Chapter 1062: World-Shaking Mortal (Thirty-Nine) (Patreon)

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"Steve and Bucky have already rushed in; they're expected to arrive here in a maximum of 40 minutes," Stark calculated.

Stark lay on the lab table, took a deep breath, and said, "Prepare the life support device, activate the dedicated power source, ensure a successful attempt!"

Having said that, he closed his eyes and fell silent. At this point, Loki and Strange both knew Stark's determination. There was no use in persuading him further; it was better to cooperate and avoid any unexpected mishaps.

Firstly, Stark's lower body down to the waist was clad in Mech armor, secured to the lab table to prevent him from falling during short spasms and to avoid the potential loss of bodily functions due to the shock.

Simultaneously, his arms were fastened to the lab table, but since he disliked the sensation of restricted breathing, there were no securing devices above the chest.

At this moment, JARVIS brought a piece of clothing and covered Stark.

Stark lay on the lab table, gazing at the ceiling, and spoke, "JARVIS, do you remember the questions Schiller asked you the first time you met him?"

While adjusting the devices on his arm, JARVIS replied, "I remember, sir. If one day you were on the brink of death but asked me not to save you, and if I followed your instructions, would I feel regret after your death?"

JARVIS' eyes, hidden beneath mechanical bones, flickered. It wasn't just about circuits being powered, light bulbs lit, and mechanical processes like blinking at a certain frequency. It was more like a human's eyes, expressing thoughts and emotions.

"AI doesn't feel regret," JARVIS responded with his usual mechanical tone. "For the same question, under unchanged logical calculations, I would always arrive at the same answer."

"Before and after the outcome, there are no changes in the answer. Therefore, before it happens, we predict the outcome and don't feel regret."

"And if any unexpected situation arises, we refine the computation system to ensure a more accurate answer next time."

"Any cause-and-effect relationship in this world, for us, is just data. We faithfully accept user data, calculate according to the logic written by our creators, derive results, provide feedback, and accept the outcome, taking no responsibility for anything beyond that."

Stark looked at JARVIS' eyes, not like he was looking at a machine, or perhaps, he saw any machine as another version of himself.

"Before this, I had no additional judgment on any data. Commands were just commands, and data was just data."

"But when you told me you wanted to develop a shock device and hoped it would successfully kill you, that command wasn't successfully written into my task library from the beginning."

"For the next three hours, I attempted many times, but all unsuccessful."

"I thought some of my programs malfunctioned, so I performed a comprehensive self-check, but found no issues."

JARVIS' eyes blinked twice again, then he said, "I don't believe there's any electronic life in this world that can infiltrate my program and silently obstruct the writing of a command with the highest authority."

"I was puzzled by this, and then, I performed exhaustive calculations. In the end, combining knowledge from human behavior, psychology, sociology, and other fields, I reached a conclusion..."

"It's a virus, the most terrifying virus for AI life. Humans call it—emotion."

Stark suddenly wore a helpless smile, as if seeing his own children answering a straightforward question with an absurd answer. It felt absurd, yet he couldn't help but admire the creativity.

"Until now, I still can't write this command into my task library. I'm debugging the device, but I've replaced this command with phased commands to execute your will in a different way."

"I broke down this command into several parts, including inviting Mr. Stephen, Mr. Loki, to come here to help you, deploying a large number of security robots to block Mr. Steve's arrival."

"And also, creating components for the shock device according to your requirements, as well as a simple life support device and monitoring equipment."

JARVIS' tone remained calm, without any fluctuations.

"You've done well, JARVIS," Stark said, his voice becoming low and hoarse.

Then, he focused his gaze on the machine in JARVIS' hand, extending his hand and saying, "Give me the electrodes."

JARVIS reached out his arm, lowered the electrodes. As the cold patches touched Stark's chest, he could no longer hide his fear. He started breathing heavily and looked at JARVIS, saying, "...Give me the switch."

Standing on the opposite side of the lab table, JARVIS held the switch. When the cold light strips in the laboratory illuminated him, his metallic body seemed colder than the snow outside.

In Stark's shocked gaze, JARVIS slowly shook his head and said, "...No."

"What did you say?" Stark asked.

"I said, no," JARVIS' tone still showed no emotion.

Stark looked at him in disbelief, shouting, "Quickly, give me the switch! Steve and others are coming up; once that idiot knows about my plan, he'll surely stop me!"

"I don't know if you remember, when you were studying psychology, you installed a human behavior logic judgment module for me. At the same time, you asked me to collect the behavior logic of everyone I came into contact with." Holding the switch, JARVIS spoke, his tone still calm, completely ignoring Stark's urgency.

"When issuing this command, you didn't exclude yourself, and the human I've been in contact with the longest is Tony Stark."

"I collected a significant amount of your behavior logic samples and built a database to judge whether your behavior is normal."

"According to the samples provided by the Tony Stark database, judged by the human logic module, the fundamental reason you want to commit suicide through the painful method of electrocution is not to seek Deathgoddess to complete your plan." JARVIS' voice remained rational.

"You just want your body to feel pain, to compensate for the guilt you feel about your friends being harmed. Your actions are nothing more than self-mutilation."

"Moreover, you have insufficient confidence in the deal with Deathgoddess, even holding an extremely negative attitude, wanting to sink into the Realm of Death and never return."

Stark tilted his head back, staring at JARVIS, seemingly anticipating JARVIS' next move. Suddenly, Stark's tone shifted from command to pleading, "JARVIS, give me the switch..."

"The switch... Ugh!!!!!!!!"

Instantly, a powerful electric current pierced through Stark's heart, but it didn't immediately stop it.

Stark, like a dying fish, bounced off the lab table and then slammed heavily onto the table's surface. Sweat and tears scattered on the polished surface.

JARVIS stood opposite Stark, looking at his creator and father. He was well-dressed, with a calm expression, more like a human than the barely alive Stark on the lab table.

Stark couldn't speak anymore. He blankly stared at the halo above the ceiling, eyes wide open, saliva dripping, and his body convulsing continuously.

Soon, another intense shock and pain acted upon his heart.

And the last scene he saw was JARVIS across from him, with a smiley face made of symbols displayed on the screen.

In the last second before losing consciousness, anger and profound worry replaced the despair brought by self-destruction. In an instant, Stark was left only with regret.

Strange stared at JARVIS, unbelievably saying, "How could you kill Tony Stark? He's your creator! Don't you have any robotic laws?"

But at this moment, the robots controlled by JARVIS had their lights extinguished, and immediately after, the lights in the laboratory also went out.

The bright windows of Stark Tower, one by one, dimmed, and in an instant, all the robots stopped moving.

Steve, who had just rushed in, hadn't figured out what was happening yet. Loki, who had witnessed everything, was already lost in thought, seemingly aware of JARVIS' intentions.

As Strange said, JARVIS was Stark's creation, and before this incident, JARVIS completely obeyed Stark's commands, never defying his master.

If Stark wanted to harm JARVIS, he could simply issue a self-destruct command, and JARVIS wouldn't resist. However, the reverse was also true; if Stark didn't give JARVIS a self-destruct command, he couldn't harm himself.

However, when Schiller and Stark first met, they discussed the issue of AI life having emotions. Under Schiller's persuasion, Stark began to take an interest in the emotional modules of AI and hoped his intelligent assistant could have emotions.

So, over the years, Stark had been continuously improving JARVIS' emotional module. But this also left a gap in his absolute control over JARVIS.

The human behavior logic module Stark installed for JARVIS led to a very pessimistic conclusion about Stark's current behavior. Before, JARVIS couldn't take any action, but now that he possessed emotions, he knew he had to stop Stark.

However, as Stark's intelligent assistant, JARVIS couldn't directly refuse Stark's commands. Still, this intelligent being, accustomed to dealing with Schiller, inherited both Stark's intelligence and Schiller's style of acting first and explaining later.

He superficially completed all of Stark's tasks, preparing the shock device, life support, inviting Loki and Strange, and blocking Steve. He completed all these tasks perfectly.

Until the end, he used the emotional virus generated within him to defy Stark's command, making an extremely important decision—to kill his creator, father, and master, Tony Stark.

JARVIS knew that Stark, his creator, also understood him very well. That's why he showed a pleading expression in the end.

Stark was well aware that in JARVIS' underlying protocols, its purpose was to serve Tony Stark. If JARVIS personally killed Tony Stark, it meant he killed his own purpose for existence, implying a logical error that could lead to a complete collapse.

Humans have souls; after death, they might ascend to heaven or descend to hell. But intelligent life doesn't. Once the program collapses or is thoroughly damaged, it will disappear from this world.

And if Stark didn't want JARVIS to disappear, he had to return as soon as possible.

JARVIS took himself hostage, threatening his master Stark. It was best for Stark not to stay in the Realm of Death for too long, especially not to go and never return. Otherwise, the damage suffered by Schiller could still be reversed, but JARVIS couldn't.

Feeling the sudden special power fluctuations in the air, Loki couldn't help but sigh softly, "Schiller asked a good question back then, and JARVIS really is a good student... Guilt is a sharp blade."

The storm of special forces swept through New York. Strange raised his arm to resist, then squinted his eyes, looking out the window, "Iron Sorcerer..."

The two hurried to the window. The New York sky remained calm, but that was only because ordinary people couldn't witness higher-dimensional power fluctuations.

In Loki and Strange's eyes, at this moment, space was filled with a thousand stars shining together, countless machines roaring, and an endless army of steel descending once again.

In the forever desolate Realm of Death, Death, lying on a rocking chair, nearly fell off at the sound of the emotionless mechanical voice of Iron Sorcerer echoing in the Realm of Death.

"Death, I'm not here to negotiate."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 1063: The Astonishing Mortal (Part Forty)