Getting caught red-handed was certainly embarrassing, but Tony considered himself thick-skinned, so it hardly bothered him.
"Sorry, unnecessary human curiosity. I'm human, so... you know. Um, no offense, Classmate San. I'm just amazed by you."
Wanderer gave a soft snort and said nothing more, but now that Tony had an opening, he wasn't about to let it go.
"So, you're not a creation of artificial intelligence."
"Of course not."
Wanderer's firm denial left Tony bewildered for a moment, but a second later, delight took over.
There was no question that Wanderer was powerful. Beyond looking and acting just like a human, he even possessed independent thought and a distinct personality-traits shared by all intelligent beings.
What delighted Tony even more was that Wanderer seemed to have his own sense of right and wrong. Though it might not have been perfect in certain respects, that very "flaw" made Wanderer all the more "human."
Wanderer had his own judgment, the ability to learn, and principles that guided his dealings with others.
Though he could barely exchange a few words with Aether and the others without clashing, there was no doubt that they all regarded one another as friends.
In certain respects, Wanderer as an individual perfectly matched Tony's vision of artificial intelligence, of Ultron.
That made him even more interested in Wanderer's creator.
Yes, that's right. His creator, Tony thought. Surely he didn't just spring out of a rock.
"I have a question. If you're not a creation of artificial intelligence, why are you so opposed to my Ultron Initiative? You even empathized with Ultron and worried that I might abandon him if the experiment failed. Why is that?"
Wanderer's expression changed. What nonsense was this human with a death wish spouting? Empathize with Ultron? Him?
"Don't use your shallow human thinking