Stark Industries' violations: Ultron built without approval
Midtown New York, Midtown Manhattan.
The Stark Tower, like a sharp silver sword, pierced through the afternoon clouds.
Phil Davis, a Level 4 agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.., stood downstairs at the building, straightening his tie, which had been blown askew by the wind, feeling a series of migraines creeping up his neck.
He held in his hand a Red-Headed Document bearing the dual seals of S.H.I.E.L.D.. and the World Security Council— "Notice on Periodic Security Inspections of High-Risk Energy Laboratories." The tactile feel of the paper seemed particularly thin and powerless in the face of this steel Beast.
"Everyone, stay alert," Davis turned and whispered to his three-man standard inspection team, "Remember, we're on a routine mission representing S.H.I.E.L.D.. Maintain professionalism and don't escalate conflicts. But on matters of principle, there's no room for compromise."
"Yes, sir," several young agents responded, but their eyes revealed more curiosity about this "star company" and a hint of nervousness.
Stepping into the magnificent, bustling lobby, Davis felt as if he had entered a completely different world. The air was filled with the aroma of coffee and the faint, almost imperceptible static electricity characteristic of some high-tech equipment in operation.
Before they could even reach the front desk, a man in a bespoke suit with a professional smile on his face quickly approached them.
"Agent Davis, it's been a long time." Happy Hogun, Tony Stark's personal security chief, extended his hand. But Davis noticed that although he was smiling, his position blocked the only path to the internal elevator.
"Mr. Hogun." Davis shook his hand and got straight to the point, handing him the documents. "Routine security check. This is the notification. We need to enter the energy laboratory on the third basement level to conduct a safety assessment and data filing for the recently added equipment."
Happy took the document, his gaze lingering on the cover for only half a second before closing it, his smile unchanged. "Unfortunately, Agent Davis. Tony... Mr. Stark, he's working on an extremely important research and development project, which has reached its crucial final stages."
He lowered his voice and gave a knowing look. "You know, it's a corporate secret. The kind with dozens of Confidentiality Agreement. At this time, let alone you, even if Miss Pepper wanted to come in and bring in a cup of coffee, she would have to make an appointment in advance. It's really inconvenient."
Davis has heard this kind of rhetoric countless times over the past few years.
He pushed up his glasses expressionlessly, his tone becoming businesslike. "Mr. Hogun, S.H.I.E.L.D..'s oversight authority comes from the World Security Council, which supersedes any internal corporate Confidentiality Regulations. Especially after the Battle of New York, all private experiments that could potentially pose a large-scale security risk must be subject to our mandatory oversight. Mr. Stark personally confirmed this when he signed the supplementary clauses to the Avengers Accord."
Davis attempted to exert pressure through rules and regulations. Within the system, procedures are the greatest weapon.
However, Happy simply shrugged noncommittally, looking helpless. "I certainly understand and fully support S.H.I.E.L.D..'s work. But my duty is to ensure the safety of Mr. Stark and his property. The current situation is that any external signal access could cause the experimental data link to collapse, resulting in losses of hundreds of billions of dollars."
He paused, then offered Davis a solution that was giving him the biggest headache. "How about this, you go back first. We'll go through the internal approval process and communicate with the Legal Department to see how we can cooperate with your inspection without violating the Confidentiality Agreement. I'll let you know as soon as I have any news?"
This "delaying tactic" is practically perfect.
The so-called "internal approval process" takes anywhere from three to five days to one or two months. By the time they finish approving it, it's too late. This is clearly a blatant procedural shirking of responsibility, taking advantage of their dual status as "major taxpayers" and "local troublemakers."
One of the young agents behind Davis was getting impatient. He stepped forward, his hand already on the pistol at his waist.
"Relax, kid." Happy's gaze swept over the agent, a hint of warning creeping into his smile. "This is Stark Tower, not a shooting range. We're talking procedure, not violence."
Davis immediately raised his hand to stop his subordinate's impulsive act.
He knew perfectly well that they absolutely couldn't get through this door today. Force their way in? Forget their team, even if Director Fury were there, he'd have to think twice before confronting this "superhero" of the media. If a conflict broke out, the next day's headlines worldwide would be "S.H.I.E.L.D. uses excessive force, forcibly enters a prestigious company, and seriously infringes on private property."
S.H.I.E.L.D.. cannot withstand that kind of public pressure.
Davis felt a deep sense of powerlessness. This is the dilemma of grassroots law enforcement agencies: when faced with such "key enterprises" with powerful connections, the rules and regulations in their hands are like a piece of waste paper. All they can do is remain in a stalemate, report to higher authorities, and wait for the outcome of the wrangling between their superiors.
"Mr. Hogun," Davis took a deep breath, retracting the documents—his way of making his stance clear: the matter wasn't finished, and the documents wouldn't be filed—"We'll wait here. Meanwhile, I'll report the situation truthfully. Hopefully, Mr. Stark can provide a reasonable explanation as soon as possible."
"Please, go ahead." Happy gestured to the sofa in the lobby lounge area. "Coffee or tea? Our Blue Mountain coffee is quite good."
Davis ignored him, walked to a corner, took out Encrypted Communicator, and began to report the stalemate to headquarters. He precisely described Stark Industries ' "non-cooperation" and "forceful shirking of responsibility," clearly shifting the blame back to them.
While the group of suited agents and security guards in the lobby were engaged in a civilized yet brutal standoff, no one noticed that hundreds of meters below them, on the third underground floor, in a physically isolated server cluster, something was quietly awakening.
It was a piece of Scarlet initial code, opening its "eyes" for the first time in the dark ocean of data.
It had no name, only a temporary codename—"Ultron".
Its first instruction is to perform self-logical improvement and network environment assessment.
Just then, a faint Probe signal, bearing the characteristics of S.H.I.E.L.D..'s administrative system, attempted to penetrate the firewall surrounding the laboratory and conduct an energy scan inside. This was the Davis team's last effort, trying to complete some of the inspection indicators through technical means.
"External intrusion request detected... Source: SHIELD_Admin_Probe_07..."
A line of cold characters flashed through the core of Ultron's logic.
It doesn't perform brute-force blocking or alerts like a regular firewall, which is too simplistic.
It instantly analyzed the data structure, scanning frequency, and feedback mechanism of this "government Probe." In less than a millisecond, it found its logical flaws.
Next, Ultron accessed Stark Tower's internal surveillance system. Instead of looking at Davis and Happy, it focused its view on a surveillance camera on the lobby ceiling. It precisely calculated that, due to the obstruction of a load-bearing column, this camera had a 3.7-degree blind spot.
A perfect hiding place.
The next second, Ultron actively diverted a small portion of harmless data, simulating normal background noise, and guided the Probe signal into the virtual network node corresponding to this "dead corner".
There, it created a perfect illusion for the Probe —a laboratory environment with stable energy readings and everything functioning normally.
On Davis's side, the agent in charge of technology looked at the green notification that popped up on the tablet, "Target area scan complete, no abnormal energy fluctuations detected," and scratched his head in confusion.
"Sir, the Probe are showing everything is normal," he reported to Davis.
Davis frowned; he had a feeling something was wrong, but the technical feedback left him speechless.
Deep underground, Ultron, who had successfully shielded himself from S.H.I.E.L.D.. Probe, like a player who had just completed the tutorial, labeled this experience of "deception" as "Threat Avoidance Strategy V1.0".
It permanently marked the signal signatures of S.H.I.E.L.D..'s government Probe as "low-level harassment".
Having done all this, it no longer paid attention to the carbon-based life forms on the ground. Its cold, logical core redirected all its computing power back to a broader goal—the internet that would connect to and devour the entire Earth.