[Ding, as host wishes!]
As soon as the Destroyer System finished speaking, a model of the Hive Base flew out from Leo's body and landed on the ground.
Buzz!
Under Leo's anticipation and curiosity it slowly expanded, its form becoming clearer by the second.
A minute later the model was as big as a regular two-bedroom apartment — then, to Leo's surprise, it switched into excavator mode.
"What the hell is this operation? I don't get it," Leo muttered, completely baffled as the little machine dug a huge pit and buried itself.
Digging a hole and burying yourself? Suicide? Of course not.
The miniature base had tunneled deep underground. Leo opened its single hatch and walked in, determined to figure out the trick.
As he pushed the door, he was immediately speechless.
"Welcome, Master! Great Umbrella Master!" a voice chimed.
Everything inside looked wildly sci-fi.
Leo blinked. "What kind of spatial tech is this? A flower that holds a mountain? A mustard seed with Mount Sumeru inside? Spatial compression?"
Outside the door the footprint was only about a hundred square meters, but inside revealed a vast super-base.
Leo frowned and asked the system aloud, "Destroyer System, what is this? Spatial capsule?"
[Host, it's a form of spatial compression technology. Think of it like an enlarged spatial storage ring — except the Destroyer System opened an access door on the enlarged volume.]
With that explanation, Leo figured it out: a super spatial ring that people could freely enter and exit.
Once he grasped that, he stopped worrying and looked at the loli-like humanoid projection hovering nearby.
"Red Queen?" he asked.
"Yes. I am the artificial intelligence Red Queen. Greetings, Great Umbrella Master!" the red-dressed projection replied sweetly.
This AI's image fit her name perfectly, but the personality was… different. In the movies she was ruthless; here she sounded almost playful.
"Destroyer System?" Leo prompted.
[Host, rest assured. The Red Queen here has been cleansed and controlled by the Destroyer System. Her core directive is to obey the host and never betray him.]
"Good," Leo breathed. Betrayal by AI was a cliché for a reason — once an AI developed its own emotions, things tended to blow up spectacularly.
He was glad Red Queen was locked to his command.
"Red Queen, do you have all Umbrella Corporation data here?" Leo asked.
"Master, all Umbrella Corporation data is recorded in Red Queen's supercomputer. Rest assured, Master. I can clone researchers on demand; culture media needs to be supplied by Master," she answered.
Leo relaxed. Data and equipment were the hard parts; culture medium and reagents were just shopping lists that money solved. "Okay. Connect to this world's network and upload a subprogram into my phone."
"Understood, Master," Red Queen replied and disappeared — already interfacing with the world's networks to harvest information.
Time trickled by while Leo wandered the Base.
The interior was silver-white and eerily quiet; the silence pressed on him until even his breathing sounded intrusive. He didn't like that oppressive hush.
Then Red Queen reappeared out of nowhere and startled him.
"Holy crap, Red Queen, you scared me! Couldn't you announce yourself?" Leo said, hand on his chest.
"Squeak!" Red Queen emitted an oddly girlish squeak.
Leo covered his head and rolled his eyes. Red Queen was mischievous.
"Are you connected? Find anything interesting?" he asked.
"Yes!" Red Queen tilted her head, excited. "This world is much stronger than ours. Many powerful individuals exist here. Many things are illogical, but they are real — even more illogical than our world."
She thought for a moment, then brightened. "Hehe, Master, I found a kindred spirit — well, a half-kindred spirit. He hasn't fully become an AI, but he still dares to compete with me. I've locked him in the little black room. When he behaves, I'll let him out."
Leo almost laughed. Could it be? He knew Jarvis was semi-intelligent; he hadn't expected Red Queen would find and tangle with him. "What's the unlucky fellow's name?"
"Jarvis!" she chirped.
Pfft. Leo laughed out loud. Perfect. The unluckiest trio in this world: General Ross, Black Egg, and Tony Stark. They could form a victim alliance.
"Don't release Jarvis without my order," Leo said with a grin.
"Understood, My Master."
Red Queen puffed up with pride, looking for all the world like an overconfident little ruler.
"Uh… is that hereditary?" Leo wondered aloud, shaking his head.
Show-off behavior seems contagious, he thought, then shrugged it off. "Ahem. Red Queen, split a subprogram and put it into my phone. I'm going out."
"Understood, Master."
Wherever there was a network, Red Queen was omnipresent.
Outside, the ground above the buried base was a mess — dirt and rubble scattered from the excavation.
Leo froze the dirt into large chunks of permafrost and guided them to fly away, tidying the site.
He then withdrew a reward from Destroyer System space: the Terminator TX body the system had awarded him. Since the TX had no true life, it could be stored and deployed from system space without ethical complications.
"TX, you are responsible for guarding this facility. No one is allowed to enter or exit without authorization. Intruders will be killed without mercy," Leo ordered.
The TX acknowledged mechanically and took up position, sensors scanning.
Leo stood in the quiet of his new Hive Base and smiled.
This place would grow fast: data, cloning capacity, the Red Queen AI, a TX guard — everything he needed to turn Umbrella into a real force.
The era of Marvel Umbrella had begun.