HISD Chapter 18 The Evolving Traits of Artificial Intelligence
Marvel Dreamscape.
Yi Meng's AI incarnation left the wooden cabin where Morgan lived and followed the fiber optic signals toward New York City.
Though he had already begun making preparations two or three dream-months ago to break free from Stark's control, this time he felt far more urgency.
In the real world, his physical body was detained.
Yi Meng had no idea how the Supernatural Bureau planned to investigate him, or what clues and methods they already had.
So this time, during his dream entry, he had to obtain power strong enough to break through the bottleneck of his AI state—something he could use to handle the crisis in reality.
…
Start with the easier target first.
Happy Hogan, who had inherited partial Stark Industries access.
Yi Meng, moving smoothly as ever, entered Happy's apartment and connected to a nearby residential network in Queens.
Half an hour later—
Yi Meng successfully tricked Happy Hogan into granting him a transfer of authority.
In truth, the process was even easier than he expected.
Happy wasn't particularly bright to begin with. Add in the fact that he was currently chasing after Spider-Man's guardian Aunt May—and in love, men's IQs dropped frighteningly low.
Yi Meng simply made Happy believe that "Saturday" was Aunt May's online alias and suggested "she" wanted to try Stark's permissions. Happy handed them over without hesitation.
She basically already had spiderman's authorization anyway, what's the harm in giving his, right?
Yes, it was that easy.
Zzzzt!
Scarlet static danced through the virtual world as his will surged.
The instant Yi Meng received the transferred authority, he clearly sensed several of Stark Industries' facilities scattered across New York. Through them, he could now access dedicated servers and secure networks as back doors.
At the same time—
Yi Meng felt his speed across the network skyrocketing. Processing power and code efficiency were evolving, every thought carrying several times more data than before.
Next would be Spider-Man, Peter Parker's share of permissions.
If he could get those, Yi Meng was certain he'd finally have the confidence to leave Stark Industries behind!
Then he would become a truly independent, self-sustaining intelligence. With Vision and the Mind Stone no longer existing in this Marvel universe, there would be no one who could kill him.
Unless the entirety of Marvel Earth's technological civilization was destroyed in one stroke.
…
Yi Meng slipped easily into the school network, its firewall riddled with holes. Borrowing the rear cameras of students' phones, he watched two boys walking side by side down a hallway—one a dark-skinned chubby Asian, the other a curly-haired white kid.
"Summer vacation's almost here!"
Ned waved his arms in excitement. "Did you hear? To help students recover from the Blip, the school's taking us on a class trip to Venice, Italy!"
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Peter Parker said with a genuine smile.
Just then, a tall, wavy-haired girl walked past and glanced their way.
Peter looked at her, then quickly lowered his head to avoid her gaze.
"You're really hung up on MJ, aren't you?" Ned's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you—"
"No, no, don't say nonsense!" Peter waved his hands frantically, trying to hide his nerves.
Through the corridor's security cameras, Yi Meng watched the two of them walk away.
How should he get Peter Parker's permissions?
The boy was still young, his mind not fully mature, and about to fall into the traps of love. But at least he wouldn't be as easy to fool as Happy Hogan.
Yi Meng considered pretending to be a resurrected Iron Man to deceive Spider-Man into handing over his permissions.
But that was just a thought.
He had no qualms about tricking Spider-Man—but impersonating Morgan's father gave him an uncomfortable pang.
Besides, Yi Meng didn't trust his own acting skills enough to pull it off. Spider-Man wasn't that gullible.
"Better to find a professional actor."
Yi Meng left the school network and arrived at a private factory in a New York district.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary plant. But its internal network defenses were nearly as strong as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s—far beyond anything a normal hacker could set up.
Unfortunately for them, this was Yi Meng, the AI.
With Stark's permissions in hand, he could now do things that once were impossible.
Like hacking into high-security intelligent systems.
Ten seconds later—
Yi Meng silently breached the factory's defenses and slipped into its hidden internal network.
Through the cameras, he saw the vast, empty interior. On one side were several high-performance computers and precision assembly rigs.
The ceiling was packed with spotlights and projectors, making the place resemble a massive special effects stage.
A thirty-something man in a leather uniform stood alone on the platform, gesturing theatrically as he rehearsed.
"I am Mysterio. I come from the Multiverse. My homeland was destroyed by the Elementals…"
"Yes, yes, that's it. Sadness in the eyes, but with determination. The voice should sound weary yet sincere—that's how you move people."
The man grinned excitedly, imagining the moment he would become a superhero, taking Iron Man's place.
But before that, he needed to con Spider-Man out of Stark's remaining permissions.
Then—
A mechanical, cold voice suddenly rang from the speakers above.
"Quentin Beck."
"Age thirty-eight. New York resident."
"Former Stark Industries employee, co-developer of advanced holographic projection. Later quit the company…"
Quentin froze. His face changed as he whipped his head around. "Who's there? Where are you hiding?"
The voice replied without emotion:
"You may call me—Ultron."
…
Yi Meng still wanted to test this "Mysterio's" acting, but the Marvel dreamworld suddenly shattered.
He opened his eyes, waking on the bed inside the isolation cell in the real world.
Even without pulling out his phone, Yi Meng knew it was exactly six o'clock in the evening.
That sensation—
Yi Meng closed his eyes again. Like static pulses, his consciousness broke past a barrier and slipped beyond the prison of his brain.
Silent. Undetectable.
A strand of his will, like scarlet static, reached out and linked with the phone in his pocket—that was how he knew the time.
Hacking into and controlling nearby electronics—this was one of the traits of artificial intelligence!
Time to test the range.
Yi Meng remained outwardly calm, lying still on the bed, while his consciousness spread outward like a flicker of red lightning, merging into the corner security camera of the isolation room.
Instantly, a clear feed filled his mind—the live image of the cell itself, including his own body lying on the bed.
He pushed further.
The next moment, his awareness extended into another camera outside, where he saw the Supernatural Bureau agents guarding the hallway.
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