Terrigen Mists

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A product of Kree genetics research. Terrigen Mists are a chemical/biological weapon specifically designed to trigger a metagene crisis in human beings.

Exposure to the Terrigen Mists begins the process of allowing Celestial helicase enzymes to unzip DNA helices and rewrite them with the ancestral Celestial genetic coding for metagenes. In humans without this encoding, the mists have very little impact on the body. However for mutants with the X-chromosome, the result can be extremely toxic and often downright fatal.

The results of Terrigen exposure are unpredictable. More common successes include vastly prolonged lifespans and physical capability. A very wide variety of mutations have been observed, particularly due to the genetic drift in humans in the 50,000 years after the Mists were first manufactured.

History

Using stolen Skrull genetic manipulation therapies, a Kree science colony on Earth was seeking a way to trigger the latent Celestial DNA encoding in humans and activate their metagene. A gas delivery system was selected for a controlled exposure.

Research and experimentation on less-evolved lifeforms was forbidden by mutual compacts signed by not just the Kree Empire but also Oa and the Nova Corps. With the Omrut Beacon believed to be destroyed, the Kree were unaware that the Terrigen Mist project was successful or that it had latter-day applications.

The Atillans maintained the primary supply of Terrigen Mists after the Kree departed Earth. When the White Martians invaded Earth, they used the Terrigen Mists on the Omrut Beacon to delete the Celestial encoding in 99.9% of human genomes. The Atillans spent generations afterwards trying to identify bloodlines that resisted the White Martian manipulations. They started breeding programs designed to bring compatible humans together and combined mystic esotericism with the genetic manipulation of the Mists. Atillans took on positions as gurus, mystics and holy sages, and used mystical cults and religious trappings as cover for their long-term efforts to locate potential future additions to the Inhuman contingent.

During the Alien Alliance Invasion, the Dominators had secret knowledge of the Kree genetic research. They prepared their own payload of Terrigen Mists in a 'Gene Bomb' and deployed them as a counterstrike when they were in retreat, bombarding cities all over the world. This triggered latent metagene evolutions in thousands of people of all ages, including some who had gone their entire lives with no knowledge of their genetic potential.