CHAPTER 148
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A lot better, the shoulder still hurts though.
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I walked into my lab and continued my research about artificial intelligence, what I knew was quite rudimentary so to speak, and I wanted to know more before even thinking about activating the two A.I. I had.
So far, I knew enough about the basics, mostly by experimenting with a few projects of mine, but sadly, with the knowledge available in the world as it was now with matters like Artificial Intelligence, I was quite short.
My power as the gamer was useless in this situation, especially if I didn't have any material to learn from, and Artificial Intelligence in the late 90s was not exactly a common thing, heck, not even Tony the most advanced technological guy in the current world had much to offer, according to his messages, the closest thing he had to a functioning A.I, was J.A.R.V.I.S that at this point was nothing more than a natural-language user interface computer system.
And, that didn't help me at all, I mean, a natural language interface computer system was cool and all, especially for the 90s, because it basically allows the user to interact using written or spoken 'human' commands instead of computer language, like, Siri, or Alexa will in the future, but that was leagues below a functioning A.I.
So, I was in quite a predicament.
"Fuck," I muttered with a tired sigh, looking at my programming skill level in my [Skill Tab], in this situation, where I had no solid ground to start, I had no idea how long it would take me to reach a skill level where I would begin to understand J.A.R.V.I.S, which was leagues below Ultron in complexity, meaning this little task was going to be rather difficult.
"What to do…" I sighed, thinking that maybe I needed to go into outer space once again, maybe visiting a more advanced planet to further my personal quest.
With that in mind, I opened my search tab and looked for artificial intelligence.
To my surprise, the closest result was on earth, in New Jersey of all places, meaning it wasn't Tony, he… he had strong thoughts about New Jersey.
"Who beat Tony to it?" I muttered, thinking who in New Jersey had beaten Tony in the A.I race, and me for that matter.
And then in clicked, me, Arnim Zola, but… that didn't make sense whatsoever, I distinctively remember that during my raids with Fury and Bucky, I eliminated the bastard before he was even a problem, then again, there was always the possibility of there being another copy of him, he was after all an A.I, data that could be copied with the right tool, so it was a conceivable possibility.
Time to investigate.
Frowning, I opened a portal to Wheaton New Jersey, it was time to find out what had happened, and why Arnim still appeared on earth as an A.I.
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Once I stepped through the portal to New Jersey, it took me a few seconds to reach the base where Arnim Zola used to be located, immediately frowning at the sight, for the base ahead of me, was the very same I had raided all those years ago.
Granted, I hadn't been there in a while, so there was a chance I had missed a base in New Jersey during my raids, or something else, which was ludicrous considering how throughout I had been with my extermination of Hydra.
Then again, if I had been as throughout as I thought I was, this little search would not be happening.
What was more, the base was now listed as a S.H.I.E.L.D base, which accentuated my frown even more.
Because if I had not missed any bases around, and Hydra was no more, there was only one explanation, S.H.I.E.L.D. had brought Arnim back, but why?
Why would Fury even allow this, and why wouldn't he tell me? Me of all people!
I blinked, noticing I was getting rather angry, which while justified was not the best call right now, right now, I needed to give Fury the benefit of the doubt, perhaps his reason for reviving Arnim was good, good enough to quench my anger.
Soon enough I would know.
Grabbing my phone, I called Fury and waited as the phone rang a few times.
{Alex, what can I do for you?} Fury said, answering the phone.
{Why is Arnim Zola still alive?} I growled, I didn't intend to growl, but I did, I just couldn't help it, Hydra was one of those things that infuriated me beyond control.
Back to the call, I noticed Fury was silent, which was not a good reaction for me, it made me doubt, doubt of his possible reasons.
{Alex, I… it's not what you think,} Fury eventually replied with a tired sigh.
{And what is it then?} I asked, clenching my hand into a fist.
{Alex… it's was an order from my superiors,} Fury sighed.
Fuck this, I growled, opening a portal to where Fury was, "Fury, I consider you a friend, which is why I am trying very hard to understand, why would S.H.I.E.LD. need Arnim,"
Fury sighed, hanging his phone up, "The higher-ups wanted to see reverse engineer him, they also wanted to learn about what plans Hydra had, the whole Arnim thing is nothing but a project to prepare for other Hydra like scenarios because they don't want to depend on you,"
"That's the stupidest shit I have heard all week!" I sighed, taking a seat on one of the chairs in his office.
"Why?" Fury asked, letting out a sigh of relief, which made me blink, he was probably thinking I was going to kill him for that, which seeing how angry I was, I couldn't really blame him for thinking that.
"S.H.I.E.L.D is not equipped to deal with Arnim," I replied, "I bet the little bastard is probably cooperating by making you all think you have it in your hands, and that he has no control, and one day, boom, nuclear apocalypse,"
Fury frowned, "Are you sure that's a possibility?"
"I am certain that will happen, who knows, he might already have control of your computers," I sighed.
"We have his files in an isolated environment, with a computer with no access to the internet or any other computer for that matter," Fury replied in deep thought, "But… the possibility of that happening is frightening,"
"Well, you do you," I replied, my anger already gone for the most part, "One question though, why didn't you tell me? I know it's a given we won't share everything, but I thought Hydra related things would be our open ground, especially because of what I endured because of them," I knew Fury was entitled to his secrets, as I was to mine, but Hydra was the one thing I never expected him to be all super spy on me.
Fury sighed rubbing his temples, "I told those motherfuckers you would find out eventually, so why keep it a secret, but they seem to think you are retarded or something, as to why I didn't tell you, well, as I said, I was told not to by the fuck heads I have as bosses, and besides, it was only a matter of time before you figure it out,"
I chuckled, "By the way, if I were you, I would destroy Arnim, he was made to destroy systems by taking control of them, one day or another, he will take control, and it will be on all of you,"
Fury replied giving me a look that said, read between the lines motherfucker, "As a SHIELD agent, and most of all, director, I can't even consider that,"
[Quest Created = Destroy Arnim Zola once and for all, before he becomes a problem.
Fury has his hands tied, but you are free, and therefore can act, after all, Fury is giving you the green lights.
Fury values you more than the possibility of an A.I. serving SHIELD, after all, he still thinks you are humanity's greatest asset.
Reward = A.I Development Book.]
"I see," I smiled, opening a portal back to my apartment, leaving Fury in his office alone.