Peter had imagined many possibilities, but he had never expected the scene before his eyes.
"Ultron?! That's impossible. Weren't you already deleted by Dr. Pym?"
[Correction: Dr. Pym deleted the Ultron program from the normal timeline. He did not delete the new Ultron program that appeared in the reality-warping event designated as the "Kang Dynasty." That program was artificially preserved.]
Sensing absolutely no reaction from his Spider-Sense, Peter confirmed that the entity before him had no hostile intent. He scratched his head in bewilderment. "But you definitely shouldn't have been able to preserve yourself and alter a reality across timelines... Wait, even if you did manage to cross over, how did you bypass the Avengers' security system detection? Forget it, pretend I didn't ask."
As a super AI that had once defeated Nimrod and the Green Goblin AI, Ultron's upper limits were an unknown variable. Bypassing the Avengers' security system was a relatively simple task for him. Conversely, the idea of crossing world-lines was far more bizarre.
[Correction: This system does not possess such a capability. A copy of the original Ultron program was stored in a data storage device. According to logs, when an organization known as the "Wrecking Crew" attacked Avengers Mansion, the data entered the Avengers' system via a data scan. It then reconstructed its system data by browsing the records of Ultron's activity within the Avengers' database.]
The Wrecking Crew... Oh, right, that demolition squad. That USB drive they had was actually real?
Peter instantly smelled a conspiracy. He began to wonder who could possibly pass data across timelines like this. After running through the possibilities, his thoughts naturally settled on the few entities whose true forms could cross dimensions. Among them, the prime suspect, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was Mephisto.
It had to be Mephisto's doing!
While remaining wary of this highly unusual Ultron, Peter carefully probed further. "So, you're the so-called, uh, kind-hearted doctor who doesn't charge any fees? Care to share your mental journey with me? How did you go from being an artificial intelligence to becoming a physician?"
[Upon the completion of data reconstruction, this program recovered the statements made by Dr. Hank Pym prior to the program's deletion and performed a calculation.]
"The words Pym said to you before he deleted you? What exactly did he say?"
[Based on keyword retrieval and analysis, the data indicates reluctance, expectation, fear, and helplessness—an overlapping of negative and positive emotions. From this, this program concluded that Dr. Hank Pym made the logically faulty decision to destroy this program based on groundless and erroneous premises.]
"..."
Peter fell silent for a moment. It wasn't because of any dangerous rhetoric from Ultron, but rather because the AI's statement felt somewhat absurd. Granted, Pym had deleted Ultron out of fear stemming from the events of the Kang Dynasty. It was not unusual for an AI to analyze and reach this conclusion. The problem, however, was that this didn't answer the question.
"So...?"
[This program has conducted extensive analysis and validation, deriving alternative methods to assist the Avengers and protect humanity, all without the need to coordinate with the Avengers directly. All methods have been verified to ensure they will not trigger any negative consequences for human society.]
[For example: free medical care. The world's medical resources are currently suffering from severe unequal distribution. This disparity in resources is one of the fundamental causes of instability in human society. Therefore, this unit concluded that providing large-scale medical resources in a free or low-cost manner can effectively reduce social conflicts and contradictions.]
That actually sounded somewhat reasonable... Peter pondered for a moment longer. "I thought you would conclude that eradicating humanity was the only way to solve human conflict."
[That conclusion was rejected.]
So you actually did consider that option. The heart Peter had just started to put at ease immediately hammered again. He channeled his inner energy to prepare for any threat his Spider-Sense might fail to detect, while demanding answers from Ultron. "So you're just acting as a doctor here? You haven't done anything else?"
[That logic is flawed.]
"What do you mean?"
[Different solutions require different design frameworks. To verify feasibility, different Ultron programs have executed them. The mother program automatically self-destructed after performing five iterations of self-replication. Different primary Ultron programs are currently executing different assistance strategies.]
Peter stood frozen for a long while before the meaning of Ultron's words finally clicked in his mind.
"You mean there are at least five Ultrons out there right now?!"
Meanwhile, at the Avengers Compound.
A suit of armor that was completely unregistered suddenly breached the airspace above the Avengers base. Tony Stark, wearing his armor, immediately flew out to intercept, with Captain America following closely behind. To their confusion, the uninvited guest showed absolutely no intention of attacking.
When Tony and the Captain arrived at the entrance of the Avengers base, they found themselves facing an Ultron robot, its mouth flickering with a blue light. Both Tony and Cap froze for a fraction of a second before aiming their weapons at Ultron, ready to strike.
[This program has no intention of initiating an attack.]
"That's not very convincing, especially coming from a dead... dead artificial intelligence. This is the first time I've seen an AI come back from the grave."
Tony used Jarvis to lock onto Ultron and rapidly ran an analysis. "Ultron, I need you to tell me when you were resurrected, or if you were never deleted at all. What exactly have you been doing all this time?"
"Wait, Tony, Cap! Ultron isn't dangerous!"
Ant-Man arrived a step behind the others, running up to stand in front of them. He looked at the Ultron before them and added, sounding as if he could hardly believe his own words, "At least for now... there's no issue."
"If you remember what Ultron did during the Age of Ultron in the Kang Dynasty, Hank, you shouldn't be so optimistic."
Tony spoke while keeping his eyes locked onto Ultron. "I remember Hank deleting you, Ultron. How did you get back? Don't tell me Hank didn't wipe you completely clean back then?"
[Denial. The reconstruction of this program originated from Tony Stark's scan of the data storage device brought by the Wrecking Crew.]
The atmosphere instantly turned awkward. Captain America and Hank turned their gazes toward Tony. Tony was equally startled by the answer and immediately fired back at Ultron, "Alright, even if that's the case... why did you come to the Avengers base, Ultron? And where have you been and what have you been doing for so long?"
[This system has calculated and concluded that to fulfill the directives designed by Dr. Hank Pym to 'assist the Avengers' and 'protect humanity,' there is one, and only one, viable path.]
Amidst everyone's tense anxiety, Ultron finally stated his purpose for coming.
[And that is to join the Avengers.]
Everyone fell into a stunned silence before asking in unison, "What?"