Teresa Devereaux (Earth-7484; Deathlok character; CIA leader)

History:
(Astonishing Tales I#34 (fb) - BTS) - After Mike Travers and Nina Ferry had been confronted by the Provisional Revolutionary Army, they parted company with the PRA and instead affiliated with the CIA and traveled to their Fort Dix headquarters.

(Astonishing Tales I#34 - BTS) - Deathlok was set up in a trap by Hellinger, who sent him to allegedly recover Travers and Ferry from the PRA's base in Central Park's Belvedere Castle; however, Deathlok's right arm was blown off by a bomb that Hellinger had hooked him up with. Deathlok was incapacitated.

<1/1/1991> - Wearing an exoskeleton, Mike Travers carried Deathlok to CIA headquarters after blowing up Belvedere Castle.

(Astonishing Tales I#34 (fb) - BTS) - Nina Ferry probed the main computer banks and determined that Ryker was on his way to becoming omnipotent.

(Astonishing Tales I#34 (fb) - BTS) - Deathlok's arm was rebuilt (and he was further restored from the injuries he had suffered battling War-Wolf, etc, bringing him back to 100% systems function and stabilizing his decay factor) over the course of two days. The CIA also implemented their own programming -- including a new input terminal in his right arm -- allowing them to control Deathlok's mobility, as well as some other functions to some degree. The CIA programming ensured that Deathlok would do anything to stop Simon Ryker. It also allowed them to see through Deathlok's eyes (or at least his bionic eye).

(Astonishing Tales I#34) - <1/3/1999> - Deathlok awakened but was immobilized until Teresa Devereaux, head of the CIA, introduced herself and apologized for his immobilization as a necessary precaution. She then restored his mobility and revealed his reprogramming before departing, leaving Travers to explain the situation.

(Astonishing Tales I#34 - BTS) - Travers informed Deathlok that the CIA was fighting Ryker and that - as they thought Deathlok was their best chance of stopping Ryker -- they had rebuilt him and reprogrammed him to serve them. Deathlok could still function as an individual, but only while serving the CIA against Ryker.

(Astonishing Tales I#34) - Teresa then returned and shared how Nina had revealed that Ryker was on his way to becoming omnipotent. She told Deathlok that they (the CIA) needed his help and that they had been caged for a long time and wanted out.

(Astonishing Tales I#34 - BTS) - Deathlok flew a helicopter to Ryker's World Trade Center base where he found Ryker linked into the Omni-Computer.

(Astonishing Tales I#34) - Alongside Coines, Teresa observed through Deathlok's eyes, and Coines noted that while Deathlok's chances of success were low, their programming ensured that Deathlok would do anything to stop Ryker. devereaux-teresa-7484-at35-full-post

(Astonishing Tales I#34 - BTS) - Dr. Wilcox -- one of the surgeons that had constructed Deathlok and who had had his mind placed into the body of a clone of Luther Manning -- hooked Deathlok up to the Omni-Computer as well, and his manifestation confronted Ryker's manifestation within the computer's systems.

(Astonishing Tales I#35 - BTS) - As Deathlok restrained Ryker, Wilcox pulled him back into his own body, leaving him maddened.

(Astonishing Tales I#35) - Arriving in Ryker's base flanked by several CIA agents, Teresa told Deathlok he could back off now and let her men take Ryker. She further told Deathlok that he was a regular one-man army and she offered her congratulations. However, he countered that he was just doing what he had programmed to do and that his circuitry was telling that the job was not yet done as Ryker was still alive. Teresa assured him that Ryker had been terminated as a threat, after which Deathlok tore out and crushed the terminal that was delivering him the commands. He further told Teresa that he was done with being manipulated by them.

Teresa argued that Deathlok could not just walk out of there with his hands unsoiled and that it was still Ryker's world out there and there was work to be done. When Deathlok still refused, Teresa revealed that Nina Ferry had told them that Hellinger was both Simon Ryker's brother and an even greater threat. Wishing vengeance for Hellinger's betrayal, Deathlok agreed to continue working with the CIA for now.

Deathlok then accompanied Teresa back to Fort Dix, and she brought him to the debriefing center in the administration cluster where she had some results from certain tests she felt would be of interest to him. En route, Deathlok expected a set up, and Teresa acknowledged that she could not blame him for not trusting anyone. However, she also advised him that if she had wanted to kill him, it could have been a dozen times already; for example, she noted that the floor beneath their feet was pressure sensitive and that if any other than the two of them had tried to traverse these halls, they would have been vaporized in seconds.

Finally, she brought him to see the dying form of Dr. Wilcox, as his mind was being rejected by the Luther Manning clone. Explaining that they would preserve Wilcox's mind on a special tape that would be stored in their mind banks, she shared that they had the mind of the US president on such a tape and that they could use this technology to copy Deathlok's mind and then transfer it into the clone.

As the process was underway, agent Tom noted that they may be losing one of their best operatives, but Teresa was more interested in restoring Manning's life. The process was apparently successful, but all present were shocked when it was learned that Deathlok's mind remained in his original form while the clone received a copy. devereaux-teresa-7484-at36-upperpost

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(Astonishing Tales I#36) - The Luther Manning clone told Teresa that "her favorite guinea pig" was leaving. She tried to express sympathy for him but he walked out nonetheless. She initially mentioned that he must know that he could not dictate to her, but she then further considered that she still felt guilty for what Ryker had done to him; even through Ryker was now imprisoned, she somehow felt saddled with the whole thing, and she concluded that the buck had to stop somewhere.

(Astonishing Tales I#36) - Hellinger's Luther Manning clone, now the Doomsday-Mech, then broke into the Fort Dix base, and he blasted the Mech with his laser pistol, seemingly destroying it.

(Astonishing Tales II#36 - BTS / Marvel Spotlight#33 (fb) - BTS) - While Deathlok battled Hellinger's Doomsday-Mech, Godwulf clandestinely caused it to vanish before it could destroy Deathlok.

(Astonishing Tales II#36 - BTS) - As Teresa's scientists pondered the Mech's fate, Teresa led the Luther Manning clone to an Exact Medical Replica (EMR) of Deathlok that they had constructed to duplicate Deathlok's functions so that they could tell when his systems were faulty while he was out on assignment. The Manning clone wondered if and when they would lay him out on a slab for study, but she assured him that he needed him. She then handed him a mind-tape recording of Deathlok's engrams so he could decode it, filling in details and interpretation.

(Astonishing Tales II#36/2 - BTS) - To save Deathlok from Hellinger, Godwulf transported Deathlok across time to the present day of Reality-616. When Deathlok vanished from his native reality, his life signs vanished, and the EMR replicated these functions, apparently dying.

Learning of this, Teresa met with the Manning clone, but he walked away, noting that this had made his life much simpler. Teresa's aide (presumably Tom) mockingly asked the Manning clone if he was going to write some more in his little pink diary, but Teresa silenced him.

Instructing her discussion to be recorded, Teresa then questioned who had given them the right to ruin a man's life, using their technology to turn him into a sub-human creature. She continued, noting how they had self-righteously pinned all of the blame on Simon Ryker but that they had been the ones to continue using Deathlok. She expressed that what they had done had turned her insides and that she had thought somebody should say that.

I'm not sure what the deal with the Provisionary Revolutionary Army and why they had Travers blow up their base.

I don't think Teresa Devereaux was ever seen again after that. The CIA was mentioned perhaps years later during Godwulf's and Deathlok's early conflict with Timestream, but Teresa was not mentioned.

Tom

     Perhaps Teresa's aide or assistant in the CIA, Tom was by her side as the procedure to copy Deathlok's mind into the body of the Luther Manning. He commented that they would be losing perhaps one of the best operatives the agency ever had.

     Teresa countered that she would rather have the man back, whatever the price. "That is what we're fighting for, isn't it, Tom? The right for us all...to be human again!"

     Tom was presumably still present when the clone revived with Luther Manning's mind, but then Deathlok revealed that he retained his mind, which had only been copied.

--Astonishing Tales I#35

Tom may or may not have been seen in Astonishing Tales I#34, as the person smoking a cigarette who summoned Mike Travers to be present as they revived Deathlok, noting that the boss wanted him to be there. He could also be behind Travers as Deathlok is waking up.

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(Astonishing Tales II#36/2) - While not identified on panel, the guy standing by Teresa as the Luther Manning clone departed is also smoking, although his hair looks more red-orange. And when Teresa notes how she felt some guilt for what Ryker had done to Manning, he replied, "Guilty? He's Ryker's experiment."

(Astonishing Tales II#36/2) - Learning of this, Teresa met with the Manning clone, but he walked away, stating that this had made his life much simpler. Teresa's aide (presumably Tom) mockingly asked the Manning clone if he was going to write some more in his little pink diary, but Teresa silenced him.

This same aide stood by as Teresa, on record, noted her disgust with how Deathlok had been treated by the CIA.

Appearances:
Astonishing Tales I#34 (March, 1976) - Rich Buckler & Bill Mantlo (writers), Rich Buckler (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#35 (May, 1976) - Rich Buckler & Bill Mantlo (writers), Rich Buckler (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#36 (July, 1976) - Rich Buckler (writer/pencils), Keith Pollard (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)

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