Mechanical Life “Vis”

A Faint Spark: a faint, starlike spark containing mysterious energy. Blue rare Item Card.

A strand of mysterious energy derived from the origin of the universe. It had no category, yet possessed the extraordinary power to grant life to machines.

Once sufficient spark energy completely permeated a machine, it would begin to merge with it. The machine itself would gain the ability to evolve and transform, becoming a highly intelligent new mechanical lifeform with a certain superpowered talent.

The direction in which that talent developed was related to the machine’s original form.

Current status: Can be materialized. Because the spark was too faint, it could not merge with medium- or large-sized machines and could only merge with small mechanical objects.

With a thought, Kyle withdrew from Card Space. He held the Item Card between his fingers, his azure eyes gleaming with wonder. "A spark that can grant machines the evolution to become humanlike intelligent lifeforms… creating mechanical life?"

Artificial Intelligence! It was what Howard had pursued for half his life. Even with the future concepts Kyle had given him, along with Wakanda’s advanced technological resources, Howard had only managed to create a semi-intelligent system butler. He was still unimaginably far from the fully developed super Artificial Intelligence System, Jarvis.

Not to mention mechanical life. It was only in the future, when Iron Man Tony and Hulk Banner worked together to refine and derive the Artificial Intelligence System, then fused it with the weapons of the Iron Man Armor, that they accidentally created the true meaning of it: Ultron!

Vision, meanwhile, was an evolved lifeform built upon Ultron’s foundation, with the addition of vibranium, the Mind Stone, and Asgardian divine power.

"With this A Faint Spark, I can directly give small machines brand-new life…" Kyle recovered from his daze and clicked his tongue in amazement.

If Howard found out, he would probably cry on the spot.

"What should I use to carry this spark?" Kyle thought for a moment, then quickly made up his mind and drew out a card. Once it materialized, a small, exquisitely crafted smartphone rested in his left palm.

The smartphone was modeled after an Apple smartphone and had been painstakingly processed and modified, exuding a stylish sense of technology. Its metal shell shone with a cold gleam, while the English logo of Stark Industries was emblazoned on the back.

Two or three years ago, Kyle had used this phone to become acquainted with Howard. Before Kyle left Earth, Howard had rushed to modify it and left it with him as a keepsake.

In Howard’s words, the phone’s casing had been reinforced with vibranium, while a compact intelligent chip had been implanted inside. Together with Jarvis’s voice program system, it was already the perfect masterpiece Howard could achieve.

"Howard gave you a body. I’ll give you the soul within."

Kyle smiled faintly, and with a flicker of thought, the card materialized!

The card between the fingers of his right hand vanished as if it had spontaneously combusted, turning into a wisp of pale blue flame that floated quietly above his palm. Its firelight flickered dimly, looking as though a single breath could extinguish it.

Kyle raised his right hand and brought that faint, dim blue flame close to the smartphone in his left hand.

The flame seemed conscious and willingly attached itself before sinking into the phone. The next moment, something miraculous happened.

Crackling arcs of electricity wrapped around the smartphone’s body. Then, its metal shell and internal chip mechanically upgraded and unfolded, rapidly forming mechanical limbs, a small head, and even robotic facial features.

In less than five seconds, a tiny mechanical creature stood steadily on two feet in Kyle’s left palm. It humanly raised a mechanical hand and inspected itself up and down with electronic eyes.

The mechanical creature looked up at Kyle, then lowered its body neither humbly nor arrogantly and gave a gentlemanly bow. "Honored Master, thank you for granting me a brand-new life."

"You’re Jarvis?" Kyle was slightly surprised, because the mechanical creature had unmistakably spoken in Jarvis’s voice.

A stream of program data flashed through the mechanical creature’s eyes before he gently stated his conclusion. "I am Jarvis, but I am also not Jarvis. I am myself—a unique new life created by Master."

"I’m speechless." Kyle laughed.

Ultron and Vision had likewise been created with Jarvis as their foundation, yet they were entirely new individual lifeforms. From a biological perspective, they felt somewhat like siblings.

However, the one before him could be considered the ancestor of the future Jarvis.

"Then what should I call you?" Kyle pondered.

"I am your personal butler and attendant. You may call me Vis."

The mechanical lifeform kept his posture extremely humble. His voice was gentle yet firm, making people feel very reassured and comfortable.

Vis—when transliterated back into Chinese, it meant "thought," once again revealing the human side of mechanical life.

"Vis, I need to know your specific abilities and what kind of assistance you can provide me," Kyle asked directly. Who would be overly polite with his own phone?

Vis nodded. His body mechanically shifted and transformed, returning to its original smartphone form in half a second. His voice came from the speaker. "The spark has given me the ability to transform."

As he spoke, he successively transformed into a pair of Tactical Glasses, a Mechanical Watch, and finally returned to his mechanical humanoid form. "But only into machine-type items not too different in size from my original body."

"What else?" Kyle nodded. Transformation was an excellent basic ability. After all, carrying a little robot around with him would be far too conspicuous.

"Because my original body is a smartphone, I can control Radio Waves. Through radio waves, I can attempt to infiltrate intelligent systems and equipment within range, or conduct precise small-scale reconnaissance using radio waves."

Vis spread his hands. Without doing anything visible, the voice-controlled lights in Kyle’s underground warehouse suddenly went out, then lit up again.

"Transformation is the racial talent granted by the spark, while radio wave control is a trait granted by my smartphone body. Beyond that, I possess all the upgraded functions of the phone itself."

Vis spoke slowly as he once again shut off the warehouse lights. Using his electronic eyes as projection lenses, he emitted soft beams that formed a holographic projection.

The three-dimensional projection displayed dozens of glowing smart applications—alarms, communications, timers, music, films, search engines, and more. There was also a Q-shaped smiling face beside them.

"Very good." Surprise kept flashing through Kyle’s eyes. This was already enough to exceed his expectations.

He had originally thought that, without a supercomputer serving as the operating core for information processing, the mechanical creature’s intelligence would be far inferior to Jarvis’s. Now it seemed that the spark’s power had thoroughly upgraded and evolved the phone’s original body.

"Normally, transform into a Mechanical Watch. When necessary, Tactical Glasses will work too." Kyle considered it. Vis’s mechanical body contained vibranium, and with vibranium’s defensive properties, even the fiercest battles would find it difficult to damage him.

"Right, what do you usually need to eat?" Kyle slapped his forehead. His habitual way of thinking had kept him from immediately treating Vis as a true living being.

"Any form of energy will do, whether solid or liquid."

Vis’s electronic eyes flickered, carrying a distinctly human trace of anticipation for delicious food.