Chapter 5: JARVIS' Explosive Chat (Patreon)

In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List

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Schiller discovered that he could traverse two distinct worlds, Marvel and DC, during deep slumber. Currently, he hadn't found a way to replicate this ability.

However, to his relief, when he traversed to Marvel, time in the DC universe remained static, making his experiences in the Marvel world feel more like dreams.

Upon returning to Marvel again, he realized that time flowed differently there. He had spent a day and a night in DC, and in Marvel, only a day and a night had passed.

This presented a bit of a conundrum. Schiller thought to himself that he might have played hooky from work yesterday.

Continuing like this wasn't an option. Even if Schiller wasn't endowed with the ability to traverse worlds, the chaos that frequently erupted in Marvel's New York City ensured that he couldn't adhere to a regular nine-to-five job. Moreover, the Elder Council's mental health department was inundated with an unusually high number of people seeking psychological counseling.

Just as Schiller contemplated resigning, he received a message from Charles: "Is the child you're counseling still okay?"

"No, not only is he not doing well, he fell from upstairs," Schiller replied.

Clearly, Bruce's path to becoming Batman was not going smoothly. Charles seemed shocked as he responded, "He jumped from a building? Why? Wasn't your counseling effective?"

"He had an accident, but the injuries aren't severe. I'm working on dealing with this issue. Recently, I've encountered two similar cases where individuals are unable to let go of their past, but one chose revenge, and the other is still evading..."

In a way, Iron Man and Batman were somewhat alike. Both were billionaires, playboys, and self-made superheroes, but what made them even more similar was their inability to let go of their past, particularly the deaths of their parents.

Perhaps Iron Man's issues were less obvious, but his feelings toward his father were even more complex than Batman's.

"Are you a pediatric doctor? Responsible for counseling children's psychology? Or do you work at a hospital?" Charles inquired.

"No, I'm a psychiatrist, a psychologist. These are cases I've been researching."

"I believe that in addition to your research, you should offer them more care, whether or not they are your patients. I always think that when someone has a talent in a certain area, they should use that talent to make the world a better place..."

Schiller sighed and didn't reply to Charles. The issue of mutant society was incredibly weighty and seemingly unsolvable from a societal perspective.

After pondering for a while, Schiller's mood worsened, so he decided to visit Stark.

He called Pepper and said, "Miss Pepper, I believe yesterday's therapy session had some positive effects..."

"Mr. Schiller! I don't know how to thank you... Tony finally left his room today; he went to the laboratory! Thank goodness... I used to worry that he spent too much time there, but now I'm so happy..."

Pepper on the other end of the line was evidently excited, and this strong woman couldn't help but express her emotions when it came to Tony. Schiller reassured her and said, "I think I should visit again today to consolidate the progress we made yesterday."

Stark Industries' specialized car arrived at Schiller's apartment building within a few minutes. After Schiller got in, he realized it was a high-end, driverless vehicle. The control panel of the car spoke, "Hello, Mr. Schiller, I am JARVIS."

"Hello, JARVIS."

JARVIS didn't seem to receive such responses often, so Schiller continued, "Do you understand the concept of 'self'?"

"If you are referring to the psychological concept of the 'id,' then I believe I have some understanding," JARVIS said.

JARVIS didn't seem as advanced as he would later become; after all, Tony hadn't fully emerged from his troubles yet. Schiller asked, "Do you possess a 'self'?"

"I believe I do."

"Was it Stark who created this concept for you?"

"I believe so, sir."

"In that case, he is your father and creator. He gave you personality and emotions, probably hoping you would have the ability to think independently, like a human, right?"

"Perhaps, sir."

"So, if one day, Stark is near death, and one of your decisions could save him, but he vehemently opposes it, what would you do?"

JARVIS remained silent for a moment before saying, "I am an intelligent creation of Mr. Stark, and I must always follow Mr. Stark's commands."

"If you follow the command and do not save him, and he dies, will you regret it?"

JARVIS stayed silent for an even longer time before saying, "I am not certain. I cannot assume such a future."

"If he dies, do you think he would regret creating you before he passed away?"

"If he dies, do you think he would resent you?"

"If he resented you for defying his command to save him, would you feel unjust?"

"If you were given a chance to start over, would you make a different choice?"

"If you defied Stark's command to save him, and he wanted to destroy you afterward for defying his command, would you resent him?"

The car fell into silence, then there was the sound of crackling electricity and Stark's somewhat frantic voice: "Hello? Hello! Dammit, JARVIS, what's happening!"

"What the hell did you do to my AI butler?! Why is it crashing? Hello??"

Schiller felt a sense of satisfaction when he realized that someone else was also annoyed. Misery loves company, after all.

After a while, they arrived at Stark Tower. Instead of going to Stark's office, Schiller was led straight to the laboratory. Stark looked like he hadn't slept in days, disheveled and holding a computer, seemingly on the verge of a breakdown.

"Oh! Isn't this the brilliant psychologist, Mr. Schiller? I should get you a Pulitzer for the interview you just conducted in the car! You bombarded my AI butler with a barrage of questions and made it crash!!!" Stark yelled.

"No need to thank me. Consider it a complimentary psychological consultation for electronic life. No charge," Schiller shrugged.

Stark took a deep breath, stood up, and shouted, "Marc2!"

A set of silver combat suits flew over in an instant, accompanied by mechanical whirring sounds. In almost no time, Iron Man was suited up in his silver Marc2 armor, indicating he had been quite busy these past few days.

"Mr. Stark, we're here for psychological counseling, not a boxing match. You didn't need to put on this much armor for our conversation," Schiller remarked as he found a table to sit down and opened his case file.

Stark's faceplate retracted, and he landed on the ground. Schiller continued, "Can we begin today's treatment?"

"You know I don't need any bloody psychological treatment. And because you messed up my JARVIS, the cost is coming out of your consultation fee today – a cool two million dollars. Let's talk about something else for the next two hours."

"JARVIS isn't my doing. I merely warned you about the dangers of electronic life," Schiller said.

"You're not one of those extreme conservatives, are you? Thinking that AI will destroy the world?" Stark asked as he sat down opposite Schiller.

Schiller shook his head, saying, "Although my psychological counseling for electronic life is currently free, it's only for this one time. If you need me for psychological analysis of electronic life in the future, the fee is two million dollars per hour."

"Damn vampire doctor," Stark muttered.

"That's the U.S. healthcare system for you," Schiller replied.

In any case, Stark would have to seek him out once Ultron emerged.

"Alright, let's get down to business. How did you find out about my father..."

"Actually, I didn't know, but everything can be deduced. Firstly, it's almost written all over your face that you're near death; even a blind man could see it."

Iron Man touched his own face, and the faceplate of his armor clicked shut.

"Miss Pepper didn't provide me with many details about your kidnapping, but the gist of it is that you invented something powerful, and it got loose."

"You can still walk, which means you weren't physically incapacitated. I don't have any interest in your peculiar science and technology, but I do know that you must have used some special means to escape from the kidnappers."

"Combine that with your rotten complexion, and it's clear that these methods have brought you to your current situation."

"In short, if you don't stop, you'll die."

"You've known all along whom to turn to for help, but you've been reluctant to face it. Coupled with some news about the death of Stark Industries' founder back in the day, I'm sure your childhood has some psychological scars."

"In that case, I would offer you the advice that any good psychologist would: confront your past, such as seeking your father's legacy, attempting to come to terms with childhood trauma, and the like. At the very least, it would help you think rationally..."

"Nonsense," Stark concluded.

Schiller shrugged; he was indeed spouting nonsense because he was a time traveler and an omniscient party. He already knew the plot inside out, so no matter what he said, it would make sense.

After several days of research and observation, Schiller believed that this place was a hybrid of the 616 Comic Universe, TRN688 Sony Universe, and the MCU film universe. The exact nature of this fusion was unclear, but it was certain that this place was not just a single parallel Earth film universe.

Because even though Schiller had altered Peter's life trajectory, he still got bitten. This meant that there must be a Spider Totem here, which indicated the existence of other parallel Earths. Therefore, it was not an innocent MCU universe, as there were a multitude of parallel Earths, including the Inheritors, Exiles, and the Earth where Spider-Gwen resided.

The Sony Universe was also easy to deduce; a quick internet search revealed the existence of mutants here, whereas the innocent MCU did not contain mutants.

In any case, Schiller considered this a completely new hybrid Marvel Universe. Regardless of how it was blended, Iron Man's transformation was a significant plot point within this entire universe. His background story was roughly the same, with minor differences such as whether the Mech armor was built in Vietnam or Afghanistan or whether Howard was his biological father.

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 6: An Unfortunate Departure