The setting sun bathed Midtown Manhattan in its afterglow. Traffic wound through the crisscrossing streets like endless dragons, while the crowded masses below looked as tiny as ants. If one was lucky enough to stop along an east-west street, one could witness the famed "Manhattanhenge"—the rare sight of the setting sun hanging between the towering buildings on either side.
Marcus stood before the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows. Worthington Tower rose like a steel giant standing between heaven and earth, and he was the helmsman seated at its peak, looking down upon the countless lives below.
Recently, however, the master of this conglomerate, who commanded immense wealth and hidden power, had been plagued by headaches. As a monopolistic giant in the medical industry, Worthington Company was in equally dire straits. Some hidden adversary had dealt the monopoly a fatal blow. The laboratory files spreading across the internet at breakneck speed had become irrefutable evidence that Worthington had been secretly conducting illegal human experiments.
As public outrage continued to ferment and human rights organizations added fuel to the flames, Worthington Company was suddenly thrust into the spotlight and left in an awkward dilemma. It could not deny the accusations outright, since the documents and images had already spread too widely for the news to be suppressed. Yet if it admitted the truth, it would immediately face legal punishment and condemnation from everyone.
After the judicial authorities formally intervened, Marcus could only reluctantly sacrifice the pawns to save the king. He handed over the laboratory's research director and several other insignificant figures, claiming that Worthington knew nothing of the human experiments or illegal detentions. Everything had been done privately by the research director, who harbored hostility toward Mutants. Whether the public believed that explanation or not, at least the judicial investigators did.
Thus, a