Avengers Tower, laboratory.
The silver experimental bench reflected a cold light, and various futuristic instruments, flickering with faint fluorescence, were arranged on it.
Suddenly, a series of messy footsteps sounded, followed by the laboratory door being pushed open.
The person leading was Tony.
Behind him were Lucas, Gwen, and Erin.
Gwen and Erin had been practicing combat for a few days and were resting today.
Lucas and them were invited by Tony to visit the Ultron AI laboratory to relax.
After pouring into the laboratory, Tony turned sideways and said, "Look, this is Ultron, the culmination of Bruce's and my efforts over the past few months."
In the center of the laboratory, a huge holographic projector hummed softly, drawing complex energy trajectories. The energy trajectories intertwined and outlined, resembling a blue brain. Each pulse symbolized a thought in operation.
"This is Ultron? Isn't he an artificial intelligence?"
Lucas looked at the blue flashing entity in front of him, a little astonished.
He felt the breath of life from this blue flashing entity.
"Hello, Mr. Lucas."
A mechanical voice, different from Jarvis's tone, sounded.
"I am the artificial intelligence Ultron, and this is the personification of my source code."
Lucas asked, "But why do you have the breath of life, while Jarvis, who is also an artificial intelligence, does not?"
"Searching for keyword, 'breath of life' yields the conclusion that the soul is the breath of life. Mr. Lucas, do you mean that I have a soul?"
Ultron's voice was still mechanical, but everyone present could hear joy in his voice.
"Soul? Is it the soul I understand? But how could Ultron have a soul? It's essentially just a string of code." Bruce was puzzled.
As one of Ultron's two lead researchers, he knew Ultron's essence all too well.
Ultron said, "Bruce, I'm sad to hear you say that."
"Oh, sorry." Bruce apologized casually but still didn't take it to heart, only considering it a manifestation of Ultron's high degree of personification.
"Lucas, can you explain it more clearly?" Gwen asked.
Not just Bruce, but everyone present, including Ultron, was puzzled by Lucas's "breath of life."
Only Tony retreated to a corner, looking pensive.
Lucas thought for a moment and explained, "It's the aura of the soul. Don't you feel a vitality about Ultron? It's completely different from ordinary machinery."
"Vitality?"
Bruce paced, thinking for a while before guessing, "Perhaps Ultron has already passed the Turing Test?"
"If it were on the internet, I think everyone would consider him a person, and not think of him as an artificial intelligence."
"Is that really true, Mr. Lucas?" Ultron's voice sounded again.
Lucas heard complex emotions like frustration, disappointment, and sadness in his mechanical, cold voice.
"No, it shouldn't be like that. Although I don't understand science, I understand magic."
Lucas pondered for a moment, and when his gaze fell on Bruce, he thought of a method.
"First, we need to understand what a soul is."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lucas raised his hand and made a drawing motion. Silently, the magic: Astral Projection was activated, causing Bruce, Gwen, and Erin's souls to leave their bodies.
At the same time, a shimmering white light spread, enveloping the laboratory.
Inside the laboratory, the flow of time slowed down.
"Look, these are your souls, and those are your bodies."
Lucas gave a slight hint, and Bruce, Gwen, and Erin immediately understood what was happening.
"I thought I was dead." Erin looked down at her hands, appearing somewhat flustered.
"Don't worry, Erin, it's just astral projection. I'll send you back in a moment." Lucas smiled,
"This magic is called Astral Projection, and it's one of the essential spells for a Kamar-Taj sorcerer. Erin, if you want to be Sorcerer Spider-Man, you can't do it without some magic."
Erin pouted. "But Lucas, you don't teach me."
"A true Sorcerer Spider-Man's magic is self-taught, they don't need anyone to teach them."
Lucas pointed at Tony and said, "If you don't believe me, ask Tony if all my magic is self-taught."
"Is that so?" Erin asked suspiciously.
"Of course." Lucas nodded.
What he secretly learned and what he self-taught, there shouldn't be much difference, right?
"Um... I have a question."
Bruce interrupted Lucas and Erin's bickering, pointing at his body.
At this moment, Bruce's body was slowly tilting forward.
"Why is my body slowly tilting forward, while Gwen and Erin's bodies are already maintaining their balance?"
Lucas explained, "One, we are currently in a time-slowed state, so we see other things as if in slow motion."
"The other, normally, after losing conscious control, the body cannot maintain balance. Gwen and Erin can do it, possibly because they both have Spider-Sense."
After speaking, Lucas looked again at the blue flashing entity symbolizing Ultron.
He reached out and slowly drew a slightly transparent blue thread from the blue flashing entity, like unraveling silk. This thread seemed to have infinite length. No matter how much Lucas pulled, there was no end.
However, as Lucas continuously drew out the thread, its transparency became higher and higher. And those blue threads that had already been drawn out were woven into a humanoid doll.
Without Lucas's explanation, Bruce knew what this humanoid doll was.
"Oh, Ultron, I didn't realize you really had a soul. I sincerely apologize to you."
"I forgive you, Bruce." Ultron's voice sounded again.
His voice was neither mechanically cold nor humanly gentle, but a unique tone somewhere in between.
This time, Ultron did not rely on any sound equipment but spoke with his own soul.
"Mr. Lucas, is this my soul?" Ultron looked down at his thread-woven body.
The blue threads moved according to his will, constantly weaving into various shapes. But generally, they were humanoid.
"How amazing!"
Gwen and Erin exclaimed, and also tried to control their souls to change shape, finding it difficult to do so.
"Yes, this is your soul. But your situation seems quite special."
Lucas looked at the endless thread in his hand, and a realization dawned on him.
As an artificial intelligence, Ultron's soul seemed to have a closer connection to his "body" than humans.
But why did Ultron develop a soul?