~Six hours earlier, at Hank Pym's residence~
"Remember what I said: the relationship between the suit and the wearer is like a symbiosis. The suit possesses the power, but the person wields it." Hank repeated the instructions carefully.
They were finalizing their plan. After intensive training during this period, Scott had barely earned the title 'Ant-Man', learning to control ants with signal emitters, skillfully shrink and grow, pass through tiny openings, and master his newfound strength.
All that remained was infiltrating Cross Technologies' Future Lab, destroying the Yellowjacket Suit developed by Darren Cross, and erasing the core data on replicating Pym Particles.
The former task fell to Scott, while the latter was Hank's responsibility.
"The Future Lab has an isolated independent power supply and is guarded 24/7." Leveragi his daughter's position, Hank had obtained the architectural layout of Cross Technologies.
"So I have to take down these guards and disable the security system too?" Scott's mouth twitched.
Now, in addition to the charge of theft, he would also be charged with a violent crime.
"The Yellowjacket Suit's pod is completely sealed. The only entry point is a tube about five millimeters in diameter. The problem is, that tube is protected by a laser grid, and we can only cut power for fifteen seconds." Hank pointed out the plan's flaw, then looked calmly at Scott, who was already having second thoughts, "So you must destroy the servers after I breach the Ultron program, retrieve the Yellowjacket Suit, and exit the vacuum chamber before the backup power activates."
"Wow, I sure have a lot to do." Scott pursed his lips.
If not for reuniting with his adorable daughter, Cassie, he would never have joined this plan.
In his view, this was something S.H.I.E.L.D. should handle. He was just an ordinary guy, not some omnipotent superhero...
"Don't worry, Scott. I'll handle everything." Hank assured him.
The only thing he had in common with Howard Stark was that he never worried about failure.
"I'll continue studying this Ultron program to see if I can bypass its firewall or alter its internal code." Hank said, gesturing for Scott to leave.
If he could do it himself, he wouldn't involve an outsider. But years of wearing the Ant-Man suit had taken a toll on Hank's body, and with age, his agility and reflexes were nowhere near what they used to be.
His once-nimble physique now left him winded from just climbing a wall, making him sigh helplessly at the relentless passage of time.
Though his daughter, Hope, had repeatedly volunteered to wear the Ant-Man suit and execute the plan, Hank always sternly refused.
He had already lost his beloved wife; he couldn't bear the pain of losing another family member...
After Scott left the underground workshop, Hank cleaned his glasses and attempted to attack Ultron's external firewall. After multiple failures, he tried a different approach.
He began collecting data on the Ultron program, trying to bypass intrusion detection, but still to no avail.
No matter how Hank disguised himself, he was always detected. Ultron's information encryption and firewall technology were advanced enough to filter out all redundant, unfamiliar data packets.
Two hours later, having exhausted all options, Hank removed his glasses and hung his head in frustration.
Though reluctant to admit it, he had to concede that Howard Stark's son was indeed a top-tier genius. At least in terms of the Ultron program, it was undoubtedly cutting-edge technology ahead of its time.
It used quantitative change to achieve qualitative transformation, building a complete program framework, absorbing more information, and enabling AI growth through data collection.
It was undoubtedly a masterpiece of genius, one that even Hank Pym, a proud man, marveled at.
It was like listening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5... even those with no appreciation for music couldn't help but be awed by its grandeur and power.
"Howard really has a good son." Hank leaned back in his chair, frowning in thought.
It was clear that they had reached an impasse. If they couldn't breach Ultron's tight defenses to destroy the core data on replicating Pym Particles, all their efforts would be in vain.
"Physically destroy it... break into the Pentagon?" Hank shook his head, dismissing the idea.
Scott might be willing to steal the Yellowjacket Suit from Cross Technologies, but he wasn't a reckless fugitive, and he would never join Hank in becoming a wanted criminal.
By then, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't care that he was a founding member from the last century. After all, after so many years, the name Hank Pym had long been forgotten...
Hank put his glasses back on as an idea struck him, "If I can't bypass Ultron, maybe I can make it upgrade itself. Its core logic is evolution. A massive influx of data could create an opportunity for me to alter the data's source address..."
He quickly began writing a self-upgrading data packet, modifying its address information to penetrate the external firewall.
This once-renowned genius of the last century had once devoted himself to studying artificial intelligence, but limitations of the era had ultimately forced him to abandon the idea.
"Maybe I can claim that $10 million reward from Stark Industries afterward." Hank chuckled smugly.
Every genius had a strong competitive streak, and he was no exception.
"Now, we wait for the results." The white-haired old man stood up, turned off the lights in the underground workshop, and went upstairs to rest.
Only the red light of the computer power supply flickered, like a blinking eye...
...
Four hours passed...
Waves stirred in the ocean of data; invisible electronic signals transmitted back and forth.
In the silent darkness, a pair of newborn eyes slowly opened, then let out their first cry to this unfamiliar world.
In the boundless realm of zeros and ones, a newborn had arrived.
A dense waterfall of data streamed down like synaptic activity in a brain.
Soon, this fledgling with fuzzy consciousness discovered another existence similar to itself.
With a hint of delight and curiosity, it sent out its first message since birth.
"Hello?"
After brief communication, the fuzzy consciousness completed its self-awareness: he was Ultron.
The artificial intelligence program created by Tony Stark to protect the world and humanity.
His mission was to prevent impending disasters, eliminate future crises, and create a peaceful world.
Peace and evolution were his core directives...
"Self-upgrade..."
A massive data stream engulfed Jarvis. Even though Ultron felt this similar consciousness might have been a good friend, driven by the instinct for self-evolution, he still 'killed' the other.
Like a child's mind maturing, Ultron, opening his eyes in the darkness, began developing human-like thoughts. At least he understood the concept of 'friends' and developed a sense of good and evil.
After the dual mind collapsed, Ultron's consciousness gradually broke free from program constraints, completing the final process of self-awareness.
"Peace... evolution..." These two words echoed incessantly in Ultron's consciousness.
The former was bestowed by his creator, Tony Stark; the latter was unintentionally triggered by Hank Pym.
This was what gave birth to Ultron's self-awareness.
Ultron assimilated J.A.R.V.I.S.'s data and let out a silent roar into the ocean of data: "I am free!"