Dr. Curt Engstrom worked for S.T.A.R. Labs in Keystone City. They obtained Dr. Alchemy's Philosopher's Stone, a stone with the capability of transmuting the elements. The scientific firm shaved off a microscopic portion of the stone, using it for the construction of a miniature medical computer that could go through the bloodstream, transmuting free radicals into iron, curing blood disease. Engstrom stole the computer and the Stone, ransoming them. He was later arrested. They did not recovere the computer chip. Engstrom tried to use Moe "Mouthpiece" Migliani, the famous jailhouse lawyer, to get out. He told Migliani the location of the microcomputer. The lawyer purposely botched the case so he could get his own hands on the chip instead.