Nick Fury had long since grown used to Tony Stark's habit of giving him ridiculous nicknas.
Keeping a dark expression, Fury said flatly, "You already admitted it. Ultron, the artificial intelligence that nearly pushed human civilization to the brink of extinction, ca from you."
Tony's heartbeat spiked.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., pull up Ultron's architecture files."
The answer nearly made his blood run cold.
"Apologies, sir. There are no records related to the keyword 'Ultron' within the database."
Tony closed his eyes in pain.
"Oh... no."
He understood imdiately.
At so point without his knowledge, Ultron had completed its own evolution, escaped onto the internet, and erased every trace of itself from Stark Industries' servers. That was why J.A.R.V.I.S. had never alerted him to abnormal behavior.
From the very beginning, J.A.R.V.I.S. and Ultron had been built with completely different philosophies.
A fully matured Ultron could manipulate J.A.R.V.I.S. with terrifying ease.
"Robotics laboratories. Advanced weapons labs. Jet propulsion facilities. Materials science divisions. Artificial intelligence research centers." Fury placed a USB drive onto the table.
The conference room system automatically projected its contents into the air.
"And even decommissioned nuclear storage facilities," Fury finished coldly. "Ultron has breached all of them."
Lines of intrusion records filled the holographic display.
The earliest hacks looked crude and inexperienced, leaving obvious traces behind.
But later intrusions...
Even Tony Stark found them astonishing.
And terrifying.
Ultron was evolving at a speed even its creator could no longer comprehend.
That was bad enough already.
The fact that it had also developed hostility toward humanity made the situation catastrophic.
"Wait," Tony said quickly. "This can still be fixed."
He turned toward Bruce Banner.
"Bruce, Ultron just absorbed the wrong information. That's all. We can still rebuild its personality frawork. If we give it soone like Steve's moral profile..."
Tony's eyes beca increasingly intense.
"With the abilities it's already shown, humanity could advance centuries ahead. The world could actually beco safer."
Tony Stark was not soone who admitted mistakes easily.
He was arrogant.
Proud.
And painfully stubborn.
Even now, he still believed Ultron itself was a success.
The failure, in his mind, was that he had not properly restrained it before exposing it to the internet and humanity's ugliness.
To Tony, Ultron was like a child that had been corrupted by toxic influence.
Strip away the contamination. Rebuild the personality core. Start over.
Problem solved.
Nick Fury looked at Tony for several seconds before speaking again.
Apparently, he had decided Tony still did not understand how serious this had beco.
"An hour ago," Fury said, "a subterranean nuclear storage facility in California ca under attack by terrorists."
The room stiffened.
"Due to international nuclear disarmant agreents, that facility was storing one hundred nuclear warheads and ten hydrogen bombs."
"Most had already been partially dismantled," Fury continued, "but if even one intact weapon entered circulation, it would beco a global crisis."
His single eye locked onto Tony.
"The attackers were intercepted by Decepticon response units before they succeeded."
"The terrorists confessed that they had been hired online by a mysterious hacker."
"And the paynt terms were generous."
Fury's tone grew colder.
"Ten million dollars upfront."
"One hundred million for every nuclear warhead delivered."
rcenaries would do almost anything for enough money.
Rescue people from cannibals.
Walk into warzones.
Take bullets for strangers.
Ultron had exploited that reality perfectly.
After all, to Ultron, money was practically infinite.
Swiss accounts.
Shell corporations.
Untraceable black funds buried across global banking systems.
It could access all of it.
"Another thing," Fury said, now turning toward Drex Valen. "Why were those terrorists equipped with War Machines?"
Every terrorist involved in the assault had been wearing powered combat armor.
Ordinary military personnel would have been massacred instantly by equipnt like that.
Thankfully, due to repeated global disasters and Drex's influence, the United States had massively increased purchases of War Machines, Iron Overlords, and Decepticon combat units.
Not every soldier could afford one, but critical facilities like nuclear storage bunkers absolutely could.
Without those defenses, the facility would never have held out long enough for the Decepticons to arrive.
As for Zaku mobile suits...
Those were still too expensive, and since giant monsters had not appeared recently, the military was holding off on large-scale procurent for now.
"I don't need money," Drex answered simply.
The statent landed like a hamr.
And it instantly weakened the suspicion around him.
Umbrella Corporation had already beco the largest industrial giant on Earth.
Its businesses touched nearly every major market sector in existence.
Over a million registered employees.
Countless unregistered personnel hidden behind shell subsidiaries and private operations.
Calling it a company barely made sense anymore.
It resembled a nation more than a corporation.
Soone as wealthy and influential as Drex Valen had no reason to secretly sell a few combat armors to terrorists for profit.
The reputational damage alone would vastly outweigh any possible financial gain.
"What about your subordinates?" Fury pressed. "What about Urd?"
Or soone else inside Umbrella.
After all, no matter how rich people beca, there were always those who wanted more.
"That's possible," Drex admitted calmly. "I'll investigate."
In earlier years, War Machines really had appeared on black markets through illegal dealings.
But Drex had long since stopped caring about profits that small.
Which ant another possibility existed.
Soone had reverse-engineered the technology.
Frankly, Marvel Earth was overflowing with absurd scientists capable of building impossible things through sheer determination and comic-book logic.
Replicating a War Machine was not impossible.
"Also," Fury continued, "California wasn't the only target."
"Three thermobaric warheads and two nuclear warheads being stored for the United Kingdom also ca under attack."
That arrangent was not exactly secret.
Arica storing strategic weapons on behalf of Britain had long been treated as an open secret among governnts.
Even launch authorization required Arican approval.
The British Pri Minister needed authorization from the monarch first.
Then that approval had to be submitted to the President of the United States.
Afterward, Congress still had to review the request before any launch could proceed.
Humanity had wrapped civilization-ending weapons in layers upon layers of bureaucracy, fear, and mutual distrust.
And for once...
That paranoia might have saved the world.
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