Chapter Summaries

Ye Mo and Emma Frost detected an artificial signal approaching Earth from the edge of Orion and strengthened the base’s defenses while keeping watch. The signal accelerated, and a brief disturbance near the base followed by flickering lights left them on alert for an imminent threat.

• Ye Mo told Emma Frost about the deep-space energy fluctuation, and she confirmed faint psychic traces in the signal.
• Ye Mo expanded the Perception Network and prepared rapid-response plans while Emma Frost set Mind Radar alerts and secured emergency system permissions.
• Ye Mo took the first watch and traced the signal, estimating that the approaching object was at least destroyer-sized and possibly unmanned.
• Emma Frost detected a fleeting sense of being watched near an abandoned truck outside the base and marked the location as suspicious.
• The base lights flickered briefly, and Ye Mo and Emma Frost both reacted to the disturbance.

Ye Mo and Emma Frost prepared defenses against an unidentified object approaching Earth while tracking a suspicious scout near their base. They let the scout withdraw and waited for the larger threat, with estimated contact time down to five hours and forty-three minutes.

• Ye Mo and Emma Frost analyzed the incoming signals and concluded that an autonomous weapon was the likeliest explanation, while keeping an aberrant mutant possibility open.
• Ye Mo finalized familiar ability combinations for direct combat, and Emma Frost prepared a three-level psychic defense plan.
• Ye Mo and Emma Frost set an encrypted automatic warning system and coordinated psychic surveillance without initiating contact with outsiders.
• After detecting the eastern truck's scanning device changing frequencies, Ye Mo chose to let it finish scouting so they could trace it back to its source.
• Ye Mo and Emma Frost reached the evacuation platform as the truck's signal disappeared, and Ye Mo marked its coordinates for Tony to investigate later.

Ye Mo and Emma Frost waited on a rooftop as an unknown threat approached Earth, preparing to defend the city without hiding. They detected a concealed presence moving a cargo container, and remained on watch with five hours and eleven minutes until the threat arrived.

• Ye Mo and Emma went to the rooftop, where Emma spread her psychic net over the city and Ye Mo prepared for the approaching threat.
• Ye Mo reviewed his available abilities and decided not to risk unlocking another level of the Gene Spiral Tower.
• Emma detected that a cargo container had shifted 0.7 kilometers and sensed a blank zone where a machine or consciousness-stripped organism had moved.
• Ye Mo and Emma chose to let the concealed presence continue its actions while they watched the approaching trajectory.
• Ye Mo and Emma stood shoulder to shoulder as the unknown threat approached at 0.17 times the speed of light.

Ye Mo and Emma Frost rushed to help Captain America fight five synchronized attackers who turned out to be controlled corpses. Emma traced their control signal to an abandoned substation, but glimpsed a spinning tower that matched the Gene Spiral Tower as the battle continued.

• Ye Mo and Emma Frost detected Captain America under attack and hurried to the pedestrian street south of Central Park.
• They joined Steve, who was wounded and surrounded by five attackers moving in perfect formation.
• Ye Mo and Emma coordinated with Emma’s psychic predictions to fight the attackers, while Emma discovered that an outside signal was controlling them.
• Emma let the signal reach her mind so she could trace it, and Ye Mo learned the attackers were corpses with machine-like coordination.
• Emma traced the signal to the third underground level of an abandoned substation and saw a spinning tower like the Gene Spiral Tower before Ye Mo ordered her to pull back.

Ye Mo used Steel Bone Body to shield Captain America from three coordinated attackers while Emma Frost called out their movements. As the attackers closed in, Ye Mo, Emma, and Steve formed a defensive line, preparing for another assault.

• Emma Frost warned Ye Mo that three attackers were about to strike, and Ye Mo blocked an elbow blade with his armored forearm to protect Captain America.
• Ye Mo fought off the attackers while Emma called out their movements, and he discovered they were corpses that could repair their damaged bodies.
• Ye Mo pinned one attacker’s heel spike and crushed its chest, but the strain began to fracture his bones as Steel Bone Body weakened.
• Emma shifted to tracking muscle contractions and warned Ye Mo of incoming attacks, helping him block a charge and dodge a thrown spike.
• Ye Mo and Steve agreed on a defensive plan as Emma’s psychic interference disrupted the attackers’ synchronization, and the three formed a triangular line against them.

Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Captain America fought three mysterious machine-like enemies that adapted their attacks while collecting data on the heroes. The enemies continued advancing, leaving the battle unresolved as Ye Mo and his allies refused to retreat.

• Ye Mo used a shallow telepathic scan on the enemy and hit a scarlet psychic trap, then warned Emma Frost not to probe deeply.
• Captain America, Emma Frost, and Ye Mo formed a defensive triangle as the enemies changed their timing to evade Emma's predictions.
• Ye Mo spotted a low sweep attack, knocked over a sheet-metal box for cover, and helped the group avoid the enemy's spike.
• The enemy on the right used an infrasound device, and Ye Mo realized the machines were testing the group's reactions and gathering data.
• Emma Frost detected real-time communication through the red markings on the enemies' necks, and the machines crushed the group's cover with a stronger sonic blast.
• The enemies regrouped and advanced without pursuing, while Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Captain America prepared to keep fighting.

Ye Mo, Captain America, and Emma Frost fought the Winter Soldier, whom Ye Mo recognized as Bucky Barnes, but his programmed attacks overwhelmed them. Steve tried to reach Bucky through memories of his past, and the chapter ended with Bucky hesitating above Steve instead of striking.

• Ye Mo identified the attacker as the Winter Soldier after he revealed his metal arm, then Bucky knocked Ye Mo aside and resisted Emma Frost's psychic intrusion.
• Bucky attacked Captain America, sending him crashing into a wrecked SUV and knocking his shield away.
• Ye Mo stepped between Bucky and the wounded Steve, but Bucky's blade broke through his defenses until Steve shoved him aside and took the hit.
• Steve recognized Bucky and tried to reach him with details from his life; Bucky briefly stalled before his combat programming resumed.
• Steve charged Bucky and fought him with his shield, then pleaded with him to come back as Bucky held his blade suspended above Steve.

Ye Mo activated Lightning Control and used several electric attacks to disrupt Bucky while Steve tried to exploit the openings. Bucky recovered and pressed the attack, leaving Ye Mo, Steve, and Emma Frost exhausted as the battle remained unresolved.

• Ye Mo activated Lightning Control and blasted the ground beside Bucky, forcing him to dodge.
• Ye Mo sent electricity through the ground and made Bucky stagger, while Steve struck his metal arm with his shield.
• Ye Mo concentrated another attack on Bucky's metal leg, making it buckle so Steve could move in.
• Bucky repaired his prosthetic and resumed his attack after Ye Mo's power went on cooldown and Steve's injury left him unable to fight effectively.
• Bucky dodged Ye Mo's next attack by kicking a sedan toward him, then lunged at Steve, who barely escaped with a kick.
• Bucky advanced toward the exhausted Ye Mo, Steve, and Emma Frost as the battle remained unfinished.

Ye Mo and Steve pursued Bucky into an underground passage, where a trap sealed them inside a force-field cage that suppressed their abilities and adapted to their behavior. Emma Frost discovered the trap was learning from their reactions and warned them to stay still, while the machinery outside continued to approach.

• Bucky fled into an underground passage, and Ye Mo and Steve followed before an alloy plate sealed the entrance behind them.
• The passage walls nearly crushed Ye Mo and Steve, then electrified fencing and a force-field dome trapped them while a pulse field suppressed Ye Mo's powers and system.
• Emma Frost used her weakened telepathy to investigate the trap and warned Ye Mo not to touch the walls or struggle against its adaptive defenses.
• Ye Mo heard Emma's fragmented warnings and told Steve the trap learned from their responses, so they conserved their strength and remained still.
• The machinery outside continued to hum closer as Ye Mo and Steve waited inside the cage with no visible escape.

Ye Mo used his unstable telepathy to reach through the Winter Soldier’s mental defenses and awaken a trace of Bucky’s suppressed humanity. As machinery outside the force-field grew more urgent and Ye Mo neared his limits, Bucky’s buried emotions responded more clearly.

• Ye Mo activated his incomplete Psi Link and sent a mental probe toward Bucky, using a memory of Bucky’s childhood as an anchor.
• Ye Mo sensed a trace of hesitation and grief behind Bucky’s mental defenses, then told Steve that Bucky was still alive inside.
• Ye Mo pushed through severe pain and system overload, repeatedly reminding Bucky that he was James Buchanan Barnes and that Steve had not given up on him.
• Steve asked whether Ye Mo could hold on, and Ye Mo continued reaching out despite the risk of memory loss or mental paralysis.
• Ye Mo sent Bucky a genuine memory of despair and hope from before his transmigration, and felt a clearer response from beneath the mental defenses.

Ye Mo and Steve escaped the force-field cage and traced Bucky’s suppression signal to a relay station disguised as a UPS unit. They left the relay intact and prepared to locate the main controller, while Ye Mo’s neural load remained dangerously high.

• Emma Frost disrupted the force-field controls, allowing Steve and Ye Mo to escape the cage.
• Ye Mo detected a precise 3.2-second cycle resetting Bucky’s mental state and concluded that an external transmitter was suppressing him.
• Ye Mo and Steve followed the signal toward an abandoned substation, but Ye Mo stopped scanning when his neural load threatened to make him pass out.
• Emma Frost guided them to an abandoned power distribution room, where Ye Mo found a UPS unit blinking at the same 3.2-second interval.
• Ye Mo identified the room as a relay station and warned Steve not to dismantle the UPS before they found the main controller.

Ye Mo, Captain America, and Emma Frost prepared a plan to disrupt the signal controlling Bucky and give him a chance to regain his senses. They took their positions and waited for the signal to fluctuate or Bucky to return.

• Ye Mo explained that the control signal refreshed every 3.2 seconds and planned to locate and disrupt its source when the signal faltered.
• Emma Frost agreed to monitor Bucky’s consciousness and set up a psychic fog and warning rings around the perimeter.
• Ye Mo assigned Captain America to draw Bucky’s attention and confirm whether he hesitated, with the team withdrawing if the plan failed.
• The three checked their positions and conditions, exchanged stand-by messages, and waited for the next signal fluctuation.

Ye Mo, Captain America, and Emma Frost fought to stop the Winter Soldier and disrupt the UPS signal controlling him, but Ye Mo's powers failed and the team became trapped in a stalemate. Bucky briefly showed signs of recognizing Steve as the brainwashing protocol accelerated, leaving the battle and his fate unresolved.

• Ye Mo warned the others of an approaching breach, and three armored units attacked while the Winter Soldier confronted Captain America.
• Emma Frost fought off two attackers but was caught in a cryogenic net, while Ye Mo collapsed from neural overload and could not reach the UPS unit.
• Ye Mo noticed the UPS signal accelerating and warned that the level-two brainwashing protocol could overwrite Bucky's consciousness.
• Emma Frost charged the enemy formation to draw the attackers away from the UPS, while Captain America struggled to defend himself against Bucky.
• Bucky briefly blinked and shifted his blade aside after hearing Steve, but the UPS signal sped up and the battle remained at a deadlock.

Ye Mo used a force field to protect himself, Emma Frost, and Captain America while they tried to break the control over Bucky. Bucky briefly responded to Steve’s memories, but the signal surged again, leaving Ye Mo struggling to hold the shield as the enemies prepared to attack.

• The system granted Ye Mo the ability to generate a wide-area force field, which blocked the tactical units’ attacks and trapped the group inside a protective barrier.
• Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Captain America realized Bucky was resisting his control and discussed using familiar memories to reach him during a signal interruption.
• When the UPS signal faltered, Captain America showed Bucky an old photograph and recalled their shared past in Brooklyn and during the war.
• Bucky slowly reached toward the photograph, but the UPS main unit accelerated and restarted the secondary protocol.
• Ye Mo reinforced the shaking force field as Bucky targeted Captain America and the tactical units advanced, while a tear appeared at the corner of Bucky’s eye.

Ye Mo used his newly awakened ice manipulation to slow Bucky and help Captain America reach him, but Steve’s memories only briefly disrupted Bucky’s conditioning. As Ye Mo exhausted himself trapping Bucky in an ice prison, the soldier’s programming took over again and the fight remained unresolved.

• Ye Mo unleashed a freezing field that slowed the tactical units, then raised an ice wall to block Bucky from reaching Captain America.
• Ye Mo gave Captain America an ice spike and shaped the frozen floor into barriers so Steve could maneuver around Bucky.
• Captain America fought Bucky and recalled their shared past, briefly disrupting Bucky’s programming with memories of their friendship.
• The green light on the UPS unit accelerated, then steadied, and Bucky returned to his vacant, programmed state.
• Ye Mo spent his remaining strength trapping Bucky in an ice prison while Captain America charged and urged him to come back.
• Bucky briefly reached toward Steve before the red frame flared and his mechanical arm raised its blade again.

Ye Mo stood between Bucky and Captain America, enduring repeated blows with his steel bones while refusing to let Bucky reach his ally. After Bucky paused and drew a blade from his wrist, Ye Mo braced for the fight to grow more dangerous.

• Ye Mo saw Captain America stumble and threw himself in front of him as Bucky attacked.
• Ye Mo endured Bucky’s punches and elbow strikes, warning Captain America to stay behind him.
• Ye Mo ignored the system’s warning that his steel bone structure was failing and kept blocking Bucky from reaching Captain America.
• Ye Mo weathered Bucky’s simultaneous punches, briefly dropping to one knee before forcing himself back upright.
• Bucky stopped attacking, then raised his mechanical arm and extended a blade toward Ye Mo’s throat.

Ye Mo unlocked rapid Tissue Regeneration and rejoined Captain America in fighting the controlled Winter Soldier. As the enemy’s signals faltered and Bucky briefly showed signs of resistance, Ye Mo and Captain America prepared to continue the battle together.

• Ye Mo activated Tissue Regeneration, healed his severe injuries, and stood up to face Bucky again.
• Ye Mo told Captain America he was his partner, and they coordinated attacks against Bucky by exploiting the delay in his programmed movements.
• Bucky recovered from their blows as Ye Mo’s energy waned, then began testing adjusted tactics while the pair searched for an opening.
• The green signal paused and Bucky’s targeting frame went dark, but it restarted in dark red as Ye Mo noticed a brief flicker of struggle in Bucky’s eyes.
• Bucky lunged at Ye Mo, who blocked the blade and regenerated his injured arm before telling Bucky he knew he was still inside.
• Captain America promised to cover Ye Mo’s back as they braced to fight again and machinery sounded closer.

Ye Mo, Captain America, and Emma Frost coordinated their attacks to disrupt Bucky’s control system and expose the device at the back of his neck. The chapter ended with Ye Mo’s fingertips hovering half an inch from the control module as Bucky’s system began an emergency reboot.

• Emma Frost detected that Bucky was resisting the control signal, and Ye Mo realized the interference created an opening.
• Ye Mo and Captain America blocked Bucky’s attacks while Emma disrupted his neural signals, allowing Captain America to knock Bucky to his knees.
• Ye Mo identified the control device at the back of Bucky’s neck and planned to reach it during the brief blind spot when Bucky rose.
• Emma interfered with Bucky as Captain America struck his chest, and Ye Mo slid toward the exposed control module.
• Bucky’s system began an emergency reboot and swung its mechanical arm back as Ye Mo reached toward the device.

Ye Mo destroyed the control device in Bucky’s neck, freeing him from remote control, but Emma Frost detected a dormant program beginning to activate. As Bucky fought the program and warned Steve to stay away, Steve reached him through their memories and helped him resist.

• Ye Mo tore open Bucky’s neck seam and destroyed the control device, while Emma Frost confirmed the remote signal had stopped.
• Bucky showed confusion and responded faintly to Steve’s memories of Brooklyn as Ye Mo and Emma treated his injuries.
• Ye Mo warned that whoever controlled Bucky would learn the device was destroyed, and Emma Frost detected a pulsing preset program in Bucky’s brain.
• Bucky began resisting the program, called Steve by name, and warned him that he might kill him.
• Steve placed a hand on Bucky’s shoulder and told him he would not hurt him; Bucky’s mechanical arm fell still and a tear struck the ice.

Bucky regained consciousness and recognized Captain America, while Emma Frost confirmed he was no longer under program control. The injured group remained together in the electrical room, with Captain America supporting Bucky as they faced the aftermath of his brainwashing.

• Bucky collapsed as the brainwashing conflict subsided, and Emma Frost sensed that he was fighting his memories rather than acting under program control.
• Bucky recalled his childhood with Steve and confirmed that he recognized Captain America, who reassured him that he was real and that Bucky was in control of himself.
• Bucky admitted that he remembered killing people, and Captain America told him he had to live to atone and that he still believed in him.
• Bucky reached for Captain America's hand, while Ye Mo and Emma Frost confirmed that Bucky was stabilizing and joked with him as he apologized for attacking Ye Mo.
• Captain America helped Bucky stand and promised not to leave him behind again, while Ye Mo and Emma Frost stayed nearby as the group paused in the electrical room.