"Wait. You knew him? Personally?"
"I knew all of them," he murmured. "At least, I thought I did. Once. A long time ago."
"What were they like?"
Some crumpled copy of a smile crossed his face. "They were going to change the world."
The boy looked around at the ruined skyscrapers rising like broken teeth into the sky. Ultron's sentry bots flew through the air as the red sun drifted towards the horizon. He looked at the others clustered around the barrel fire for warmth. "What happened?"
"What do you think happened?" The old man across from him straightened his back as he huffed. "We failed."
"How? You were the best! I've seen the holotapes! Earth's Mightiest Heroes!"
The old man scoffed. "Mighty, yes. Smart, not so much."
"Please, tell me. What happened?"
"Well," he said, leaning back on his heels. "It all started at that party, before Thor-"
"You knew Thor!"
"Yes, I knew Thor," he said, a glint in his eye. "Cocky fellow, always talking about being worthy and swinging his hammer around. Hawkeye was there, too. And Natasha, Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner. It was quite the party."
He chuckled. "Tony was always so adamant about 'Peace in our time,'. He actually encouraged the U.S. Congress to break up his 'monopoly on peace'. Arrogant fool. Maybe, if I'd realized what he'd been up to, I could have stopped it.
"That night, an A.I. Tony had been working on went rogue. It was designed to protect Earth from all harm, internal and external. What he didn't think about was all the pollution, war, disease, deforestation, you name it mankind had been doing to 'Mother Earth'. To the A.I., we were a parasite to be eradicated."
"Then, why are we still here?"
"A plan Tony had. It was a virus, designed to burn Ultron out so he couldn't repopulate any more machines. But he had a 'Plan B', in case the initial virus failed. No one knew about it. It changed the target of Ultron's army to terrorists, corrupt politicians, greedy billionaires, anyone that would oppress others for personal gain. He got the idea from stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. files.
"Did the first virus fail?"
"Yes, but it was worse than that. Ultron knew about the Plan B as soon as the virus was uploaded. He corrupted it to also target anyone who stood in his way. You wear the chip, don't you?
"Yeah, everyone does."
"Good. Only a fool would take it off. As soon as it comes off, those sentries start shooting."
"Do you have a chip?"
"Only a fool would ever get one."
"I don't understand…"
"You're not meant to," he said, as several sentries flew down.
"CAPTAIN ROGERS. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR WAR CRIMES IN GERMANY, FRANCE, NEW YORK, SOKOVIA, WAKANDA, AND THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY BOSTON, WHERE YOU ARE TRYING TO REBUILD THE ARMY YOU LOST IN BROOKLYN THIRTY YEARS AGO. SURRENDER, OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES." Instead of pointing their weapons at the old man, they turned them to the others around the burn barrel.
"You can't take Captain America!" The boy yelled, running towards the bots.
"Stop, son," Rogers said, grabbing the boy, then whispered in his ear. "It's up to you now. This world is what you make it."
"I'll come quietly," Rogers said, rising.
A week later, everyone worldwide was issued a pair of hololenses. They all knew without saying what it was for: another rebel to be executed. No one batted an eye as Captain America was beaten to death before them. No one shed a tear as he got back up and tried to fight back. No one flinched as they watched Ultron snap his neck. No one, but a boy from Boston in a museum of relics, wondering why he didn't just get the chip like everyone else.
