**Chapter 17: Cyborg Upgrade**
Two days later, Mount Justice
In the laboratory inside Mount Justice, Ben, transformed into Grey Matter, was reprogramming the machine data on Cyborg's body, and even the Mother Box in his hand.
Although everything on Apokolips was under Darkseid's enslavement, as a branch of the New Gods, Apokolips' technological level was not low at all.
Since Cyborg was influenced by the Apokolips knowledge built into the Mother Box at birth, he possessed the ability to connect to Apokolips signals and use the Mother Box.
However, everything has its pros and cons. While Cyborg could directly connect to the Mother Box to use Apokolips technology, Darkseid could also use this backlink to control Cyborg.
After obtaining the consent of the League members and Cyborg, Ben first used Upgrade to possess Cyborg.
If the possessed machine had self-awareness, Upgrade's possession might be broken free due to the resistance of the possessed object.
First using Upgrade to possess Cyborg, Ben mainly wanted to verify whether the Apokolips technology had given birth to any other self-awareness while influencing Cyborg.
Then, through Upgrade, he directly upgraded and modified the technology on Cyborg's body, thoroughly eliminating hidden dangers within him.
Although the modifications made by Upgrade's possession would revert when Upgrade left the possessed item...
As long as the data after the upgrade was retained, the modification plan could be directly reverse-engineered.
The reason for doing this was mainly that without obtaining the master control program or triggering the automatic protection program, Ben's transformation could only last for ten minutes each time.
After changing from Grey Matter back to a human, Ben's human brain wasn't sufficient to support him remembering everything he learned while transformed.
Therefore, Ben used a trick. He obtained the upgraded data with the hidden dangers removed by possessing Cyborg with Upgrade, and then transformed into Grey Matter in batches to help Cyborg eliminate the hidden dangers and upgrade the system.
"Finally finished upgrading. However, since the Mother Box is based on Apokolips technology, when using the Mother Box to connect to the Apokolips network, you will still risk being invaded by Apokolips. Regular maintenance is required."
"I know. I'll be careful."
Hearing Ben's words, Cyborg, having regained consciousness, nodded gently.
After completing the system update, he felt his body was much lighter. Some new functions designed by Ben also made him feel much handier using his mechanical parts.
"If you have nothing else to do, you can go to the training ground to practice. I need to study the Omnitrix."
Seeing that there was still quite a bit of time on the timer, Ben quickly unplugged the data cable connected to Cyborg and sent him out of the laboratory.
Transformation time was limited. immediately after solving Cyborg's problem, Ben used two mirrors and his Grey Matter form to try observing the Omnitrix and attempt to crack its master control program.
Also as a 10-year-old Grey Matter, Ben would make mistakes even fixing an air conditioner, but in his son Kenny's hands, he directly cracked the master control, transforming into whomever he wanted at will.
A few minutes later, the transformation time ended. Ben, having reverted to his original form, staggered out of the laboratory.
Undoubtedly, he failed. Let alone cracking the master control program, he didn't even manage to unlock a new alien hero.
"Whatever. Since I've already recorded Superman's DNA, I'm not in a hurry to unlock other alien heroes for now."
Lying on the sofa in the lounge, Ben thought about what to do next.
Apart from Cyborg and himself, other members of the Justice League would not be permanently stationed at the Mount Justice base. Everyone usually contacted each other through communication devices and would only gather together during meetings.
Although Ben's words at the last meeting had quite an impact on the other heroes of the League, everyone, being heroes, quickly let it go.
They chose to cherish their current lives; there was no destined fate that couldn't be changed!
At the same time, to deal with another invasion by Darkseid, the Justice League began planning to recruit new heroes.
However, due to Ben pointing out potential hidden dangers in the Apokolips technology within Cyborg, the new hero recruitment plan was temporarily shelved.
Taking a bottle of cold cola from the refrigerator, sipping the soda, Ben walked towards the training ground, intending to see how Cyborg was adapting to the upgraded system.
"Hey, Cyborg, how does it feel?"
Seeing Cyborg's loaded weapons accurately hitting the targets the instant they popped up on the training ground, Ben asked how the modification felt.
"As long as I don't connect to the internet, I feel great. I can feel my body, just like before I was modified."
Ben's completely upgraded system granted him the senses of a normal person.
If it weren't for the large amount of metal components exposed on the outside, he would feel like he had turned back into a human.
Besides daily life, his combat weapons were also upgraded.
"It's also great during combat. The new weapons are very easy to use, especially the aiming system. It feels like I'm using an aimbot in a shooter game. As long as I confirm firing, the bullets will hit the target."
Finishing the shooting training, Cyborg felt that the aiming system built into him by Ben using Grey Matter allowed his attacks to hit every time. Coupled with the upgraded weapons, he felt he could destroy Parademons much more easily than before.
Hearing Cyborg's response, Ben nodded. These situations were not beyond his expectations. But he also noticed that the expression on Cyborg's face seemed a bit conflicted.
"Is there a problem?"
"Once I connect to the network, I feel very uncomfortable."
With the internet connection turned off normally, Cyborg felt reborn, but with the internet connected, he could feel endless noise in his ears, and countless images being violently stuffed into his brain.
"Let me check my notes."
Hearing Cyborg, Ben took out the Grey Matter-specific notebook from his pocket, used to write down important things after he transformed into Grey Matter.
"That's because your brain processes data and receives information too fast. Your brain is constantly being bombarded by internet data."
After the first modification, Cyborg's brain became a highly efficient quantum computer. With an ordinary human's level of control over the brain, it was simply impossible to adapt to such information reception.
"Is there a way to solve it?"
Hearing Ben's explanation, Cyborg frowned. If he couldn't stay connected to the internet at all times, his efficiency in handling affairs would be greatly reduced.
Facing Cyborg's inquiry, Ben shook his head.
Although he could help Cyborg design an AI to process that information, processing large amounts of information could lead to the AI evolving or even developing self-awareness, causing even more serious consequences.
Theoretically speaking, Cyborg's brain could perfectly process all the information. He felt uncomfortable only because he hadn't adapted to processing so much data and found it difficult to focus on immediate matters.
"You might be able to ask Superman. The impact of his super hearing and super vision on him should be about the same as what you are experiencing now."