During the Super-Hero Civil War, S.H.I.E.L.D. used nanites reverse-engineered by Reed Richards from captured Latverian nanotechnology (originally created by the Tinkerer in order to allow for easier human cyberisation) to control villains, turning the tide against Captain America and his growing army of anti-registration heroes. However, once the network of nanite-controlled villains reached critical mass, the nanites became sentient and started to take over their hosts, using them to spread more nanoprobes into others then linking them into the group consciousness, which began referring to itself as "The Fold".