Chapter Summaries

After rescuing Will from Hydra’s distant planet, Evenson met with Malik and Stephanie to discuss cooperation, while keeping his true influence within Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. unclear. Malik asked what Evenson wanted from Hydra, since he seemed able to obtain anything without their help.

• Evenson washed off the alien dust, changed into a Prada suit prepared by Malik, and joined Malik and Stephanie in the reception room.
• Stephanie welcomed Evenson’s cooperation and offered him fine porcelain and tea, which he accepted.
• Malik asked why Evenson’s company wanted to cooperate with Hydra despite Evenson’s influence and resources.
• Malik suggested that Evenson had agents throughout S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, then asked what Hydra could offer him.

Evenson exposed that Malik’s devotion to The Hive was a transaction meant to help Hydra rule the world, shattering Stephanie’s sincere belief. Malik questioned whether he and Umbrella Corporation could truly share power, but Evenson said Umbrella had no interest in the throne.

• Evenson asked Malik why he worshipped The Hive, and Malik explained Hydra’s plan to bring The Hive back to Earth so they could rule together.
• Evenson identified Malik’s faith as a means to the end of ruling the world, and Malik admitted that his summary was correct.
• Stephanie confronted her father because she had believed Hydra’s faith in The Hive was genuine, then sank back onto the sofa after learning the truth.
• Malik said that faith was ultimately transactional and agreed that he and Evenson shared practical ambitions.
• Malik warned that two people could not share the throne of the world, but Evenson replied that Umbrella Corporation did not want it.

Malik challenged Evenson’s claim that Umbrella Corporation had no desire to rule the world, and Evenson explained that world rule was only a means to the company’s ideal of making humanity better. He admitted that the company’s past Nazi-era beliefs were wrong, leaving Malik and Stephanie stunned by his candor.

• Malik questioned Evenson’s disinterest in ruling the world and accused Umbrella Corporation of actions that contradicted his claim.
• Evenson explained that Hydra sought world rule as its goal, while Umbrella Corporation viewed it as a means to achieving its ideals.
• Evenson said Umbrella Corporation’s ideal was to make humanity better, and Malik criticized its Nazi-era record.
• Evenson admitted that the company had been wrong to pursue extermination and said it had learned that all people belonged to one human race.
• Malik remarked that many ignorant people still agreed with the company’s old beliefs, and Evenson replied that only idiots clung to mistaken ideas.

Evenson explained that Umbrella Corporation had abandoned its former racial ideology and now sought to unite humanity through genetic equality and coexistence with former enemies. Malik supported the goal but asked for concrete plans, and Evenson turned the question back on him to draw him into shaping the project.

• Malik asked Evenson to explain Umbrella Corporation’s new intentions and how they planned to improve humanity.
• Evenson admitted the organization’s past approach had been arrogant and disastrous, and said its new focus was on genes rather than politics, culture, or religion.
• Evenson proposed tolerance and coexistence, arguing that all humans were fundamentally alike and should unite as one nation, race, and civilization.
• Evenson praised Hydra as the likeliest force to unify the world, and Malik agreed that humanity’s integration could strengthen his future rule.
• When Malik asked for a concrete plan for ethnic integration, Evenson asked him to contribute his own ideas as a future world ruler.

Malik explained Hydra’s plan to unite the world by using preferential education policies to gradually integrate smaller races and reshape shared identities. He left Evenson satisfied and Stephanie beginning to understand how the policy would make racial labels fade over generations.

• Stephanie argued that resistance to Hydra’s rule and racial integration should be eradicated, prompting Evenson to call her proposal practical but meaningless.
• Evenson asked Malik what rule depended on, and Malik answered that it depended on people, whom rulers treated as capital.
• Malik told Stephanie that a ruler should sacrifice as little capital as possible to gain the greatest benefit rather than resort to indiscriminate slaughter.
• Malik proposed preferential treatment for smaller races, including protection of their cultures and languages and additional educational benefits.
• Malik explained that education would teach people new shared standards until racial labels became meaningless and the world became one human race.

Evenson and Malik explained how cultural integration could unite people while gradually making their original languages and customs irrelevant. Evenson then introduced Umbrella Corporation’s plan to eliminate what it called the Tower of Babel phenomenon, but did not yet reveal its details.

• Stephanie praised Malik’s integration policy, then questioned why it also called for preserving each race’s culture.
• Malik explained that people would abandon cultures with no practical use, while the preservation order would make the new government appear magnanimous.
• Evenson argued that the greater danger came from people who understood the policy but spread inflammatory rhetoric, and Malik promised to watch them.
• Malik asked Evenson to explain Umbrella Corporation’s own integration plan.
• Evenson described human divisions as the Tower of Babel phenomenon and said Umbrella Corporation had devised a plan to eradicate it.

Evenson argued that the Tower of Babel was a real technology for turning humanity into gods, and that God divided humanity because the project frightened Him. Malik became eager to pursue godhood, and Evenson began explaining that the threat depended on who could carry out the plan.

• Evenson interpreted God's response to the Tower of Babel as fear rather than anger.
• Evenson said the Tower of Babel symbolized a tangible technology that could make humanity complete and godlike.
• Malik wondered whether humans could become gods and embraced godhood as a new goal beyond ruling the world.
• Evenson said the Babel Tower Project had frightened God because it could succeed, comparing the danger to Alexander Pierce attempting to seize Malik's throne.

Malik learned that Evenson’s company planned to restore humanity’s godlike potential through genetic engineering, which Evenson called the Human Completion Plan. Malik grew wary that Alexander Pierce’s Hydra faction might sabotage his own ambitions, and he ended by questioning whether Peggy Carter was a completed human or an incomplete weapon.

• Malik recalled the ancient Hydra families’ rivalry with Alexander Pierce’s faction and worried they might undermine his plans.
• Malik asked Evenson whether his company intended to restart humanity’s Path to Godhood, and Evenson confirmed it would use genetic engineering to unlock humanity’s genes.
• Evenson explained that the Kree had partially unlocked humans’ genetic powers to create the Inhumans, and Malik realized their powers might have come from dormant human potential.
• Evenson declared that his company would complete the Human Completion Plan and restore human glory.
• Malik asked whether Peggy Carter was a completed human or an incompletely unlocked weapon, and whether she could be replicated.

Malik suspected Alexander Pierce would threaten his bid to rule the world, but Evenson’s explanation that Peggy Carter was a weapon and that Demon Heart Warriors could be produced eased his immediate fears. Malik ordered a batch, then realized he needed far more than he had first planned for his family, followers, strongholds, and the search for The Hive.

• Malik concluded that Alexander Pierce was the most urgent threat to his plans because Pierce controlled S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra’s forces, and the Winter Soldier.
• Evenson told Malik that Peggy Carter was a weapon and explained that only repeatable, mass-produced creations counted as technology.
• Malik felt relieved and ordered a batch of Demon Heart Warriors from Evenson.
• Evenson pointed out that Malik would need warriors to protect his family and followers, guard his strongholds, and search for The Hive.
• Malik reconsidered his initial plan to order only around ten Demon Heart Warriors as the list of people and places needing protection grew.

Malik negotiated with Evenson to acquire Demon Heart Warriors for a force under his control, learning that he would have to supply candidates and pay for the modifications. The chapter ended with Evenson quoting a price of two hundred million us dollars for five hundred candidates, with failed products free of charge.

• Malik realized that he might need at least a hundred Demon Heart Warriors and worried that the cost could consume most of his fortune.
• Evenson offered to sell the warriors despite them not being generally available, and explained that Malik could supply the raw materials or have the company provide finished products.
• Malik refused company-provided materials because he did not want outsiders to control the people who would protect him and his fortune.
• Malik settled on ordering a hundred warriors, and Evenson explained that failed modifications and candidates who failed graduation examinations would not be charged.
• Evenson required five hundred healthy, preferably young candidates with military training, then quoted Malik two hundred million us dollars.

Malik and Stephanie learned that Evenson was charging only $200 million total for the Demon Heart Warriors, not per warrior. Evenson asked Malik to use his connections to introduce Umbrella Corporation to major investors, and Malik agreed.

• Malik worried that buying one hundred Demon Heart Warriors would cost $20 billion and considered asking to pay in installments.
• Evenson clarified that the total price for the five hundred people was $200 million, surprising Malik and Stephanie.
• Evenson explained that he wanted Malik to introduce Umbrella Corporation to financial groups such as Rockefeller and Morgan and encourage them to invest.
• Malik agreed to introduce Evenson to established financial conglomerates if Umbrella Corporation could offer them something attractive.

Evenson sought Malik’s help establishing Umbrella Corporation branches around the world, then explained that the company needed money and influence to pursue its Human Completion Plan through extensive research. Malik agreed only to make introductions, while Evenson assured him that Umbrella would keep its work secret.

• Malik hesitated when Evenson asked him to connect Umbrella Corporation with influential people in countries around the world.
• Evenson told Malik and Stephanie that traditional Chinese medicine had once led Western medicine, but the British Anatomy Act helped Western doctors advance by providing bodies for practice.
• Stephanie connected Evenson’s argument about extensive practice to Auschwitz and suspected that Umbrella’s advanced biochemical research had roots in human experimentation.
• Evenson said Umbrella’s Human Completion Plan had only begun and that it needed to study every race in the world through further research.
• Malik agreed to make introductions but refused to guarantee the powerful figures would help if Umbrella’s activities were exposed.
• Evenson assured Malik that Umbrella had learned to keep a low profile after its painful lesson sixty years earlier.

Malik agreed to Umbrella Corporation’s deal to provide the Demon Heart Warriors, and Evenson arranged for the goods to be sent to Gospel Company. Before they could finalize the transaction, Evenson presented a Devil Contract and warned Malik that it could not be broken.

• Malik accepted Evenson’s request after weighing the promised benefits and Umbrella Corporation’s offer to waive 20 billion dollars in payment.
• Evenson gave Malik the Eredar Twins’ account details and named Gospel Company as the processing plant’s destination.
• Malik suspected Gospel Company and Ross were connected to Umbrella Corporation, but Evenson dismissed Ross as a celebrity spokesperson.
• Evenson presented Malik with confidentiality clauses and explained that his company had been burned by Whitehall’s misuse of its name.
• As Malik prepared to sign, Evenson revealed that the document was a Devil Contract he had learned to make from Mephisto.
• Stephanie questioned whether a faintly printed sheet of printer paper could serve as a Devil Contract, and Evenson insisted that its magic—not its material—made it binding.

Malik signed Evenson’s confidentiality contract while Klayya faced the Eredar Twins in a tense first meeting without Evenson. The three women traded barbs over their ties to him, ending with Klayya asserting her natural advantage over the twins.

• Malik signed the contract, and Evenson was satisfied that his deal and identity would remain confidential.
• The Eredar Twins arrived at Klayya’s shop, where the women stared each other down until they cleared out the customers and closed the shop.
• Klayya served the twins tea, and they argued over age, immortality, and what Evenson valued in a woman.
• The Eredar Twins revealed their demon forms and claimed they surpassed Klayya in every respect.
• Klayya proudly emphasized her natural figure, leaving the twins shaken.

Klayya and the Eredar Twins clashed over their roles in Evenson’s life, but their shared doubts about his trustworthiness led them to form an alliance. Klayya also realized she needed to change rather than rely solely on Evenson’s affection.

• The Eredar Twins mocked Klayya’s appearance and argued that their value to Evenson made their bond secure.
• Klayya reflected on how fragile love could be and wondered whether Evenson’s feelings would endure over time.
• The twins explained that they had visited Evenson about serious business but had not told him about Klayya’s false rumors.
• Klayya and the twins admitted they each distrusted Evenson in certain respects and agreed to become allies.

Evenson left Malik’s home with the agreed payment items, a sample of the Black Stone, and a car full of wine, then tried to show off his wealth on social media. His evening ended when Captain America crashed onto the car hood, and Evenson rushed over to ask what had happened.

• Evenson took the appraised items, Chinese porcelain, cigars, his designer suit, and a sample of the Black Stone from Malik’s home.
• Evenson explained that he needed the Black Stone sample to study teleportation before rescuing The Hive, and Malik and his daughter let him take it.
• Evenson found the Lincoln’s refrigerator restocked with wine, opened a bottle, and posted a selfie to social media.
• Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Natasha replied to Evenson’s post with their own displays of wealth, while Captain America and Peggy Carter stayed silent.
• An unidentified person smashed onto the hood of Evenson’s car, and Evenson recognized Captain America and hurried to check on him.
• Captain America grabbed Evenson by the collar and answered his concern with a long sigh.

Evenson helped Captain America back to his apartment after he had fallen through a window, then learned that Peggy Carter and Dottie Underwood were both living there with him. Captain America recounted how his marriage had grown tense and suspected Dottie was trying to steal Peggy, leaving him unsure how to respond.

• Evenson found Captain America unhurt after he fell onto a car and helped him toward the apartment building.
• Evenson asked what Peggy Carter had done, and Captain America complained about her grudges and vindictiveness.
• Dottie Underwood appeared in the stairwell and revealed that she lived with Captain America and Peggy.
• Captain America reflected on adjusting to ordinary married life and on Peggy's increasingly apparent spiteful traits.
• Captain America suspected that Dottie had moved in to steal Peggy and worried that he had no way to confront a female rival.

Evenson visited Captain America after seeing him thrown from his home and found him caught in a domestic dispute with Peggy Carter and Dottie. Captain America began explaining that the argument stemmed from his rescue of a new neighbor, leaving the cause of the conflict unresolved.

• Evenson caught up with Dottie and learned that she had moved in with Peggy Carter because her Umbrella Corporation employer had stopped paying her wages.
• Peggy Carter explained that she housed Dottie to protect her from people in S.H.I.E.L.D. who might target her.
• Evenson entered Captain America's home and found Carter angry with Captain America while Dottie sat beside her.
• Dottie said she had told Carter what Captain America had been doing, and Captain America explained that he had rescued a new female neighbor from crazed junkies.

Evenson tried to calm Peggy Carter and defend Captain America after Peggy accused her of getting too close to a woman she had rescued. Peggy revealed that the woman was her niece Sharon Carter, and Evenson hastily tried to leave.

• Evenson called Peggy's reaction an overreaction and helped Captain America explain that she had rescued and comforted a woman in danger.
• Dottie and Peggy accused Captain America of embracing the woman and nearly kissing her, while Peggy said she had witnessed the scene through a wall.
• Peggy recalled catching Captain America kissing a female clerk years earlier, and Captain America said the clerk had kissed her first.
• Evenson argued that social attitudes had changed and suggested the rescued woman might have kissed Captain America in gratitude.
• Peggy revealed that the woman was Sharon Carter, her blood-related niece, and Evenson stood up to leave.

Evenson realized Captain America’s affair involved Peggy Carter’s niece, Sharon, and found himself trapped as Peggy confronted Steve. The chapter ended with Peggy asking whether Steve still minded something from their past, and Steve admitting that he cared too much about her not to mind.

• Evenson tried to leave, but found S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 13, Sharon Carter, outside and shut the door on her.
• Evenson learned his usual means of returning to the shop were unavailable because his allies were away and Hubbs had damaged the teleportation array.
• Peggy Carter demanded that Steve explain himself, and Steve said he had not known the woman was Peggy’s niece.
• Peggy asked whether Steve still minded something between them, and Steve admitted that he cared too much about her not to mind.