Chapter 208: Gaia, the New AI
"Secret weapon?" The Captain looked confused. It seemed the Boss hadn't mentioned this to him.
"Yeah." The subordinate didn't tell the Captain exactly what the secret weapon was, leaving him in suspense.
On Another Street Corner
"Oh no..." Matthew Murdock used his ears to listen to the surrounding movements. He "saw" the panicked crowd fleeing and the newly established police cordons.
"What's wrong, Uncle?" Jenny asked, holding Matthew's hand.
Jenny had been adopted by Matthew. Originally, Matthew wanted to name her Jenny Murdock. However, fearing she might forget her biological parents over time, he ultimately named her Jenny Avenda Murdock.
Over the past few days, Matthew had gotten to know Jenny better and discovered she was only about a year old—which was unbelievable. Currently, Jenny looked like a four or five-year-old girl and spoke very clearly.
"Jenny, stay here for a bit. I'm going over there to take a look," Matthew said, squatting down and patting Jenny's shoulder.
Jenny nodded obediently. Uncle Matthew treated her very well; he would buy her whatever food she wanted. It was fortunate that Matthew was well-off; otherwise, supporting such a heavy eater would be a significant expense.
"If there's any danger, call out your pet to protect you," Matthew added before leaving.
Jenny was no ordinary little girl, especially with Little Five under her command—even Matthew couldn't easily deal with that pet.
"Okay, Uncle. You be careful too." Jenny's bright eyes blinked. She really liked this Uncle Matthew.
"I will." Matthew gave Jenny a smile, then walked toward the police line with his blind cane, preparing to slip inside.
After Matthew left, Jenny sat alone by the alley. As the sun hit her, her shadow stretched deep into the alleyway until the darkness completely covered the path behind her.
Matthew reached a corner, checked his surroundings, pulled out a mask to cover his face, and used his cane to help him scale the wall.
"What exactly happened here?" Matthew used acoustic feedback to understand the situation near the Oscorp Tower.
After a while, Matthew returned to Jenny's side.
"Uncle!" Jenny hugged Matthew as soon as he returned. She was terrified that he would abandon her like her parents had.
"Come on, let's go home." Matthew couldn't let Jenny wait too long; he had to get her back and coax her to sleep.
"Okay..." Jenny's dark eyes revealed a spark of intelligence. She had a good guess as to what Uncle Matthew was planning to do later.
Matthew gently stroked Jenny's hair and took her hand with a smile. "What do you want for dinner, my little princess?"
"I want meat." Jenny felt hungry again.
"Of course, no problem." Matthew hadn't expected Jenny to have such an appetite. Fortunately, his law firm earned him quite a bit of money.
The two of them gradually disappeared around the street corner.
The Spider and the AI
Near the Oscorp Tower, a mass of shadows coalesced, and Peter and Silas stepped out.
"Whoa~ is this an actual movie set?" Peter saw a scene even more spectacular than the one on the mountain.
"Looks like Oscorp is in big trouble," Silas said, looking at the building.
It truly seemed that with Norman Osborn gone, the company was being toyed with at will. Harry was too young to provide any real deterrent.
"This camping trip can officially be called 'A Day in the Life of Spider-Man'," Peter grumbled. He just wanted a break, but it was apparently too much to ask.
Silas stepped forward, looking down at the police surrounding the building, then up at the circling gunships.
"Looks like they're getting ready to move," Silas observed.
"I don't know what's going on, but I have to stop them," Peter said, bouncing in place, ready to go.
"It looks like they're trying to steal experimental data," Silas said, using the vision of the Shadow Ninjas he had sent into the building to see the laboratory.
"We can't let them succeed." Peter pressed the area in front of his ear. A virtual screen lit up in his vision.
"Hello, Peter," a female electronic voice said.
"Whoa! Silas, there's an AI in here?" Peter was startled. In his original design, there was no AI feature.
"I installed a spider assistant for you. You can call her Gaia," Silas explained.
"Hi? Hello, Gaia?" Peter greeted.
"Hello, Peter. I am pleased you have activated me," Gaia replied politely.
Peter felt like he had discovered a new world. "Gaia, what can you do?"
"I have hundreds of functions. My primary purpose is to help you become more proficient in using the suit," Gaia said.
"Uh... right now I want to know the situation inside the Oscorp Tower. Can you do that?" Peter asked.
Immediately, Gaia activated thermal imaging. Peter could suddenly see the layout of every thug inside the building.
"This is amazing." Peter took a deep breath. The functionality was incredible.
"Don't get too excited, Peter. You'll have plenty of chances to use it," Silas said, watching his brother's amazement.
Peter tried to calm himself down. "At least I finally have someone to talk to while I'm fighting."
"Don't you talk to yourself constantly?" Silas noted. He had never known Peter's mouth to stop moving.
"That's different, Silas. That's just me thinking out loud," Peter grumbled.
"Anyway, get down." Silas noticed a gunship flying toward them and pulled Peter behind a wall.
"Why are we hiding, Silas?" Peter was confused. He was on the side of justice; why act so sneaky?
"To avoid unnecessary trouble," Silas explained. While Spider-Man was a "friendly neighborhood" hero to the public, to the military, he was a potential threat.
The military would never fully trust him until they found a way to neutralize him. They wondered: Spider-Man is helping now, but what if he turns into a supervillain later?
Unlike Tony Stark, who revealed his identity and compromised with the military by giving them the Patriot suit (mostly to help Rhodey), Spider-Man's identity was a mystery. They had no way to track or catch him.
Silas understood this well. Until they possessed absolute power, they had to be careful not to be targeted. Despite his own high-profile past, Silas was gradually moving to the fringes of public attention, making the hero known as "Destiny" more of a myth.
The Assault Begins
Down below, the deputy shouted, "Sir, the ten minutes are up!"
Abbott Phillip snapped his eyes open.
"Commence the assault!"
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