Dreams Best Left Alone - Book 4 (Age of Ultron)

Chapter 4 - Ultron and Allies

"All our work is gone," Bruce said in disbelief as they all stood in the lab. "Ultron cleared out. He used the internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron," Steve repeated quietly

"He's been in everything," Natasha told them. "Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."

"He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more interesting?" Rhodie asked.

"Nuclear codes," Maria realized.

"Nuclear codes," he nodded.

"Can he even do that? I mean, how advanced and adaptable did you guys program him?" Annabelle asked and Bruce only shrugged.

"Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can," Rhodie continued.

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say dead. He said extinct," Steve corrected Natasha.

"He also said he killed somebody."

"There wasn't anyone else in the building," Maria told Clint.

"Yes, there was," Tony spoke for the first time, turning on the 3-D modeling space in the middle of the room.

"What?" Bruce let out quietly as he walked closer to the destroyed orange mass. "This is insane."

"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense," Steve said.

"No," Bruce shook his head. "Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy. This is rage."

"So the AI you created is going against core programming and functioning based off emotions?" Annabelle asked, but no one had a chance to answer her as Thor came into the room, dressed in his gear, and picked Tony up by the throat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rhodie let out.

"It's going around," Clint said.

"Come on. Use your words, buddy," Tony choked out.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark."

"Thor. The Legionnaire?" Thor glared at Tony before setting him down.

"The trail went cold about one hundred miles out, but it's headed north," he reported. "And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha told him. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," Helen spoke up. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" The room was silent before Tony started laughing as they all looked at him.

"Mmm-mm," Bruce tried to get him to stop, but he didn't.

"You think this is funny?"

"No," he told Thor. "It's probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so..." He laughed again. "Is it so... It is. It's so terrible."

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."

"No. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time," Bruce tried.

"Really?" he asked him, spinning around. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot."

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"