Once upon a time, Alex Mercer was a scientist. Then he died, sorta, mostly.

Once upon a time, Blacklight consumed hundreds of scientists, military personnel, and various other bystanders. But for a time, it thought it was Alex Mercer. And maybe after it realized it wasn't, after the outbreak was contained, it left New York, because smart people hid when large organizations wanted you dead. When you evolved new traits and abilities when exposed to different genes, it was just common sense to travel and consume as many different species as possible. When you realize just how many possibilities there were, that you were missing out on, it only made sense to experiment. So maybe it wasn't strange that the disease who used to be a man, who used to be a scientist, was hiding out in some backwoods corner of nowhere seeing just how far they could push what they were capable of.

So maybe, once upon a time, they would survive, but more than that, Blacklight would thrive. Once, it had gorged itself on the minds and bodies of scientists and artists, of thieves and security, of humans and monsters. And that paid off.

When Blacklight was discovered again, it was more than just the Monster of Manhattan, it was clever, and it was ready.