Synopsis / Summary / Plot
At the Nextin corporate HQ in Madripoor, Steve Rogers is evading sniper fire while the dying CEO Jacob Erskine begs him to protect his wife from "Smith." Hearing security on its way, Steve leaps from the window, snatches at hanging banners to slow his fall and lands with a splash in a fountain. Locating the sniper’s nest he of course finds the gunman long gone, no evidence left behind. Steve scours the underworld of Madripoor, searching for a line on the killer but comes up blank; it seems the hitman was not a local, suggesting the kill was an inside job. From a safe house, Steve contacts Sharon Carter for info on Myron Smith, Nextel’s Head of Security. He then ponders the mystery of Anita Erskine, the murdered man’s wife, who is the exact double of Steve’s first love, Lieutenant Cynthia Glass, who was secretly a Nazi spy and died saving Cap from the Red Skull during the War. Carrying out Erskine’s last request, Steve watches Anita as Smith takes her to Nextin’s corporate retreat at the shore, hoping also to find who is scheming to sell the recreated Super-Soldier Serum on the black market. Late at night, Steve approaches Anita Erskine on the beach; distraught over her husband’s death, she feels she knows Steve from her dreams. When he gives his name she realizes they were once in love and they kiss, to Steve’s confusion. At this she panics and runs back to the house; as Steve follows, he receives a call from Sharon who informs him there is no such person as Myron Smith, all data on him before a year ago has been a forgery. Steve now knows who he is dealing with…he confronts Smith in the house and the enigmatic security man reveals that Anita is a robot who believes "she" is human, just as Smith is also a machine. Steve challenges his enemy to show himself: Machinesmith, robotics master, appears on a screen. He seals the doors and runs a Vita-Ray current through Steve, deactivating the Super-Soldier Serum within him, causing the former Captain America to revert to his original frail form….