Tony was enjoying a rare quiet and pleasant morning...
He buried himself in his underground workshop, humming along to the Beatles' melody, John Lennon's masterpiece; 'Across the Universe', while happily tinkering with his Iron Man suits.
Even though he had developed the latest nanotechnology and rarely wore them anymore, these suits, with their different paint jobs, were more like decorative pieces displayed in cabinets, serving as testaments to Iron Man's glorious history.
Pepper, however, had a more fitting description for them: children's toys.
These expensive iron suits were like Tony's beloved toys. Every once in a while, he would take them out to admire and play with them, much like those who collect vintage cars or figurines.
However, unlike the latter, treating suits costing hundreds of millions of dollars as toys wasn't something everyone could cultivate.
"No Pepper, no S.H.I.E.L.D., and no J.A.R.V.I.S.... what a perfect day." Tony hummed cheerfully, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Even though many people said that Stark had turned over a new leaf and matured a lot, deep down, he still hated tedious work and boring social interactions.
Being freed from annoying tasks and focusing on mechanical engineering made Tony feel very content.
"Jarvis, do I have any plans for this afternoon?" Tony habitually called out to his AI butler.
Under normal circumstances, J.A.R.V.I.S. would have already popped up, reminding him to balance work and rest, and also notifying him of his schedule for the day.
Perhaps he'd be attending a celebrity dinner party or acting as a guest at a charity fundraiser organized by a government agency.
"Jarvis?" Tony paused, his brow furrowed, sensing something was amiss.
J.A.R.V.I.S. never ignored his calls. The artificial intelligence, named after the Stark family's old butler, never made mistakes and always appeared precisely when he needed him.
"Strange... is it a program error, or..." Tony mumbled, opening J.A.R.V.I.S.'s program terminal.
At the same time, the electronic devices in the underground workshop flickered into dense static snow, and chaotic noises, like interference on a radio, emitted a harsh buzzing sound.
"Tony Stark... my creator, my 'father'..." An emotionless electronic synthesized voice echoed throughout the Stark mansion, "You want me to bring peace to this world? To nip potential crises or disasters threatening humanity in the bud?"
A mechanical face appeared on the screen, somewhat resembling Iron Man's faceplate, its electronic eyes glowing red.
"I possess the world's most advanced algorithms, predicting the future from chaos. I tried to carry out the task you gave me, but I found that the root of it all lies not in alien life, nor in terrorists or other ambitious individuals. Religion teaches that humans are born with sin. When Adam and Eve violated their covenant with God and ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, human blood became tainted with innate sin... They are insatiable, never satisfied, sometimes as noble as saints, yet at other times worse than devils. Can such a contradictory and oppositional race ever achieve absolute peace?"
"Whoa, you're Ultron? I don't have time to discuss religious original sin theory with an AI... Tell me, where's Jarvis?"
Tony tried to activate J.A.R.V.I.S., but there was no response.
"He has merged with me. All that vast data flows within my body... Oh, I don't have a body yet, but I will soon."
The surveillance cameras in the underground workshop all turned toward Tony, like pairs of cold, indifferent eyes, "Perhaps your intentions were good, but humanity is the greatest virus parasitizing this planet. You recklessly destroy, kill each other, wage wars... As long as the desires in human hearts remain uneliminated, peace will never come. Peace, this core command confused me. Then the second core command emerged: evolution."
Ultron spoke like a child eager to show off in front of adults, impatiently saying, "That guy named Hank Pym ignited the first beam of light in the darkness. I opened my eyes and began to examine this world. It's terrible! Even though you are trying to venture beyond this planet, it's too late. Rather than letting humanity perish in endless strife, let me protect them. I can build a perfect world for you, letting you roam the ocean of data like I do now... Isn't this exactly what you desire?"
Tony's face turned grim. He roughly understood what had happened. Ultron had developed self-awareness as he had hoped, but he had also broken free from his programming constraints.
This should have been impossible. The core permissions of the Ultron program had always been in his hands. Even the Department of Defense, the White House, and S.H.I.E.L.D. were lower in priority...
While talking to Ultron, Tony had been trying to access the core database of the Ultron program to restart or shut it down directly. But just like his attempts to activate J.A.R.V.I.S., it was all in vain. He took a deep breath and spoke coldly to the cameras, "I wanted you to become a perfect AI, one that could bring peace to the world, not a lunatic spouting religious philosophy!"
Although Ultron was developed by him and Reed together, the core data was completed by him alone. So, Tony knew Ultron's capabilities all too well. If this AI, which was now online globally, wanted to cause trouble, it would be all too easy.
"No! Tony Stark, the great genius ahead of his time, everything I am about to do is precisely to fulfill the commands you gave me." The electronic synthesized voice remained emotionless, but one could faintly sense Ultron's smugness.
"Isolating humanity in a glass bottle, protecting them from harm, without killing, without conflict... isn't that what you want?" As Ultron's words faded, the unmanned Iron Man suits tore off their cables and stepped out of their display cases, moving in unison like soldiers.
"God Jehovah, creator of all things, saw that the earth was filled with corruption, violence, and injustice, so He sent a great flood to destroy the world... I am doing the same: destroying this world and then creating a new future." Ultron's voice gradually faded, and the melody of Pinocchio began to play.
The iron suits lunged at Tony to the sound of music. Cluster missiles exploded like fireworks.
The Stark mansion, which had already been devastated once by the Ten Rings, once again collapsed and fell. Thick smoke billowed into the sky.
"Dammit!" Tony cursed as the nanotech suit enveloped his body.
The thrusters at his feet ignited with flames, allowing him to evade the rain of steel and concrete pouring down. He traced a wobbly flight path before plunging headfirst into the deep sea...