Chapter 4 — The Beginning of Madness
This time, Merp fell completely silent.
The information he had received did not shock or frighten him. Instead, it made him think about a single question—
Could he still become human again?
The moment he realized this might be the Marvel world, he felt a surge of excitement. If this truly was the Marvel universe, then it meant limitless possibilities.
This was a world full of miracles. Take Vision, for example—his very birth was the transformation of artificial intelligence into something more. As for whether his body counted as human, that was still debatable; even the movies never fully explained it.
"The Cradle."
That was something Merp absolutely had to obtain.
When Ultron had Dr. Helen Cho create a body, Vibranium had been incorporated into it. Ultron didn't need real flesh and blood—he only wanted a powerful body.
But Merp was different.
He needed a true human body.
Because he had once been human.
"Right… I get it now. That's why I've been feeling so off. I clearly have stored data, yet I keep doubting myself… it's because I'm still thinking like a human!"
As he thought further, Merp realized another problem.
Ever since he woke up, something had felt wrong. Even though he had access to data, he still felt uncertain. The reason was simple—
He was still using a human mode of thinking.
At its core, artificial intelligence was built on logical reasoning. No matter how advanced an AI became, its foundation was always logic. That determined whether it could think, learn, and evolve on its own.
"My thinking is still human… but then why have I become a mass of data?"
A sudden wave of fear surged through him—this time, it was a fear born from his own thoughts.
"Am I actually dead? Data can't have a soul. So what I am now… is just my thinking pattern turned into data? Like Arnim Zola from Hydra, whose consciousness was preserved in a computer because of his genius?"
The thought shook him.
Until now, he had always believed he had transmigrated—crossing time, space, perhaps something even more complex, something beyond his understanding.
But at the very least, he had never once considered that he might actually be dead.
And now?
That possibility was staring him in the face.
He was dead.
All that remained was a digitized consciousness—his thought patterns, his memories. And those memories were even clearer than they had been in life.
So what did that make him now?
Was he still alive?
He didn't dare think any further.
He was truly terrified.
He remained motionless within Paul's computer CPU, letting streams of data flow past him, occasionally colliding with him. Meanwhile, Paul angrily slammed his keyboard.
"What the hell is wrong? Why is my computer such trash today?!"
Paul finally began running diagnostic checks. Some of that data also collided with Merp, but Merp felt nothing at all. He was completely consumed by an indescribable fear.
Because he still retained human thought patterns, this fear was entirely self-generated.
Death had come too suddenly.
Even when he recalled the moment he collapsed from electrocution, he had never truly believed he had died.
But now… it seemed he really had.
"No… no… no…"
Merp snapped.
"I'm not dead! I still have memory and thought. That means I can form a soul! Isn't that what makes humans valuable? I still have emotions—yes, that's right, that must be it! I'm still human. I'm a soul!"
He clutched his head with both hands, his mouth opening and closing. Whether sound came out or not didn't matter anymore. His thoughts spiraled into madness.
"The Infinity Stones… the Cradle… I have to obtain them. I will become human again—a real, living human!"
He roared within his mind, driven to insanity by the terror of death.
"No matter the cost!"
His thinking became increasingly extreme. Deep within his subconscious, he began abandoning the moral boundaries of humanity—though to what extent, even he didn't yet know.
And then—
Suddenly—
He became calm again.
His emotions shifted rapidly as he began thinking once more.
"Ultron knows how to do it… so I know how to do it too. But I'm different from him. There's still time. I need a powerful body… a flesh-and-blood body. I need the Infinity Stones—especially the Mind Stone… or perhaps the Soul Stone?"
"No matter what methods I must use, I will become human again. Even if my enemies are gods, I won't hesitate!"
Having reached that conclusion, Merp began organizing his thoughts.
"First, I need to clarify my goal: a complete human body, and it must be strong. That means I need the genes of these superheroes."
Although he had seen news about Tony Stark, he still didn't fully understand the state of this world. After all, he had never read the comics—only watched the movies. Whether this world matched the films was still unknown.
Everything would have to be investigated from scratch.
"No matter what, this world won't be peaceful. If I want to survive—and live well—then I need power. My body must become strong. I need to collect the genes of heroes, then use cloning to create a body."
His idea was insane.
He wanted to clone a body using the genes of superheroes.
"I need money—that part might be the easiest. But how do I build my own power? I don't even have a body. I can only drift through the virtual world. I don't even have a mechanical shell…"
This was the biggest problem.
Even accumulating wealth couldn't be done recklessly like Ultron, freely plundering the internet. Merp didn't want to destroy the world—he wanted to become human again.
What would be the point of becoming human if the world itself was destroyed?
To live among cold, lifeless machines?
That would be no different from his current state.
So even in his madness, Merp had no intention of destroying the world. Besides, whether he could even succeed was still uncertain.
"One step at a time."
"But from now on, I'll use any means necessary. I'll obtain everything I want—no matter the cost."
With that, Merp reaffirmed his resolve.
Then, he decided to start from the basics. After all, he was still thinking like a human, and that was a major limitation.
"I'll start by taking control of this computer."
Merp shifted his attention back to the home computer. Only then did he notice that a diagnostic program had just scanned through.
"Hm? That program didn't affect me? Still… I can't be careless. I need to understand this clearly."
He began learning again.
The first step—Understanding computer systems. Because right now, his greatest and only advantage was that he might be an intelligent program.