- “With the Cortex in hand, Project Medusa will be completed, and this world will be the first to witness its power!”
- ―Master Ronin
The Cortex was an Aetherian bioweapon developed by the Aetherians to be utilized against Master Ronin and his Goruxian Armada during the Aetherian War. However, the transport ship carrying the Cortex from its facility was shot down by the Goruxians, leaving it to be lost and eventually buried beneath Ball's Pyramid on Earth in Earth-61017, where the surviving Aetherians abord the ship turned it into a tomb for the weapon.
Years later in 2020, Ronin began developing Project Medusa, a psionic weapon that required the Cortex to use, having learned of its transport ship's arrival on Earth through classified CIA documents. Ronin set forth a crusade to retrieve the Cortex from the downed ship, utilizing Amici to secure it for him. Upon successfully obtaining the weapon, Ronin managed to return to his base and used the Cortex to activate Project Medusa, which left the Cortex unusable after it had been weakened by Mackenzie Davis prior to Project Medusa's activation.