Before facing a terrifying battle in the future, Tony Stark took the appropriate steps to ensure that whenever the need arose, there would always be Avengers. Mainframe was key to that contingency.

A cross between an android and a robot, Mainframe is a miracle of engineering. It’s an armored suit made up of a program based on the encephalograms of Tony Stark. Of course, in his early appearances, his identity was surrounded in mystery. And early on, his secretive behavior was a cause of conflict.

As told in A-Next #1, in the near future, an emergency signal flashed to a computer deep within the subbasement of the Avengers’ mansion. It activated a long-dormant program that was suddenly brought online, awakening Mainframe, who alerted and gathered the next generation of Avengers (Jubilee, Speedball, Jolt, Thunderstrike, J2, Stinger, American Dream, and Freebooter; Mainframe was the leader).

His towering presence and computer-modulated voice made Mainframe an imposing figure. And although he was the leader, this mysterious and secretive authority figure was mistrusted by the group (even called paranoid by these next Avengers). At first, they only listened to him because he was authoritative and very smart. Plus he had pull with the Pentagon and access to the right people whenever the team needed assistance. They all thought that it was odd that Mainframe never removed his armor in the team’s presence. And when he occasionally employed robot duplicates of himself, they thought something really must be up. Only later did they realize that he had dozens of bodies and that He was so secretive because he was not a real person—if you go by the traditional definition.

Reminiscent of the War Machine Armor with a back storage unit like the Silver Centurion Armor, Mainframe is a brilliant black and gold manufactured from advanced composites of the future.

Mainframe could transfer his consciousness from one robot shell to another. This was achieved by the Lazarus Program, which allowed Mainframe to download himself into other bodies once the current one was destroyed. A module, housed in the chest, stored Mainframe’s programming: his essence. The module broadcasts him to another body upon the failure of his current body. (Actually, it sends the consciousness to a satellite, where the spare bodies are stored and assembled—see below.)

In A-Next #7, the villain Ion Man caused him to exhaust his supply of spare bodies as one after the other met the foe. Mainframe finally absorbed Ion Man into his armor and then blasted him into space in a last-ditch effort to stop him. The resulting surge initiated a systemwide shutdown—including crashing the Lazarus Program (which went offline). Mainframe was in danger of dying.

Luckily, Jarvis, who had been entrusted with Mainframe’s secret by Tony Stark, had the schematics. Under his direction, Ant Man (Scott Lang) and his daughter (Stinger) went inside to perform a manual release. You see, as a failsafe, the module—a glowing globe that for all practical purposes is Mainframe—could launch into space via the launch engine (located behind the chestbeam). The globe then flew into space to the satellite for a hard-wired consciousness transfer. (Inside the body, daddy and his little girl found a brilliant Stark security feature: nannites on defensive patrol. While they almost stopped the minute pair, Ant Man and Stinger got by them and released Mainframe, saving him.)

Mainframe’s power came from Stark’s well-known and (by this time) perfected solar cells. In addition to the main system, there was a limited reserve battery in the chest piece.

Mainframe’s bodies were manufactured and stored in a Stark satellite orbiting the earth. Fully automated, the station builds new robots as needed. Although the transfer from one body to another takes only moments (when a body is on hand), it takes an hour to fabricate each replacement body. (BTW, He’s filled with parts and mechanical goo.)

Other features: Stark gave his Mainframe creation an advanced propulsion system with boot jets for flight well beyond anything Iron Man ever had. Audio sensors and sophisticated ear pieces are part of the sensor array. Extra features and add-ons were stored in his utility belt.

Armaments: large gauntlets with wrist-mounted blasters and four ring-like red stones on knuckles of his gloves; repulsors; chest beam; retractable machine guns (in gauntlets).