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The Advanced Threat Containment Unit, or ATCU, was created by President Matthew Ellis in response to the increased number of alien threats endangering the Earth. Led by Rosalind Price, the ATCU's objective was to find the Inhumans who underwent Terrigenesis after taking materials contaminated with the Terrigen mists. In the first five cases they responded to, the ATCU only found a corpses with wounds caused by high energy discharge. Price believed S.H.I.E.L.D. was killing the Inhumans, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director Phil Coulson denied his organization's involvement. The ATCU later found that another Inhuman known as "Lash" was responsible for the killings.[1]

With the pressure to bring in an Inhuman to calm the public, the ATCU launched a nationwide manhunt for Lincoln Campbell. Director Coulson tried to talk Rosalind Price into letting S.H.I.E.L.D. capture Lincoln instead, but was forced to let them take Lincoln when Rosalind revealed they knew one of his agents, Daisy Johnson, was an Inhuman. Lincoln, however, continued to run from the ATCU, so Rosalind turned her men on Agent Johnson. Coulson, desperate to protect his agents, offered to have S.H.I.E.L.D. aid the ATCU in their search for Inhumans in exchange for Agent Johnson's freedom.[2]

The cooperation between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the ATCU soon led to the arrest of Dwight Frye, an Inhuman helping Lash find his victims. However, the two organizations still distrusted each other. Coulson had agents Johnson and Mack go with Frye and the ATCU back to their holding facilities to see how the ATCU treats the Inhumans in their custody, but Lash attacked the transport and killed his former accomplice.[3] Coulson himself saw their facilities soon afterwards, and saw that Rosalind was keeping their Inhumans in stasis until someone could find a cure for their condition.[4]

S.H.I.E.L.D. later provided transportation for Price to meet with President Ellis, with Coulson as her consultant, to discuss the rise in enhanced people incidents. However, they were forced to divert from the meeting when Campbell came to Agent Mack with his suspicion that Lash was working within S.H.I.E.L.D. Subsequently learning that Garner had taken Agent May captive, with Price's consent, Coulson diverted Zephyr One to their location. Price and her escort assisted in the operation to apprehend Garner/Lash. Afterwards, S.H.I.E.L.D. agreed to have Garner put in stasis until a cure could be found for him.[5]

Still distrustful of the ATCU, Coulson sent agents Morse and Hunter to infiltrate the containment facility to find out if they were really doing what Rosalind had said they were doing. Instead of Inhumans, they found jars full of Terrigen-laced fish pills used to crowdsource new Inhumans. It was revealed that the ATCU had been being manipulated by a Hydra faction led by Gideon Malick, who had secretly spirited off the captive Inhumans for their own nefarious purposes.[6]

Rosalind Price and her lieutenant, Banks, distanced themselves from the ATCU once Coulson revealed Malick's true motives to her, and instead began working more closely with S.H.I.E.L.D. in secret. Malick soon had both Price and Banks assassinated, leaving the ATCU's resources entirely at his disposal.[7] President Ellis knew Malick was not to be trusted, so he put Director Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. in charge of handling the Inhuman crisis. The ATCU would remain the public face of the mission, however, and the President named Brigadier General Glenn Talbot as Rosalind Price's replacement due to his history working with S.H.I.E.L.D.[8]

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DARPA manufactured weapons.

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