Tony Stark's Obsession

Tony Stark didn't take long, just one morning, and he had already infiltrated the bank's main server and taken control of all its security systems. He stared at the surveillance footage.

"Getting in was easy. I only took a few hours without triggering any alarms, but I don't know how to leave without a trace!" Tony Stark stood up, stretched, and then said to George Stacy.

George Stacy had been standing by, along with the department's two best computer technicians. They had watched the entire process, and both technicians wore expressions of admiration, admitting their own technical skills were far inferior to Mr. Stark's.

"Mr. Stark, so you're saying the other party's technical skill is still above yours?" George Stacy's words were a bit provocative. Tony Stark raised an eyebrow and then fell into thought.

"Not necessarily, but I need to do it again!" Tony Stark was too proud to accept such a statement. How could he, in his arrogance, admit defeat? "I'm developing artificial intelligence, but I haven't succeeded. I can't create true artificial intelligence, only pseudo-AI. It can handle many daily tasks and relatively ordinary work, but everything leaves a trace. Of course, it can help me break through firewalls, as its calculation speed is beyond human comparison."

After speaking, Tony Stark sat down again and connected to his mansion in California. "Jarvis, come help me with a job."

"Yes, Mr. Stark," came the reply from the speaker of Tony Stark's laptop.

George Stacy and the other police personnel were stunned. They looked over curiously, but the laptop's display only showed an endless stream of data flowing by.

"Swish, swish." Tony Stark exited the bank's main server, restoring the firewall, and then had Jarvis initiate an attack. Within minutes, they successfully infiltrated the bank's main server.

"See, it's that simple. But I still need to study how they erased their traces. Even if they deleted the task logs, they should be recoverable. So how did they completely erase them?" Tony Stark resumed his work, pouring immense energy into the questions that piqued his curiosity. His interest in this bank heist was growing by the minute.

Time slowly ticked by. "Jarvis, can you completely delete all operation records?"

"I can't do that yet, sir. There will be some residual traces on the hardware. Even after formatting, data can still be recovered technically, unless you overwrite the entire hard drive with new data. But even then, new traces are left behind," Jarvis's answer caused Tony Stark to fall into thought again.

It was currently impossible for a computer to completely erase traces. Overwriting a hard drive with new data could still reveal vulnerabilities, which was completely different from the situation with the bank's main server. Furthermore, formatting could cause some damage to the hard drive, and hardware technical checks could still find clues.

"Was the hardware inspected?" Tony Stark asked.

The police technicians quickly replied, "Yes, Mr. Stark. There was no damage caused in a short period; the traces of damage were from long-term use. The other party did not perform a format operation."

Tony Stark was stumped. If someone had truly infiltrated the bank's main server, he had no idea how they did it. It was as if a ghost had passed directly through the firewall, controlled everything with its magic, and then phased out. It was terrifying.

"Impossible, how could such technology exist?" Tony Stark became lost in his own world, exclaiming in frustration. His hands continued to tap on the keys, and he kept having Jarvis cooperate with him, trying to find a way to completely erase traces.

George Stacy didn't understand the technology, but he had been observing Tony Stark's state. He slowly dismissed his initial suspicion of Tony Stark; this person wasn't the culprit.

George Stacy was confident in his ability to observe people. Tony Stark was completely engrossed, yes, utterly absorbed. He had merely proposed a hypothesis. This was something police often did. To solve a case, you first look for clues. If there are no clues, you must change your approach, and a hypothesis is one such method.

After forming a hypothesis, you then seek evidence to support it, which is a form of reverse reasoning. Based on his observation, Tony Stark was completely captivated by his own hypothesis, and his AI wasn't true artificial intelligence.

The technicians had told him this. Although the intelligent system called 'Jarvis' was... formidable, the technicians said it wasn't true artificial intelligence. It lacked emotion and flexibility, being very rigid – a pseudo-intelligence.

George Stacy didn't dwell on this. After all, he had no definitive conclusion on whether an AI was responsible. However, his objective had been achieved. First, to see if Tony Stark was a suspect. The facts showed he could indeed infiltrate the bank system, and quickly with 'Jarvis's' help. But based on observation, he was cleared of suspicion. Second, to find a free, high-level technician. With Tony Stark's involvement now, the technical expertise was even higher.

However, a problem arose: Tony Stark couldn't do it either. His hypothesis might fail; perhaps the other party wasn't a technical intruder at all.

If it wasn't a technical intrusion, then it could only be an extremely large organization with the resources to infiltrate and bribe personnel at the traffic monitoring center for an extended period. They would need insiders at all levels to achieve complete control.

But even then, it didn't add up. How did they erase the operational traces technically? Even with insiders, technical operations would be required. So, the matter returned to his hypothesis: a technical intrusion!

Tony Stark continued to search for a solution, while George Stacy found himself at an impasse in the case. Technical issues seemed like an insurmountable peak that had to be climbed to resolve the robbery.

George Stacy took out his phone and walked to a secluded corner. "Chief, Mr. Tony Stark has been cleared of suspicion, but the problem is even bigger. Even his technology can't find any clues. It seems he doesn't possess the other party's technical level."