~Manhattan, Long Island suburbs~
The majestic architectural complex stood tall in the night, like steel giants reaching for the sky, inspiring awe...
Even from a distance, one could see the massive billboard atop the building, flashing bright lights. The red-and-white umbrella logo had long become a symbol of cutting-edge technology, seen as the cradle of humanity's future.
Just the diverse portfolio of cutting-edge genetic drugs; delaying aging, enhancing physical abilities, curing a wide range of diseases, had utterly made Umbrella famous worldwide, firmly securing its position as the leader in medical biology.
Coupled with subsequently launched core technologies like energy weapons and artificial suns, the research institution gained ample funding, making Umbrella's expansion increasingly steady.
In just a few short years, this newly risen research institution had left established state-backed organizations behind. In the blink of an eye, what was once a dazzling rising star had become a celestial body no one could ignore.
When Tony Stark entered the spire-like main building, he drew many glances. As a star figure in mainstream academia, he was never easily overlooked or forgotten.
Moreover, Stark Industries and Umbrella had a deep relationship. Beyond Tony and Sean's personal friendship, the two had enjoyed pleasant cooperation on new energy projects.
"Please tell me who usually handles things at Umbrella when Sean isn't here?" Tony asked hurriedly, removing his sunglasses and leaning against the reception desk.
If this were before his reform, he might have had the mood to flirt with this charming receptionist and develop some intimate personal friendship.
But now was clearly not the right time, and Tony had been reformed for years now, from a philanderer who left no traces to a loyal boyfriend that was unmoved by feminine charms.
The story behind this was enough to fill a chapter of unbearable bloody history...
The receptionist paused for a moment before retrieving the answer from the Red Queen's database, "Um... Ms. Gwen Stacy, Dr. Curtis Connors, and Ms. Wanda Maximoff. You can go directly to the conference room on the 32nd floor. Red Queen will shortly contact the appropriate person to meet with you."
Hearing the receptionist's reply, Tony suppressed his impatience. This wasn't Stark Industries, where the entire company could spring into action at his word.
In fact, given Umbrella's current scale, even S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't bypass Sean to directly command this research institution.
As an independent research institution accepting no official or unofficial investments, everyone understood that this was Sean Cyphers' private kingdom...
Tony soon reached the 32nd floor, following Red Queen's holographic image into a spacious, brightly lit conference room.
After waiting about ten minutes, he spotted a young woman in high heels and a red professional suit. Even with his years of experience roaming the flowers, he couldn't help but show a flash of admiration in his eyes.
"Is that guy preparing to inherit my title as New York's number one playboy?" Tony grumbled silently.
Just those he knew of included General Ross's beloved daughter, Betty... Gwen Stacy, and the mutant woman Sean had a rather ambiguous relationship with, Jean Grey.
Speaking of which, Tony really wondered if Thaddeus Ross's fiery temper would be enough to let him execute the bastard upon learning of Sean's numerous affairs...
"Mr. Stark, please follow me." Wanda said coldly before turning to leave.
Though the mustached man before her had long left the arms business, that missile engraved with 'Stark Industries' remained an inescapable nightmare shadow for the Maximoff siblings.
"Quite the personality..." Tony muttered, silently following, determined to discuss his secretarial training skills with Sean sometime.
The two of them reached the control center on the basement level, the core area of Umbrella, accessible to no more than a handful of people.
If not for the good cooperative relationship between Umbrella and Stark Industries, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s request, Gwen and Dr. Connors would never have authorized Wanda to bring Tony into this area.
"You temporarily have the Red Queen's Class-A clearance for two hours." Wanda said flatly, maintaining a cold and unfriendly attitude.
Unaware where he'd offended this beautiful secretary, Tony shrugged helplessly and walked over to the console and began typing...
Ultron, hidden within a sea of data, could theoretically appear anywhere on Earth through infinite self-replication. So, even if Tony destroyed one Ultron robot, the AI could simply upload its consciousness to another shell and resume activity.
The first challenge in defeating Ultron was to expel him from the digital world and destroying him completely.
Otherwise, all efforts would be futile. Even destroying Ultron's iron legion would be pointless; as long as his consciousness remained, the AI could resurrect.
"I hope this works." Tony murmured to himself.
Actually, he wasn't confident. After all, Red Queen was only on par with the former J.A.R.V.I.S., while Ultron was far more powerful.
AI also had hierarchical differences. Some could only focus on specific tasks like voice recognition, image recognition, and translation. These were specialized AI. They existed only to solve specific, categorical task problems, mostly processing statistical data to derive models.
These were called 'weak AI', capable of handling relatively singular problems, with development levels not reaching human brain simulation, hence they were categorized as tools.
'Strong AI', on the other hand, could rival humans in every aspect and were capable of performing all the mental tasks humans could. They could think, plan, solve problems, understand complex concepts, learn quickly, and learn from experience... all as adeptly as humans.
Strong AI systems included learning, language, cognition, reasoning, creativity, and planning. The goal was to enable AI to handle unprecedented details without supervised learning while engaging in interactive learning with humans.
At the strong AI stage, having already matched humans, machines also possessed basic conditions for having personality, enabling independent thought and decision-making like humans.
The Red Queen and J.A.R.V.I.S. belonged to this stage.
But during Ultron's design, Tony and Reed's idea was to create a super AI...
At this uncharted stage, AI would have crossed the 'singularity', its computation and thinking capabilities far surpassing the human brain, becoming creations beyond human understanding and imagination.
"How do we pinpoint Ultron's location? The only way to find a needle in the vast ocean is with a magnet!" Tony asked and answered himself.
He attempted to use Red Queen to infiltrate the Pentagon and S.H.I.E.L.D., thereby attracting Ultron's attention.
Massive data streams continuously scrolled and refreshed. In about twenty minutes, Stark detected Ultron's traces, though the super AI disguised itself among countless data packets.
"Playing these tricks with your dad?" Tony wore a confident smile.
This method of creating fake IP addresses seemed rather basic. But within minutes, his smile gradually froze. Just as Red Queen searched for Ultron's true location and attempted positioning, the other had silently bypassed Umbrella's external firewall.
In other words, Tony had already lost this game without realizing it...
His eyes filled with frustration. Ignoring Wanda's dangerous gaze, he slammed his fist heavily on the console, "Damn it! I underestimated Ultron. He's hacking Umbrella's database– Wait!"
But soon he discovered that Red Queen, which should've been utterly defenseless, had automatically formed new defensive measures without any human intervention.
"You've really pissed off those people at the World Security Council this time, Tony." The control center's door opened. A tall figure stepped in, his teasing voice echoing through the empty server room, "Next time you create world-ending threats like this, I might have to visit you at the Raft, 'clever' Mr. Stark."
Sean, who hadn't been seen for a long time, walked over. Looking at Tony's embarrassed face, a smile tugged at his lips.
He greeted Wanda, who looked surprised but pretended not to care, then pressed his palm on the console for a fingerprint scan.
"Activate the Skynet defense program." He commanded.