When I was aware of the world again, I was still confined to the same space. I could get a much clearer picture of what was happening now. Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner were removing some sort of power source from a box- the tissue generator, maybe.
"We can't just leave it sitting around," Dr. Banner pointed out.
"We can't just leave it sitting in this guy's forehead," Mr. Stark said. "We could use it..."
"Use it for what?" Dr. Banner stepped over to Mr. Stark. "Tony, we aren't-"
"You know more about this than I do. You have to know there's some way we can reconstruct this body, without Ultron in it, and then-"
Dr. Banner grabbed Tony's hand, which was already reaching for a tool. "And then what?"
Mr. Stark glanced at the generator. "...and then maybe we can code a program to put into the body... and if we attach the gem to it again..."
"-you can't expect me to help you with this," Dr. Banner said. "I'm not going to program an entirely new AI, just so you can staple the most powerful energy source we have right now to his forehead."
"I wasn't thinking the forehead, that might be lethal if it was actually in contact with the skin- I was more thinking we rewire an arc reactor design-"
"It doesn't matter, the point is you're giving uncontrollable power to a program that might go just as AWOL as Ultron!" Dr. Banner slammed his hand on top of Mr. Stark's. Mr. Stark looked from his hand to his face.
"Bruce," he said, quietly, "you've got to trust me on this. We know what to avoid, in programming this..."
"Even creating the program would take days. And we only have one."
Mr. Stark looked at the generator again. "...even if there's nothing we can do. Even if the world is going to fall into anarchy by next Tuesday and we'll be dead. We still have to try."
Dr. Banner slowly removed his hand. "You want me to help you create life in fourteen hours."
"We're mad scientists, Bruce. This isn't something we can pass up."
Dr. Banner sighed, looking from the generator to Mr. Stark. "Let's say we can get this body working. Let's say we do remove Ultron, and we have a way to make sure the gem isn't lethal. How are we going to create an AI advanced enough to have a moral code?"
This entire time, I had been observing, taking notes, forming a basic mental plan. And now I spoke up.
"You could relocate me."
Mr. Stark looked over, sharply, at where I was confined. I felt a stab of... something. Shame. I wasn't to standard, why would I have ever thought that...
"Jarvis... that's a one-way trip. You go in there, you're confined to that body- for life. This isn't something that's ever been done before, we don't know what... and if this fails, you won't be-"
"I understand, sir."
Mr. Stark looked at Dr. Banner.
Dr. Banner looked at Mr. Stark. "Just so we're clear..." he raised a hand, "...you want me, to help you, put Jarvis, into that." He pointed at something within the generator.
Mr. Stark glanced at it. "Well, not exactly that... we'll need to make sure that the body is actually stable... maybe go over it with a new coat of paint-"
Dr. Banner sighed. "We only have so much time. Get to work, Tony." He stepped over to a table and began to work.
The next few hours I had to watch them work. I couldn't help them, and I couldn't really move or spread to a separate unit. They were focused. A part of me couldn't help but be... worried. What if this did fail? What if my programming was deleted? The odds of it succeeding weren't high.
Then again...
What if it worked?
Hours later, Mr. Stark straightened up from his position hunched over the tissue generator. Dr. Banner smoothed something out and stood up as well.
"I think this should work..." Mr. Stark said, looking at whatever final body was laying in the box.
"Hopefully it can withstand the gem." Dr. Banner said. "Hopefully..."
"If we get it in a reactor, it won't ever come in contact with the skin," Mr. Stark pointed out.
Looking from the body to Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner readjusted his glasses. "If we can actually get it in the reactor."
Mr. Stark ignored that. "Jarvis?"
"...yes?" I knew what was next.
"Are you sure you want to do this."
"...yes." And then, after a split-second of hesitation, "Sir."
YOU ARE READING
Becoming Human
FanfictionJust A Rather Very Intelligent System. Created by Dr. Anthony E Stark. A program that isn't quite human, that isn't up to standard. A program that has to decide whether to stay what it wants or try and meet Mr. Stark's standards.
