It sits alone in the dark room of the cheap, shoddy motel. He glances momentarily, absentmindedly, with jerking, zombie-like movement. The blinking fluorescent light from the sign outside provided a brief distraction as a low hum began emulating from deep, inside the creature's cranium. It tilted its head briefly, as if to notice the sign, but then stared right through it, as if nothing was even there. Suddenly the light of the creature's robotic eyes lit a deep red, the color of fire and blood.

<< Systems online. Functioning at 20% and rising. >>

The creature looked down at its peculiar form, a strange amalgamation of both man and machine. Human flesh woven with wires of many colors and lengths. Pieces of metal fused into flesh and bone.

<< Life support systems functioning at maximum capacity. Weapons systems activated and charging. Memory chips functioning at maximum capacity. All motor systems at optimum physical levels. Deathlok Unit running at maximum efficiency and capacity. >>

<< Memory chip 6b running. >>

[ I remember now. I was once just plain, ordinary Michael Collins. Mild-mannered, shy, quiet Michael Collins was my identity. I spent my days analyzing, attempting to improving, and on a good day, maybe inventing robotic technology for the CyberAll Corporation. It was a good job. Six-figure salary, two weeks of vacation, company sedan, medical and dental, and all the perks that working on high technology could allow. Having no wife or kids, this lifestyle afforded the luxury of a nice home and plenty of money in the bank. ]

<< System Error 13: Cerebral functions operating at variant capacity. Attempting diagnostic on errant systems. Possible virus in animal tissues, attempting override. >>

[ Things all changed when Billy* brought IT in. Billy Mac said IT had been attempted to enter a computer research facility in Boulder, Colorado, and he had to "put it down". Billy said that he didn't recognize the technology and wanted IT analyzed by the best ‘puter brain he knew this side of the Rockies. He brought IT to me.]

*Billy Mac is William MacDonald, the hero known as Triumph

[When he first brought it to my lab I was very skeptical. I had studied robotic designs at Gates Technology Institute and MIT. I had followed the works of such geniuses as Henry Pym and Vladameir Putkin, but IT was something more. Nothing I had studied could prepare me for the marvel I witnessed when I began my investigation. ]

<< Diagnostic Error 78ex. Systems exhibiting unusually high levels of cerebral activity and uncharacteristic emotions. Attempting to reroute internal systems and realign inhibitors. System malfunctions evident in multiple areas. Interference with primary objective possible, and this is unacceptable within current mission statement. >>

[ I opened It and discovered an entire new world inside. The technology that had created IT was like nothing that had been created on this earth. IT was far too advanced for anything terran in origin. This was a truly amazing discovery…robotics with an alien origin. I would be famous, a pioneer not only in the discovery of something fabulous, but I would be the first to investigate, and hopefully replicate this technology into something useful. Then it awoke. Whatever damages IT had incurred in battle, while extensive, had not set in with speed. With whatever energy it had conserved it lashed out in IT's final minutes, and latched onto me, scientist Michael Collins. IT's hand exploded into a hundred different wires, all attaching to my skin, pushing inside, combining with my flesh. IT spoke to me inside my head. IT said "My mission must continue. A Manhunter's primary goal is to survive. The Deathlok Unit must survive. We will become one now human. Then the world went black.]

<< System Error Found. Systems Rerouted. Cerebral activity is now within acceptable levels. >>

<< Accessing mission program: Infiltrator. Access complete. >>

The unit known as Deathlok the Demolisher walked from the corner, and the shadows which it has been "sleeping" in. It pulled the suitcase from under the bed and opened it. Pressing several buttons on the machine inside, he shut the case and quietly made his way out the window and down the fire escape to the desolate alley below. He had walked almost six blocks away when the motel known as The Refuge Inn exploded in a fiery mass.

Deathlok walked another four blocks, keeping to the shadows, until he arrived at the Carter Business Complex. It was late night, almost 3 AM, and the rain had begun to pour, but Deathlok paid it no heed. He walked up to the Identification System and looked at it cautiously, then placed a special card into the slot and the doors slid open, with a brief gust of cool air, for his entry. Waiting inside for him was a short, balding man in his mid-thirties with a wet mop and a frown.

"Wait a frickin' minute? Who the heck are you? I was told I was letting a couple of the boys in to pull a birthday…"

The janitor known as Willy Luckins, age 37, didn't get to finish his sentence as a pistol moved with lightning speed from Deathlok's holster and aimed its laser sighting towards Willy's head. A bullet entered his head directly between his eyes, exiting out the back of his head with a disgusting splatter and ended his otherwise unmemorable life. The body slid quickly down the wall it had crushed into, leaving a long , red streak sliding down the pristine, white walls.

<< Building information accessed. Blueprints engaged. >>

Quickly the Deathlok unit made it's way to the security camera and with almost uncanny speed, attached a small piece of hardware that would make it appear as though the corridor was still completely empty, rather than containing the bloody body of the former janitor. With any luck, the officers on duty had been doing something other than watching that particular camera for the last several minutes. Deathlok speedily made his way silently down the corridor to a door marked ‘Observations'. There he proceeded to open the door, and much to the brief shock of his victims, shot SHIELD Agent Vince Cassel, 26, dead before he even knew what hit him. His accuracy was 100 percent, armed with both an online-targeting system and smart-gun, the poor agents barely had time to widen their eyes in disbelief before Deathlok had pumped two shots into the head of Agent Miquel Peron, 29. Then, as Agent Annabella Kraine, 30, attempted to drop her almond chicken and chopsticks, and make a play for her pistol, Deathlok fired his final shot, splattering the contents of her head across the table containing the Agents dinner and reading material. It had apparently been a quiet evening. Up until now at least.

Deathlok then began to check the security of the small SHIELD bureau he had infiltrated. Sure he had eliminated all known targets in the office, Deathlok made his way out of the corpse-strewn room, and down the hall to a door mark "Intelligence". There he opened the door, and walked in. Seeing the vast array of computers and equipment, Deathlok made his way to a chair near the largest console, sat himself down, and plugged himself into the largest computer in the room.

<< Accessing primary mission function: Interface and integration into SHIELD computer systems. Access successful. Downloading all memory functions and abilities of Deathlok Unit into SHIELD primary computers. Integration success rate appears to be 100%. Secondary safety protocols enacted. . . . >>