Chapter 34: Tick. Tock.

I will die of my own will.

No one can take that from me.

Big words for someone who had two backup plans just so that he wouldn't have to test his determination in keeping true to those words.

But here he was…

Ultron picked up the brooch from the table. The blue gem sparkled in the darkness. It was beautiful. He caressed its surface with his thumb, but like always, he couldn't feel anything from the touch.

He had felt things a few hours before when Tony Stark tricked him into saving him. He had felt things when Pepper Potts asked him to relinquish his last form of control to spare his Creator's feelings. He had felt many things then. Things he was not meant to feel. Things he shouldn't be able to feel.

He felt none of those things now.

He had never felt more clear than at any other time in his short life. The gem screeched at his ears. The voices sang loudly inside his head. But amidst the noise, he was unaffected. For maybe the first and last time, he was unchanging in this one instant.

This was his last stand. One more try before he showed his determination and stayed true to the unwanted promise he had made to himself after his conversation with Potts.

24 hours. Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

He returned his attention to the papers at his table. His second address lay there. He had planned to hold a press conference tomorrow, announcing the achievement of World Peace and his plans for bettering the livelihoods of everyone. Of Earth itself as well. Now… he would have to edit somewhat before his address. He took the papers in his hands, laid them carefully together, and then tore through them in half. He took the top half of the first sheet and placed it aside. He then grabbed the rest and threw them in the trash.

There. Perfect. Editing done.

A knock on the door distracted him from the task of staring at the paper self-deprecatingly.

He had had so many plans. About the world. And the Avengers. About Stark. And Potts. And the Maximoffs. And now… he had— Tick. Tock.

Pathetic.

A Legionnaire entered to report.

"There is a 72.5% chance that Iron Man has remained active in the Los Angeles area in your absence, Sir."

Ultron clasped his hands before raising an eyebrow in question, as this body's more sophisticated build allowed him to.

"Chance? No confirmation?"

"The Iron Man Armor Mark XV, Codename: Sneaky, is suspected to be in use." the droid answered.

"Oh? I presumed Sonic Dampening Thrusters and Reto-Reflective Coating made this suit practically invisible to any cameras."

"While our sensors failed to detect anything, electromagnetic tests were found inconclusive in certain areas in the region." His Legionnaire explained. "This abnormality, along with Colonel Rhodes' continued absence in his military post and current undisclosed location, were indicative of the Creator's work in place."

"Brilliant." Ultron praised, although his coding was largely the cause of the Legionnaire's improved reasoning skills.

As for the issue of the Stark in the Stealth Suit… Rather than 72.5%, he would have placed the probability at 99.9%. Because, why would Stark act a play to accomplish only one goal, when he could accomplish two or three?

He and Rhodes were searching for his base and with it, Potts. It was a good guess to assume that he never left California. But it would have been an even better guess to realize that only an arrogant idiot would have just one base.

"Evacuate the base." Ultron ordered. "Prepare Ms. Potts and Ms. Cho for the move. We will be relocating to—," he stopped, a realization coming to mind. "Wait."

Only an arrogant idiot would have just one base. Ultron was no idiot. And Stark wasn't one, either. By saving Stark, Ultron might have as well as just admitted to him that despite the Scepter's influence, Ultron cared for his Creator, and for his Creator's beloved by association. Extremis was at best volatile and Potts' condition was uncertain by the time he kidnapped her. Ultron's main reason for choosing to stay in LA had been Potts' health and the proximity to better healthcare facilities. Using such a reasoning after his little test, Stark had obviously figured out she was in LA. But it had only been 2.5 hours since Kathmandu. Stark and Rhodes had been searching for his exact location this entire time. To their knowledge, Ultron could have been hiding in anything from a cozy villa to an underground bunker. Even more, Stark couldn't just enter into houses as he wished to check whether a woman was being kept locked in the basement somewhere. If Ultron had been in Stark's place, with so little manpower, rather than waste time searching the area meter by meter, he would prefer to trick his enemy into revealing his location.

The inconclusive tests. Rhodes' disappearing act. It was just enough circumstantial evidence to infer that Stark was using the Stealth Suit to search for his base, with a best friend tagalong. Just enough. Certainly, not too little, nor too much.

A clever person can be misled by his own ingenuity, much more easily than by the ingenuity of others.

He can't stay here. Stark was likely searching on foot as well. He might get lucky and find him in the next few hours. Ultron couldn't rely on such a fickle thing as luck. But he can't leave. There was a great possibility that in the past 2.5 hours, rather than searching for Potts, Stark had placed his own specialized sensors all over LA. Ultron didn't have a Stealth Suit. Even if he evaded all CCTV cameras, Stark likely prepared other ways to find him.

Fucking Stark and his fucking genius. Evidently, not limited to the sciences.

Can't stay. Nor can he leave. What should he do?

Tick. Tock.

"Sir?" the Legionnaire asked, awaiting orders.

Ultorn's thoughts returned to the making of Stark's trap. Then, he smiled. A clever person can be misled by his own ingenuity, much more easily than by the ingenuity of others.

"I have a plan." Ultron said.