X-23: Innocence Lost #1-6
A top-secret program led by Dr. Martin Sutter and his young protégé, Dr. Zander Rice is struggling to recreate the original Weapon X using a damaged cellular sample. After years of failures, Sutter hires leading geneticist Dr. Sarah Kinney to take the project in a bold new direction. Unable to reconstruct the severely damaged Y chromosome, Dr. Kinney proposes creating a female specimen using the intact X chromosome. Her request is denied, but Kinney defies order and creates a viable female specimen anyway. Unable to argue with her success, Sutter reluctantly approves her new approach despite Zander’s protests. Zander retaliates against Kinney by forcing her to serve as the surrogate mother. During the months that she is pregnant with specimen X-23, Dr. Kinney realizes the inhumanity of her actions.
X-23 is being forged into a weapon by her creators. Her life is not like that of other children. She sleeps in a cold, sterile cell. But her life is not without glimmers of human warmth. Dr. Sarah Kinney continues to undermine the program’s goals by showing X-23 some maternal affection and reading fairy tales to her. X-23 trains daily with a sensei, who looks on her with fatherly pride and offers the girl some human compassion. This does not escape the notice of Dr. Zander Rice who is driven to turn X-23 into a weapon he can use to avenge his father’s death at the hands of Weapon X. He uses radiation poisoning to force the early manifestation of X-23’s powers so that he can move up his plans to use her as a weapon. He then puts her through a painful surgery to remove her claws and lace them with adamantium. He also develops a trigger scent that will send her into a berserker rage. He tests this new control tool on X-23, unleashing her on her unsuspecting sensei. X-23 recovers from the blinding fury of the berserker rage and is shocked to see that she has killed her beloved sensei.
The program assigns a ten-year-old X-23 to assassinate a US presidential candidate. She comes through with flying colors and her career as an assassin is successfully launched. Her services are offered at 55 million dollars and there is no lack of customers willing to pay the price. As killing becomes a regular part of X-23’s life, she becomes more withdrawn and distant. Not even her “mother”, Dr. Sarah Kinney can get through to her. Secrets and lies continue to plague the program’s vengeful coordinator Dr. Zander Rice. He is being pressured by his former lover, Rachel to reveal the truth about their affair and the son that resulted to her husband and the program’s director, Martin Sutter. Zander becomes enraged by this and takes his anger out on X-23. Rice accompanies X-23 on a mission and orders the extraction team to abandon X-23, who finds herself surrounded by a lethal team of AIM agents who open fire on the young assassin.
X-23 survives her encounter with AIM and returns to the Weapon X recreation program, to the delight of Dr. Kinney and the surprise of Zander Rice. Sarah tries to learn what happened on X-23’s last mission with little success. Her efforts to reach out to X-23 are sidelined when she learns that her niece, who is the same age as X-23 has been kidnapped. Sarah and her colleague Kevin take X-23 to San Francisco to track down Megan’s kidnapper. X-23 does so with ease, rescues Megan and kills the kidnapper. When they return to the program, Sarah must face the wrath of Zander and a possible dismissal by Dr. Sutter. Zander uses this stressful time as an opportunity to ask Sutter to hand directorship of the program over to him. Sutter agrees and signs a document making Zander the new director. As soon as the documents are signed, Zander orders X-23 to kill Dr. Sutter and his family.
X-23 infiltrates the home of Doctor Martin Sutter just as his wife, Rachel reveals the truth about her affair with Zander Rice. X-23 murders them both but cannot bring herself to kill their four-year-old son, Henry. When she returns to the program, Zander Rice makes it clear that this mission must remain a secret. When Dr. Sarah Kinney, X-23’s surrogate mother, goes to check on her she finds X-23 cutting herself with her claws. X-23 refuses to explain why she’s doing this to herself, but she does give Sarah the photo of the Sutter family that Zander gave her as part of her mission. With Dr. Sutter dead, Zander assumes control of the program. He shows Sarah his secret project: a room full of gestating embryos that will provide him with an army of Wolverine clones. He then fires Sarah and tells her to be gone by morning. Sarah completes her journal entries and goes to X-23 with one final assignment: destroy Zander’s embryo chamber and kill him as well, thus, guaranteeing X-23’s freedom and future.
Sarah Kinney’s plan to leave the Weapon X re-creation program with X-23 is set in motion. Sarah does her best to facilitate X-23’s safe escape by taking out the security feeds and outer guards. In the meantime X-23 sets explosives to destroy the additional clone embryos that Xander Rice created and leaves a trail of death and destruction behind her as she makes her way towards her final target: Xander Rice himself. Despite the years of psychological and physical abuse, X-23 does not kill Xander. Instead, she beats him within an inch of his life and proves that she has the restraint that he tried so hard to eliminate by constantly dehumanizing her. X-23 emerges from the facility as it explodes and goes to join the tearful and grateful Dr. Kinney. But as she approaches, she smells the trigger scent that Xander planted on Sarah and slips into an uncontrollable berserker rage. She kills Sarah with no mercy. X-23 comes to her senses as the dying Sarah tells her that her name is Laura and that she loves her. X-23 is devastated at the loss but has won her freedom.
She makes her way to New York City, unaware that someone out there knows she is alive and is in possession of the trigger scent that allowed Rice to control her and turn her into a killer.
A top-secret program led by Dr. Martin Sutter and his young protégé, Dr. Zander Rice is struggling to recreate the original Weapon X using a damaged cellular sample. After years of failures, Sutter hires leading geneticist Dr. Sarah Kinney to take the project in a bold new direction. Unable to reconstruct the severely damaged Y chromosome, Dr. Kinney proposes creating a female specimen using the intact X chromosome. Her request is denied, but Kinney defies order and creates a viable female specimen anyway. Unable to argue with her success, Sutter reluctantly approves her new approach despite Zander’s protests. Zander retaliates against Kinney by forcing her to serve as the surrogate mother. During the months that she is pregnant with specimen X-23, Dr. Kinney realizes the inhumanity of her actions.
X-23 is being forged into a weapon by her creators. Her life is not like that of other children. She sleeps in a cold, sterile cell. But her life is not without glimmers of human warmth. Dr. Sarah Kinney continues to undermine the program’s goals by showing X-23 some maternal affection and reading fairy tales to her. X-23 trains daily with a sensei, who looks on her with fatherly pride and offers the girl some human compassion. This does not escape the notice of Dr. Zander Rice who is driven to turn X-23 into a weapon he can use to avenge his father’s death at the hands of Weapon X. He uses radiation poisoning to force the early manifestation of X-23’s powers so that he can move up his plans to use her as a weapon. He then puts her through a painful surgery to remove her claws and lace them with adamantium. He also develops a trigger scent that will send her into a berserker rage. He tests this new control tool on X-23, unleashing her on her unsuspecting sensei. X-23 recovers from the blinding fury of the berserker rage and is shocked to see that she has killed her beloved sensei.
The program assigns a ten-year-old X-23 to assassinate a US presidential candidate. She comes through with flying colors and her career as an assassin is successfully launched. Her services are offered at 55 million dollars and there is no lack of customers willing to pay the price. As killing becomes a regular part of X-23’s life, she becomes more withdrawn and distant. Not even her “mother”, Dr. Sarah Kinney can get through to her. Secrets and lies continue to plague the program’s vengeful coordinator Dr. Zander Rice. He is being pressured by his former lover, Rachel to reveal the truth about their affair and the son that resulted to her husband and the program’s director, Martin Sutter. Zander becomes enraged by this and takes his anger out on X-23. Rice accompanies X-23 on a mission and orders the extraction team to abandon X-23, who finds herself surrounded by a lethal team of AIM agents who open fire on the young assassin.
X-23 survives her encounter with AIM and returns to the Weapon X recreation program, to the delight of Dr. Kinney and the surprise of Zander Rice. Sarah tries to learn what happened on X-23’s last mission with little success. Her efforts to reach out to X-23 are sidelined when she learns that her niece, who is the same age as X-23 has been kidnapped. Sarah and her colleague Kevin take X-23 to San Francisco to track down Megan’s kidnapper. X-23 does so with ease, rescues Megan and kills the kidnapper. When they return to the program, Sarah must face the wrath of Zander and a possible dismissal by Dr. Sutter. Zander uses this stressful time as an opportunity to ask Sutter to hand directorship of the program over to him. Sutter agrees and signs a document making Zander the new director. As soon as the documents are signed, Zander orders X-23 to kill Dr. Sutter and his family.
X-23 infiltrates the home of Doctor Martin Sutter just as his wife, Rachel reveals the truth about her affair with Zander Rice. X-23 murders them both but cannot bring herself to kill their four-year-old son, Henry. When she returns to the program, Zander Rice makes it clear that this mission must remain a secret. When Dr. Sarah Kinney, X-23’s surrogate mother, goes to check on her she finds X-23 cutting herself with her claws. X-23 refuses to explain why she’s doing this to herself, but she does give Sarah the photo of the Sutter family that Zander gave her as part of her mission. With Dr. Sutter dead, Zander assumes control of the program. He shows Sarah his secret project: a room full of gestating embryos that will provide him with an army of Wolverine clones. He then fires Sarah and tells her to be gone by morning. Sarah completes her journal entries and goes to X-23 with one final assignment: destroy Zander’s embryo chamber and kill him as well, thus, guaranteeing X-23’s freedom and future.
Sarah Kinney’s plan to leave the Weapon X re-creation program with X-23 is set in motion. Sarah does her best to facilitate X-23’s safe escape by taking out the security feeds and outer guards. In the meantime X-23 sets explosives to destroy the additional clone embryos that Xander Rice created and leaves a trail of death and destruction behind her as she makes her way towards her final target: Xander Rice himself. Despite the years of psychological and physical abuse, X-23 does not kill Xander. Instead, she beats him within an inch of his life and proves that she has the restraint that he tried so hard to eliminate by constantly dehumanizing her. X-23 emerges from the facility as it explodes and goes to join the tearful and grateful Dr. Kinney. But as she approaches, she smells the trigger scent that Xander planted on Sarah and slips into an uncontrollable berserker rage. She kills Sarah with no mercy. X-23 comes to her senses as the dying Sarah tells her that her name is Laura and that she loves her. X-23 is devastated at the loss but has won her freedom.
She makes her way to New York City, unaware that someone out there knows she is alive and is in possession of the trigger scent that allowed Rice to control her and turn her into a killer.
