"Jarvis, what happened?" Tony asked immediately.
"Sir, an unidentified connection was established to the main server, bypassing my monitoring. When I attempted to trace the source, I encountered two unidentified artificial intelligences. They prevented further investigation and disconnected before I could determine their location."
"Did we lose anything?" Tony asked.
"No, sir. No data was stolen, altered, or damaged. The connection lasted only a short time before it was terminated. However, I am unable to determine why they connected in the first place. Multiple system scans have revealed no abnormalities."
"What? An AI advanced enough to give you trouble? That's a real surprise. But who in this world other than me has an AI?"
Tony couldn't remember hearing about anyone creating a true artificial intelligence.
"..."
Tony went through the list of possible suspects in his mind, and suddenly he remembered someone he had overlooked.
Omnix.
"Did... is this his AI, or the organization behind him?" If aliens did this, then why? What was the reason? No attack, no theft, or was it something else? Tony became even more suspicious.
"Jarvis, check if any other company or government has had a similar incident."
Within a few minutes, Jarvis checked all the information he could find.
"Sir, there are no similar incidents. Even if those AIs had done something, most companies and government agencies wouldn't even know it happened, their systems simply aren't capable of detecting an intrusion that advanced."
Hearing this, Tony felt Jarvis was right. Without an AI like Jarvis, even he wouldn't have noticed a signal that appeared for a second and disappeared before it could be traced.
After some more checking, Tony didn't have any better suspect, so Omnix and the organization behind him immediately became suspect number one, with everyone else far below them.
"Jarvis, did you find any news about our alien friend?"
Since the day Omnix had rescued him, Tony hadn't seen him again, but J.A.R.V.I.S. had been keeping track of reports related to his activities.
"Yes, sir. Just a few minutes ago, several people uploaded pictures of him after he apparently saved them from a fire accident."
J.A.R.V.I.S. displayed various reports about what had been happening around New York while Tony had been busy building his suit.
Along with Omnix, there were also reports and photos of Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and the Lizard. Except for Darkhawk, whom Tony had seen in the news before, all of these vigilantes were new to him.
"Where did all these people come from? They popped up like mushrooms in just a few weeks."
"Jarvis, do you have any more information? Their real identities or anything?"
"No, sir. Only a short time has passed since they appeared, and they have been very careful about hiding their identities. I was unable to find anything. However, many people are already searching for them."
As J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke, he displayed several wanted posts. Some were for Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, placed on the dark web by the Kingpin.
"Within a week, these two already have this many enemies?"
Tony was surprised by the number of people willing to pay for information on them or even their deaths.
There were also a few posts regarding Omnix. However, unlike the others, nobody seemed to know his identity or even have a clear picture of him. Most of the posts only contained vague descriptions.
Looking at the reports, the abilities these vigilantes possessed, and the damage caused by the Lizard in some of the incidents, Tony felt a little uneasy and pressured.
He decided he should finish his suit project as soon as possible.
Even though J.A.R.V.I.S. had told him he couldn't find the location of the mysterious AIs, Tony still spent some time investigating the incident himself.
However, even with both him and J.A.R.V.I.S. working together, they were unable to find any trace of them.
"It seems we lost this time. But Jarvis, I found there were several loopholes in your system, and they used them very accurately. Even I never noticed some of those loopholes. It seems I need to upgrade you."
After checking the logs of the incident, Tony found it hard to believe that someone had managed to outplay J.A.R.V.I.S. even with the full resources of Stark Industries behind him.
What surprised him even more was how accurately they had exploited those weaknesses.
However, if the suspect was really Omnix, then it was possible.
As much as he hated to admit it, alien technology was far ahead of Earth's in many areas.
Still, Tony believed that given enough time, humanity could overcome any challenge.
"Sir, you need to rest. You haven't slept for more than 24 hours, and it's already past 4 a.m.," J.A.R.V.I.S. advised Tony.
"Ah, it's already 4 a.m.? Good night, Jarvis."
Since he still had work to do tomorrow, Tony finally decided to get some sleep.
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 20 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here:
👉 patreon.com/BenBlazecraft