The ring told the story of how Abin Sur found a world which was still at a Middle Age stage of advancement even though it should have been in the atomic age, and discovered a parasitic energy being species that fed on sentient beings' "I-factor," a substance that enabled inventiveness, attacking civilizations and stalling their development, as they had no I-factor themselves. Sur captured them to stop their destruction, placing them in a bubble, but one of their number had escaped as it was attacking another world and vowed to free his brethren. To do so, he tracked down Sur's planet and created a disaster by making a volcano erupt to force him to appear to stop it. Since Sur did not mask himself, the being recognized him immediately and followed him to his home. As Sur neglected to charge his ring before going to sleep, he was unable to stop the being from taking control of him.