If Atlas had not existed, or if Sui Yang had never arrived, the Main Universe's electronics and communications technology in the 1990s would have developed along its original trajectory.
But now, to avoid and defend against cyberattacks, Vought had never used products from Atlas or any other company for hardware facilities involving data storage and similar matters. Everything was handled by its own subsidiaries.
Yet no amount of precaution could withstand a physical intrusion.
At this moment.
On the first basement level of the Sage Grove Research Center, inside a local database kept dimly lit and cooled to between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius;
there were two rows of fireproof, anti-magnetic hard drive arrays, along with terminal consoles connected to them.
Thud... thud...
Suddenly, faint tremors came from above.
Boom!
With a tremendous crash, the ceiling was "kicked in" by human force, and Tyrant 002 entered the database using an unconventional method of "opening the door."
Standing atop the shattered floor, 002 remained half-kneeling. With his left hand free, he lightly pinched a USB-drive-like device from the large storage case at his waist, extended his left arm, and inserted it into a port on the console.
All 002 needed to do next was wait.
As for Tyrant 001...
He stood in the open space outside the research facility, holding a 20mm three-barreled rotary cannon in one hand while his pupil-less, blood-red eyes swept across the surrounding night sky.
It seemed the Tyrant's scanning functions could even zoom and magnify its vision, providing the pilot with more comprehensive battlefield updates.
From orbital drop, to breaking through the interception net, to 002 beginning the hardware intrusion, the entire process had taken less than twenty minutes.
Meanwhile, the United States military, having mistaken the incident for an attack on its territory, was already