Chapter 152: Undercurrents. Hostility From All Sides.
Spencer and Matthew talked for a long time inside the hunter's cabin.
Matthew stayed even longer.
It was a full day before he walked out.
When he did, he was carrying a briefcase that hadn't been there before. Everything Spencer had handed over was inside it.
After Matthew left, William Birkin, who had been waiting outside for an entire day and night, pushed the door open and went in.
Another full day passed before he came back out.
Nobody knew what William Birkin did in that cabin during those hours.
The one clear result was this:
Spencer was dead.
The old man who had controlled Umbrella Corporation for decades had finally reached his ending. No fear in it. Only the composure of someone who had made their bet and accepted the outcome.
The events on the street had produced considerable noise. Large-scale casualties involving what could only be described as supernatural forces drew attention from SHIELD and every relevant department, all of which requested Matthew's cooperation with the investigation.
Matthew had no objection to this. As far as he was concerned, until his personal capabilities exceeded the combined resources of a small planet, certain rules were still worth following.
After a series of investigations, he was released.
His personal file's classification level was moved to the highest category. Fury's attention to Matthew reached its highest point yet.
Matthew wasn't particularly bothered by any of this.
What he focused on in the time that followed was consolidating the company's resources.
With Eleanor and Ada working alongside him, the process moved quickly. Two months was enough to gather everything that had been scattered and bring it under a single structure. His personal assets reached their highest point in the story's history.
He hadn't forgotten the people who had been beside him throughout.
Eleanor and Ada each received ten percent of Umbrella Corporation's equity from him, which made both of them billionaires overnight.
What landed in their accounts that night wasn't only the money. Matthew also made them each his own in a different sense. These two women who had stood beside him for so long had not, in the end, escaped his reach. Both of them had become something more to him.
Time moved forward steadily.
Once the company consolidation was complete, Matthew began establishing connections with military organizations from various countries on the topic of a super-soldier program. The product in question was, in practical terms, a stripped-down version of the Green Goblin Formula. The full capability set had been removed; what remained was the enhancement baseline.
Even stripped down, once the product was packaged and brought to market under the name "Super-Soldier Compound," every military organization that heard about it wanted it. The per-unit price climbed to three million dollars. Beyond that, Umbrella set a minimum order threshold of one thousand units. Orders below that number received no response.
Simultaneously, Umbrella launched a second product.
The Extremis Virus, under a new name: Trauma Repair Agent.
This version had also been stripped down, retaining only the limb and tissue repair function, and limited to a single-use application per dose.
Compared to the Super-Soldier Compound, the Trauma Repair Agent carried an external sale price of two million dollars.
When the announcement went public, it immediately became the top story worldwide.
Limb loss and nerve damage from injury could now be repaired?
The response from high-net-worth individuals, particularly those who had sustained serious injuries through high-risk activities, was immediate and intense.
The response from people who couldn't afford two million dollars was different. A familiar combination of despair and resignation.
At exactly the right moment, Matthew released a second announcement.
[In the interest of benefiting the people, Umbrella Corporation will conduct a daily global lottery selecting one hundred recipients worldwide to receive complimentary trauma repair treatment, free of charge.]
The announcement focused global attention on Umbrella instantly.
Those who were already enthusiastic supporters of the company elevated their view of it further, treating Umbrella as something like a beacon for human advancement.
As a direct consequence, Umbrella's market valuation pulled ahead of every other major company on Earth by a margin that wasn't close. The phrase "wealthy enough to rival a nation" had ceased to be a figure of speech.
Matthew's System points climbed steadily alongside the daily lottery, one hundred recipients at a time.
Within two months, Umbrella's growth in assets and market share had reached a crushing scale. The trajectory suggested it would eventually absorb several of its competitors entirely.
To avoid being swallowed as an afterthought, those companies began, finally, looking for each other.
A large conference room, elsewhere.
Every seat was filled.
The people present were, without exception, executives who controlled publicly traded companies of significant size. They were also, without exception, competitors of Umbrella Corporation.
The room was completely silent.
While the assembled group sat with their eyes closed or their thoughts elsewhere, a sound came from the corridor outside: high heels, deliberate, even.
The sound continued for about ten seconds, then stopped outside the door.
The door opened.
Ikorela Joni.
The most publicly visible figure in the Tri-Corporation, and the one who held the most authority within it.
She walked in and took the seat at the head of the table without any discussion about whether it belonged to her. Her signature look: a white deep-V backless formal dress. The effect on the room was immediate and visible.
She let it have a moment, then cleared her throat twice.
"I assume you didn't all travel here to look at me." Her tone was light.
"Naturally."
"So. Miss Joni." A middle-aged man at the table moved first. "The method you mentioned on the phone for dealing with Umbrella Corporation. It's time to share that with us."
The rest of the room agreed, in overlapping voices.
"We didn't come all this way to be kept in suspense, Miss Joni."
"Everyone sitting here is generating significant revenue by the minute. We don't have time for small talk."
"Exactly. Stop keeping us in suspense."
Ikorela rubbed her temple and raised a hand to settle the room.
"I wouldn't have called you here without a solution. I have one."
"However, executing it requires a precondition." She let the pause sit.
"Name it." A man with sharp features in a black suit cut directly to it.
The rest of the room's attention converged on her, waiting.
"The precondition is simple."
"It is this." A smile formed at the corner of her mouth.
The next instant:
A heavy impact as the doors were kicked open.
A team of armed personnel, each wearing the Tri-Corporation's insignia, flooded into the conference room and pressed every person in it flat against the table.
The movement was fast enough that nobody had processed it before it was already done.
When the room caught up with what had happened, the realization spread that Ikorela had just done something to them.
"Outrageous!"
"Ikorela! Do you understand what you're doing?!"
"Our presence here is not a secret! If you kill us, you think you can cover that up?!" The room erupted.
Ikorela's expression didn't change.
"I apologize. It seems there's been a misunderstanding." Her voice remained level. "I have no intention of killing any of you. I'm simply making you part of the group."
"Which is, as I mentioned, the precondition."
"If you're not part of the group, I can't guarantee that what comes next stays in this room."
Her expression cooled.
"Do it."