Marvel: A.T.L.A.S. - Ghost Protocol

Titan Facility, Omega Vault - July 1987

The cold went beyond physical sensation as Caspian approached the fragment. The Emperor Eye tracked ice crystals forming in his blood, spreading through tissue. His enhanced biology fought it, but even Ninjak's abilities had limits. Time was measured in heartbeats now.

"Hospital situation critical," Walter's voice cut through growing static. "Howard's condition—"

"Focus on containment," Caspian ordered, each word precise despite the cold. "Priority is civilian protection."

The fragment's patterns had evolved, forming structures his Emperor Eye could barely process. Not just ice anymore—something older. Something that remembered what it was before humanity found it.

Through facility feeds, he heard his mother coordinating the global response. Her voice steady, controlled. Professional. The Director of A.T.L.A.S. doing her duty. If anyone detected the strain beneath her commands, they were wise enough not to mention it.

"Sixty-three cities compromised," Sterns reported. "Geometric progression accelerating. Temperature gradients suggest—"

Static consumed the channel. In its absence, Caspian heard something else. A sound like ice growing, like glaciers moving. Like ancient things waking up.

The fragment's surface had completely shattered now, revealing what lay beneath. The Emperor Eye analyzed patterns that shouldn't exist, geometries that hurt to process. And within them, something looked back.

YOU CAME, it formed words from frost. LIKE HE DID.

"My grandfather." Caspian's voice remained steady as ice crawled up his legs. "In '48."

ARTHUR UNDERSTOOD. BUT COULD NOT ACCEPT. The patterns shifted, grew more complex. CAN YOU?

The Emperor Eye caught movement in the ice—images forming. His grandfather, younger, facing this same choice. The moment he decided to divide the entity, to scatter its pieces across the globe. To contain what couldn't be destroyed.

"He was right." Blood froze in Caspian's veins, but his mind remained clear. Focused. "About what you'd do. What you're trying to do now."

WE IMPROVE. WE PERFECT. Through the facility's systems, they felt the other fragments reaching, growing stronger. HUMANITY IS FLAWED. WE FIX. WE MAKE BETTER.

"By making them like you."

YES. The patterns pulsed with something like pleasure. JOIN US. HELP US. LEAD US. BETTER THAN CONTAINMENT. BETTER THAN DEATH.

Ice crystal formations matched patterns from the Finland site, from the hospital. Bodies moving with horrible purpose. Minds transformed, absorbed into something vast and cold and eternal.

Through the static, they heard Howard's voice, weak but determined: "Don't... listen. It lies. It twists. It—"

The channel died completely. Above, the world grew colder. Millions of lives hung in the balance as ancient ice reached for the surface.

Caspian moved with calculated precision, every step measured despite the spreading frost. The Emperor Eye tracked the fragment's patterns, finding the weakness his grandfather had built into its structure. The flaw that would make destruction possible.

"A Valemont always pays his debts," he said quietly.

The fragment's patterns shifted. Recognized the words. Recognized their meaning.

TOO LATE, it formed in the ice. TOO—

Caspian's hand, covered in his frozen blood, pressed against the containment field's key point. The sequence activated. Energy cascaded through impossible geometries.

The world turned white with cold fire.

Above, in the facility's command center, they felt the temperature spike. Saw the network of frost across the globe falter, fragment, begin to fail as its lynchpin died.

In the hospital, Howard watched ice patterns crack and shatter, taking their infection with them. "He did it," he whispered. "My God, he actually—"

The blast doors protecting the vault's approach began to warm. To open.

Carrie Valemont stood perfectly still, her posture rigid, her face composed. Waiting to see what price victory had demanded.