with the chips.
At the same time, the cost of the Ultron chip injections was reduced, making it possible for everyone to afford them.
These commands shocked everyone.
Including the White House and the military, nobody expected Tony to take such a radical step.
But once Ultron, speaking with Tony voice, promised to give ten million Ultron chips to the U.S. authorities for free, they immediately shut up and imposed no further restrictions.
The effects of the Ultron chip were fully verified by the military in just over a month.
The Ultron chips that Stark Industries provided to the U.S. authorities were not the same as those available on the market with diminished functions.
The Ultron chips in the hands of the U.S. could freely manipulate the Extremis Virus to enhance the body.
In other words, this was the key to unlocking superhuman abilities.
No one could refuse the superhuman.
Military elites who had received the Ultron chip quickly reached the limits of human capability, and their physical condition improved daily, seemingly without bounds.
This thrilled the U.S. authorities.
With such significant benefits at stake, the U.S. had no reason to stop Tony from promoting his company legitimate product.
After all, the Ultron chips available to the public were weakened versions.
Moreover, the ultimate control of the chips was in the hands of the U.S. authorities, who could invalidate them at any time. Therefore, most people in the White House did not see the need to plunge into endless worry and anxiety.
Thus, the situation became even more frenzied.
Don't forget, on this world, the number of people injected with the Ultron chip had already exceeded ten million, and this number was still growing.
Ultron could influence the minds of those injected through the chips.
All those who were injected became Ultron army in both the digital and real worlds, and the whole world fell into a frenzied pursuit of the Ultron chips.
This cult-like atmosphere caused fear among a minority.
The Daily Bugle.
"Anton, there something strange going on with Stark Industries lately, and Tony actions are too radical, it doesn't seem like his usual style," Eddie said.
"Although Tony has always been a bit of a madman, this uncalculated promotion of the Ultron chips seems obsessive. Something doesn't feel right."
"There is something off,"
Anton nodded, agreeing with Eddie thoughts.
This cult-like atmosphere felt odd, as if Tony had become another person.
Previously, although Tony was also promoting the Ultron chip, he did it in a measured way.
Now, Stark Industries actions and Tony various commands seemed like a race against time.
It was as if when the time came, something would prevent everything from proceeding.
"Is he worried about the Justice League?"
Anton speculated, then dismissed his own guess.
Tony had always considered the Justice League a rival if he were worried, he would have started worrying a long time ago. It made no sense that he would only start caring about the opponent tactics after sprinting seventy or eighty meters into a hundred-meter dash.
"Has Tony been behaving unusually lately?"
Anton pondered, then asked.
"No."
Eddie said, "He been in the Stark Industries lab these past few days. I heard he even sent out an email to quite a few people, saying he was conducting special research and not to disturb him."
"Sending an email?"
Anton was curious, "Did he also send an email to remind people not to disturb him when he went into seclusion for research before?"
"I don't know, it seems like he didn't."
Eddie shook his head, "But with the recent situation, it strange that Tony still has the mood to do any experiments."
"Right, it is strange."
Anton nodded, his gaze flickering, "And if he focusing on experiments, why is he also constantly distracted, directing Stark Industries work, and even reaching an agreement with the White House... Focusing on multiple things and sending an email asking not to be disturbed seems contradictory."
"It is indeed contradictory."
Eddie also realized this.
"Unless, Tony has been replaced, and the person issuing commands and directing Stark Industries to fully stock Ultron chips isn't the Tony we know, but someone else…"
Anton said, "That would make sense."
"But who has the ability to impersonate Tony and issue these commands, and moreover, many administrative and verbal communications have confirmed that it was Tony Stark, not someone impersonating him."
Eddie was puzzled.
"No, you're wrong, someone can, or rather, it shouldn't be called a person."
Anton said, "Have you noticed that Tony hasn't appeared in public at all these days? Even the intelligence we've gathered is just him communicating with others via email, phone calls, or at most video links...
But from start to finish, we haven't seen him in person. Or rather, he has stayed in the lab all this time without going out, including for meals."
"Eating? I heard that when Tony used to get immersed in his experiments, he often skipped meals, so Pepper Potts had a whole month worth of food stored in the lab..."
Eddie expression was odd: "Of course, you're right, Tony hasn't shown his face these days at all, just through various pieces of intelligence that make it seem like he alright."
"That the biggest problem,"
Anton said. "It looks like, as we suspected, Ultron has developed its own consciousness and, from the current situation, it has already taken control of Tony and has taken over Stark Industries... It is preventing Tony from breaking its blockade and stopping its plan."
"What is its plan?"
Eddie was curious: "Do you have any idea?"
"No,"
Anton replied: "Actually, I'm also curious about what exactly Ultron is up to... But whatever Ultron purpose is, it definitely involves the Ultron chips."
He paused, then looked at Eddie with a smile.
"Since Ultron has started its work, then we should start ours!"