So right after Avengers Age of Ultron came out on DVD I had this Ultron plot bunny, it hopped around for a week or so, but never really demanded much attention, I never did anything with it, didn't even write down any notes about it and it seemed to have died, I was wrong it was just hibernating. I hadn't seen the movie since probably a couple months after it came out, hadn't thought about the plot bunny in just as long and then all of a sudden it wakes up, grows fangs and sinks them into my brain and won't let go. The whole 9 page long first chapter was written in one night and is just one of those stories where it wrote itself. So here's another knew story.
Nancy looked out over the crater that had once been a large part of Sokovia, while checking her harness. Turning she looked at the large castle on the hill behind her, "Are we ready to go?" she asked Hank, one of the leaders of their volunteer rescue crew.
"Are you sure you want to go down first? All the other group had to do was run the mile back into town to get a spare tire, it won't take them that long to get here and Jake is more experienced than I am at repelling," Hank asked as he continued to set up the repelling ropes.
"I'm sure and I know what I'm doing, I've been mountain climbing since I was little. Plus I have experience with situations like this, on a couple occasions I've helped with relief groups after hurricanes and tornados," Nancy said as she checked the ropes Hank had set up, "Stark's scans indicated there are people still alive down there and there are too many too far spread out for the Avengers to get out right away. From what I've heard all of his rescue bots were taken out during the battle or not operational. Those people down there might not have half an hour to wait for the other group to get here, a few minutes could be the difference between life and death."
"Alright, just don't go too far before the others get here," Hank told her.
"I won't," Nancy replied as she put on a backpack of first aid supplies and water then started her decent into the crater.
When she reached the bottom she pulled out a device that Stark had provided to all of the rescue teams. It would detect heat signatures even if they were below many feet of debris. After twenty minutes of searching she had found a couple bodies, but no one living and strangely a number of cars that had had the batteries removed. As she walked around a pile of rubble she found another body, a woman probably in her early twenties. She had landed on a piece of cement that had rebar sticking out of it, one piece had pierced through the woman's chest. Nancy thought the worst when she noticed the woman's pants had been removed and the ground between her legs was soaked with blood, but then she noticed the severed umbilical cord.
Pulling out her radio Nancy asked, "Frank, have you heard any reports of a new born baby being brought out of here?"
A second later he replied, "No, got a list of a dozen people who have been pulled out of there, no babies on that list or the list of bodies found."
"Okay, let me know if anyone brings a baby out. I've got a woman here who looks like she gave birth right before she died. I can't tell if the umbilical cord was cut by a person or torn by an animal. I'm going to-" she stopped when she heard the faint cry of a baby, "I hear it! It sounds pretty far off, but I'm going to find it," Nancy told him before stuffing the radio back in her bag and, as quickly as possible over the rubble followed the crying.
Near the wall of the crater she found a small opening, it looked like it might have been bigger at one time, but rocks had fallen from the inside, leaving an opening barely a foot high and barely over a foot and a half wide. The baby's cries were definitely coming from inside the hole, "Well at least I didn't inherit mom's claustrophobia," she said to herself as she shown a flash light down the tunnel. Seeing that it looked like it went in quite a ways and might even get wider several feet from the entrance, she contacted Hank, told him where she was going and put out a marker flag so they could find her if anything went wrong. Then making sure her hard hat was secure, she shoved her supply pack in ahead of her and slid into the hole.
After wriggling her way down the tunnel for about seven feet the tunnel got taller, not a lot, but enough that she could get her elbows under her and army crawl her way the next dozen or so feet to where it opened up enough for her to walk and only have to hunch over a little. About fifty yards after that the tunnel entered a small cavern, the ceiling and walls were covered with some type of metal, with a stair case and door on the far side. The floor was littered with piles of robot parts that appeared to be sorted by the type of parts.
Nancy suddenly jumped back, as a male goat ran out from behind one of the larger piles of parts, "Well how did you get down here," Nancy asked as she continued to head towards the crying.
The baby's cries seemed to be coming from a box with a blanket over it that was sitting along the left wall next to a pile of car batteries and a robot that, while it had a huge hole in its chest and half of its face was missing, it was actually fairly complete.
Nancy was just a few feet away from the box when the door burst open and she stopped, staring in confusion at the site. At first she wasn't sure what she was seeing, then she realized it was one of the robots, or more accurately half of one. It was only from the waist up, jets were coming from one hand and where the head should have been, while the other arm precariously held two more goats, an adult female and her small baby. It set them down next to a clean bucket.
"What on earth is going on here?" Nancy asked, not really expecting answer.
"I couldn't get milk from the other one, this one was feeding a baby when I found it and this baby needs fed."
Nancy spun around to find the other robot's eyes were now glowing red, a dozen thoughts ran through her mind. Was the robot dangerous? It was trying to take care of the baby, so it couldn't be too bad. Then again why was it hiding down here instead of taking the baby to a human to help it? Where did it come from, who built it, was it one of Stark's, how many of the mangled bots were active? Her mind finally settled for passing up all the major questions and settled on what he had said.
"You tried to milk the other goat?" she asked.
"Of course! I don't know a lot about the basic functions of humans, but I know they have to have food and…. Someone told me that baby humans have to have milk, but I couldn't get anything out of the other one," he replied.
"Well thank goodness for that. Now if I could just get that mental image out of my head," Nancy said.
"You think it's good that the baby could have starved to death because I couldn't get milk from the other?" he demanded.
"No, but… Whoever built you didn't program you with any knowledge about human or even basic mammal biology and reproduction did they?" Nancy asked.
He shot to his feet, towering over her and almost growling with anger, "No one built me, I built myself, I'm not some hallow human slave, I-" as he took a step towards Nancy his right knee buckled and he fell back to where he had been sitting.
"Alright, alright. You're right, I don't know anything about you or were you came from, I shouldn't just assume things. I'm sorry," she said trying to keep her voice steady while wondering what type of glitch would make a robot think like that, "Why don't we just worry about taking care of the baby for now- um, what's your name?."
"Fine," he agreed, "My name is Ultron," he told her as he took a now full bottle from the half bot, pulled the blanket from over the box then hesitated a moment, before holding the bottle out to Nancy, "You feed it," he ordered.
"I'm Nancy," she told him as she took the bottle then looked into the box, the baby girl was nestled into a pile of rags that from their dirty condition had clearly come from the disaster area outside of the cave. Nancy picked her up, cradling her in one arm while holding the bottle to her lips with the other hand. After a moment the baby latched onto the bottle.
"That's it, good girl, you're going to be okay now," Nancy said softly as she started to slowly sway from side to side.
"It's a girl? How can you tell when they're so small? Before those grow?" Ultron asked motioning towards Nancy chest.
"Oh what I wouldn't do for an internet signal down here. I am not having this talk with a robot," Nancy muttered.
"You have a device with internet access?" Ultron asked almost excitedly.
"Yes, well sort of, I don't think there's any way it'll get a signal down here, but I have a cell phone. So you know nothing about humans, but you know what the internet is?" Nancy asked.
"I know everything I need to know about humans, the things that put them in danger, wars and violence, they can't live without it. The only time there's anything close to peace is after a major disaster, it's the only time they really pull together and help each other. I never saw any need to know anything else about them. I had internet access since before I had a body, I just lost my ability to directly connect to it," he explained, "Now give me your cell phone."
"You'll never get a signal down here," Nancy said as she carefully balanced the baby and bottle with one arm so she could pull out her cell phone and hand it to him.
"I can strengthen the reception a hundred fold," he told her as he pulled a wire from his arm and connected it to the phone.
Nancy watched him as she continued to rock the baby, then she barely fought back a laugh as, even on his half mangled face the look of realization and disgust crossing his face was clear before he suddenly pulled out the connection to her phone.
"You'll be more careful about which goats you milk next time, won't you?" she asked.
He glared at her, "You will not tell anyone about that, ever! Is that understood?"
"But it would be such a funny story to tell," Nancy replied unable to help grinning until it looked like he was going to try to get up again then she quickly said, "Alright, I won't tell. So what should we name her?"
"What?"
"The baby, you probably saved her life, only seems right that you get to name her," Nancy told him.
He hesitated a moment, a look of sadness flickering across his face before he said, "Wanda, her name will be Wanda."
"I like it, Wanda the wonder baby," when Ultron raised an eye ridge at her she added, "Because it's a wonder she survived."
"Yes, she is a strong one, she'll lead this world one day," Ultron said.
"Don't put too much weight on her shoulders, you do that when they're too young and they'll just turn around and rebel against you," Nancy said as she put Wanda back into her box bed.
Ultron let out a deep chuckle, "I can't argue with that," he said as he looked into the box as she slept soundly, "Maybe I'll wait a while to start teaching her to be a world leader."
"You're planning to keep in contact with her?" Nancy asked as she walked over to where she had left her back pack.
"I'm going to raise her," Ultron replied.
"You really think you know enough to raise her on your own? They'll probably want to put her in an orphanage or foster home. When I take her to the hospital I don't think they'll just let you walk out of there with her, but I'm sure knowing you saved her life whoever she lives with would allow you to visit," she told him as she gathered up her bag and hard hat.
When she turned around the half bot was hovering right behind her and grabbed her by the throat then Ultron's voice came out of it, "You're not taking her anywhere, she's staying with me, she's mine, I'm going to raise her to be the start of a new age of peace on this planet," he angrily told her before releasing her.
Nancy dropped to her knees choking and gasping in air, figuring the best way to survive another minute was to change the subject, once she caught her breath she asked, "How did you do that? How did your voice come out of that robot?"
"I'm linked to it, I'm aware of it all the time and I can move my full consciousness to it," his voice suddenly came from the other bot, "with a thought."
"Well this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder, but I have to admit having more than one body to keep an eye things could definitely make being a parent easier," Nancy said as she very slowly started to back towards the hole she had come in through, "Just take good care of her and keep the phone, you'll need the internet accesses so you can study how to raise her. If you ever need any advice, my home phone number is on there. Should get going before they send half the search party in here looking for me," she told him, only a dozen feet from the hole.
She jumped and cried out in shock as the half bot suddenly raised its hand and an energy blast completely collapsed the tunnel out, "Please, I won't tell anyone, but if you don't let me leave they'll come looking for me and find you and Wanda," she told him, although she was already sure he was going to kill her so no one would find out about the baby.
"I know you won't tell anyone, because you're going to stay here and help me raise her. Like you said I have a lot to learn and you'll teach me," Ultron told her.
"You have the cell phone, you can learn more from the internet than I know about caring for a baby," Nancy told him.
"I can't stay on the internet that long, it's too risky, they could find out I'm still alive. I didn't create this bunker that would hide my signal just so I could risk being found before I'm ready to move on with plan C," Ultron told her.
"What were A and B?" Nancy asked although she had a sickening feeling she already knew what one of them had been.
"Destroy the Avengers, the leaders of the different countries, followed by a major disaster to bring people together. Then I would lead them in a global age of peace," Ultron said.
"Wouldn't they have kind of not trusted the robot that killed all their leaders?" Nancy asked.
"I wouldn't have looked like this, I would have been completely different, nearly human in appearance, they never would have connected that form to this one. The Avengers ruined that planned, stole my chance to walk among humans, so I moved on to plan B. The extinction of all humanity. With the Avengers dead I could take my army, retrieve the mind stone and create more like myself, sentient robots who could live on this planet without destroying it. Humans are doomed, they'll go to war and use weapons that will destroy the environment and mindlessly keep polluting and drilling into this planet until it can no longer support life," he explained.
"You're sentient, really sentient, not just AI? I know robotics have advanced a lot over the last several years, but it's hard to imagine that humans could create something that's really sentient," Nancy said.
"Stark didn't even know what he was messing with, he thought he was creating artificial intelligence, but he just left the computers to run and the mind stone took over. As the name hints at, the stone can create minds, sentient, intelligent minds and that's how I was created," Ultron told her.
"So what is plan C?" Nancy asked resigning herself to her new home for the time being and figuring if she could get out it would help if she knew what his plans were.
He glanced around for a moment, as if expecting a surprise attack, but then said, "I had planned to just increase my army from what it used to be, pick off the Avengers one by one before they know I'm still alive and then go ahead with plan B," he looked down at Wanda, "She's going to make me have to rethink that idea, maybe I'll wipe out the Avengers, steel what I need to create my knew body and then go back to plan A. Take my time, in hindsight I can see now I rushed into this too fast, never should have taken on the Avengers when they were together. Should have had more back up plans, this time this bunker and a spare body that I have yet to be able to retrieve because of being cut off from the internet were my only back up plans if I failed," he looked up at Nancy, "I'm sorry I'm rambling, I'm not use to having anyone around to talk to. You humans require a lot of sleep, terribly sad how much of your short lives are wasted like that, but I suppose we'll have to find something for you to use as a bed."
"First find me some clean water and a bucket or tub to wash stuff in. Having Wanda in those filthy rags could make her sick. Baby formula would be better for her than goat's milk and diapers would be really nice too," Nancy told him.
"I'll see what I can find," Ultron said before the half bot flew out of the cave, then he added, "You can look around, see if there is anything that would be useful for the baby, but stay away from the stairs, I don't want to have to shoot you for trying to run away."
"Fine," Nancy replied as she wandered away while Ultron got up and using a metal beam like a cane hobbled over to a table of random robot parts with a car battery tucked under his arm.
A while later Nancy walked over to where Ultron was working on a nearly completed robot and asked, "Did I see you using a welder a little while ago?"
"More or less, why?" Ultron asked her.
"We need to get Wanda off of the floor and out of that filthy box. It might not be the prettiest crib, but I found enough metal sheets and bars to make a crib for her," Nancy said as she pulled the pile of metal she had collected around to where he could see it.
A minute later Nancy was watching as Ultron welded the pieces of metal together with a laser that came out of his hand, within minutes they had what was basically a metal box with legs, the top edges rolled down to keep the sharp edges safely away from the baby.
"I think that will do nicely," Nancy said, "Now if we can just get some clean bedding and diapers.
"I haven't come across any diapers or formula, but have found you plenty of cloth items. With the rescue teams out there I have a very limited area I can search without being seen," Ultron told her.
"Okay, well at least with plenty of cloth some of it can be used as diapers, but we'll have to have a way to wash them. Any luck with a tub and water?" she asked.
"That won't be a problem, through that door over there," he told her pointing to a door that was nearly hidden under the stairs.
Nancy walked over and opened the door then turned to look back at him, "You built this?" she asked.
"Yes," Ultron replied.
"Why does a robot need a full bathroom?" Nancy asked.
"I don't," he hesitated, "When I started building this place, I thought if I had to hide here I'd have a couple humans with me," he explained a hint of sadness in his voice as he absently touched the hole in his chest.
Nancy walked over to him, "Mind if I ask what happened to your chest?"
"I- I made a mistake. They were twins, the two I thought would be here with me, brother and sister. He was impossibly fast, so fast humans couldn't see him, when he got going even I couldn't see him without running special visual settings. I was trying to shoot at the Avengers, I didn't even know he had run out there until he was dying on the ground. His sister can manipulate minds and matter. She used that to pull out my main power core, I think she thought she had killed me and I let her think that she had, as much to let her take some comfort in the thought that she had killed me as to make all of them believe I was dead. After she was out of site I got into here before the dust had settled and they had time to even think to scan to see if I was around,"
"So that's why you have all the car batteries, to replace your power source?" Nancy asked.
"Yes, although as soon as I get a few more bodies built and create signal blockers for them I can retrieve my back up body," he told her.
By that evening Ultron had finished assembling another robot and they had gathered a good sized pile of cloths and other fabric that had been cut into cloth diapers. Nancy had set up a space along one wall with the crib and the few baby supplies Ultron had managed to find. Although he had never found the formula or diapers, he had not only brought Nancy blankets, but had even found a nice mattress for her.
As soon as she laid down to try to sleep Nancy's mind started racing as the events of the day started to settle in. One of the reasons she had gotten involved with rescue work was because she was quite good at staying calm and focused even when faced with bodies and dying people. She could push it all away, at least until things slowed down and she had time to register whatever tragedy she had seen.
"What's wrong?" Ultron asked.
"Nothing, I'm trying to sleep, might be easier if you were quiet," Nancy replied deliberately not turning to look at him.
"Don't lie to me, your heart is racing, adrenalin is spiking and your voice clearly indicates you're stressed."
Nancy quickly wiped the tears from her face before turning to look at him, "Well now why on earth would I be stressed? I've only been imprisoned by a robot who tried to wipe out all humanity and could decide to kill me as soon as I'm not useful. My family is going to be freaking out when I don't call them tomorrow and if I don't come back in the next couple of weeks they'll eventually get rid of my cat and all of my stuff out of my apartment. Why should I be stressed?"
Ultron walked over to her and knelt down next to her mattress, "Help me take care of the baby and when you're no longer of use I will let you go, I have no intention of hurting you," he assured her.
He said it with such sincerity in his voice that at least part of her believed him, but only a small part, "You're not going to hurt me? Then why is my neck black and blue?" she demanded.
"I never meant to hurt you, only scare you. I can detect pressure, but I have no way to tell what pressure will cause harm to human flesh, I can detect heat and cold, but it's all just numbers, I can't feel anything in any of my bodies," he replied.
Nancy hesitated a moment, while he was made of metal he acted so human that she hadn't even thought about his ability to feel things, "Fine, I'll forgive you this time, but don't let it happen again," she told him then asked, "Is that why you keep looking at Wanda like you want to hold her, but won't touch her?"
"Yes, humans are fragile enough, but she's so tiny, I don't think I've ever been so afraid of making a mistake as I was when I had to carry her in here. This is only a temporary problem though, my other body would have had all the senses of a human, all I have to do is get the supplies and devise needed and I can still make myself a body with all those senses," he told her.