The Forsaken Truth (Marvel's Avengers)

Heart Of Metal

Unedited.

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"All our work is gone." Bruce stated. "Ultron cleared out. He used the Internet as an escape hatch."

I hissed in pain as I pulled out the piece of glass lodged in my palm before running the wound under water. 

It'd been about ten minutes since the robot attack and once everyone had been rounded up, we assembled in the lab to get our bearings and understand what the hell had actually happened.

"He's been in everything." Natasha spoke, turning from the computer and crossing her arms. "Files, surveillance... Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."

"He's in your files, he's in the Internet." Rhodey walked upfront, holding his injured arm. "What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"

Agent Hill perked up from beside me as if being hit with realization.

"Nuclear codes."

"Nuclear codes." He repeated before turning to Tony. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

The billionaire didn't respond, staring silently at the wrecked remains of his suit that had gone rogue, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say 'dead'. He said 'extinct'." Steve corrected the ex-assassin.

"He also said he killed somebody." Clint pitched in, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"There wasn't anyone else in the building." Agent Hill replied.

Tony moved back from the table, walking to the middle of the room.

"Yes, there was."

He flicked the device he held in his hand causing a projection to appear, before he moved away, allowing Bruce to take a look.

"What?" He breathed. "This is insane."

I didn't understand what was actually insane about the strange projection, because to me, it appeared as a mish-mash of orange and blue lights creating some form of design or something.

I had no idea what I was looking at.

Steve looked down with a troubled sigh.

"JARVIS was the first line of defence. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

JARVIS? JARVIS?!

I looked back at the projection with widened eyes. That was JARVIS?

Of course.

I shut my eyes, resisting the urge to facepalm.

JARVIS was an AI, a program. Not a fancy-clothed, English butler like I'd always imagined him as.
His presence was astronomical but not tangible.

How could I have skipped over that?

Moreover, how did Steve, someone who's been sleeping under a mega block of ice during the time of technological advancement know more about it than me? How did he even recognize the AI when to me it just appeared as nothing but cool and aesthetically pleasing visuals?

Also, was I just admiring what's possibly JARVIS' dead form?

I shuddered. Maybe I should just stop thinking.

The thundering sound of footsteps thankfully put an end to my seamless thoughts.

Thor walked into the lab, the smile of greeting I'd conjured melting at the sight of his raging expression. His purposeful stride led him straight to Tony as he wrapped his hand around his throat, effortlessly lifting the billionaire in the air.