When Kraft woke from the dream, he did not immediately rush to build the Red Queen as usual.
Although he could simply copy the operations from the dream whenever he encountered something he did not understand, as he had when building Haro, the Red Queen had ultimately been created by the black-hearted Umbrella Corporation to work for them. Kraft still did not know what dangerous things might have been buried within her code.
So although Kraft had witnessed the Red Queen's formidable ability to control networks in the dream, he did not lose his head. No matter how badly he wanted her, he would have to wait until he had analyzed all the code.
Of course, he first replicated the supercomputer meant to house the Red Queen exactly as it had been.
With Haro's assistance, analyzing the Red Queen's source code was not as difficult as he had imagined. It was simply rather demanding on computing resources, and his old computer was starting to struggle. Fortunately, Kraft had just acquired a supercomputer.
Even with a better computer and Haro's assistance, it took Kraft two and a half days to fully analyze the Red Queen's source code. Aside from the Red Queen AI itself, it indeed contained some of Umbrella's experimental data and various plans. However, Kraft had already seen most of that material in the dream, so he deleted it all without hesitation.
Then came the Red Queen's virtual appearance. Kraft rejected the image of that little Caucasian girl outright. After considering it for a while, he simply used Dr. Shinonome's appearance from the dream.
Moreover, judging by the Red Queen's behavior in the dream, her emotional system seemed even less developed than Haro's, let alone Alice's. Kraft had considered adding some emotional logic to her, but ultimately gave up on the idea.
For one thing, his skills had not yet reached the level where he could independently develop an AI. If he forcibly stuffed Haro's or Alice's emotional logic code into the Red Queen's source code, who knew what uncontrollable changes might occur?
For another, the Red Queen's network intrusion abilities were simply too powerful. The rigid, mechanical mindset she displayed in the dream was actually more likely to ensure that she would not lose control easily. If she truly developed a human emotional system and went through some rebellious phase or something, Kraft had no ability to discipline her.
So this was fine.
Kraft entered the final line of code, then solemnly pressed the Enter key.
Streams of green data raced across the screen, gradually forming the image of an adorable little girl. She had long golden hair, large blue eyes, and distinctly Eastern features. She wore an oversized white lab coat, its hem dragging down to her ankles, while its long sleeves concealed nearly her entire arms, leaving only the tips of her fingers faintly visible.
"Hello, Angela."
Smiling, Kraft waved at the little girl on the screen. Though he had retained the codename "Red Queen" for this new AI, he had not deleted the name Angela because of Alice.
Kraft would have preferred to use Dr. Shinonome's original name, but whether it was "Doctor," "hakase," or "doctor," they all sounded more like codenames than actual names. They were not much better than "Red Queen." After thinking it over for a long time, he ultimately used the name of Dr. Charles's daughter from the dream.
"Hello, Kraft."
Angela on the screen was not nearly as cute as Dr. Shinonome had been in the dream. Her little face was icy and expressionless.
"Then... let's test the waters with the Stark family's AI first."
Kraft licked his lips and gave the order excitedly.
"Haro, assist Angela!"
"Task initiated. Task initiated."
Although Angela was stronger at network infiltration, Haro was more flexible when it came to concealing information and evading tracking. This was related to the two AIs' respective specialties. With Haro's assistance, Angela's trail became far more elusive, while Angela's support also enhanced Haro's computational capacity. The two complemented one another, creating an effect where one plus one was far greater than two.
"Beep beep beep—"
Tony Stark, who had been sleeping in his own bed with the cover girl from the latest issue of Playboy in his arms, was jolted awake by a series of urgent alarms. He abruptly sprang out of bed.
"What happened, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"Your network is under attack, Mr. Stark."
While dealing with Angela's assault, J.A.R.V.I.S. still did not forget to answer Stark's question immediately.
"Judging from the intrusion methods, it appears to be that unknown AI from before. And it has become stronger."
"Leave on your own. I don't have time for you right now!"
Stark put on his pants, tossed a stack of cash onto the cover girl, who had just woken up and had yet to understand what was happening, then headed briskly toward his underground laboratory bare-chested.
The cover girl stared blankly at Stark's retreating back. She grabbed the money tossed before her and wanted to throw it at him, but after her hand paused beside her head for a moment, she slowly lowered it again. Humming a tune to herself, she tucked the money into the limited-edition handbag Stark had given her yesterday, then leisurely began getting dressed.
Tony Stark entered his laboratory, sat before the computer J.A.R.V.I.S. had already powered on, and began typing rapidly.
"You got away by accident last time, but it won't be so easy this time!"
Not only was Stark not angry that someone had invaded his network, he instead felt a long-lost thrill. With J.A.R.V.I.S. around, ordinary hackers were no match for him at all. Even the Rising Tide Organization had been traced to its source by J.A.R.V.I.S. the moment it tried to infiltrate his system. If Stark had not been too lazy to cause them trouble, not one of them would have escaped based on the information J.A.R.V.I.S. had hacked from their computers.
But this time was different. His opponent was also an AI, just like J.A.R.V.I.S., and it was constantly learning and evolving. That made Stark, who had long been lonely at the top, feel the urge to compete.
Although Tony Stark confidently went on the offensive, reality was always cruel. With Angela and Haro working together, even J.A.R.V.I.S. and Tony Stark could not hold them back.
Very quickly, Stark's protective network was breached by Angela and Haro working together. The Stark household's database was completely exposed before Kraft.
Under normal circumstances, Stark should have cut off the network immediately and used physical means to protect the data on his computer from intrusion. But Kraft had chosen a direct assault in order to test Angela's capabilities, and with Tony Stark's pride, after being defeated head-on, he simply could not bring himself to admit defeat in such a pathetic way as cutting off the network.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.! Keep tracing the origins of that AI!"
Tony Stark roared, his eyes bloodshot. He chose to completely abandon the defense of his own side and devote all his strength to counterattacking.
"Mr. Stark, I must remind you that if you do this, all the data on your computer will be leaked."
J.A.R.V.I.S. dutifully issued the warning while carrying out Tony Stark's command.
"That doesn't matter! I have to drag this coward hiding in the shadows out into the open!"
Stark bellowed.
Tony Stark had never suffered such humiliation in his life!
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