Appearing in "Deconstruction"
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Synopsis for "Deconstruction"
Continued from last issue...
Wolverine rushes into a burning warehouse on Venice Beach to rescue Elsie-Dee, a little girl who is, unknown to him, an android built by the Reavers for the sole purpose of blowing Logan up with a bomb. As he and Storm rush toward the burning building, Elsie-Dee makes the fire worse in order to keep Storm away and so that she can complete her prime directive. As Wolverine bursts through the fire, Elsie-Dee's partner, the Wolverine construct known as Albert makes good his escape as his repair systems initiate. With his intelligence boosted he hopes that Elsie-Dee doesn't get destroyed, however upon contacting her via their radio link he learns too late that Wolverine walked through the blazing inferno to save her. Seeing how selfless Wolverine is makes Elsie-Dee realize that Logan is a good man and she becomes sorry that she is programmed to destroy him.
In Australia, the Reavers are out relaxing waiting to learn the fate of Wolverine. Bonebreaker confides in Reese and tells him that he accidentally programmed Elsie-Dee with a genius level intellect instead of that of a five-year-old girl like Pierce had ordered. He is about to tell Pierce this out of guilt, but when he overhears Lady Deathstrike and Pierce gloating over their plan, has second thoughts and decides to keep it to himself.
Back in California, the mobsters led by Sally find themselves in the water alongside Albert. When they call him "friend", Albert instantly asks them if they are truly his friends. Seeing this as an opportunity to exploit Albert's abilities, they agree to this notion and agree to find a way to repair him. Albert goes along easily enough, knowing that Elsie-Dee is going to explode soon. Over in the warehouse, Wolverine has pulled Elsie-Dee out of the blaze. His healing factor heals all his burns and his incinerated hair grows back. Upset that she has found someone who actually cares about her and that she is going to blow them up, she confesses the whole situation to an astonished Wolverine and Storm. Showing them the digital readout screen on her back confirms this and Storm and Elsie-Dee both tell Wolverine to leave to save himself. However, moved by the little android’s humanity, Wolverine doesn't want to abandon her and promises to do everything he can to try and stop the bomb inside her from exploding.
Meanwhile, Albert has the mobsters drive him to the nearest Radio Hut where he speed reads all the books in the place and links up to the computers and uses their modems to access the NSA's computer databases to access information to try and find a way to save Elsie-Dee. When the owner of the store protests this activity, the mobsters convince him to let Albert do his thing by putting a gun up to his face.
Back on Venice Beach, Elsie-Dee struggles to try and find the code to disarm the bomb inside her but finds that her memory doesn't have the capacity. With a crowd growing, Storm orders Wolverine to get rid of the android or she will be forced to toss it into the ocean with her mutant powers in order to protect the crowd. Not willing to abandon Elsie-Dee, Wolverine tells her he will shield the girl android with his body if need be. The crowd soon becomes a moot point, when news of Albert's illegal breech of NSA computers sends the FBI and police to the Radio Hut where he is located, making the mob rush to check out the situation there. Meanwhile Albert has used the NSA super-computers to crack the code to the bomb that is inside Elsie-Dee. As Albert transmits it to her, he is gunned down by the assembled police and FBI agents that have arrived on the scene. Elsie-Dee manages to disarm the bomb at the last possible second. Wolverine and Storm rejoice with Elsie-Dee, however she becomes sad because when she tries to contact Albert, she gets no response. At the Radio Hut, the police and FBI surround the seemingly deactivated and bullet riddled body of Albert.
This story is continued next issue...