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Jillian Conway was an archaeologist and a contemporary of soldier of fortune Rex Mason.

She was exposed to the same radioactive meteor that once transformed Rex Mason into Metamorpho. Jillian however, received a more concentrated dose of energy, which had an adverse affect on her physiology, making her appearance even more inhuman than Metamorpho's.

Jillian was desperate for a cure, and discovered some ancient Egyptian texts dating back to the time of Ahk-Ton. Jillian believed that the Orb of Ra, an artifact forged from the very same meteor that gave her these powers, could also be used to cure her. Under normal circumstances, the Orb of Ra causes a metamorphae great pain, but when used in a special ritual, could restore their humanity.

Jillian traced the Orb's last known whereabouts to the unscrupulous industrialist Simon Stagg. Stagg however, no longer possessed the Orb, citing that it had been stolen from him. Like Conway, Stagg also highly coveted the Orb, for with it, he could maintain control over his rival, Metamorpho. Jillian knew that the restorative power of the Orb could only be used once, but neglected to tell Simon Stagg this important detail.

While secretly partnered with Stagg, Conway enlisted the aid of Rex Mason to help her find it. Rex also had great interest in finding the Orb, but not for himself. He had hoped that the power of the Orb could be used to cure his mutant son, Joey. Jillian and Rex traveled to Ireland where they found an IRA thug named Peter O'Grady. O'Grady was responsible for stealing the Orb from Stagg Mansion and told the elementals that he had since sold it to Emir Abd-Al-Aziz of Kathtan. Aziz only possessed a fake copy of the Orb, and the true artifact had actually been returned to the pyramid of Ahk-Ton in Egypt. Metamorpho learned that Jillian planned on betraying him, and the two fought with one another in the streets of Casablanca. Jillian defeated Rex, took his son and reunited with Simon Stagg. The three of them went to Egypt to recover the Orb.

What Jillian didn't realize at the time, was that she had mis-translated the original hieroglyphics explaining the power of the Orb. Rather than reversing a metamorphae's condition, it in fact completed the process fully, transforming them into basic chemical compounds. Conway learned this fact to her regret as she placed the Orb of Ra into a special receptacle at the top of the pyramid. The rays of the sun focused through the Orb and the energy it produced killed her instantly.

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