The high-definition projector cast a harsh, flickering light against the wall of the secure Military briefing room.
The video feed displayed the final, catastrophic moments of the battle in Times Square. Max Dillon's self-destruction had triggered a massive plasma explosion with a blast radius of nearly thirty meters. However, because his opponents possessed supersonic mobility, the detonation was functionally useless. The speedster and the armored Spider-Man had easily cleared the blast zone, leaving Electro to blow himself into a scattered cloud of harmless, dissipating static.
Even as a tactical failure for the villain, the sheer destructive yield captured on the live stream was a spectacular display of power.
"Gentlemen," Dr. Otto Octavius said, his voice smooth and echoing with arrogant pride. "What you have just witnessed is the successful cross-integration of three legendary initiatives: Project I (Rebirth), Project II (Beast), and Project X (Weapon X). Through high-precision gene editing, we achieved in a matter of hours what has eluded military science for decades. We created an enhanced, Alpha-class mutant. And more importantly, one we can control."
Otto stood at the head of the polished mahogany table in a secret subterranean conference room. His audience consisted of the highest-ranking officials in the U.S. military, various intelligence directors, and the incumbent President of the United States, Matthew Ellis.
They had all just watched the Avengers scramble to eliminate Electro. In truth, it was exactly this live-fire performance that had prompted the White House and the Military to actively sabotage the Avengers' response. By deliberately issuing a blackout and withholding heavy hitters like Carol Danvers and Ares then the military got to see their new toy pushed to its absolute limits against a street-level variable like Spider-Man.
"The primary takeaway here is not Dillon's ultimate failure, but the cost-to-benefit ratio," Otto continued, tapping a button on his remote to change the slide. An image of Nathaniel Essex's massive, subterranean machine appeared on the screen. "Thanks to this orchestrated distraction, our operatives successfully recovered a crucial strategic asset from the mutant sovereign state of Genosha. This gene-editing array, originally designed by Dr. Nathaniel Essex, allows us to establish a continuous, stable production line of super-soldiers. We project a yield of approximately twenty enhanced assets per day."
President Matthew Ellis rubbed his jaw, leaning back in his leather chair.
Ellis was a pragmatist. Compared to his predecessor—whose term was bogged down by endless mutant civil rights crises and the catastrophic destruction of the Twin Towers—Ellis was actually quite open to the existence of superheroes. From a purely economic standpoint, vigilantes were a godsend. With heroes handling global threats, Ellis could quietly downsize federal policing budgets and reallocate those funds to appease his voter base.
As for the inevitable collateral damage? The heroes footed their own bills. If Stark Industries wasn't generating astronomical profits, the city repair reparations alone would have bankrupted Tony Stark years ago. (Of course, Stark wasn't legally responsible for alien invasions, only the property damage directly caused by the Avengers while stopping them.)
"It was a very impressive demonstration, Dr. Octavius," President Ellis said, his tone perfectly neutral. He glanced around the table. The Secretary of Defense looked bored. The CIA and FBI directors were taking furious notes. General Thaddeus Ross, however, looked absolutely thrilled. The prospect of a privatized, military-controlled super-soldier battalion had the old general practically salivating.
"However, I question the geopolitical necessity," Ellis continued, shaking his head. "If Magneto discovers we stole that machine, he will declare war on the United States. I am not authorizing a war with sixteen million mutants over a single piece of hardware. Furthermore, America is already the dominant global superpower. If aliens drop out of the sky, we have the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect us. We can even call in the X-Men. Why poke the bear?"
"Because one super-soldier can replace a conventional battalion of hundreds of men, Mr. President," Otto countered smoothly. "Imagine an army of twenty thousand Captain Americas. The United States could entirely phase out its non-technical military branches, saving hundreds of millions of dollars in defense spending every single fiscal year. And the most expensive hurdle has already been cleared. We stole a ready-made assembly line."
At the mention of saving hundreds of millions in the federal budget, President Ellis finally raised his eyebrows. A genuine spark of interest lit up his eyes. He slowly nodded.
"There is, however, one lingering obstacle," Otto pressed his advantage, adjusting his glasses. "The data required from Project II—currently under the private control of Norman Osborn and Oscorp—has proven incompatible with our integration. I strongly recommend that the Military immediately revoke Norman Osborn's defense contracts and reassign the development rights for the Savage Force Project to my team..."
"We will discuss corporate reallocations at a later date, Doctor," Ellis interrupted, holding up a hand.
Ellis's advisors had already fully briefed him on the bitter, deeply personal rivalry between Otto Octavius and Norman Osborn. The President stood up, buttoning his suit jacket. "Norman Osborn has proven that his projects are progressing steadily. We don't need unnecessary corporate complications. As for you, Doctor, focus on your own mandate: Project V. That will be all, gentlemen. An excellent field test today, but remember, this room remains strictly classified."
Otto suppressed a scowl. He offered a tight, polite nod. "Yes, Mr. President."
A few hours later, Otto Octavius returned to his private, subterranean laboratory in Lower Manhattan.
Thanks to an advanced, synthetic symbiote graft grafted to his spine, his mobility was fully restored. He could walk perfectly. But as he paced the length of his lab, his mind churned with cold calculations. Spider-Man's continuous, exponential growth was becoming a serious liability. If Otto intended to execute his ultimate revenge against Osborn, he had to permanently remove the wall-crawler from the board.
Otto walked over to a massive, humming containment cylinder in the center of the room.
Inside the thick glass, suspended in a conductive fluid, a faint, flickering mass of blue electrical current was slowly coalescing. It was a rudimentary, blurry humanoid shape.
"I had Nathaniel Essex plant a post-hypnotic seed in your mind, Max," Otto whispered, looking at the glowing plasma. "A subconscious directive: if you could not escape, you were to detonate yourself specifically within the confines of Manhattan. I knew Spider-Man would find a way to defeat you. But I couldn't let him interfere with my actual endgame."
The specialized containment field was actively drawing in the ambient electrical atoms Dillon had scattered during his self-destruction. It would take several agonizing months for Electro to fully reform his consciousness and physical body. But to Otto, the wait was entirely worth it.
"You are merely the first piece on the board, Max Dillon," Otto smiled darkly.
He turned away from the tank and walked over to his primary computer terminal. He pulled up a highly encrypted personnel file. He scrolled past a series of names and mugshots, each representing a dangerous, unique variable.
Quentin Beck (Codename: Mysterio)Mac Gargan (Codename: Scorpion)Aleksei Sytsevich (Codename: Rhino)Max Dillon (Codename: Electro)Otto Octavius (Codename: Doctor Octopus)
The roster was growing, but it wasn't complete. A five-man squad wasn't enough to guarantee Spider-Man's execution. He needed a sixth.
More importantly, he needed to inflict maximum psychological and financial damage upon Norman Osborn before the final strike. The Military briefing proved that political maneuvering wouldn't strip Osborn of his precious Savage Force Project. Otto couldn't just prove he was a better scientist than Norman; he had to engineer Norman's absolute, public ruin.
Otto's eyes gleamed as he pulled up the employee dossiers for Oscorp's two lead geneticists on the Savage Force Project.
Dr. Jonathan DrewDr. Curt Connors
Otto tapped his chin, a sinister smile spreading across his face.
"Now," Otto mused aloud to the empty lab. "Which one of you will become the final member of my Sinister Six?"