Tony using the scepter without knowing anything about it was as dumb as plugging a thumb drive you found on the street into your computer
This was a really interesting take on the creation of Ultron. The writer said it didn't matter whether Bruce and Tony were close to an interface, because the really dumb part was using the scepter at all. They plugged something they didn't know anything about into their computer system without isolating the computer they were working on from the internet. It's as dumb as picking up a thumb drive off the street and taking it home and plugging it into your laptop. No self-respecting geek would be surprised at the meltdown.
What if one of the Science Bros had actually used a brain cell?
***
Bruce didn't know what it was about looking at Tony's Ultron program, but the code made him feel anxious. Like something was about to happen that was NOT good.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. Now that Tony had stepped out of the room for one of those awful green smoothies, Bruce had a moment to reflect on what the hell they were doing.
He stared at the scepter sitting in the cradle. Bruce could remember the feel of it in his hands, the strange sensation of something pushing at his temper. He didn't remember much about the arguments on the helicarrier, but he knew that something had been off. And that the scepter was the reason for it.
With a few cautious steps, Bruce checked over the setup. The scepter was plugged in to Tony's subroutines already. They were planning to start the Ultron upload as soon as Tony got back. Even with the incredible capacity of the alien device, the upload would take days.
Bruce straightened as he thought about that. They were using an alien device. That they didn't have the first idea how it worked, other than the way Clint Barton had become Loki's willing slave.
He shuddered at the memory of the attack that had caused the Other Guy to wreck the helicarrier--and almost kill Natasha.
Suddenly Tony stepped in and said, "Okay, let 'er rip."
Bruce crossed his arms and said, "Air gap."
Tony frowned and put his smoothie down. He repeated, "Air gap?"
Bruce nodded and said, "Yeah. Air gap. We need to isolate Ultron and the scepter so nothing else is affected."
Tony shook his head and said, "No can do. Ultron needs to integrate with the Iron Legion and the network as the AI is transferred over. We already planned it all out."
With a frown, Bruce walked over to the scepter and pulled it. He said, "We have to change the plan. This is ridiculous Tony. We don't know ANYTHING about how this thing works, but we're just going to plug it in? It's like a little old lady plugging in a flash drive she found on the street and getting a laptop full of spyware. I can't believe we're really that dumb."
Tony stepped forward and reached for the scepter. Bruce tightened his grip and knew his eyes flashed green when Tony dropped his arm and stepped back. Tony said, "Just calm down, Big Guy. We can talk this out."
Bruce shook his head and said, "You know what, I think the person you should be talking to is Thor. So I'm going to leave the scepter with him."
As Bruce walked down the hall, he realized that even holding the scepter wasn't bothering him anymore.
Almost like the storm had passed. It was a good feeling.