Over the next few weeks, life seemed to enter a new, stable rhythm.
The status of S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant did not bring the frequent interruptions I had anticipated.
Coulson regularly sent over screened briefings on global anomalous events or potential super-powered threats, and occasionally there were one or two technical consultation requests (usually thrown over by Tony, under the pretext of 'consultant collaboration'), to which Artoria would selectively reply or provide a few ideas depending on the situation.
On Tony's side, the preliminary design of the Hulkbuster armor (which he insisted on calling the 'Veronica - Peacekeeper Prototype') seemed to have hit a bottleneck regarding the energy and buffer systems.
He sent encrypted design drafts several times to'seek advice,' and Artoria offered a few bold hypotheses using her growing reservoir of cross-World knowledge (combining ideas from Honkai energy applications and Type-Moon magic circuits), which made Tony shout excitedly on the other end of the communication, followed by a new round of frenzied calculations.
Dr. Banner was staying temporarily at Stark Tower, having undergone initial 'evaluation' and 'psychological counseling' by S.H.I.E.L.D.; his state was much more stable than before, and the Hulk had not appeared again, but the heaviness between his brows remained.
Artoria occasionally had three-way video calls with him and Pepper to chat about trivial matters, or to answer some of Banner's academic questions regarding 'consciousness communication' and 'emotional control,' and the atmosphere was peaceful.
Life at the seaside cottage remained quiet for the most part.
Artoria devoted more energy to systematic learning.
The cutting-edge technology database of Stark Industries provided by Tony (as a consultant benefit), certain non-core physics and occult archives opened by S.H.I.E.L.D., plus the sporadic high-dimensional knowledge fragments she acquired while playing different roles, were all hungrily absorbed and integrated by her.
In her study, paper books and electronic documents were piled up like mountains, with content ranging from quantum field theory and the embryonic form of string theory, to basic occult semiotics from Kamar-Taj (introductory reading material 'kindly provided' by the Ancient One, who claimed it was'supplementary reading for consultants'), and even some cutting-edge research reports on psychic abilities and energy forms.
Minerva continued to play the role of an all-around housekeeper as always.
She took care of daily life, maintained the security of the cottage, handled peripheral information monitoring, and began to consciously assist Artoria in organizing and researching those increasingly complex knowledge systems.
Her learning and analytical capabilities were Artoria's strongest support.
Beneath these daily routines, some more long-term changes were quietly taking place.
First was the issue of the 'economic foundation'.
Artoria had never forgotten that she was an ordinary person who needed to eat and pay bills (at least financially).
Her memories from her previous life and Minerva's powerful information processing and project management capabilities, combined with the development nodes of the internet and video games in this era—which were slightly earlier than in her 'original World'—formed a kind of dimensionality-reduction strike advantage.
She did not personally start a company; that would be too conspicuous.
Instead, she used several layers of nested offshore shell companies distributed in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, and Singapore, controlled by Minerva, as the holding entities to quietly intervene in the global gaming market in the form of 'Angel investment' and 'creative buyout'.
The specific operation was: Artoria provided the core creative framework, gameplay mechanics, and even parts of the core code architecture (from memories of her previous life and Minerva's super-strong programming optimization), and then agents controlled by Minerva would search globally for suitable small studios or independent developer teams that had potential but lacked funds or direction, to conduct 'anonymous investment' or 'purchase their future development direction suggestions'.
The contracts were harsh but had generous advance payments, and were accompanied by strict confidentiality clauses and intellectual property ownership agreements.
Thus, without Artoria or Minerva ever directly appearing, several future globally popular game prototypes had already quietly entered the development process in various studios around the World:
One was 'Legendary Conflict' (tentative title), based on the core MOBA gameplay of 'League of Legends,' but with an art style closer to the mainstream aesthetic of this World, and hero skill settings fine-tuned to avoid 'copyright' risks; its development team was located in Sweden and was working frantically for the mysterious 'anonymous design drafts' and sufficient funds they had received.
One was 'The Last Survivor: Arena,' which absorbed the core essence of the battle royale from 'PUBG,' but was set in the near future and added more environmental interactions and gear customization elements; its project was taken over by a bankrupt Korean studio, which was brought back to life by the sudden 'lifesaving investment' and detailed-to-an-exasperating-degree design documents.
There were also several other independent game ideas that fused elements like the cozy farming of'Stardew Valley,' the fast-paced roguelike of 'Hades,' and the exquisite cooperation of 'It Takes Two,' which were scattered in similar ways, looking for their 'destined' developers.
These investments were scattered, covert, and had long return cycles, but once successful, they would form an extremely large, invisible business network with stable cash flow and sources that were difficult to trace.
This was the'safety cushion' and resource pool that Artoria had prepared for herself and Minerva, independent of any superhero or organization.
Minerva was responsible for monitoring the progress, cash flow, and potential risks of all projects to ensure everything was under control.
In addition to business layouts, Artoria was also making another attempt closer to 'home'.
As her studies deepened, especially after delving into the World's computer science, artificial intelligence theory, and some 'non-core' materials on the Jarvis architecture provided by Tony, an idea gradually took shape in her mind: she needed an artificial intelligence assistant, a'secondary brain' that could assist her in handling more complex calculations, data analysis, knowledge management, and perhaps even future areas involving armor assistance and laboratory automation.
Not to replace Minerva; Minerva was family, a Guardian, and a unique existence with a 'heart'.
But Minerva's core protocols and form of existence determined that she was not the optimal design for certain pure, high-intensity logical operations and massive data parallel processing, and Artoria also felt bad about letting her handle overly complex calculations for long periods.
She wanted to create a pure, functional AI.
An existence closer to a 'tool'.
She could call it something like 'Classmate Xiao Ai,' carrying a little thought from her previous life.
But this idea faced huge technical challenges and risks.
The network environment of the Marvel Universe was far from comparable to her previous life.
S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, Stark Industries, Hammer Industries, and countless forces hidden beneath the surface all possessed top-tier or even black-tech level hackers and AI technology.
Jarvis was just the most famous one among them.
The AI she created had to have extremely strong anti-intrusion, anti-tracking, logical firewall, and concealment capabilities, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable once exposed or captured.
'System,' she consulted her most reliable 'cheat' after an in-depth study, 'If I try to create a functional AI in this World, given my current knowledge level and the technological ceiling of this World, how can I ensure its absolute safety so it won't be cracked or reverse-controlled by external forces?'
[Evaluating...]
the System's voice rang out, [The user's current knowledge reserve covers basic cross-World theories, combined with some cutting-edge architecture concepts from Tony Stark of this World, providing the theoretical foundation for creating a primary strong artificial intelligence. But security is the key.]
[Suggestions: 1. Adopt physical isolation for the core code library and learning database, only interacting with the external network in a limited way through a one-way data channel when necessary. 2. Introduce 'Ghost Protocols' and 'Logic Maze' concepts from Worlds like 'The Matrix' or 'Ghost in the Shell' into the core logic layer to increase the difficulty of reverse engineering. 3. Draw on some psychic network encryption concepts from the Protoss Khala in'StarCraft,' or some defensive protocols of the Quarians against the Geth in 'Mass Effect,' to build a unique encryption verification mechanism based on bio-electricity-quantum resonance, bound to the user and Minerva. 4. The most important point: Write the 'Final Code' and 'Existence Anchor' from this System, which cannot be deleted or parsed, into the AI's underlying protocols to ensure that its highest authority and final interpretation rights always belong to you, and that under no circumstances will it generate intentions to harm you or Minerva.]
[Note: To implement the above suggestions, the user needs to deeply study cross-World knowledge in relevant fields and may need to consume certain resources for 'concept extraction' and 'localization adaptation'.]
'Understood.' Artoria took a deep breath.
This was a huge project, far more complex and dangerous than investing in a few game companies.
But she needed this tool.
This would not only improve her efficiency and safety margin, but it was also an excellent learning and verification process in itself, allowing her to have a deeper understanding of power, creation, and responsibility.
She told Minerva about the idea and the System's suggestions, and began to make preparations.
She needed to learn more about AI architecture, network security, cryptography, and quantum computing, and also needed to find ways to obtain or simulate the special environments or materials required for those 'cross-World concepts' mentioned in the System's suggestions.
However, she soon discovered that Minerva's reaction to this matter was somewhat... unusual.
At first, Minerva assisted her efficiently as usual, collecting materials, organizing study plans, and optimizing the workstation in the study.
But gradually, Artoria noticed that when she was immersed in the research of the AI's underlying logic and encryption protocols, or discussing those 'cross-World encryption concepts' with the System, Minerva would become unusually quiet.
She no longer proactively offered optimization suggestions, but just stood quietly to the side, her optical sensor seemingly losing focus, only occasionally turning very slightly.
When Artoria finished a period of research and stretched while looking at her, she would find that she seemed to have just 'come back to her senses,' and then she would avert her gaze at a speed slightly faster than usual, or ask if she needed tea or snacks.
This silence was different from her usual standby or alertness, more like a... deep, indescribable stagnation.
Artoria could even faintly 'feel' a trace of extremely faint, emotion similar to 'low' or 'confusion' on her flawless bionic face.
One night, Artoria finished a complex deduction about quantum resonance encryption and felt her temples throbbing.
She leaned back in her chair and habitually called out, 'Minerva, could you please pour me a glass of water?'
A few seconds later, Minerva walked over with a glass of water, her movements still steady and precise, but when she handed over the glass, her fingertips seemed to have a moment of extremely slight hesitation.
She did not immediately step back, but stood by the side of Artoria's chair, her optical sensor lowered, staring at the intricate patterns on the study carpet.
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