Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

"Are you sure the information is reliable?"

Competitors were supposed to make you look good. That was how business worked. But Umbrella hadn’t even officially launched its products yet, and someone had already appeared to steal its market.

Evenson wasn’t thrilled about being the one making someone else look good.

"Ross has been through enough major events to know when something matters," Salorath said. "If he didn’t trust the information, he wouldn’t have passed it along to us."

So that settled it.

Ross believed the report was credible.

"Damn it."

Evenson rubbed his brow and muttered under his breath.

For a while there, he’d honestly thought his luck was finally changing. After more than twenty years of apparently dormant good fortune, perhaps his long-lost beginner’s luck had finally decided to wake up.

Apparently not.

The universe had simply waited until he got comfortable before kicking the chair out from under him.

"Forget luck for now."

Evenson sighed and forced himself back into business mode.

"Where did Ross get the information? How advanced is this competitor’s technology? And have they made any moves recently?"

"The information came to Ross almost by accident," Oleseth said, her brows drawing together as she thought. "It happened while he was helping us promote one of our products."

"Promote what?"

Evenson blinked.

"And to whom?"

Ross had once been a general in the military. After the Battle of New York, he’d become a recognized hero and one of the hottest names in American politics.

Anyone important enough for Ross to personally approach about a business deal was unlikely to be an ordinary customer.

Salorath gave him a look that suggested she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or sigh.

"Do you remember having any technology worth promoting besides the mechanical exoskeleton?"

Evenson paused.

"Right."

Their company looked incredibly impressive from the outside. Umbrella had an intimidating name, a growing reputation, and access to technology that could make governments salivate.

In reality, they had exactly one viable product.

And even that one wasn’t finished.

"Wait. Did the military take an interest in it?"

Evenson’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"That would make sense. The military has always been interested in biotechnology."

Salorath didn’t bother correcting him.

Evenson continued before she could.

"Ross has deep connections in the military, so pitching the exoskeleton to his former colleagues would be completely reasonable."

The military had practically drooled over Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor for years.

They had even resorted to less-than-honorable methods in the past to try to get their hands on Stark’s technology, only to fail.

The mechanical exoskeleton wasn’t Iron Man armor, but it was essentially a cheaper, mass-producible alternative. Its performance couldn’t compare with Stark’s suit, but it didn’t need to.

It was cheaper.

It could be manufactured in quantity.

For military officials still obsessed with acquiring Stark’s technology, that combination alone would be extremely attractive.

So Ross approaching his old colleagues with the technology made perfect sense.

"Unfortunately," Oleseth said, shaking her head.

Evenson looked over.

"Ross wasn’t promoting the military version."

She paused.

"He was promoting the civilian model. The prosthetic limbs."

"What?"

Evenson’s eyes lit up.

"That’s... actually bad."

Oleseth gave him a flat look.

"You know the vice president has a young daughter."

Evenson waited.

"She’s eight years old. Unfortunately, she was recently involved in a car accident and lost her right leg below the knee."

Salorath picked up the story.

"Ross knew about her condition, so he personally visited the vice president. He told him that our prosthetic technology could allow his daughter to walk again and eventually run and play like any other child."

"That was a smart move," Oleseth said.

"If Ross could use the opportunity to establish a relationship with the vice president, perhaps even become a personal friend, it would be extremely valuable for both him and Umbrella."

Evenson nodded.

He agreed completely.

Ross had done nothing wrong.

The approach was sensible, the product was relevant, and the potential political connections were enormous.

Then Salorath’s expression darkened.

"Unfortunately, someone beat him to it."

Evenson’s smile faded.

"The vice president told Ross that another group had already approached him. They made the same promise."

Salorath paused.

"But unlike Ross, they claimed they could regrow his daughter’s missing leg using biotechnology."

Evenson’s expression changed.

"The vice president preferred their proposal."

"Understandable," Salorath said with a shrug. "Having your own flesh grow back is probably more appealing than replacing it with a piece of machinery."

She gave a faint, mocking snort.

"If Gernos heard that, he’d probably use one of those giant saw blades of his to rearrange the girl’s face."

Evenson winced.

"Let’s not tell him."

Then his expression became serious again.

"Their technology... can actually do it?"

He paced a few steps, unease creeping into his voice.

"Could they just be making promises they can’t keep?"

Oleseth stared at him.

"Seriously?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Someone who reaches the position of vice president isn’t an idiot. Even if he’s desperate to help his daughter, he isn’t going to believe a stranger’s claims without evidence."

"Right."

Evenson stopped pacing.

"Of course."

His concern only deepened.

"So our competitor is actually dangerous."

If these people had simply been trying to sell military biotechnology, Evenson wouldn’t have been nearly as worried.

Military technology was designed to kill.

That was one thing.

But this was different.

The information Ross had obtained proved that this mysterious competitor possessed biotechnology capable of being applied to medicine.

They had a civilian application.

That changed everything.

It meant their expertise in biotechnology was probably far more advanced than Evenson had initially assumed.

Someone might argue that military technology should naturally be more sophisticated than civilian technology.

Usually, that was true.

Military vehicles were built for performance rather than comfort. Military satellites were generally far more capable than anything available to civilians.

Biotechnology didn’t work the same way.

The line between healing and killing was much less distinct.

In fact, creating something capable of causing biological damage was vastly easier than developing something capable of repairing the human body.

There had always been a simple asymmetry to biology.

Saving a life could be extraordinarily difficult.

Ending one was comparatively easy.

And that was what made this competitor so dangerous.

Regrowing the vice president’s daughter’s leg wasn’t merely a medical demonstration.

It was a statement.

They were showing the world that their technology was mature enough to repair something as complex as a lost human limb.

If they could do that, then the military didn’t need much imagination to understand what the same technology could do in reverse.

If their biotechnology could heal people, then turning it into a weapon would be child’s play.

The message was obvious.

We can save lives.

Imagine what we could do to the people you want dead.

For the military, that was not a sales pitch they could afford to ignore.

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