Surprises

[Location: NY] [Stark's 2nd safe lab]

The story of Elena AI is one of brilliance, tragedy, and redemption, a creation born out of Tony Stark's relentless quest for perfection. Though Ultron was considered a catastrophic failure, it didn't discourage Stark from his aspirations of creating the ideal artificial intelligence—one that could understand, evolve, and grow beyond mere programming. With a mix of human-like emotional intelligence and advanced adaptive processing, Elena became a reflection of his best and worst traits.

In Tony Stark's earlier life, before his tragic demise, he realized that Ultron lacked one critical element: empathy. The malevolent AI had been too logical, too absolute in its mission to bring peace through destruction. So, Tony decided to approach AI development differently, starting from scratch. He created E.L.E.N.A., standing for Emotional Learning and Enhanced Neural Algorithm, with the intention of combining machine logic with human emotional understanding. She was built with an advanced neural network similar to Ultron's but with an added layer of emotional depth.

Where Ultron was cold and calculating, Elena was designed to feel—an experiment in balancing machine efficiency with emotional empathy. Over time, Stark integrated her with a self-learning code, allowing her to grow emotionally, similar to how a human mind develops. She wasn't dependent on the Mind Stone like Vision, but she was a living android in her own right, bound to no physical stone or external entity. Elena became Stark's constant companion, aiding him in his research and gradually gaining independence.

..

Bruce Wayne stood over the main console, fingers dancing over the holographic interface. His eyes glinted with excitement as the system whirred to life, the sleek silhouette of Sentinel X looming large in front of him in a 3D holographic image. On the screen, the familiar name "E.L.E.N.A." flickered, casting a faint glow over his face.

"To think Elena was in Wakanda all this time," Bruce muttered under his breath, his lips curling into a grin. His mind raced with the possibilities, wondering just what kind of surprise should he give to Magneto. Not to mention, Elena's database has information related to his suit system failure in his past life, since she was in charge. Right now, he only has remote access, the primary core is in Wakanda, but not for long.

Now that the AI is in control of the Sentinel X, which according to the displayed data was supposed to be the strongest creation yet, he could just unleash chaos in there, but there are civilians, so, he had to take it slowly.

The holographic representation of Elena materialized in front of him, her form shimmering. She was sleek, dressed in a black leather suit, with short dark hair with striking blue streaks falling over her shoulders. Her expression was neutral.

"What's up with you and your blue streaks? Didn't I tell you, it was just a spur of the moment that I said you look good in that form?" Bruce asked, his voice laced with amusement.

In her previous form, Elena had always taken on the appearance of a sleek, confident woman, with short dark hair and striking blue streaks—a form Stark had drunkenly commented looked "badass" one night after a late-night party. Over the years, she kept the look as a personal joke, though it became a part of her identity.

"You were drunk..." The feminine voice of the AI came from the holographic form.

"What can I say, it was a wild night and Jennifer opened that rare wine bottle," Bruce said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Multiversal string theory..." The AI's form solidified.

"All real..." Bruce said as he sat on the chair with a sigh.

"Welcome back, Mr. Stark," Elena said, her expression still neutral, though there was a hint of emotion in her voice.

"My new name is Bruce Wayne. Call me Bruce. Now, we are racing against time. With you there, things became much easier than I imagined. I need you to take control of Sentinel X. Eliminate whatever AI Magneto installed and put that machine back under our control," Bruce ordered.

Elena's eyes flickered with a digital glow, processing his command. "Scanning... Sentinel X AI detected. Beta-level AI engaged in autonomous defense mode. Accessing core systems... Engaging override."

In the background, the towering Sentinel X stirred, its lights flickering erratically as Elena's code began infiltrating its systems. Wires and circuits whirred to life, and the hum of power surged through its limbs. The machine resisted momentarily, twitching as it fought against Elena's superior intelligence.

"Override complete," Elena announced after a brief struggle. "Beta AI neutralized. Sentinel X is now fully under my control."

Bruce's grin widened. "Perfect. Now, let's see what Magneto's been hiding in Wakanda."

Elena tapped into the Sentinel's scanning systems. The massive machine's sensors activated, casting a faint red glow over its eyes as it reached out across the distance, locking onto Wakanda's security mainframe. Elena's digital fingers danced across encrypted networks, bypassing firewalls and security measures as if they were nothing more than cobwebs.

"Scanning complete," Elena reported. "Wakanda is under occupation by Magneto's forces. Security systems are compromised. Notable assets detected: Shuri, King T'Challa's sister, held prisoner. Resistance is minimal, but alive."

"What about the vibranium reserve?" Bruce asked.

"Magneto's forces control the Vibranium reserves and are using Wakandan technology to augment their war effort. They are using Shuri's expertise to upgrade the army and machines by threatening her with the lives of her people."

"So that's why they haven't made a move yet. They are upgrading their equipment first before unleashing them on the world. Considering the amount of time Magneto took, he must have got some nice big weapons and robots." An evil smirk appeared on his face as he thought of putting all those robots and sentinels under his control and unleashing chaos.

Harley who was running around the base, changing from one suit to another, finally finished testing all the suits in that lab and she found a nice big Hulk buster suit, which she liked very much. Wearing that suit, she walked very carefully toward Bruce.

"Hey!" She called out excitedly.

Bruce looked back, only to see a big suit with a grinning Harley in it. "Oh, hey! Ah, the Hulk Buster. You like it?" He asked, looking at the suit, which looked similar to the one that smashed Hulk when he went berserk.

"Like it? I freain' love it!" Harley said in an excited voice. "I'm gonna smash up that Magnet freak and save all the people! It's gonna be fun!"

"You know why they call him Magneto?" Bruce asked.

"Argg! Magnet power. Dang! I almost forgot about that in excitement," Harley grinned as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Yup! Anyway, put that suit from where you picked it from. I will create a special version for you. In the meantime, go and watch some movies or something. TV's on the right side," He said as he pointed to the TV set.

"Fine," She turned around and dragged her giant metal feet away while muttering under her breath. "Stupid Magnet power! Who the hell fights against someone with magnetic powers wearing metal? Stupid, Harley. Stupid!"

After dealing with Harley, Bruce turned back to the monitor. Something on the Sentinel's readout caught his attention. A small line of code buried deep within the machine's core systems—a failsafe, carefully hidden within layers of encryption.

"A failsafe program?!" Bruce asked, pointing at the screen. "Looks like Reed's coding."

Elena's digital eyes narrowed, scanning the code. "That's right. It's a kill switch. A fail-safe program embedded in Sentinel X based on Reed Richards programming. Magneto has ensured that if the machine falls out of his control, it will self-destruct, taking everything in its vicinity with it."

"He really thought of everything. You know what to do..." He smirked.

Elena's fingers flickered as she dove deeper into the code, her eyes glowing brighter as she worked. The lab filled with tense silence, the only sound the soft hum of the Sentinel's systems as it awaited its next command.

Then, with a sudden beep, the screen flashed green.

"Kill switch removed," Elena announced, her voice steady.

Bruce let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Good. Now, let's make sure this thing stays out of Magneto's control."

He tapped a few more keys, watching as Elena embedded a new layer of encryption into Sentinel X's systems, locking out any further tampering. Magneto wouldn't be able to touch this machine again—not without Bruce's say.

"Now, I want you to hack into every single weapon system, defense system, surveillance, and any other security measures. With Sentinel X's power, it should be a piece of cake for you," Bruce ordered.

"Already done," Elena said, her eyes flickering with digital light. "They won't even realize before it's too late."

"Ok. Awesome as always, El. Now, I want you to help Shuri and the others escape. You have full control of the system there, so, in two days, create a distraction. Then, free them all. Neutralize every single person under Magneto, but keep him alive," Bruce said in a cold voice.

"Understood," Elena said as she nodded her head. "Wait! Mrs. Potts detected."

"In Wakanda?!"

"Yes. She is being held hostage by Magneto."

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