Tektites

Tektite Solution are a type of technology that featured in DC Comics.

History

Origin

Tektites are a type of specialized form fo nanotechnological devices that were capable of imparting immortality and other abilities in a host body. The identity of the creators of the technology were largely unknown. (Resurrection Man v1 #26) However, it was believed that they were created by an unknown race with the reasoning behind their creation being largely unknown. At some point, the alien species were known to had conducted an experiment on a lower ape-like animal form where they infused Tektites into its body. This guinea pig was placed within a meteor whilst a counterpart contained Tektites within it which were sent in space on a course for Earth where they were sent through time as well as space. One of the meteors that contained the Tektites crashed on Earth where it arrived in the distant past whilst its counterpart would arrive in the future. The goals of the experiment and the reasoning on why Tektites were sent to the planet Earth were largely unknown. It was believed that first meteor was responsible for imparting immortality on Vandal Savage and the Immortal Man where it was speculated that the effects of the Tektites on Human hosts was perhaps the goal of the experiment. (Resurrection Man v1 #27) Ultimately, however, the reasoning behind the dispatch of these temporal meteors was unknown. (Resurrection Man v1 #26)

By roughly 1996, the necessary fabrication machines had been perfected that could result in the creation of microscopic Tektites and led to the accomplishment of this formerly theoretical branch of robotics. A former project director by the name of Hooker at The Lab was responsible for applying the technology to the human body due to his expertise in surgery. The ultimate goal was to find a fast track means of achieving invulnerability and immortality. Further customers interested in the technology included the military who were interested in the idea of self-repairing soldiers. However, the director wanted quick results and thus began using human guinea pigs which saw vagrants and those that would not be missed to be tested by the nanotechnology. The testing involved injecting the subjects with Tektites and terminating them in order to see whether they resurrected. All proved to be a failure except for Mitchell Shelley who for unknown reasons survived with the director believing the key laying within his blood. As a result, Director Hooker injected himself with Tektites but was driven mad as a result with the Lab forced to deal with him which delayed their attempts at tracking down the resurrected Shelley. (Resurrection Man v1 #11) In reality, Mitchell did not gain the abilities of the Tektites directly from the meteors but rather through Vandal Savage's own experimentations led to Shelley's enhanced resurrection form at the Lab. (Resurrection Man v1 #26)

In 1999, the other meteor crashed on Earth where the organism inside was mutated within its Tektite womb where it transmutated into the entity known as the Warp Child. At the time, Vandal Savage, Resurrection Man and the newly freed Immortal Man attempted to battle the creature who was warping reality all around it. These three were immune due to the presence of Tektites within their bodies and attempted to gain a rapport with the feral creature. However, Savage betrayed his comrades as he intended to claim the Warp Child's power for himself but was stopped by Mitchell Shelley. This distraction allowed the Immortal Man to harmonise his Tektites with the Warp Child whereupon he overloaded the nanotechnology causing the mutual destruction of the two. This act saved the world but at the cost of the long lived Immortal Man's life. (Resurrection Man v1 #27)

The New 52

Around five years ago, the Tektite Solution was first developed at the government facility known as The Lab that was part of the military industrial complex where it was created under Director Mitch Shelley. The development of this biotech saw its first usage in Iraq, Basra where Shelley along with his assistant Hooker ruthlessly tested the substance on the dead and the dying. Despite the unorthodox nature of the field test, the Solution showed some promising results when Director Shelley suffered a terrible accident. An attack on his field base saw him losing his arm and being injected with the Tektites by an unknown attacker. Rescued by his security consultant, Deathstroke, Mitch Shelley was rushed to base where he ordered the Solution to be injected in all the wounded. Director Shelley's arm was later reattached whilst Hooker recovered though his wounds never healed and Hoffman along with Leno healed as well as developed enhanced abilities. At this point, Director Shelley's arm began to reject his body and it was discovered that the reason for this was because he was growing a new arm. As a result, the old arm was sent for incineration where it was destroyed but the Tektites within dispersed in the air where they culminated away and began stripping the area for raw material. The Solution thus began to follow its function of restoring its hosts genetic template and was responsible for growing a completely new Mitch Shelley as a result. The duplicate wandered the world as the Resurrection Man whilst the original Mitch Shelley began to slowly die as his body was failing him leaving him in a near crippled state. After learning of his duplicate, Director Shelley became obsessed with finding him in order to unlock the secrets of the Tektites. (Resurrection Man v2 #0)

Overview

In appearance, these small nanotechnological machines were scaly and described as being repulsive in shape that could only be seen at extreme levels of magnification. It was described as being the ultimate application of robotics and the key to the next stage of technological era of mankind. There were a wide range of applications of the technology with one of these being in medicine. Their presence within a body allowed them to repair or heal any damage such as those caused by disease or impairment or even death. This was achieved only when the Tektites had stored enough information on the host body. Once inside, in theory, they could rebuild the body or even resurrect it after death. (Resurrection Man v1 #11) The effects, however, tended to vary depending on the host they inhabited as some Tektites provided superhuman powers to their hosts whilst others were simply made immortal without dying from their injuries but did not repair the damage. (Resurrection Man v1 #12) They were even capable of recreating the host after the body was incinerated where the Tektites dispersed into the air and began assembling a body from local raw material as dictated to by the genetic template. (Resurrection Man v2 #0) Their programming was noted to include engrams within their composition. (Resurrection Man v1 #27)

Highly charged Tektites operated with such strength that they were capable of distorting creation and warping reality itself. This allowed it to create a warp effect that was localized around its host and the only thing immune to it was another being with Tektites in their body. (Resurrection Man v1 #26)

Auras of nanoparticle Tektite swarms interacted where they shared and exchanged information. (Resurrection Man v2 #0) Tektites were able to 'sing' to one another from different host bodies and shared knowledge amongst one another. (Resurrection Man v1 #27) This allowed hosts to actually sense the presence of other Tektites though they were not capable of discerning the identity of their hosts. (Resurrection Man v1 #26) Thus, those with these nano-devices were capable of rapidly gaining information on another with these machines in their bodies. Through such interactions, one was capable of influencing a Tektite ridden host and gaining what was known as a rapport with them. The fields generated by them could be harmonised by the host bodies where they achieved resonance that was achieved when the Tektites determined that they were kindred technology that were attempting to become whole again. The overload of ones Tektites was capable of leading to a chain reacion that cascaded to the other hosts Tektite biosystem leading to mutual destruction. (Resurrection Man v1 #27)

Users

• Mitchell Shelley :
• Vandal Savage :
• Immortal Man :
• Hooker : a surgeon and god-fearing man who was stricken with cancer and became the project director of the Lab in order to develop a means to cure his condition. He later injected himself with the nanotechnology and was driven insane though he only became invulnerable from fatal injuries but did not repair the damage to his body. Hooker was killed when he tried to steal Mitchell's powers and was trapped in the Lab when its nuclear reactor exploded.
• Carmen Leno : agent of The Lab and one of the Body Doubles who after being badly wounded was healed with Tektites that repaired her body as well as enhanced her natural traits. (Resurrection Man v2 #0)
• Bonny Hoffman : agent of The Lab and one of the Body Doubles who after being badly wounded was healed with Tektites that repaired her body as well as enhanced her natural traits. (Resurrection Man v2 #0)

Notes

• Tektites was created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Jackson Guice where they made their first appearance in Resurrection Man v1 #1 (May, 1997).

Appearances

• Resurrection Man v1 #1-27
• Resurrection Man v2 #1-16

External Links

• Comicvine Entry

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