Dean Bori was dead.
He had gripped the key tightly in his hand as if it were a life-saving talisman, opening the office door with a trembling resolve.
Bardi rose from his chair, turned to see the key in Bori's hand, and instinctively slid his right hand across the pistol lying on the desk.
Bang.
Bardi moved with precision, his M9 pistol angled slightly as if cutting through mist. Blood and bits of brain spattered onto the gun, clinging to the cold steel, yet not a single drop sullied his figure.
With his left hand, Bardi clutched the secret key tightly against his chest. Even in death, Bori's hand stubbornly gripped the key, forcing Bardi to lift his entire arm just to retrieve it.
The old man's body crumpled to the ground in stunned silence, and the key was finally wrenched free from his grasp. Even as he fell, Bori's expression remained frozen in disbelief, as though he couldn't comprehend why Bardi had acted so decisively—so ruthlessly.
For Bardi, however, the answer was simple. The key was far too important.
Contained within it was an artificial intelligence that surpassed the technological advancents of Earth by centuries. Losing it would an delaying his goals by decades, possibly forever.
Moreover, the key held critical data on Kryptonian genetic technology. If Bori had managed to fully extract its contents, it would have accelerated Earth's technological developnt by at least a hundred years in just five. With that kind of knowledge, humanity could have taken its first true steps into the stars, leaving the constraints of the solar system far behind.
Bardi ran his fingers across the surface of the secret key, feeling the faint warmth left by Bori's hand. Only then did he truly relax. His cold, calculating eyes softened briefly, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Without hesitation, he tossed the bloodied M9 onto Bori's lifeless body, the sound echoing in the now-silent room. He turned, opened the office door, and stepped out.
Navigating through several dimly lit hallways, Bardi arrived at an evolution-asurent lab. Originally, this facility had been used for complex calculations related to laser frequencies, physical particle response variables, and missile guidance errors.
In simpler terms, Bardi needed the outdated military computers from the 1980s.
He examined the ancient machines with a frown. These relics didn't even have a Windows operating system. So unknown genius had once cobbled together a custom operating system to run them, enabling military use, but they were a far cry from the technology he was used to.
With a grimace, Bardi opened the computer's casing and began dismantling the hardware. He connected two wires from the CPU directly to the key's port contacts.
"The processing speed is only 80 million calculations per second?"
Bardi's expression darkened. It wasn't just bad, it was laughable. This wasn't rely outdated tech; it was prehistoric.
For comparison, by 2010, even a standard civilian CPU could process between 250 million to 350 million calculations per second. And while current military systems boasted slightly better specs, they were still leagues behind what the civilian market would offer in the years to co.
Bardi thought back to June 18, 2012. On that day, the International Supercomputer Organization had announced the "Sequoia," an Arican supercomputer capable of 16.3 quadrillion calculations per second. Its peak performance exceeded 20.1 billion calculations per second, representing humanity's cutting-edge technology.
In contrast, the clunky machine before him was utterly pitiful. Were it not for the advanced AI integrated into the key, Bardi would have been forced to storm the heavily ard elite forces stationed aboveground just to secure better equipnt.
After so adjustnts, the machine finally sputtered to life. Despite its shortcomings, it could just barely interface with the key via its control and status buses.
Bardi exhaled in relief. For a mont, he had genuinely feared that the machine's inadequacy might prevent the activation of his AI entirely.
Beep…
A chanical chirp broke the silence, and Bardi's tense features softened slightly.
On the computer's curved, gray-black screen, a black program box flickered to life. Excitent surged through him, and for a brief second, he wanted to punch the air in celebration.
Even the thrill of cutting down enemies paled in comparison to the euphoria he felt at this mont.
Bardi's hands trembled slightly as he pulled up a chair and sat down. His fingers danced across the keyboard, entering lines of code he had ticulously prepared beforehand.
When the sequence was complete, he hit the Enter key, and the ancient computer roared to life.
The host buzzed and groaned, its hardware straining under the load. The whine of overclocking filled the room as the machine pushed itself far beyond its limits, the chanical parts shaking with the effort.
Bardi's heart raced. For all his confidence in the AI, the unpredictable nature of this outdated technology left him uneasy. Even when facing Zod in battle, he hadn't felt this tense.
He couldn't shake the irrational fear that the machine might start sparking, smoke curling from its vents before bursting into flas.
Then, the screen flickered again. A cascade of black text filled the program box as the system automatically loaded a series of protocols. The outdated operating system disintegrated under the AI's control, replaced by a completely new frawork.
Ten seconds later, the screen refreshed entirely, and the frantic hum of the machine began to subside.
The overclocked components, which had groaned and shuddered as if on the verge of collapse, finally fell silent.
"Success!"
Bardi couldn't hide his joy. Thankfully, the computer hadn't exploded under the stress of overclocking, and the tension in his chest finally eased.
Beep. "Stage-one artificial intelligence awakened. Please enter your password."
"Password..."
Bardi's expression shifted as he delved into his mories, the password evoking a flood of emotions.
This artificial intelligence was a collaboration between Haer and himself, Haer providing the advanced technology, and Bardi contributing his creative ingenuity.
He vividly rembered the mont they set the password. Even soone as brilliant as Haer, with his extraordinary intellect, had spent three days and nights calculating endless permutations and combinations. Haer had even devised an algorithm to test ten quadrillion possibilities, yet in the end, he was forced to admit defeat.
Bardi's smirk faded as his eyes refocused, his features sharpening with determination. With a calm, resolute voice, he uttered the password:
"Zod has a mole on his butt."
"Password correct."
Could any other human being have co up with such a ridiculous passphrase?
It was no wonder Haer had failed. If he'd ever figured it out, no matter how rational he usually was, he might have punched Bardi out of sheer frustration.
With the correct password confird, the screen prompted for a new command.
"Enter your next login password."
Bardi paused to think, his mind churning. After a mont, he entered a sequence no one on Earth would ever guess, ensuring complete security for the next login.
"Password confird. Artificial intelligence fully liberated."
Suddenly, a sophisticated, elegant figure appeared on the screen. She was the embodint of grace and refinent, a woman of noble deanor with a poised smile.
"Hello, my master. Hera is at your service," she greeted warmly.
Her image radiated class and dignity, though the chanical edge in her voice sowhat diminished the effect.
"Hello, Hera. Long ti no see," Bardi replied with a faint smirk. He snapped his fingers, his mood visibly uplifted. "Take control of this underground base. Hack into all electronic network facilities above and below ground."
"As you command, master," Hera said with a courteous nod. She paused briefly, her image flickering for three seconds before continuing, "Control complete."
Three seconds.
That was all it took for Hera to seize control of every electronic network system within the underground base and aboveground. Had the computer's speed been faster than its ager 80 million calculations per second, the process would have been instantaneous.
Faced with today's primitive technology, Hera's artificial intelligence was practically unstoppable.
Bardi's eyes glead coldly, a sharp contrast to his earlier satisfaction. He was about to issue his next command when Hera spoke first.
"Master, there is an external communication access request. The signal originates from coordinates 38°91' north latitude, 77°01' west longitude—Washington, D.C."
Bardi raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Patch the call through."
A voice, low and grim, resonated from the speakers.
"It's , General Vic."
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