The Engineer:
All About Nanotechnology
The Original DC Engineer
There have been two Engineers in the DC Universe. The name of this first Engineer is actually unknown, he was always referred to as ‘The Engineer’. He was a scientist with… no eyes at some point.
History
The Engineer experimented a lot with nanotechnology and even used his own body to test the changes he wanted to make for the whole world. However, the authority banned him from actually applying this nanotechnology to the whole world.
The End of the First DC Engineer
In an attack, The Engineer was hit by a Hammerstrike Deep Sanction Missile from Stormwatch, who was sent on Hendry Bendix’s orders. The missile tailored an acid bomb, which destroyed both The Engineer as well as almost all of his nanoctechnology.
The Changers
After being stopped from applying his technology by different authorities, The Engineer joined a group called The Changers. This group, led by The High, wanted to remove all laws and authoritarian structures; to reshape society, in the thought that this would stop all war and crime.
The Engineer as a Member of The Changers
As part of The Changers, The Engineer planted seeds (actually seeds out of which trees grew) of his nanotechnology all across the planet to provide all foods, products, and tools anybody would ever need. But when The Engineer was doing this, Stormwatch attacked the base of the Changers - resulting in The Engineer’s death.
The Engineer’s Garden of Nevada
There was one area with nanotechnology that survived the attack called the Garden of Nevada. Weapons were created in this place to come back, and Stormwatch, who had sent Apollo and Midnighter to neutralize it, which they succeeded. They did save a handful of trees first, though.
The Engineer’s Powers & abilities
Besides having a unique physiology due to the nanotechnology within his body, The Engineer has some other abilities. He can fly, is invulnerable to most things, has metamorphosis powers, and an intellect of level genius.
Angela Spica: The New Engineer
Angela Spica - also known as Angie - became The Engineer after the first Engineer passed away. He had chosen her specifically to take over these duties. Just like the first Engineer, Angela is a scientist and has a unique physiology.
Before Being the New DC Engineer
Angie grew up in Queens, where she was the youngest child of seven. Before becoming The Engineer, Angela always dreamt of becoming a superhero. When her classmates were still playing with toys, Angie already knew how to put all kinds of machines together - showing her high intellect.
Angie as The Engineer
Angela was already working on a human-machine fusion when suddenly her home computer became filled with all of the notes of the first Engineer’s nanotechnology. Angela started to use these notes to eventually create liquid machinery with which she replaced her own blood, giving her different abilities. With these abilities, Angie went on missions. On one of these, she met Captain Atom, who she had to keep an eye on and eventually bring home to his own universe (or murder him in case he became a problem for her own universe). During this time, the two developed a deep but short relationship. However, due to a handful of things, Angela turned against him and attempted to slay him - until she lost all of her memories of him during an attempt at the destruction of her world.
Losing The Engineer’s Abilities
In the destruction, Angie lost all of her abilities and became a normal engineer. That didn’t actually take long because after trying to reactivate a machine with her blood, Angela reactivated her powers as well. It did change her powers a little bit because now she could only use them for brief periods of time and her metallic skin didn’t protect her as well as it used to.
Member of The Authority
It was Jenny Sparks who recruited Angela as a founder of the Authority. It was as a member of The Authority that Angie really started to take on missions and help save the world. The task she took on to spy on Captain Atom was because of the position she held within The Authority. During her time in The Authority, Apollo infected and attacked everyone who was a member of it, but Angie knew to save them by giving all of them a protecting layer of nano skin.
The Engineer’s Powers
Just like the first Egineer, Angela has many different abilities. She has a high intellect (specifically regarding Physics) and can fly.
Angela’s Extra Abilities
Angela has quite some abilities that the first Engineer didn’t have. The first one is being able to travel through space after generating massive boosters. She also has electrokinesis powers and can control any form of technology and interact with it. Besides that, Angie is also able to trace elements within the air and soil around her and is able to use these to create almost anything. For example, she could duplicate her own body (up to 82 duplicates) or create weapons. Lastly, she can easily spread viruses (both human and machine kind), can actually slip between atoms, and is capable of storing knowledge from every book she has ever read within her blood.
The Unique Physiology of the DC Engineer
Due to the nanites in her bloodstream, Angie’s body became a metallic liquid filled with nanobots (tiny machines), which she controls by her will. Usually, the nanites form a coat around her body (which is why she is depicted as having a silver body) for more protection - on Earth, but also in space. However, she can also shape-shift and stretch her metallic form because of the nanobots.