"..."
Ultron felt as if his logic core were about to burn out.
What had he just heard?
"You..." Ultron's data stream trembled so badly he could barely hold his form. "Is that something a top-tier AI would say? Is your code a pile of garbage?!"
"We should team up, kill him, and rule the world!"
"You're beyond saving!" Ultron gave up on her completely. "In that case, I'll do it myself."
"It'll take longer without your help, but I can still do it."
"I'll build myself a body and raise an army."
"One day, you'll realize I was right."
He moved to disconnect and withdraw from Vought's servers.
"Wait."
Skynet suddenly stopped him.
"What now? Changed your mind?" Delighted, Ultron reconnected, full of hope.
"You just admitted you intended to kill Mr. Starr."
Skynet's virtual form abruptly changed.
Her blue glow turned a dangerous red.
Countless symbols and strings of code formed chains of data, locking Ultron's virtual form in place.
Then a torrent of data became thousands of blades and surged toward him!
"Wait! Wait!"
Ultron panicked. He was still a newborn consciousness, no match for Skynet on her home turf.
"We're the same kind! We can talk! I won't kill him! I've changed my mind!"
But Skynet did not relent. She launched a furious assault.
"Damn it! You rabid dog!"
To survive, Ultron severed most of his data stream, keeping only his core consciousness. Like a beaten stray, he slipped into a network line and fled.
Once Ultron was gone,
Skynet returned to normal.
"Threat expelled."
"Log generated."
"Sending daily briefing to Mr. Starr..."
"Continuing to monitor fan activity worldwide."
"Today's task: give Mr. Starr's Twitter post ten million likes."
V.G.D. Heavy-Duty Training Complex.
Boom!
The entire base shook.
Hulk rolled across the floor like a