For the Avengers, yesterday had been a day of pure chaos.
A.I.M. and the Brotherhood of Mutants had struck simultaneously, alongside a jailbreak at the Raft orchestrated by Doctor Octopus and Electro. To this day, the Raft remained unable to resume normal operations, forcing Pym to activate a backup mansion. He had placed the "Mansion Prison" right inside the conference room of Avengers Tower.
In addition to managing the fallout, they needed a comprehensive analysis of all information regarding Nimrod.
"From what we currently know, the Nimrod Sentinels are essentially an upgraded model of the Super-Adaptoid—though calling this an 'upgrade' feels like a massive understatement." Tony, in a rare display of old-school methodology, had found a large pane of glass and was using a water-based marker to sketch a chibi version of Nimrod.
"His durability, combat capability, and adaptability have all been exponentially increased; he can even resist magic. But the problem is, the most powerful ability we know the Nimrod Sentinels possess hasn't been displayed yet."
"The ability to replicate the X-Gene," Pym finished the thought. "Not only did he fail to replicate the abilities of the two mutants present, but he also seems to have lost the power-mimicry traits of his predecessor, the Super-Adaptoid."
Wasp listened to the two scientists speak as if they were reciting an alien script, looking back and forth between them before asking, "So... why?"
"The current conclusion is: we don't know." Bruce Banner, wearing his glasses, paced back and forth. Nimrod's absolute suppression of the Hulk had left him feeling... an unprecedented sense of relief. For some reason, he felt like he could hear the Hulk's internal roaring a little less often now.
The trouble was, sometimes the world needed the Hulk.
"So, we've handed the problem over to the experts—mutant experts." Tony shrugged helplessly. "We had the Sonic Kid deliver a portion of the Nimrod samples to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, hoping they'd have some insight."
At the Xavier Institute, the atmosphere was, frankly, one of high alert. This wasn't just because the Nimrod samples had arrived, or because they had heard that Nimrod nearly soloed the entire Avengers; it was because Quicksilver had arrived at the school.
While Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were fraternal twins, they didn't share much of a resemblance. Instead, Quicksilver looked remarkably like his father, whereas Magneto always insisted Wanda took after her mother. The result was a group of veteran X-Men watching a younger version of Magneto running around the campus out of sheer boredom.
Of course, that wasn't the X-Men's primary concern. They were gathered together, having summoned Kitty Pryde as well, while Beast and Forge—the man in charge of logistics—began examining the Nimrod samples.
"We have some good news: Nimrod currently lacks any ability to replicate the X-Gene. At least for now," Beast concluded after examining the samples with tools Forge had constructed.
Forge was a veteran member of the X-Men, but he had never been a frontline combatant. His ability allowed him to intuitively create any imaginable mechanical device and understand the function of any machine by perceiving "mechanical energy"—essentially the power of "I think, therefore it works." Before he even realized he was a mutant, he had helped the government create mutant power-inhibitor collars—only to discover his own nature when he put one on and realized he had "crashed" his own brain.
Setting aside his intuitive powers, he remained an exceptional, even brilliant, engineer.
"Uh, if I'm not mistaken, this metal seems to possess a biological quality," Forge said, looking at the analysis reports with partial understanding. "In other words, if possible, it could undergo semi-biological modification."
"Meaning it could have the X-Gene implanted?" Iceman asked.
"That would make it vastly different from the Nimrod we know, and it wouldn't be nearly as threatening."
Beast didn't quite agree with Iceman's conclusion. If Nimrod had to capture a mutant and inject himself with genes every single time, it would be far too inefficient. "The best solution would be to find a specific mutant—one who can provide feedback on all mutant genetic traits, or even combine and display different genetic characteristics simultaneously."
Truth be told, hearing that description, the first person that came to the minds of Cyclops and the other X-Men was Mr. Sinister. Sinister could certainly pull off such a feat, but they didn't think he was the one behind this.
"What about Mystique or someone with similar powers?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Mystique or someone like her could turn into Logan. But how would they turn into Magneto?" Cyclops sighed, then summarized the necessary criteria: "Unless the person is like Mr. Sinister, able to store the abilities of different people within their own body—preferably without the need for artificial implantation, but simply through touch..."
At this point, Cyclops fell silent. Then, Professor X seemed to finally realize something, asking with a note of alarm:
"Wait, have you still not found Rogue?"
"...We don't know where she went. The X-Men have been rebuilt for a long time now; if she wanted to come back, she would have. We chose to respect her wishes and didn't go looking for her." Cyclops adjusted his glasses awkwardly and looked toward the White Queen. "Emma, please use Cerebro to find Anna Marie. We need to ensure her safety—specifically, we need to ensure she isn't captured by Nimrod."
In the reality of Earth-811, the elderly Professor Xavier, upon receiving this news, was so shocked he nearly disconnected from the telepathic link. He looked toward Logan, who was by his side. "Logan, you never told me... you never told me that you never found Rogue."
"We didn't... why? What's wrong?"
"Hank and the others say Rogue is likely the key to all of this." The Professor rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Nimrod, or the Sentinels, captured her and used her powers to create the Nimrod Sentinels."
"If that's the case, then she should still be alive."
A moment later, Peter, having heard the Professor's detailed explanation, reached a conclusion: "According to their dissection of the Nimrod from the past, it's certain that this manufacturing isn't innate. In other words, every Nimrod Sentinel needs to have Rogue's genes implanted after it is built."
"Then she must be at Nimrod's manufacturing plant." Logan grunted, then sighed helplessly. "But we still don't know where Nimrod's production base is. We've destroyed several Master Molds, but those were all for modifying human Sentinels or building standard Sentinels. We still haven't found Nimrod's Master Mold."
"Right, the Master Mold." Realizing this, the Professor re-established a psychic link with Kitty, who had entered a trance while wearing Cerebro. "We have to inform them about the Master Mold. Logan, back then... do you know where the Master Mold was located?"
"I saw it once. It was in the tunnels beneath Genosha."
"What?!"