Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1067 (First Update)

"Although my body is made of metal, my operation is completely different from artificial intelligence." Vision remained patient. "I don't know what misunderstanding you have, but this is who I am: a being that uses a chaotic thinking model just like humans, a robot that is affected by emotions. It sounds strange, but it's true. My behavior patterns do not entirely follow logic."

"Because of that gem, right?" Wanda nodded. "It seems my teacher was right; that gem has had a greater impact on you than I thought."

"I admit that this gem gave me intelligence, and I also acknowledge the influence of that gem on me. I don't know what this gem is; I'm still learning about it, and I gain much knowledge from it every day." Vision began to ramble on and on, explaining what knowledge he had gained from the gem. However, after two minutes of rambling, it realized that Wanda Maximov wasn't interested in its knowledge. "If you're going to dislike me because I don't understand this gem, that's too rude," it paused, somewhat sadly saying, "I never expected to hear those words from you, Wanda. I thought we were the same kind of people."

“It’s not that simple, Vision.” Wanda Maximov sighed, then quickened her pace. Its words were quite sentimental, but in Salomon’s eyes, it had never been a life form, but rather a tool born of chance. Having received an education, Wanda naturally accepted this view, and its attempts to evoke empathy by comparing it to Wanda’s situation were met with no approval. Now, Wanda was encountering many people exactly like her—at least in her mind, she was no different from those Kamar-Taj sorcerers, the only difference being that she was not governed by Kamar-Taj’s ironclad rules, but by Salomon’s control.

Long before she embarked on the path of arcane magic, Salomon had warned her in the castle that ordinary people would fear this power, whether out of superstition or envy, and that no amount of flattery would dispel that fear. If she truly wanted to be responsible for the safety of others, then focusing on learning and mastering her power was what she should really be doing.

In a lecture following the Sokovia incident, her course finally turned to alchemy. Vision was one of the cases her teacher cited in class, because Vision's creation was a very typical example of alchemy, perfectly fitting the theme at the time.

At that time, Salomon had just finished explaining the relationship between the ancient Egyptian Thoth alchemy and the ancient Greek Hermetic alchemy. Although he used the Hermetic Codex and the Emerald Codex as his teaching materials, this did not prevent him from demonstrating the role and significance of alchemy in real life to his students.

"Above and below, the miracle of Taiyi is accomplished in turn." This statement perfectly encapsulates alchemy. So, what are "above" and "below," and what is Taiyi? In traditional alchemical philosophy, "above" represents heaven, the sky, the firmament containing the sun, moon, and stars; it can also refer to the abode of the gods, the eternal divine realm, intangible yet existing among all things. "Above" is invisible, but can reside within the heart; therefore, "above" is also the inner self, the eternal realm of the soul. Conversely, "below" can refer to the earth, or the real world we live in, the mortal realm. Human beings themselves are the realm of mortals, governed by all physical laws. Two seemingly separate things are actually inseparable, representing a relationship between above and below, between the outer dimension and the real world. So what is Taiyi? Primordial matter is Taiyi, which has three expressions, the Trinity. You can see this concept in many religions around the world. All things are composed of three different expressions. In alchemy, the three expressions of primordial matter are sulfur, mercury, and salt, corresponding to the soul, spirit, and body, respectively.

"I know that," Wanda said. "You've already told me."

"Then let's review the process of Vision's birth." Salomon used slides to show Wanda the process of Vision's birth, each picture was very clear and intuitive. "First is salt, the body, the material structure that embodies or gives concrete realization to abstract things, turning thought into a real existence and carrier. Then there is mercury, the spirit, the source of thought. The spirit is the mind, the mind generates thought, and thought is given substance. The last principle is the soul, sulfur, the soul is the source of progress. You have studied the interaction between the soul, spirit, and body. It is a triangular structure that influences each other. The thing at the center is the combined effect of the three expressions, a typical triune structure—as above, as below, thus fulfilling the miracle of the One—the nanoscale 3D-printed vibranium body and the artificial intelligence Jarvis are the body, the Mind Stone is the spirit, and having both fulfills the miracle of the One, which refers to the birth of the soul. From this perspective, the definition of the soul is exactly the same as the primordial matter that gave birth to everything, which is why we call the outer dimension the sea of ​​souls, the primordial sea, and the soul ether and the One."

"So Vision has a soul?" Wanda asked. "So he's a person?"

"Yes and no, you'll understand why I say that in a moment." He tapped the blackboard, pointing to the alchemical symbol depicting mercury, indicating that to understand Vision's existence, one must first understand the source of its spirit. "Vision possesses a soul because it possesses a body and consciousness; its very existence is a practice of the highest alchemy. However, Vision's soul is illusory because its consciousness originates from the Mind Stone, not itself. The Mind Stone possesses spiritual power, and the soul born through the stone's spirit does not belong to Vision, so its own consciousness cannot exist independently. You can think of it as an agent of the spiritually powerful stone, or an artificial intelligence with emotions; in any case, it is not true life."

He erased the two corners representing spirit and soul from the triune triangle diagram on the blackboard, and the triune relationship collapsed. Even the simple line drawing at the center of the triangle, representing Vision's existence, disappeared, leaving only the salt representing the body. "Without the gem as consciousness, Vision's soul will also disappear, and even the definition of Vision's existence will vanish. Although information about Vision's past can still be read from his body, that's all, because it no longer exists."

Wanda nodded in understanding.

"The reason I mention Vision is because his creation is similar to, yet different from, the process I used to create Dinah and the other homunculus. Although both imitate the process of life's birth and are practices of alchemy, Vision and the homunculus follow completely different paths—the homunculus's soul originates from me and the Philosopher's Stone, a true soul interacting with a true body. From this interaction of spirit and flesh, the homunculus's own consciousness is born, thus making it a true life form. Without the facilitation of a soul, there is no birth of life; this is the way reality is expressed. The reason why the process of creating Homunculus requires giving a soul first is partly to solve the problem of not being able to give an external consciousness, but the main reason is that the process of creating homunculus is an exploration of the transformation of the spirit, a search for an alternative path in supreme alchemy. Giving a soul first and then giving birth to consciousness, rather than giving consciousness first and then giving birth to a soul, the two paths explore different things."

"Although you possess an extremely vast database to consult and the world's most powerful computing capabilities, intelligence and wisdom are not the same thing." Wanda Maximoff didn't loosen her grip on her fingers, withdrawing the surging energy at her fingertips. "You have never possessed free will, Vision. Your way of thinking follows the underlying logic of the artificial intelligence Jarvis and that gem. Jarvis's way of thinking imitates Tony Stark, meaning you have been influenced by Tony Stark from the very beginning."

"I used the knowledge within the gems to calculate the future. The conflicts in this world are becoming increasingly apparent. Humanity's differences in ideology, wealth, and other areas are becoming more pronounced. The chances of humanity venturing beyond Earth to colonize other planets are decreasing as wars and conflicts between nations intensify. After the Battle of New York, these conflicts began to shift towards covert competition. Besides these, there are many other problems. Here's some data showing that since the Battle of New York, the number of people dying from famine and disease worldwide has been steadily increasing..." Vision said calmly. "But you should know that Mr. Stark is already trying to solve these problems. He's promoting clean energy to protect the environment and creating the Iron Legion to stop the wars. Although progress is slow, the situation is still improving. You're right about one thing, Wanda. While I'm not Jarvis, I admit my way of thinking is still influenced by him. My purpose in life is to save humanity, so I can't understand that person's actions. I don't understand why someone could use the excuse of saving humanity to slaughter other humans? Isn't that just using a high-sounding pretext to satisfy one's own ambition?"

Why don't you say his name?

“Because Salomon isn’t his name. That name only defines his superficial meaning, not his existence. My computational abilities aren’t sufficient for me to say his name. Data transmission via sound alone would take hundreds of millions of years, which we don’t have. This is one of the things I learned from the gems. If we had a more efficient way of communicating, you would know what I’m talking about,” Vision said. “But then again, don’t you think Mr. Stark is doing the right thing?”

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)