Ever since Ryan Cole revealed the Arc Reactor technology, the situation around the villa changed almost overnight.
The personnel surrounding the estate received new orders almost immediately.
The intelligent combat drones never fully withdrew, but members of the Elysium Temporary Governing Council began arriving in rotating groups. Over the next two days, they entered the villa one batch at a time for closed-door discussions no outsider was allowed to witness.
Two days later, an HDF tactical transport aircraft, escorted by three Black Antelope R-165 VTOL attack craft, departed the Elysium station and returned to Earth.
Most of the drones surrounding the villa were pulled back soon after, leaving only a minimal force in place to maintain containment and isolation of the area.
Three days later, a corporate entity named Umbrella Industries was quietly established in North America.
On the surface, its founding barely caused a ripple.
Behind the scenes, however, it was under close observation by the Elysium Council and several major power blocs.
Four days later, inside this unremarkable new company, two major research initiatives were greenlit almost simultaneously:
The Arc Reactor Project
and
The Genetic Optimization Serum
Officially, the research staff were Umbrella Industries employees.
In reality, most of them had been seconded from the Elysium Council and other powerful organizations.
As for Ryan Cole—now serving as Umbrella's Chief Technology Officer—his attention wasn't focused on the Arc Reactor at all.
That project was handed off to Dr. Dominique Monaut, who assumed day-to-day leadership.
Ryan instead partnered with James T. Wesley to focus entirely on the Genetic Optimization Serum.
The so-called "Genetic Optimization Serum" was, bluntly speaking, a byproduct of second-generation Godblood research.
Its effects weren't centered on neural enhancement—or at least, not entirely.
Instead, it worked at the cellular and genetic level.
In terms of raw value, it couldn't compare to first-generation Godblood.
It wasn't even on the same level as second-generation Godblood.
But for the leadership of Elysium, a substance capable of significantly slowing cellular aging was, in some ways, more tempting than even Arc Reactor technology.
After all, the world of Elysium already possessed a mature energy infrastructure.
Even if that system still relied on advanced nuclear fission, it was leagues ahead of anything Earth's civilian sector could manage.
Energy was a solved problem.
Longevity was not.
Even with the introduction of the Med-Pod 3000 Automated Medical Platform, which could cure every known human disease, lifespan extension remained underwhelming.
According to official canon, Elysium citizens lived, on average, three times longer than Earth's population.
Three times sounded impressive—until you did the math.
Earth's underclass, crushed by environmental collapse and poverty, averaged only fifty years of life expectancy.
That meant Elysium citizens rarely exceeded two hundred years.
So when someone suddenly presented a technology that didn't directly extend lifespan—but dramatically slowed aging itself—the temptation was obvious.
No one could ignore that kind of bait.
Unfortunately for them, Ryan Cole had prepared long before this jump.
In addition to two hundred combat-grade autonomous drones loyal only to him, he had also brought along a little something extra.
A "nuclear bomb."
Strictly speaking, it wasn't a true nuclear weapon.
Its successful construction owed a great deal to Stark Industries—without their access to radioactive materials, sourcing the components would've been nearly impossible.
That said, Stark Industries couldn't provide weapons-grade fissile material.
Fortunately, authenticity wasn't the point.
The destructive output was very real.
If detonated, it would deal catastrophic, immediate damage to the Elysium station.
Ryan's logic was simple:
If his technologies became too tempting, his life would be at risk.
So he offered a choice.
On one hand, an irresistible carrot.
On the other, a mutually assured stick.
Faced with that equation, the organizations led by the Elysium Council knew exactly which option made sense.
Even with internal disagreements, cooperation ultimately won out.
And that was how Umbrella Industries was born.
As for the mystery of Ryan's sudden disappearance—and equally sudden reappearance—he offered no explanation.
After several unanswered inquiries, the Elysium Council quietly chose to ignore the issue altogether.
Dr. Dominique Monaut
Female physicist. Born in Paris, France.
She holds the historical record for the highest number of individual R&D patents. Many of Armadyne's projects existed solely because she proposed and led them.
Her most famous achievement was the Matter Transmission System, developed in 2102.
That single invention solved Elysium's logistical supply crisis overnight.
James T. Wesley
Male bioengineer. Visionary. Pioneer.
His most important contribution was the creation of the Med-Pod Medical Platform through advanced bioengineering.
While his patent count fell far short of Monaut's, his impact on human civilization was no less profound.
With two geniuses on par with Tony Stark working alongside him, breakthroughs in both the Arc Reactor and Genetic Optimization Serum came quickly.
Beyond collaborating with Monaut and Wesley, Ryan never forgot the true purpose of this jump.
Thanks to these two technologies—each priceless even by Elysium's standards—his plan to systematically acquire the world's advanced human technology progressed smoothly.
Before returning to Elysium, Ryan had considered retreating to a safer world to develop his tech in isolation.
But high-tech worlds required extreme discretion.
Low-tech worlds lacked the infrastructure to support sustained R&D.
And with limited manpower, dimensional constraints, and tech that was impressive but not god-tier, building a private research base simply wasn't viable yet.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Leaving behind another "nuclear bomb" and one hundred combat drones in Umbrella's labs, Ryan returned alone to his home reality:
Earth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
He barely had time to catalog his gains before receiving several urgent updates from Flame Queen.
First:
All raw materials and equipment ordered from Stark Industries had arrived.
Drone production had exploded over the past month.
Unfortunately, the underground transit zone had limited space. Once capacity was reached, Flame Queen immediately halted further drone manufacturing.
Instead of wasting time, she redirected research drones to reverse-engineer and improve:
EXO-0592 Powered Exoskeleton Armor
Multi-stage Intelligent Cruise Missiles
Ascari–Karman Orbital Railgun
Handheld Shield Generator
Second:
Site selection for the new company had narrowed down to three locations.
All that remained was Ryan's final approval.
Third:
As scheduled, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson had come knocking.
Ryan had anticipated this the moment he nudged Tony Stark into reclaiming Howard Stark's legacy.
After a brief rest, he instructed Flame Queen to make contact.
Coulson arrived at Umbrella Biopharmaceuticals almost immediately.
"Sorry to make you come all this way, Agent Coulson," Ryan said, stepping out personally and offering an apologetic handshake.
"You're too kind, Mr. Cole," Coulson replied warmly. "I hope my visit isn't interrupting your research."
"Not at all. That phase just wrapped up. Otherwise, you'd probably still be waiting."
Coulson smiled. "Judging by your expression, I'd say the results were… promising?"
"They were," Ryan said—then sighed regretfully.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't obtain the original formula or samples. What we achieved through independent research is impressive, but how close it is to the real thing is anyone's guess."
Already primed with instructions, Coulson followed up smoothly.
"Oh? What field were you researching? Maybe it's something I can help with."
Ryan smiled. "Nothing classified enough to end civilization."
"Just something that might help it."
"Genetic Optimization Serum."
Coulson raised an eyebrow. "Sounds… ambitious."
"It does what it says on the label," Ryan replied casually.
"Optimizes the human body at the genetic level. Slows aging. Enhances physical resilience."
He spoke as if he hadn't just tossed bait straight into the water.