New York, Essex Corporation.
Before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the top-floor office, a slender man held a wineglass and gazed down at the glittering city at night.
"I am Nathaniel Essex. This is Essex Corporation, and I'm its owner."
The man raised his eyes to his reflection in the glass and murmured softly, as though rehearsing.
He considered the words, then nodded in satisfaction.
"Yes. That works. Nothing wrong with it."
Newly reborn, Mr. Sinister—Nathaniel—swirled the red wine in his glass and took a sip.
This body's abilities were unremarkable: basic Telepathy and nothing else. But that was a good thing, too. It meant the body still had plenty of untapped potential.
With that thought, Mr. Sinister raised his glass for another sip, then turned around.
"It seems you're adjusting to this body well enough, Nathaniel."
Miles, dressed in a research coat, nodded to Mr. Sinister. "Warden Kang noticed what we did, but he probably doesn't know what's happening at Essex Corporation yet. This world's Essex Corporation has a murky relationship with the Department of Defense. I'll leave that to you."
After returning to reality, Miles had investigated Essex Corporation at once.
Its former owner, that "Nathaniel Essex," had used a joint project with the Department of Defense to conduct countless inhumane experiments on Mutants. Miles had dealt with him for it, but kept his body intact.
Miles had originally planned to use a Psychic Seed to control the body remotely, keeping up its dealings with the Department of Defense to extract information. But now that the Mr. Sinister beside him needed it, all the better.
After all, no one could play "Nathaniel Essex" better than Mr. Sinister himself.
As for the mess Miles had handed him, Mr. Sinister merely opened a light screen above the desk, skimmed the files,