Chapter 835
Father and Son
Chapter 835 Father and Son
Beneath the Avengers base lies a vault, similar to the mansion prison inside the snow globe at the very center of the Avengers base. This vault is shrunk down using Pym Particles and used to store various dangerous items. It contains the most dangerous items the Avengers have been able to find on Earth 616 so far.
For example, the two bodies of Legion Ultron—one blasted apart by Tony's high temperatures and the other having its computing center removed by Shadowcat—were composed of adamantium, which Tony simply and bluntly named "Stark Adamantium." This was to distinguish them from the original adamantium that made up Captain America's shield and the true adamantium inside Wolverine's body.
There are three remaining super adaptors. Of course, there were originally four. One was modified by Pym into the main unit of Ultron IV to deal with Nimrod, and was destroyed when Peter tore Nimrod apart with his Spatial Slash.
In addition, there is the body of the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond, which was placed in a vacuum glass case to prevent it from igniting upon contact with air.
In addition, there were some special items, such as the magical crowbar belonging to the Sabotage Team. That crowbar was imbued with magical enchantment, which Thor, upon his return, confirmed was undoubtedly Loki's doing. Loki had cast a spell on the crowbar similar to that of Thor's hammer, making it impossible for anyone except the Sabotage Team's leader, Destroyer, to lift.
The four members of the sabotage group gained their superpowers through the powerful magic on the crowbar. If the sabotager hadn't shared his magic with his underlings, his own strength would have become even greater.
At this moment, Avenger Ultron stands before Jim Hammond's corpse, with two Legion Ultron remains made of Stark Adamantium on his left and three Super Adaptors on his right.
"What are you thinking?"
Pym's words broke Ultron's silence. Ultron looked over; Pym was wearing Ant-Man's uniform with a white lab coat over it, but not the Ant-Man helmet. Ultron simply replied: "I haven't considered this function, Dr. Pym."
"Okay, so what are you calculating?"
[I'm looking for solutions to protect human safety.]
Pym paused for a moment. Avenger Ultron was the strangest Ultron; he was the only one who hadn't calculated a plan to protect humanity, and the only one who chose to cooperate with the Avengers. It was as if the other Ultrons had already overlooked the very act of "assisting the Avengers."
Pym couldn't help but ask curiously, "So, did you find it?"
No, this seems to be an unsolvable question. Humanity has never historically achieved a state of security. I cannot find a single year in known human history without ongoing war; there is no history of peace, nor a history of security.
After Ultron finished speaking, he looked at Pym: "Are you aware of this, Dr. Pym?"
Pym remained silent for a long time before replying, "Yes, I know."
Therefore, it is essentially an impossible task, and for this reason, almost every plan attempting to achieve security ultimately leads to extreme environments that are currently unacceptable to humanity. Given this, can it be proven that the pursuit of security is something that human society itself is incapable of accomplishing?
Pym was speechless. Perhaps everything was indeed as Ultron said: violence had become part of human nature, and humanity could never escape violence, nor could it ever pursue peace. But…
"There are some goals that humanity may never be able to achieve, but humanity will choose to achieve them, or at least some people will do so. This distant goal itself is a journey whose future is forever unpredictable for humanity, but that does not prevent humanity from contributing to it. Ultron is just a tool for this goal, nothing more."
Pym first said something he himself might not agree with, then took a deep breath and began to speak his mind: "I... I joined the Avengers because I realized that not all problems can be solved through peaceful dialogue, and some mistakes require violence. But I am not fundamentally seeking violence, I... I have found that the Avengers are using violence more and more."
The iterative progression of Ultron might start to frighten you, making you wonder if you are actively creating violence.
Pym nodded, then said with a laugh, "Can you understand the meaning of fear?"
To Pym's surprise, Ultron didn't use a long series of observations and analyses to explain the outward manifestations of fear; he simply answered with a single word: "No."
“Okay… let’s skip that and get back to the original question. What are you doing here? Just observing… Jim Hammond.”
Jim Hammond is the only purely artificial life form in human history, lacking basic human organs and assembled as purely artificial ones. Ultron explained his purpose: "However, according to records, Jim Hammond possesses a 'human soul,' a vague description the program is attempting to clarify."
“I’m afraid I can’t. Although I don’t know exactly how Jim Hammond was born, I do know that his basic logic is different from yours. Jim Hammond was created by Dr. Phineas Houghton to challenge God. God created everything, but he created Jim Hammond.”
As Hank spoke, he analyzed, "That's why everything he did was fundamentally biomimetic, using a type of material called Horton cells, made from plastic and carbon polymers. Unfortunately, the late 20s and early 30s were during the Great Depression, and no one understood his contribution, so the method of making these cells disappeared."
"His physical structure enabled him to eat, sleep, and perform human activities, possessing creative intelligence and limitless self-driven abilities. Data shows that although Jim Hammond's IQ did not significantly increase, his brain's processing speed far exceeded..."
Hank froze, looking at Jim Hammond's body in the glass case. Ultron's face was reflected in it, as if it overlapped with the body.
Are we thinking about the same thing?
[I didn't think about this feature, Dr. Pym.]
Is what I'm thinking about the same thing that you're calculating?
[The probability is extremely high, Dr. Pym, but I suggest delaying until the Avengers can no longer stop my kind.] Ultron presented a potential danger: [We are unsure whether transferring the main program to an organic body via a neural transfer device would trigger the shared data program.]
(End of this chapter)