Niles Wight is a man who was given a second chance. He was shown a dark version of himself and what the culmination of ten years of hate and bitterness would lead to. Most people don't get to examine their lives in that way.
After the Ferrymen shuttled Niles away in July of 2009, he vowed not to kill and not to use his ability. Given how dangerous he could potentially be (not just in his power, but his self-admitted enjoyment from killing), the Ferrymen encouraged that restraint.
With guidance and patience, Niles became more accepting of himself and more committed to changing his fate. With respect for his wishes, the Ferrymen kept him out of the line of fire as much as they could, and away from situations where he would feel compelled to release his electromagnetic duplicates.
From 2009 through the better part of 2011, Niles lived a quiet life in a seaside house in rural Maine. He lived there with other Evolved refugees, most children or people like himself with abilities deemed too dangerous by the government to be allowed to roam free. Ferrymen operatives cycled in and out to watch over them. As one of the few constant adult presences, he became a caretaker for the children.
That peace was of course, not to last. Growing anti-Evolved sentiment meant that certain people were making it a priority to track down Niles and people like him - Evolved with a proven criminal record and, thanks to his time travelling future self - the potential to become a mass murderer.
He was noticed by the authorities when he made a run into the nearby town to pick up medication for one of the kids who had come down with the flu. He was forced to flee without saying goodbye to anyone at the Maine House. The Ferrymen had a procedure for just such a scenario. Niles always carried a burner phone and was able to get in touch with a contact who could be told of the situation. Unfortunately, Niles' presence caused the authorities to make a thorough sweep of the area. The kids and the other adult refugees at the Maine House were found. Some of the adults fought back. Two adults and one child were killed in the ensuing firefight, and any survivors were brought to detention centres.
Niles blamed himself for their capture and nearly charged headlong in to try and rescue them. But the Ferry members who picked him up rightfully pointed out that if he went on a rage-fueled quest, he'd likely never find his way back - not to mention the odds of him breaking anyone out were low since the authorities were aware of how to trap him.
He spent the next few months being shuttled around from place to place, kept out of the line of fire and out of view of the authorities. He had been slowly working on firearms training and hand to hand combat with the rationale that he might not be at as much risk by killing the enemy in a way he couldn't viscerally feel. In truth, it was a pragmatic decision. Things were bad enough that the Ferrymen could not handle a dead weight.
He was involved in a half dozen skirmishes with a gun in his hand. He found that killing the enemy felt different when there was this sense of righteousness rather than superiority behind it - and it wasn't just that he was killing with a gun. The reason for attacking mattered. Or at least, that's what he told himself.
Eventually, the unit he was with was cornered in California. They were surrounded by tanks and heavily armored men with assault rifles. Their unit only had a handful of Evolved with combat-useful abilities. They were facing a very real no-win scenario. Niles had no choice but to unleash the full force of his ability. He sent out all six of his duplicates to fry people and machinery. When he was done, three dozen smoking corpses lay around the cornered fighters.
After that, Niles no longer tried to keep a leash on his abilities. He cut a swathe of destruction against any enemies they encountered. He used this dupes to scout, send messages and spy, fried their communications and overloaded their machinery. Because of him, his unit was able to make gains instead of always being on their back foot.
And then, the blasts. Niles was in California when the EMP hit. He had three of his duplicates out - one scouting many miles away while two stood sentry duty at the camp. The EMP completely obliterated the duplicate that was closer to the source of the explosion. His other two duplicates were horribly mangled and mutated, like a crossed circuit or a corrupted signal. He doubled over in pain and was barely able to reintegrate the two mangled dupes before he slipped into a coma.
He was comatose for nearly three months before the Ferrymen managed to find a psychic who was able to enter Niles' mind and put up a barrier between the corrupted dupes and the rest of his psyche. After that, his recovery was slow and painful. He would sit out the rest of the war in a secure bunker, not to join the fight again.
Although Niles was back on his feet, he was far from recovered. His destroyed duplicate was like a severed limb, full of phantom sensations. He lost all memories associated with activities involving that duplicate, which ended up being a mixed blessing. That duplicate, as it turns out, was the one who murdered his stepfather all those years ago. He still remembers having killed him, but he no longer has the visceral memory of frying the man from the inside out. The two corrupted dupes lived in the back of his head, like mad demons barely kept on a leash. They couldn't be repaired and he couldn't send them out without fear of losing his mind or slipping into a coma. One day, they might need to be cut out entirely like infected flesh.
When he regained his strength, Niles moved on from the people who had sheltered him. He needed some time to reflect on everything and to find his centre again. He started wandering the countryside, mostly keeping his head down but occasionally helping with pockets of fighting. The first few times he sent out his duplicates, they were weak and could only stay within visual range. Eventually, he managed to get them back up to full strength, though he became hesitant once again to unleash the full force of their power.
Eventually, he made his way back to New York City out of morbid curiosity and a desire to stop wandering for awhile.
As the years passed, the face he saw in the mirror got closer and closer to the man who was sent back in time. The two men are very similar in some ways, and very different in others. It remains to be seen what his future holds.
