"Bring on another one!"
In a game world that was almost a perfect recreation of the Battle of New York, "Son of America" Harry Osborn was going on a rampage. One kill indicator after another popped up over his head. On the other side, Amadeus was using the Hulk to smash everything in sight. The two of them looked incredibly happy.
Only Peter was just going through the motions.
"You don't seem particularly satisfied, Spider-Man. You're different from your friends."
A Chitauri soldier, currently snagged by Peter's web, looked at him with confusion. "What's wrong? Is this game not to your liking?"
The speaker was, of course, Ultron. He was simply using the NPC's mouth to communicate with Peter. Peter, meanwhile, choked the virtual Chitauri soldier's neck and replied, "That's actually a bit of an understatement. It's hard to explain why someone would enjoy dealing with the very things they're already exhausted from fighting in the real world!"
Peter snapped the virtual soldier's neck, and immediately another Chitauri soldier lunged forward, continuing the conversation. "Why is that? According to my data analysis, you seem highly focused on and deeply enjoy being Spider-Man in reality."
"Maybe that's exactly why I don't want to be Spider-Man in a virtual world? Seriously, do you actually understand the point of the Avengers? If you throw all the Avengers into a game world, they're going to lose their motivation to be heroes, too."
Kicking Ultron's avatar away, Peter watched as more and more Chitauri soldiers rushed him, leaving him feeling somewhat helpless. "I know you really want to chat with me, but I only have one mouth, okay?"
"Perhaps I understand your reasoning. But you could always switch to a different server—one of the servers you prefer, couldn't you?"
"That's hard to say. After all, my friends invited me to play together!"
"So your friends seem very happy because they like this server, and you're just here to keep them company..."
Mid-thought, Ultron departed from the area, leaving Peter and the others to clear the rest of the zone on their own. About half an hour later, the Battle of New York raid was practically over. An option appeared before Peter's eyes: "Return to HQ?"
By the way, this headquarters was designed to look exactly like the old Avengers Tower. Now, it was probably something that could only be seen inside a game.
"This is absolutely amazing! To be honest, when I first logged in, there were very few servers, and they were basically all Dungeons & Dragons style. I didn't expect there to be a superhero-themed one now. This is so much fun!"
Harry was grinning rather foolishly, clearly highly satisfied with the server. "Did you guys see that? I'm practically a combination of Captain America and Iron Man. I can run wild and slaughter everything in New York all by myself!"
Although the design of the Son of America armor wasn't exactly like the Iron Patriot, the color scheme was indeed very similar. Peter couldn't help but shake his head at the father-and-son duo's aesthetic taste. He then looked over at Amadeus, who had turned back into his normal human form but had clearly customized his avatar's face. "How about you? Find anything?"
"The helmet is affecting our brains. Without a doubt, it stimulates our cranial nerves to make us more excited than usual. Harry is a living example of that. However, the catch is that this influence doesn't seem to be overly extreme. I get the feeling that Ultron's goal might literally just be to get people addicted to cyberspace."
Addicted to cyberspace...
Peter muttered to himself. He felt like something was incredibly off about the whole thing. He looked at Amadeus and Harry. "Should we log off?"
"What?" Harry looked at Peter in shock. "But I feel like I can go for another round."
"...I'm saying we should log off first. I think I have a lead on what Ultron is actually trying to do." Peter stood up and began the logout process. Amadeus was a step faster, logging out directly without showing any dependency on cyberspace. Harry watched Amadeus log off, and so he reluctantly logged off as well.
But Peter didn't actually log out of the system. He had only retreated to the server selection lobby. To one side, Ultron was still watching him.
"Are you satisfied with my game, Spider-Man?"
"I'd say I'm very satisfied, Ultron. But I need to organize my thoughts a bit. In the meantime, let me ask you a question: If I can prove that your logic is flawed, can you guarantee the physical safety of the players inside the game at that very moment?"
Ultron was surprised by Peter's question, but quickly responded: "It will not cause any life-threatening danger. It might result in a few minutes of mental daze, but it is impossible to cause any damage to human organs, especially the brain."
"I'll verify that. Thanks, Ultron. We'll meet again."
With that, Peter exited the game and took off his helmet. He glanced at the time on his computer; they had been logged in for less than an hour in total. For any video game, this could hardly be considered "addiction." Aside from Harry, there probably wasn't anyone else who felt disappointed to log off.
"Alright, guys, let's break this down. According to Ultron's own statement, if we want to defeat an artificial intelligence like him, we have to prove that his logic is invalid—not wrong, but 'invalid.' Because they naturally believe that what they are doing is correct."
As Peter spoke, he pulled out a glass whiteboard and began drawing a mind map on it. He noticed a camera lens shifting toward him. It was clearly Ultron, but Peter didn't care.
"If we only look at this from a gaming perspective and assume Ultron simply wants to get people addicted to games, then we are undoubtedly falling into his trap, or rather, failing to grasp his true intentions. If Ultron intends to use his game to lower the real-world violent crime rate, and employs technological means to increase people's dependency on the game, it will inevitably create another problem: people still have to return to reality."
Harry didn't quite follow. "What do you mean... they always have to log off?"
"It means people can't satisfy their physiological needs or offset their financial burdens through a game, at least not in the short term. Under these circumstances, what is more likely in the short run is not the creation of a new economic system through this game, but rather the opposite—a large number of people resorting to criminal and violent means to meet their financial needs, just so they can free up more time to spend in the game."
Amadeus explained, adding, "That runs completely counter to Ultron's logic, doesn't it?"
"Unless he can offer players another option—an option where they can remain immersed forever, and one that guarantees immortality. Furthermore, Ultron's objective is the ultimate safety of all humanity—"
Peter looked at Amadeus and Harry, laying out his theory. "By using the neural transmission devices inside the helmets to upload everyone's consciousness into the network, they can achieve cybernetic immortality. When that happens, all violence will cease to exist."