Chapter 141: [140] : Artificial Intelligence Athena
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Upon returning to the spaceship, Roger instructed Nebula to set their destination as Earth and established communication with the Guardians of the Galaxy to inform them of his next move.
Having the Guardians follow him was part of Roger's plan to introduce them to the Avengers ahead of time. This way, even if Roger was unavailable later, a collaboration between the Guardians and the Avengers could prevent them from being overwhelmed by alien forces.
With the spaceship's course adjusted, Roger and his companions began their journey to Earth.
The trip was uneventful, and they arrived on Earth without any issues. As soon as they landed, Roger wasted no time and headed straight for New York.
Andrea's residence in this world was in New York, more specifically, in Stark Tower. After arriving in this universe, she had been adopted by Obadiah Stane, making her Tony Stark's adoptive sister in name.
As for why she, as Obadiah's adoptive daughter, bore the last name "Kelson," it was due to her having been previously adopted by another family, who later encountered misfortune. Obadiah then became her guardian.
There seemed to be more to this story, but Andrea's records didn't elaborate. She had only left Roger information about her place of residence.
This explained why Tony had photos of both himself and Andrea in his home, they were nominally siblings.
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Upon arriving at Stark Tower, Roger avoided disturbing Tony, who wasn't there. Using the Mind Stone, he discreetly entered the building and followed Andrea's notes to locate her "secret base."
"Who would've thought there was another space behind this wall?"
Standing next to Tony's lab, Roger muttered to himself while facing a blank wall.
Andrea's secret base was concealed behind this plain white wall, hidden by a permanent spell she had cast, creating a special space.
Originally, Tony or Thor could have accessed this space, but after the universe's timeline was reset, no one remembered the area existed, making it inaccessible to anyone.
Roger wouldn't have been able to open it either if not for the gem Andrea had left him.
Thus…
The Reality Stone glowed once more, and the blank white wall before him split down the middle, revealing a narrow gap. With a grinding sound, the wall slowly parted on either side.
What unfolded before Roger was a fantastical sight that reminded him of Harry Potter's first visit to Diagon Alley. It was a whimsical scene, entirely incongruous with the high-tech style of Stark's home.
As the white wall fully opened, a large space came into view.
The room was a blend of advanced technology and magical aesthetics. Though it wasn't large, less than a hundred square meters, it was packed with various items.
The first thing to catch Roger's eye was a suit of armor at the center of the room.
The armor, predominantly silver-white, resembled the Mark series of Iron Man suits but lacked a helmet. Several areas of the suit were also unarmored, and its most striking feature was the cape draped behind it. The silver-white cape, paired with the armor, gave it a medieval knightly appearance rather than a modern suit of armor.
Flanking the central armor were cabinets filled with unique items.
These cabinets resembled display cases, containing additional armor and peculiar devices whose functions Roger couldn't discern.
But the most notable feature of the room was the teleportation device situated on one side.
"It's smaller than I thought…"
Ignoring the armor and other miscellaneous items, Roger approached the teleportation device for a closer look.
The device was a flat circular platform placed on the ground, with its center glowing faintly, indicating the energy source. Six antenna-like structures tilted inward around the circumference of the circle at equal intervals.
The device wasn't large, only about three meters in diameter, and resembled an elevator to an unknown destination more than a teleportation device.
As Roger studied the device, he considered whether to use it immediately.
However, he hesitated. He hadn't yet introduced the Guardians of the Galaxy to the Avengers. Their ship was currently hovering in Earth's orbit, and without an explanation, they could easily be mistaken for invaders.
Roger decided it would be better to inform Nick Fury first, to avoid any unnecessary conflict between the two groups.
But just as he was about to leave, the room suddenly dimmed.
When Roger had first entered, the room had been brightly illuminated, with white light flooding the space as if it were daytime.
Now, every light had gone out, plunging the room into near-total darkness except for the faint light spilling in from the door.
If the door hadn't remained open, Roger might have thought he'd walked into a trap.
Click,
"…"
Turning around, Roger saw the door shut itself just as he thought, "This isn't a trap." The irony was not lost on him, and his lips twitched in mild irritation.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Standing in the darkened room, Roger felt no fear. With three Infinity Stones in his possession and enough strength to demolish the entire tower, he had no concern about being trapped.
He was merely curious about why the room had gone dark.
It didn't take long for the answer to reveal itself.
A few seconds later, a holographic image appeared before Roger. The image was spherical, with intricate, hollow designs resembling…
"…An artificial intelligence?"
Roger murmured.
Indeed, the orb looked remarkably like the AI cores featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Both J.A.R.V.I.S.'s and Ultron's initial cores had similar designs, differing only in color and size.
This AI, glowing pale blue, bore some resemblance to Ultron's core but with a lighter hue.
As the AI appeared, faint electronic waves flickered across it, seemingly calibrating itself.
Once the calibration finished, the room's lights came back on, and the AI remained visible. A gentle female voice greeted Roger:
"Welcome back, Anthea."
"…"
Roger realized the AI had mistaken him for its former owner, Andrea, or "Anthea."
After a moment of silence, Roger addressed the AI:
"I'm not Anthea. You've made a mistake."
"Analyzing… Life wavelength similarity: 98.6%. I have not made a mistake, Anthea."
"…?"
Life wavelength? What even is that?
Roger was momentarily confused, but upon glancing down at the glowing Reality Stone embedded in his chest, he understood. This was likely Andrea's "gift" to him.
She must have programmed the Reality Stone to record her life wavelength and trigger it under certain conditions, ensuring the AI would assist the successor she had chosen to complete her unfinished tasks.
Now understanding Andrea's intent, Roger decided not to argue further. Instead, he said to the AI:
"…Fine, but don't call me Anthea anymore. I've changed my name."
"Understood. Please provide the new name."
"Roger. Call me Roger."
"Name updated. Welcome back, Roger."
The AI spoke in its soft, melodic voice.
With the name updated and the AI now acknowledging him, Roger asked:
"What's your name?"
The AI paused momentarily, seemingly processing Roger's question. To it, Roger was its master, so it didn't expect such a query.
But after a brief hesitation, the AI replied, "Athena."
"Named after the Greek goddess of wisdom?"
"Yes."
Athena responded softly.
"Athena…"
Roger stroked his chin, repeating the name.
It was evident Andrea had grand ambitions. Naming her AI after a Greek goddess likely signified her desire for Athena to evolve into a truly sentient being.
Recalling how Andrea had spoken of wanting to become the pinnacle of all life in Odin's memories, Roger began to understand the kind of person Andrea was.
Unlike him, a laid-back drifter, Andrea was someone with grand dreams and lofty aspirations.
"Well, the bigger the dream, the faster you die. In that sense, your death wasn't in vain."
Muttering to himself, Roger turned back to Athena and asked, "Athena, is the teleportation device operational?"
"Yes. During your absence of 816,332 hours, the lab consumed only 5% of its energy. The remaining energy is sufficient for 56 uses of the teleportation device."
"Wow… 816,000 hours…"
Roger did some quick calculations and realized it equated to over 93 years.
Athena had been dormant for more than eight decades. Just how many times had the Marvel Cinematic Universe's timeline been reset?
Shaking his head, Roger decided not to dwell on it. For now, he was more curious about the lab itself.
Determined to uncover its secrets, Roger turned to Athena and asked:
"Athena, can you give me an overview of this lab? I'm curious."
"Of course, Roger."
Athena's tone was light and pleasant.
For a moment, Roger thought he detected a hint of joy in her response.
...
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