X-51

 

X-51

Real Name: Aaron Stack (legal name); Z2P45-9-X-51 (model number)

First Appearance: 2001: A Space Odyssey #8, July 1977

Powers: X-51 was an experimental model of artificially intelligent robot, created by Doctors Stack and Broadhurst and raised by Abel Stack as if he were his son. Otherwise known as Aaron Stack or the Machine Man, X-51 possessed a solar energy power supply which gave him considerable stamina providing he powered down occasionally for sleep and recharge. He had superhuman Class 5 strength, reflexes nine times faster than a normal man, a titanium exo-structure that was both laser and temperature resistant, and computer-enhanced processing ability. In extreme temperature conditions, he could use thermal vents and siphons in his hands to drastically alter his body temperature and adapt to his surroundings. These thermal units could also be used to super-heat or freeze objects on contact. X-51 also had telescopic and infrared vision, and could receive radio and television transmissions from his environment, and use his eyes to project the television images for all to see. His neck, arms, and legs could each extend over 100 feet on collapsible metal cable. His right arm contained a series of weapon modules in his fingers, capable of projecting shockwave blasts, lasers, solar-intensity flames, or stun beams. He also had a projectile tangle wire in his chest which could wrap up and restrain his opponents. For transportation, he had retractable tank treads under his arms which could propel him along on his stomach, and plates on his feet which connect into a skateboard underneath him. Machine Man also had magnetic plates on his feet and suction cups on his fingers allowing him to scale surfaces, spring coils on his soles, and was able to generate anti-gravity in order to make him and anything he carried weightless. Jets on his boots could propel him faster with either his treads or skateboard, or combine with his anti-gravity generator in order to fly at supersonic speeds. However, his anti-grav units were significantly damaged and rendered inoperative shortly after he escaped into the real world. He did adapt a dimensional transfer device into his circuits, allowing him to teleport across a city in a moment's notice. Machine Man could modify his components for various situations, such as removing the wheels from his treads and attaching them to his feet to glide along on rail tracks, or affix his weapon modules to his soles and use them like a short-term rocket booster.

After being critically damaged in battle with the Hulk, X-51 was rebuilt with a large number of his experimental systems removed to cut down strain on his circuitry. His anti-gravity and boot jets were restored, but he could only fly at about 50 mph and his weapon modules, dimensional transfer, treads, skateboard, coils, etc were all disabled. He was given a number of new modular instruments stored in his belt which could be attached to his fingers if he needed them, including regular and electronic lock picks, spectroscope, cellular transmission receiver, laser torch, .357 magnum, video receivers so that he can see around corners and over a distance by telescoping his hands, and so on. He also began demonstrating the power to channel electricity and magnetism: He could expel his own power supply as arcs of electricity from his hands, or tap into generators and funnel that power through his hands as well, or use it to artificially construct a magnetic polarity field. Early on, he required a wig and synthetic face mask in order to disguise himself and walk among normal humans undetected. Later on, however, he adopted the ability to reconfigure his exo-structure, shifting between his regular armored appearance and a more human, plain-clothed look.

During a conflict with MasterMold, X-51 was temporarily taken over by the Sentinel and infused with nanite enhancements. He regained control of himself, and his new power capacity became dormant until he suffered critical systems damage in a battle with the Red Skull on board the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. He only sustained himself by downloading his consciousness into a Life Model Decoy, and later totally regenerated into a new Machine Man by attaching his original severed head in place of the LMD's own lost head. In this new form he had vastly increased strength and durability, as well as the hyper-adaptability of most later-model Sentinels. If he was damaged in combat, X-51's systems could repair that damage and adjust his systems to prevent him from ever suffering injury that same way again. He had extensive internal files on all known mutants and superhumans, in addition to ranged sensory scanners allowing him to make new identifications instantaneously. Whether based on past data in his files or new data acquired through first-hand analysis, Machine Man could reconstruct his internal systems in order to create a variety of defensive and offensive measures specifically tailored to battle any given opponent. He generally manifested concussive plasma blasts, telescopic arms, and supersonic thrusters as his typical features. In later months, Aaron demonstrated the ability to physically reconstruct his entire body at will, such as changing into a motorcycle-like mode for transportation. He is now capable of manifesting all manner of tools and weapons out of his chest or hands simply by willing them to form.

STEVEN LANG

 

STEVEN LANG

Real Name: Steven Lang

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #97, February 1976

Powers: Dr. Steven Lang was a baseline human with no superhuman powers, as well as an expert in robotics and genetics and the creator of the Mark III Sentinels. Later, he cybernetically linked himself to the artificial intelligence of his Mastermold Sentinel. However, the process of a mental connection for the two left Lang a mindless shell, while copying his personality and memory engrams into the Mastermold itself. While recuperating in a convalescent home, Lang was recruited to become part of the Earth-based faction of the techno-organic beings known as the Phalanx.

The Phalanx exist as incidental biological refuse created by Technarchy life cycles. When the Technarchy feed on organic life energy, they expose living matter to a Transmode Virus (which is part of their physiology) before consuming it. If all the techno-organic matter is not consumed, it may survive after the Technarchy moves on. Because Transmode-infected matter is highly contagious, infestations of techno-organic matter and beings may grow unchecked, often forming an offshoot known as the Phalanx. On Earth, the Phalanx were created deliberately by the Friends of Humanity in an effort to forge a new breed of living Sentinels to exterminate mutantkind. The original Phalanx drones and agents were created through exposure to the Transmode virus harvested from the ashes of the Technarch known as Warlock. The Phalanx assimilate the sentience of its victims in a manner that unified everyone infected by the Transmode virus into a collective intelligence (a vast hive mind where every memory, viewpoint, and sensory experience could be sampled and revisited by any parts of the whole, maintaining constant and direct telepathic communication between all parties). Lang's recruitment was meant to monitor and control the actions of the hundreds of Phalanx, needing his mind to act as an interface with the techno-organic collective intelligence.

As the human host of the Phalanx collective and a partial Transmode-infectee, Lang could manipulate the techno-organic matter of the entire race, communicate telepathically, and translate computer languages. He provided the collective with focus and direction and had access to all of the thoughts and actions of each Phalanx linked to the collective. The various "individual" Phalanx had only limited capacity for creative thinking beyond following the directives of the collective. Lang gave the Phalanx guidance and helped coordinate and update their mission parameters.

BASTION

 

BASTION

Real Name: Inapplicable

First Appearance: X-Men (Vol. 2) #52, May 1996

Powers: Bastion was the magically recreated form of the Nimrod/Mastermold Sentinel hybrid. During a battle with the X-Men, the hybrid was forced through the Siege Perilous, an inter-dimensional gateway bestowed upon the group by Roma, the Omniversal Majestrix. According to Roma, all who entered the portal were judged by “the highest of powers” and given a chance at rebirth. When it re-emerged from the portal, the Sentinel amalgamation was brought forth in a form no longer artificial, but one of flesh and blood. Unlike others who have gone through the same process, the Sentinel amalgamation would remember the process and assign his own beliefs to the motives of the “higher powers.” He would come to believe that the powers deemed him worthy of his most fervent desire. As such, this power, which he perceived to be feminine, transformed him into a man. Though now stripped of all artificiality and now a fully grown human male, the reborn Sentinel did not know what it was to be human. Furthermore, he had absolutely no memory of his former existence.

He originally appeared to be a synthezoid, a combination of mechanical and pseudo-organic parts which appeared outwardly human. He seemed to be stronger, faster, and possessed better sensory acuity than a normal person, and was immune to psionic probes. After Operation: Zero Tolerance was decommissioned, Bastion's old lives reasserted themselves somewhat, and he began to demonstrate the pre-programmed molecular conversion abilities possessed by Nimrod, reconfiguring his relatively normal techno-physiology to replicate many of the powers and technologies Nimrod once had. He even created an outer armored shell mimicking his old mechanical state. Since then, Bastion has frequently been reduced to little more than a disembodied head, but retains machine telepathy and contact molecular reconstructive abilities, enabling him to mentally override and control mechanical systems from a short distance away as well as fuse with other androids or robotics, converting them into new bodies for himself.

Briefly, he was transmoded into the being called Template after infusion with a techno-mechanical virus cultivated by Mainspring. A derivation of the transmode virus employed by the Technarchy and the Phalanx to convert organic matter into techno-organic matter, the techno-mechanical virus was capable of transfiguring inorganic matter in much the same way. Techno-mechanical substance was not self-powering, as it contained none of the "lifeglow" found in techno-organic matter, but was capable of advanced morphing and reconstruction when fed sufficient amounts of artificial power. As the core of Mainspring's techno-mechanical system, Template had adapted an entire space station as an extension of himself, and could use its satellite communications to transmit the techno-mechanical virus down to Earth, "infecting" computers and other receivers with the virus as well. This let him reshape and animate such receivers from a distance and spread the virus through anything they touched. Later, Bastion was reborn by connecting his head to the deactivated body of an alternate future Nimrod, giving him his original synthezoid body and yet the full power of a Nimrod.