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History

India, England, America. A passion for knowledge, a talent for hypothesis, and the youthful certainty that she'd change the world. src

Origin

Dr. Kavita Rao was born in Calcutta, India,[3] began her career there and traveled to England[2] and America[2] in the pursuit of advanced degrees in genetics.[4] At the end of her studies she had acquired PhDs/Doctorates in biochemistry and mutant genetics.[3] She was described as a "passionate student determined to change the world" at the cost of her private life,[3] and eventually became a world-renowned geneticist, but her hope of changing the world was forgotten in the process.[2]

She met Hank McCoy years before,[3] at a cloning seminar in Berlin,[5] along with Moira MacTaggert and Sarah Kinney.[6]

Kavita dedicated herself to curing the Legacy Virus, a lethal disease plaguing the mutant community, but failed despite being close to a cure. The disease was cured by Hank McCoy. A few weeks later, the alien Ord of the Breakworld came to her, offering significant amounts of data, that could have helped her cure the virus, had she received it in time. Rao attempted to direct him to Hank McCoy, but since McCoy was a mutant, Ord did not believe that he would be objective in achieving Ord's supposed goal; "curing" the mutant gene. Alongside Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D., he presented her the case of Tildie Soames,[7] a mutant girl whose power to physically manifest her own nightmares had inadvertently caused the death of her parents and a police officer.[5] The case convinced Rao to aid accept Ord's aid and begin work on developing a mutant cure, under the understanding that no one would be hurt in the process. Unbeknownst to her, Ord's true motives were to remove mutantkind from the equation, due to a prophecy predicting that a mutant, most likely an X-Man, would destroy Breakworld.[7]

Working for BeneTech Laboratories and Ord,[8] using at least Tildie Soames, Colossus,[9] a mutant girl who "committed suicide", and several mutants acquired by Ord from the Weapon X's concentration camp of Neverland,[9][3] Kavita was able to develop a serum (later called "Hope" by the mutants themselves)[6] which could "cure" mutants, turning them into normal humans.[10] To create such a cure, she used as a base the Legacy Virus cure present within a revived Colossus.[11]

After a time of research and development, Kavita Rao presented both the Serum and Tildie to the public, offering the cure to every willing mutant and any interested nations, although it still wasn't approved by the government.[12] Hundreds of mutants immediately signed up for the procedure at BeneTech Laboratories, forming massive crowds waiting night and day for the serum.[13][3]

The same night, while the X-Men were discussing the subject, Beast infiltrated BeneTech Laboratories to steal a sample. Rao intercepted him, and after a short conversation, she offered him a sample freely, to Ord's great displeasure.[14]

After Beast recognised the DNA of Colossus present in the cure, the X-Men infiltrated BeneTech Laboratories, and freed him.[9] Taken down by BeneTech security, they were rescued by Kavita who ordered the soldiers to stand down so that she could administer first aid to the wounded Cyclops. Once the security agents left, the X-Men intended to destroy the building and the cure, and Rao immediately bluffed, stating that she had released samples and all her data to hundred of research teams across the world.[15]

The facilities were eventually invaded by mutants seeking the cure, and Ord fled, kidnapping Tildie and taking all his data and samples before leaving with the main building of BeneTech, in fact a space ship. Everyone inside was saved by Kavita's warning, who pleaded with the X-Men to save her Tilde. Performing a Fastball Special, Wolverine was able to reach the ship and force Ord to land, delivering him into the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Dr. Rao's work was destroyed by Wolverine, leaving Hank with the last sample of "Hope".[7]

I am obsolete now, Hank. Surely you realise that. My field of research is soon be an exercise in archaeology. Who needs a mutant geneticist when there are no more mutants? --Dr. Kavita Rao[src]

When the fact came out that her work derived from the science of the Breakworld, she became a pariah in the scientific community. With no more mutants, Rao was workless because of his condition of mutation expert. Her new goal was to reverse the M-Day effect by creating a clone from inert mutant DNA.[6]

McCoy contacted her among various villain scientists, searching a cure to the M-Day.[16] Contrary to the other geniuses, Rao asked Beast to come see him within three days, promising to help him with the few resources she had.[17] When he came, Kavita presented him the violent effects of the M-Day: All her X-Gene samples had turned in dust. Warning him from crossing the line for his quest, Rao handed him BeneTech, Breakworld and even Neverland files, before returning to India.[6]

While she argued on the fact that mutants wanted the cure, and that she indeed made terrible things to develop the cure,[6] she came to see that her actions could have sent the mutants to their extinction.[4]

Rao later joined the X-Club, a group of scientists gathered by McCoy and Warren Worthington to assist in solving how to reverse the effects of M-Day.[18] She quickly started a tense relation with Doctor Nemesis, because of his universal antipathy.[19]

Along with the rest of the X-Club, she traveled back to 1906 to obtain blood samples from first generation's mutant's parents from Namor's era, the people matching the best being Nemesis' parents.[20]

Kavita Rao was in Graymalkin when the riots started with the arrival Simon Trask's Humanity Now! Coalition in San Francisco.[21]

Aboard the X-Sub and along the X-Club, she participated to the extraction of the Asteroid M and the establishment of Utopia.[22][23]

Once the battle with Norman Osborn's X-Men and Avengers, Kavita was seen along with Psylocke, examining Emma Frost who was invaded by Void and stuck in diamond form.[24]

She played bridge the night with Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi the night before he died, and was present at the meeting to discuss the modalities of his funeral, but felt bad about a sea burial for her former colleague. She soon later assisted to his cremation and funeral.[25]

During the first times of Utopia, she was taken as hostage by Stinger, as she was frighten and wished to have a talk with Iceman, using that action to catch the attention.[26]

The X-Club profited from the arrival of Magneto to use him in order to prevent the Asteroid M from sinking, using electro-magnetism as power source, but the project proved to be inefficient.[27]

She assisted Nemesis in the construction of a defense preventing proper trans-reality teleportation from happening, following the first attack of Emplate on the island.[28]

After their mission against Legion, the New Mutants Magik then Karma were interviewed by Kavita, as a debriefing, and gathering informations on Marci, a girl trapped in Legion's mind.[29] Those post-mission briefings were part of her common activities on the island.[3]

With Magneto's coming, he dragged the Breakworld bullet with Kitty Pryde in it, putting the X-Club on a new project: Prevent the bullet from hitting Earth, leaving Kavita with the task of caring about the once-again passed out Magneto.[30] ...

The X-Club was part of the central command, coordinating the actions of the X-Men along with Cyclops.[31][32]

Along the X-Club, she acted in the infirmary, where she operated on Karma with her colleagues, replacing her missing limb by a mechanical limb.[33]

In the command room, she assisted to the brefieng about Magik's rescue mission. Agreeing with Cypher, the X-Club feared from Bastion's mysterious towers, and so started to investigate on the subject.

Kavita also examined Cable, assisted to Nightcrawler's funeral[34] before they left for an oil rig 3,5 miles off the coast of San Francisco, who revealed to be part of Bastion's plots:[35]

...[2]

The X-Club managed to escape, trying to warn Cyclops that Bastion was targeting Utopia and attempted (successfully) to keep the X-Club away,[36] and Kavita Rao was able to make peace with herself for the creation of the Hope Serum,[3] throwing the bracelet with the formula into San Francisco Bay. They quickly tried to understand and take down the Sphere who had been raised around Utopia, and were rapidly joined by the Avengers,[36] then the Fantastic Four.[37] The whole three teams combined scientists were unable to shut down the Sphere.[38]

Aftermaths

After the battle, she was back to the sick bay, taking care of the wounded, including Iceman,[39] the still intangible Kitty Pryde and theorizing the explanation of why Pryde was still phasing,[40] and Armor.[41] She also performed tests on Hellion's use of his powers on the bionic hands he had since he lost his natural ones against the Nimrods, and was interrogated by Cyclops on Hellion, after an accident happened between him and Karima where the Omega Sentinel had his programming restored and attacked mutants during a reconstruction operation of San Francisco by the X-Men.[42]

...[43][44]

...[14][45][46]

...[47][48]

Kavita Rao remained on Utopia, still acting as physicist of the base.[49]

...[50]

After the reality warping by Legion, Kavita presented the various consequences to Cyclops: Hellion's new control of his hands and powers, Chamber's powers return and chest explosion, and Revenant, kind of a plasma ghost of Cyclops' alternate daughter Rachel Summers.

While the X-Men were at war with the Avengers, the Utopian students were transferred in custody in the Avengers Compound, while the X-Club members Jeffries and Rao agreed to serve as de facto guards.[51] When Sebastian Shaw escaped from his containment unit, Rao logically but erroneously assumed that he might intend to take revenge on Emma Frost, responsible for his mind erasure.[52] When a brawl started on the matter that the mutants should have to go free or not, Rao stated that they should be allowed to take part in the conflict, "or not", according to their personal choices, just wanting to get back to her lab herself. After a fake fight for the Academy staff to justify the escape of all Utopians from the Compound, Kavita was teleported away along Madison and the students by Pixie.[53]

Her whereabouts during the rest of the conflict are unknown.

After the conflict and the dissolution of Utopia's X-Men and X-Club, she joined the Jean Grey School. Acting as the physicist of the school, she was knocked out by Sojobo-Tengu, possessed by Luca Aldine as he wanted to kill his sister Blindfold, while she was being examined by Rao.[54]

She was also contacted by the Institute of Bio-Social Studies of San Francisco in order to reproduce the Hope Serum, but refused to help to the great displeasure of Dr. Nina Ambrose, forcing the IBSS to produce the X-Cise, a cure which worked by damaging the mutant brains and leaving them in a child-like state.[55]



Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Genius-level mutant geneticist and biochemist. She also possess vast knowledge in bioengineering and cloning, and is a capable physician.

Kavita was also allegedly a superb dancer of tango.[56]





Paraphernalia

Equipment

BeneTech equipment:

Scrambler device: Kavita posses a scrambler device protecting her from telepathic control.[15]



Trivia

Kavita Rao is left-handed.[29]

It is established that Kavita Rao is a big Star Wars fan.[57]

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