When Harvey left the Advanced Idea Mechanics building and was pondering where to find Maya Hansen, a sparkling golden portal appeared in front of him.
Master Wong, with a frantic expression, said: "Kaecilius has defected. He also stole the pages from the Book of Cagliostro that describe the forbidden ritual for communicating with the Dark Dimension."
"Can your magic help find this traitor?"
So Kaecilius defected this early?
Harvey thought about it and said uncertainly, "Fatty Wong, do you have any of Kaecilius's hair or personal belongings to use as a medium for casting a spell?"
Master Wong recalled for a moment, "We should. I'll have to go to Kaecilius's room and look. Wait here for a moment."
With that, he turned and stepped back through the portal to Kamar-Taj.
Harvey waited patiently for a few minutes before Wong returned holding a single short, black hair.
With a medium for casting, things were simple.
"Appare Vestigium!"
The spell seemed to fail, yielding no reaction whatsoever.
There were only two possibilities for a Tracking Charm to fail.
With a dark expression, Harvey said, "I'm afraid Kaecilius came prepared. He either used magic to isolate his aura, or he's hiding in some other dimensional space."
Seeing this, Master Wong looked extremely disappointed.
"Alright. You be careful from now on, and keep an eye out for any disturbances on Earth. I'm worried that Kaecilius, having been corrupted by darkness, might risk summoning Dormammu!"
"I got it."
Watching Master Wong disappear through the portal fraught with worry, Harvey paid no mind to this minor interlude.
According to the timeline, summoning Dormammu wouldn't happen for another few years. He wasn't in a rush at all.
"I should focus on figuring out where to find Maya Hansen."
In the original plot, it never mentioned where Maya Hansen went after Stark's mansion was attacked.
He hadn't found her at A.I.M. just now either.
So where could a living, breathing person run off to?
Harvey fell into deep thought.
...
Meanwhile, at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion building.
Agent Natasha Romanoff brought a strange woman wearing a plaid shirt and jeans and knocked on the door of the Director's office.
"Come in."
Behind the desk, Nick Fury sighed and closed the file in front of him. Seeing his trusted subordinate bring in a strange woman, his eyelid twitched as he asked:
"Is this Dr. Maya Hansen, the inventor of the Extremis virus?"
"Hello. I am the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury. I apologize for having to bring you here like this."
As an organization that wished it could monitor every single corner of the Earth, S.H.I.E.L.D. had long been paying attention to a serum with such heaven-defying effects as the Extremis virus.
It was just that the Extremis virus project was a collaborative effort between the military and A.I.M., so S.H.I.E.L.D. had only maintained oversight without directly intervening.
But with the series of terrorist bombings happening recently, Nick Fury immediately made the connection to the Extremis virus.
However, lacking evidence, he didn't want to burn bridges with the military and forcibly arrest people from A.I.M.
So Nick Fury had no choice but to send the Black Widow to "invite" the inventor of the Extremis virus over first.
At this moment, Maya Hansen felt extremely guilty, looking around uneasily.
She knew exactly what kind of messed-up shit Killian was pulling, but on the surface, she still questioned them with righteous indignation:
"I don't care about any S.H.I.E.L.D. You've already severely broken the law by restricting my personal freedom. Careful, or I'll sue you!"
Natasha spoke with a flat expression, exposing her guilty conscience.
"The CEO of A.I.M., Aldrich Killian, is the mastermind behind the recent string of bombings, isn't he?"
Maya Hansen played dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about. I want my lawyer right now. Without my lawyer present, I won't say a single word!"
Seeing Maya Hansen still playing dumb, Nick Fury pushed a report across the desk towards her.
"Take a look at this. This is evidence of A.I.M. conducting illegal human experimentation. Dr. Maya Hansen, what do you have to say for yourself now?"
Taking the file, the very first page was a high-definition photo of the human experimentation process. Maya Hansen's heart sank.
"Damn it! You actually had a spy in the lab?"
Following that, as if drained of all her strength, she slumped into the office chair, her face ashen as she said:
"What do you want to know? Everything in the lab was done by that guy, Killian. It has nothing to do with me."
Nick Fury's eye stared fixedly at her.
"I want to know why Killian kidnapped Pepper Potts, why he attacked Tony Stark, and what his motive is for launching terrorist attacks."
Having reached this point, Maya Hansen, knowing she was caught, answered each question honestly.
"I don't know the exact details of their grudge. I only know that twelve years ago, Tony Stark stood Killian up, leaving him waiting on a roof like an idiot all night."
"After that, Killian swore to get revenge on Stark. To achieve this, he used the Extremis virus to gain the support of the military and the Vice President."
"As for anything else, I don't know."
After finishing, Maya Hansen seemed to finally be relieved, lowering her head and letting out a deep sigh.
What the hell? Just because he was stood up, Killian held a grudge for all these years?
Nick Fury frowned, turned to look at Natasha, and asked, "Did you bring back the experimental data for the Extremis virus?"
Natasha shook her head and explained, "The crucial experimental data wasn't saved in any electronic or physical files, so I could only bring the person back."
Hearing this, Nick Fury looked back at the woman in front of him, saying in a cold tone:
"A serum like the Extremis virus, which could cause massive harm, must be regulated!"
"Hand over the manufacturing method for the Extremis serum, otherwise you can wait to be thrown into a dark, sunless prison."
Being threatened to her face, Maya Hansen, who was already holding back a stomach full of anger, completely exploded.
"Fuck you! Put me in prison if you have the guts. The Extremis virus is my life's work. I will never hand it over to you idiot government officials!"
Seeing her uncooperative attitude, Nick Fury didn't bother wasting any more words, waving his hand to signal Natasha to handle her.
Natasha "politely" grabbed Maya Hansen by the collar and led her out of the office.
Once the office was quiet again, Nick Fury rubbed his throbbing temples.
He pressed the intercom button on the corner of his desk.
"Agent Hill, please come to my office for a chat."
Not long after.
A Level 9 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with crisp short hair, wearing a black women's suit—Maria Hill—clicked into the office on her high heels.
"Sir, is there a mission?"
Nick Fury pulled a file out of his desk drawer and handed it over.
"Take a team of field agents immediately and shut down A.I.M. Confiscate all experimental data of value."
"Make sure you're quick about it. Don't get tangled up with the military."
While flipping through the file on A.I.M., Hill nodded and replied, "Leave it to me, sir."