And so Aldrich Killian burned himself with abandon, trying to melt the Supreme Brother Bone helmet Tony had clamped over Maya Hansen's head.
Tony sprawled on a nearby sofa, watching the show and snacking at his leisure.
This went on for a full half hour before Aldrich Killian, who had maintained a high-energy output the entire time, finally began to show signs of exhaustion.
Even Maya Hansen, who knew the Extremis virus better than anyone, could not help admiring his endurance.
If it had been any other Extremis Soldier under his command, there was a 100% chance—no, a 1,000% chance—that his emotions would have kept surging until they passed the threshold of self-control and he burned himself to death.
Aldrich Killian, on the other hand, had not only held out, but could also voluntarily pull himself out of that heightened emotional state and stop releasing heat. It was truly—
Impressive!
But that was as far as it went.
One of the Extremis virus's greatest side effects had also been on full display in Aldrich Killian over that half hour.
His reason had evaporated in the most literal sense. When his body shifted into a half-elemental, magma-like state, most of it underwent a beneficial transformation that fell somewhere between reversible and irreversible.
But the brain, that vital human organ, did not transform completely. As a result, an Extremis Soldier's intelligence could sometimes become rather questionable.
This flaw was rooted so deeply in how the Extremis virus worked that, at least for now, even its "mother," Maya Hansen, had no way to overcome it.
It was also the biggest obstacle to using the Extremis virus in the military. After all, no one wanted a powerful soldier they took pride in to suddenly lose his mind on their own lines, turn into a