After successfully creating his first AI using his phone, Peter finally understood the true power of the [Mechanical Wisdom] talent.
To put it simply, this talent was very similar to the "Allspark" from the Transformers movies. It had the power to turn ordinary cars, planes, and even household appliances into living mechanical beings. In a way, Peter was now like a god of machines, capable of leading a "mechanical ascension."
This talent is way too powerful, Peter thought. There has to be a catch.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he pulled up the system's blue light screen. Sure enough, he saw that the [Mechanical Wisdom] option had turned a dark, dull gray. It was "on cooldown" and unusable for now.
Peter wasn't surprised. After all, the talent was only a C-minus rank. If he could use it a hundred times a day, it would be completely broken.
Next, Peter began running a series of tests on Deep Blue. He had the AI help him with his advanced math homework and then instructed it to connect to the internet to see if it could remotely access other computers.
His conclusion? Deep Blue was definitely a super-AI, but its "brain power" was limited by the phone's hardware. Because it was running on a standard smartphone, complex tasks caused the processor to overheat and freeze. When it was overworked, the "genius" AI turned into a stuttering, frozen mess that had to be manually restarted.
"Deep Blue, if I can't find a way to make you faster, you're just a fancy decoration," Peter joked.
A digital "angry face" emoji popped up on the phone screen. "Master! I am not a decoration! I am very useful!" Deep Blue's voice buzzed through the speaker. "As long as you can give me better processors and more memory sticks, my computing power will grow!"
Peter shook his head. "I should have known. Technology is all about money."
To improve Deep Blue, he needed high-end phones and expensive electronic parts. To use his [Mechanical Limit Breaker] talent effectively, he needed raw materials. Luckily, Peter was a top student and had saved up a good amount of scholarship money. Between that and the pocket money Aunt May and Uncle Ben gave him, he had a few thousand dollars in savings.
The next day was the weekend, so there was no school.
Early in the morning, a knock sounded at the front door. Aunt May and Uncle Ben were surprised to find Gwen Stacy standing there, holding a bag of breakfast she had made herself. After a quick, polite greeting, Gwen zoomed past them and ran straight upstairs to Peter's room.
Uncle Ben watched her disappear up the stairs and let out a long sigh. "It seems Peter is much better at this than I was at his age."
Aunt May chuckled, covering her mouth. "Of course he is. If I hadn't felt sorry for a bookworm like you, you'd still be single!"
"Hey now! I remember several girls chasing after me back then," Ben teased.
"Ben, you're definitely dreaming," May replied with a smile. The two of them, who had been together until their hair turned white, shared a warm, loving look. This was the kind of pure love that didn't need words.
Upstairs, Peter finished the breakfast Gwen had brought in just a few minutes. It was delicious. Once he was done, Gwen looked at him with glowing eyes.
"Peter! When are we going to start?" she asked eagerly.
"Start what?"
"Being superheroes, obviously! I've even thought of a name: Spider-Woman! We need to get out there and fight the criminals in New York!"
Peter looked at her, feeling a bit helpless. He didn't mind the idea of fighting crime—mostly because he could take money from criminals to fund his inventions—but he wasn't going to go out there without a plan.
"Slow down," Peter said. "You haven't even learned how to control your new strength yet. Going out now would be suicide. Today, I'm going to buy materials to build real equipment. If you're free, you can come with me."
Gwen's eyes lit up at the word "equipment." "You're right! I definitely need a battlesuit!"
The two of them spent the rest of the day at New York City's largest second-hand electronics market. Deep Blue had searched the web the night before to find the best shops for high-end parts.
By the time they were done, Peter's savings were almost gone. In exchange for his thousands of dollars, he now had several of the most powerful smartphones available on the market. They were second-hand, but that didn't matter—Peter only needed the "brains" inside them.
Back in his room, it was time for Peter to perform. He carefully took apart all the new phones. Then, he opened up the phone that held Deep Blue and began stacking the new processors and memory sticks together.
He placed his hand over the pile of parts. The familiar blue light of [Mechanical Limit Breaker] began to glow, much brighter than before.
Buzz!
A flash of light filled the room, forcing Peter and Gwen to step back. When the light faded, the mess of wires and chips had merged into a sleek, customized device. A new, smooth electronic voice—one that sounded almost exactly like a real human—spoke up.
"First upgrade complete. Deep Blue V1.01 is ready to serve, Master!"