Extremis Virus

Seated on the plane, Sean browsed the latest headlines, deeply curious about whether the "Mandarin" truly existed in this world.

In the original timeline, the evil leader of the Ten Rings, the "Mandarin," had merely been a puppet pulling strings, a fabricated false persona. His true identity had been that of a down-and-out English actor who loved Shakespeare and a life of luxury, put on display as a decoy to draw attention.

Yet as Iron Man’s arch-enemy, the Mandarin had indeed existed—for real, in some unknown parallel world. He had gone by many aliases and possessed an extraordinarily long lifespan. Born in the distant East, he claimed to be a descendant of Genghis Khan. Much like Tony Stark, he had become wealthier than nations while still young. With a brilliant mind and immense financial resources, he pursued the legendary secret of immortality.

It was said that he possessed ten miraculous rings with different powers and was proficient in ancient mystical arts. He had repeatedly placed Iron Man in peril and was an exceptionally terrifying supervillain.

"Interesting."

Sean stared at the Ten Rings emblem frozen on the computer screen, ten rings linked into a circle. The symbol was hardly unfamiliar to him. Long ago, before Tony had become Iron Man, Stark Industries’ former chief executive, Obadiah Stane, had collaborated with Afghan warlords, plotting to kill the playboy and seize the Stark family’s military-industrial empire.

Those people had been the ones who kidnapped Tony Stark, and the warlord leading them had also been a member of the Ten Rings. Iron Man had originally destroyed their stronghold, yet now the terrorist organization had risen from the ashes, with a new leader at its helm.

"Tony, is this you paying for the mistakes you made back then?"

A faint smile curled Sean’s lips. Perhaps Iron Man was still in the dark, unable to understand what was happening, but Sean knew perfectly well.

Aldrich Killian. The name had recently appeared frequently in technology magazines and weekly journals, almost as often as Sean’s own name once had. The tall, spirited man on the screen was the founder of A.I.M., the second-largest emerging research institution in North America after the rapidly rising Umbrella.

Lately, the public had often compared Aldrich Killian with Sean Sipes, just as the media had once viewed the latter and Tony Stark as rival figures standing shoulder to shoulder.

It was said that the man had been born with a physical disability and had often suffered bullying and ridicule from classmates in middle school. Only after entering university had Killian displayed a genius-level intellect, earning the admiration and respect of many.

Once the media exaggerated and embellished such an inspiring story, he was immediately crowned a "role model for teenagers" and "the American dream of a new era." It was the same formula Sean had encountered when he first rose to prominence: layer dazzling halos over someone, recount the hardships and effort of the past, stir the public’s sympathy and admiration, and win over the news media.

The young man browsing the reports smiled knowingly. Clearly, this was another "genius" skilled at staging appearances and packaging himself. People always loved difficult experiences and tragic pasts. Those stories were often the ones that moved hearts and inspired empathy—though naturally, the protagonist still needed a happy ending in the end.

Without those seasonings, how could one brew up a fragrant bowl of chicken soup for the soul, drawing viewers in until they wept with emotion and lost themselves in it?

That said, geniuses always had a stubbornly obsessive side. During his youth, Killian had worshipped Tony Stark as an idol, believing that proud, aloof, and arrogant man to be a true genius in every sense. He had eagerly anticipated meeting or speaking with him one day.

That kind of idol worship was like every band wanting to become the Beatles, or every basketball player idolizing Michael Jordan. For someone as uninhibited and clever as Tony, at least half of America’s young people would have regarded him as an idol, while the other half would have envied and resented the lucky man born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

After graduating from university, Killian founded A.I.M. on his own. While struggling to keep the institution afloat, he kept an eye on research developments in academia, until on the eve of the New Year in 1999, he saw the object of his admiration at an academic symposium in Bern, Switzerland.

Unfortunately, the outcome had been unpleasant—one could even call it a devastating blow. At the time, Tony Stark had still been a cynical playboy who enjoyed mocking and teasing others. When he saw the disabled, shabbily dressed Killian, he played a joke that was not particularly funny, leaving his devoted fan to endure the cold wind on a rooftop terrace all night.

Tony presumably had no idea then that his careless action had wounded the fragile heart of an obsessive fan, while also creating an enemy who would nearly put him to death.

"Extremis Virus," Sean softly uttered.

It had been an invention of Maya Hansen’s from years earlier. Its initial prototype had been a form of bioelectric technology capable of entering and recoding the repair center of the human brain. If the human body’s biological system were compared to a computer, then the Extremis Virus was a master hacker infiltrating and altering it.

Later, all kinds of possibilities had emerged, such as editing DNA at will and modifying gene sequences—this was the technology at its most mature stage. At least for now, limb regeneration, awakening immunity, and enhancing physical capabilities were no longer unattainable scientific challenges.

Many venture capital firms were highly optimistic about A.I.M.’s future, believing that in the near future, it would be able to contend with the rapidly expanding Umbrella.

Aldrich Killian consequently appeared frequently on newspaper front pages, hailed by the public as a "new titan of technology," enjoying unparalleled prominence for a time.

Sean tapped his fingers on the table. Back then, because Maya Hansen had lacked funding, she had sold the Extremis Virus technology to Killian. She later joined Umbrella, where she and Dr. Connors focused on genetic engineering research projects.

The reason Sean had not continued supporting Dr. Maya Hansen’s experiments with the Extremis Virus was that this seemingly promising cutting-edge technology possessed a major flaw that could not be remedied. All humans shared ninety-nine percent of the same genes, but the remaining 0.1 percent of variation determined that every person was a unique individual.

This resulted in the Extremis Virus having unpredictable rejection reactions. Not everyone could adapt to the process of recoding their genes, and solving that problem would require an immense computational undertaking. Considering the cost paid against the results gained, it was clearly not worth it.

Killian’s research process showed that it had been built entirely on human lives. He recruited retired soldiers as test subjects. The early, unstable Extremis Virus had an extremely high mortality rate, producing excessive internal body heat and eventually spiraling out of control into massive explosions. It was full of danger and unpredictability.

Perhaps this cutting-edge technology could create a super army, but applying it to all humanity would be extremely difficult. Even Sean, who possessed Skynet, had no intention of restarting the project for the time being.

So it was obvious that behind that rising new star of science, the transformed Aldrich Killian, there had to be some hidden force unknown to the public. Only then could he have developed the Extremis Virus to the stage of human application in a mere thirteen years. The financial and human resources required for that would absolutely have been astronomical.

The bombings orchestrated by the Mandarin had actually all been meant to conceal failed Extremis Virus experiments. No bomb fragments could be found at the scenes because the real "bombs" had been human beings themselves.

"Was it Hydra behind this, or the legendary ‘Mandarin’?"

Sean narrowed his eyes, a faintly intrigued smile appearing on his face.