I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 33: 032: The Master of Tactical Shifts

When Kraft awoke from his dream, he didn’t rush to create the Red Queen as he usually did. Although he could simply copy the operations from his dream—just as he had done when creating H. A. R. O. —whenever he encountered something he didn’t understand, Red Queen was, after all, created by the unscrupulous Umbrella Corporation to work for them. Kraft wasn’t entirely sure what dangerous elements might be embedded within her code. So even though Kraft had witnessed Red Queen’s formidable ability to manipulate the network in his dream, he didn’t lose his head. No matter how tempted he was, he had to wait until he’d thoroughly analyzed all the code first. Of course, he first replicated the supercomputer used to host Red Queen exactly as it was. With Haro’s assistance, analyzing Red Queen’s source code wasn’t as difficult as he’d imagined—though it did consume a significant amount of processing power. His previous computer struggled to handle the task, but fortunately, Kraft had just acquired a supercomputer. With the more powerful computer and the assistance of the AI Haro, it still took Kraft two and a half days to fully analyze Red Queen’s source code. As expected, in addition to the Red Queen AI itself, the code contained some of Umbrella’s experimental data and various plans. However, Kraft had already seen most of this content in his dreams, so he deleted it all without a moment’s hesitation. Next came Red Queen’s virtual appearance. Kraft immediately rejected the image of the little white girl and, after some thought, decided to use the likeness of Dr. Higashigumo from his dreams. Furthermore, judging by Red Queen’s behavior in the dream, her emotional system seemed less developed than Haro’s—and certainly couldn’t compare to Alice’s. Kraft had considered adding some emotional logic to her, but ultimately decided against it. First, his technology hadn’t yet reached the level where he could independently develop artificial intelligence. If he simply forced the emotional logic code from Haro or Alice into Red Queen’s source code, who knows what uncontrollable changes might result. Second, Red Queen’s network intrusion capabilities are far too powerful; the rigid, mechanical thinking she exhibits in the dream actually ensures she won’t easily spiral out of control. If she truly possessed a human emotional system and went through a rebellious phase or something, Kraft wouldn’t have the ability to rein her in. So let’s just leave it at that. Kraft typed the final line of code, then solemnly pressed the Enter key. A green stream of data flowed rapidly across the screen, gradually taking the form of a cute little girl with long golden hair and big, sparkling blue eyes. Her features, however, were distinctly Asian. She wore a slightly oversized white lab coat, the hem of which reached all the way to her ankles, while the long sleeves almost completely concealed her arms, revealing only a faint glimpse of her fingertips. “Hello, Angela.” Kraft smiled and waved at the little girl on the screen. Although he had retained the codename “Red Queen” for this new AI, he hadn’t deleted the name “Angela” because of Alice. Although Kraft would have preferred to use the little loli from Higashikumo’s original name, terms like “Doctor,” “Hakase,” or “Doctor” all sounded more like codenames than actual names—and weren’t much better than “Red Queen.” So, after much deliberation, he settled on the name of Dr. Charles’s daughter from his dream. “Hello, Kraft.” Angela on the screen wasn’t nearly as cute as Dr. Higashikumo had been in the dream; her little face was cold and expressionless. “Well then… let’s start by testing the waters with the Stark family’s AI.” Kraft licked his lips and ordered, with a hint of excitement. “Hello, you’ll assist Angela!” “Mission commence, mission commence.” Although Angela’s network penetration capabilities were stronger, Haro was more agile when it came to blocking information and evading tracking—a difference rooted in the two AIs’ distinct specializations. With Haro’s assistance, Angela’s movements became even more elusive, while Angela’s support boosted Haro’s computational power. The two complemented each other perfectly, creating a synergy where one plus one was far greater than two. “Beep, beep, beep—” Tony Stark, who had been sleeping in his king-size bed while cradling the latest issue of *Playboy* featuring the cover girl, was jolted awake by a series of urgent alarms. He bolted upright in bed. “What’s going on, JARVIS?” “Your network is under attack, Mr. Stark.” Even as he fended off Angela’s attack, JARVIS didn’t forget to answer Stark’s question immediately. “Judging by the hacking technique, it appears to be that same unknown AI from before—and it’s gotten even stronger.” “Get out of here on your own—I don’t have time for you right now!” Stark pulled up his pants, flung a stack of bills at the cover girl—who had just come to and hadn’t yet figured out what was going on—then, bare-chested, strode quickly toward his underground lab. The cover girl watched Stark walk away without looking back, at a loss. She grabbed the stack of bills tossed in front of her, intending to throw them at him,but her hand, clutching the bills, paused for a moment by her head before slowly dropping back down. She then hummed a tune to herself as she tucked the money into the limited-edition purse Stark had given her the day before, and only then did she leisurely begin to get dressed. Tony Stark walked into his lab, sat down at the computer that Jarvis had already booted up, and began typing rapidly on the keyboard. “You slipped away last time by accident, but this time it won’t be so easy!” Far from being angry that his network had been hacked, Stark actually felt a long-lost sense of excitement. Thanks to JARVIS, ordinary hackers were no match for him at all. Even that “High Tide” organization—JARVIS had caught the mastermind the moment they broke in. If Stark hadn’t been too lazy to bother with them, the data JARVIS had hacked from their computers alone would have ensured not a single one of them got away. But this time was different. The opponent was an AI just like JARVIS—and one that was constantly learning and evolving. This sparked a rare desire to compete in Stark, who had long been bored by the lack of worthy opponents. Although Mr. Tony Stark charged in with full confidence, reality is always cruel. With Angela and Harlow working in tandem, even Jarvis and Tony Stark together couldn’t hold them off. Soon, Stark’s defensive network was breached by Angela and Harlow working together, leaving the Stark family’s database completely exposed to Kraft. Under normal circumstances, Stark would have immediately cut off the network and used physical means to protect the data on his computer from intrusion. However, Kraft, in order to test Angela’s abilities, chose to launch a direct attack. And given Tony Stark’s pride, after being defeated head-on, he simply couldn’t bring himself to admit defeat by cutting off the network—a move he considered cowardly. “Jarvis! Keep tracking down the origin of this AI!” Tony Stark roared, his eyes red with fury. He had chosen to completely abandon his own defenses, channeling all his strength into a counterattack. “Mr. Stark, I must remind you that doing so will result in the leakage of all the data on your computer.” Jarvis dutifully issued the warning while carrying out Tony Stark’s orders. “That doesn’t matter! I have to root out this cowardly bastard!” Stark roared. Tony Stark had never been treated this unfairly in his entire life!