Interlude Maya Hansen
Maya Hansen looked at the readings.Her life's work were at stake.
All the time. Continually. Continuously. Day after day, she was working madly on it and nothing !!! She didn't take it a step further. It was like the work of Sisyphus. Just as she thought she understood this, more people exploded becausd of Extremis.
She had no choice, she knew human experimentation was cruel, and yet she wanted, she wanted so badly to stabilize the formula, make every human being able to regain limbs, gain new life. It was her obsession.
Yet inside, she knew. She damned knew she had sold her soul to the devil. A devil named Killian. She had no choice, she needed the money. Tony left her. It was only one night and that was it. The great Tony Stark lived on. He even became a hero. She still couldn't believe it as she watched the New York coverage as she sat in the lab at Killian's Miami estate.
The aliens attacked them.
Killian was shocked too.
He had always been very analitic and now it seemed he was that insecure elevator boy again. He repeated that it was impossible.
He especially laughed at the dude with a hammer(real Norse god?) Killian really seemed crazy back then and was barely coherent. Extremis was bad for him at the time. She barely stopped him from exploding. Why, she couldn't stabilize it? She checked everything, and yet these people continued to explode. It was getting blown, everyone would know about it soon. It is impossible to hide their failures for long.
Extremis was unique.
Her work.
Breakthrough, revolutionary, could change the world! Extremis improved the physiology of the individual in particular. Hacking DNA as Tony Stark would say. Maya made use of the biological nature of living organisms (her treacherous heart spoke of living people, but don't think about it... You will gain redemption when Extremis succeeds! You save more than you killed! And yet, despite repeating it day after day, she did not feel it. The list of victims grew larger and survivors decreased. She felt almost as bad as she had been after the night she was abandoned by Tony. She knew he was a playboy. And yet she hoped for something more. After all, she was not just a lady with a pretty face and big breasts. She was brilliant. She was genius like Tony. She thought she would impress him. And yet she didn't).
Maya activated the parts of the brain that manage repair and chemically recode them. However, there was a risk involved. If the body accepted it, it gained the ability to regenerate and heal all wounds.
They tested different versions of wounds and disabilities.
In particular, the regrowth of amputated legs and arms was spectacular.
Extremis not only produced a new limb that was fully functional and had everything. Bone, blood, flesh, skin. It gave completely superhuman strength, reflexes, endurance, endurance, and control over heat. As if Extremis users were living dragons in human skin.
The army wanted to this abilities.
Killian was particularly interested in this.
And yet Maya just wanted to be able to heal all the sick and disabled children. Men and women. Old men and old women.
This is what she always wanted.
And she ended up being an accomplice in human experiments.
She read a lot about Wernher von Braun. He was in a special way close to her. She knew he would understand her. He wanted great things too. Space, not a killing rocket.
Just like her, she did not want experiments on people, but only help the disabled.
The day after the Battle of New York at 7 am, the next Extremis tests began as usual. A new group of men and women came in to undergo the procedure.
Maya watched them.
She saw the expressions of hope and uncertainty on their faces. She prayed silently that this time would be successful. She was sick of disappointing people.
At first, it seemed as if procedure was success. However, soon most began to shine disturbingly.
Failure.
Again.
Maya felt she could just curl up in a ball and cry regardless of the explosion.
Killian immediately ordered everyone evacuated. They were waiting for an explosion. Five minutes passed, then ten. Nothing happened. Maya is back.
She knew she was taking risks.
But she had to know.
All patients were still pinned. They were disturbingly red, emitting Extremis, but nothing else.
They didn't explode.
Maya immediately rushed to the computer. She thought she finally did. It stabilized Extremis, and yet not. It wasn't her.
Shocked, she looked at atoms.
All atoms are saturated with completely new energy. Energy that stabilized Extremis and prevented it from exploding.
What was that?
It was everywhere.
This thing was in Maya, would-be victims of Extremis, Killian, water, air, plants.
Everywhere.
"Maya, what's going on? Did you manage to do it?" Killian asked.
"It's not me. Look at this," Maya said.
Killian watched. And he was shocked just like she was.
"Maya, what is it? Why does it work like that? This could be our breakthrough!" Killian said.
Their breakthrough.
Maya watched the mysterious energy.
It swallowed up all the Earth.
All the atoms.
What was it caused by?
Then she remembered the invasion. Aliens. Radiation from space. Cosmos. Von Braun's obsession. Were aliens the cause of this? Tony needed to know. He was there and he fought with them.
She wasn't sure the great Tony Stark would talk to her, but she had to try.
One more time.
It might have kept all her work from going to waste. It will really stabilize Extremis. And finally she will be free from Killian. She will have her own laboratory, her own people.
Killian was smart, but not a genius like her.
And she wasn't going to leave Extremis in his hands.
Killian leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Finally, Maya. Finally, Extremis will be stable and Tony Stark will pay for our pain," he told her.
Maya wondered for a moment if this was a dream. It seemed too good to be true. But she could smell Killinn's disgusting cologne. It wasn't a dream. She had a breakthrough. After all those years.
She wanted to cry with happiness.
But she had many things be done!
Extremis will finally be success!