The DNAscent Process

The DNAscent Process was developed in secret, a piece at a time, among three Grant Conglomerates subsidiaries, four biotech firms owned by Constantine Urallos and Taurus, and two projects for the Pentagon. Each of these groups produces a different piece of the project, believing they are working on gene therapies, producing better immunosuppressant drugs, or any number of other fronts.
Each group is unaware that Cardistanic, a shell company within Rice & Stimson Holdings, puts all the disparate pieces together into what Dr. Peter Hanks has dubbed his DNAscent Process: the direct enhancement and manipulation of human DNA. The company is small—Jonathan Grant, Peter Hanks, Victor Reeds, their technicians and support staff, and the real estate on which the company is housed. This is the 14th such shell company to house the DNAscent Process, three of which were shut down in the past by various enemies The Labyrinth has accrued (or created)...
Two of the earliest successful experiments in what would become the DNAscent Process were the British secret agent code-named Evening and the man now called TrapDoor. Both spent weeks on drug regimens to improve baseline health and clean up biological systems before being subject to the mainline drugs. The scientists found the drugs alone, if administered slowly, improved a person’s overall abilities and health, but those benefits deteriorated over time unless the subject was exposed to specific doses of radiation. Both of these test subjects escaped, which is why brainwashing later became a mandatory step, though their abilities were signs of success for the program.
In short, the DNAscent Process can produce superhumans in as short a time as six months. They have a 65% accuracy rate at producing a being with specific powers, the precision of which drops the further the powers get away from human normal. In other words, they have great success (94%) at producing humans with enhanced abilities, but the power of flight, for example, is more problematic and less exact. The mysterious “X-factor” that Dr. Hanks and his cronies have not yet been able to isolate is, in fact, ancient Preserver tampering with human genetics, which is sometimes activated by the process, with unpredictable results.
While Dr. Hanks and Dr. Reeds actively find test subjects when the Labyrinth needs a new agent, only Taurus (through Urallos and Grant, who in turn are insulated by layers of contacts and fall guys) can approve a subject sent for enhancement, often by a client requesting a superhuman bodyguard. Most DNAscent subjects also undergo brainwashing and are programmed with false memories; staff psychologist Dr. Karen Creiss enjoys implanting stories of alien abduction and experimentation into her subjects, leading many paranoids out there to believe that aliens are creating all the superhumans on Earth, lending fuel to the fires of anti-alien factions. A few subjects escaped the project before brainwashing was instituted (Larceny, Inc., Evening) and know of its existence. Because of them and the potential exposure, the DNAscent group moves around three times a year—or more, if deemed necessary—among different isolated properties.
Recently, Dr. Hanks has been fascinated by incident reports of the Silver Storm in Emerald City and its creation of numerous new superhumans in a manner not unlike the DNAscent Process—though, he is reluctant to admit, far more efficient. The Labyrinth has seized every opportunity to obtain genetic and biological samples from the so-called “stormers” created by the incident, even acquiring a few live test subjects for analysis. This led to the discovery of the nanotechnology that produced the Silver Storm, and that it is largely inert following events in Emerald City. Hanks has not given up on it as a line of inquiry, however, and hopes to replicate or reactivate the technology and use it to enhance the power generating process.
Of active superhumans other than Labyrinth agents, known DNAscendants include The Contenders (Bear-Knuckle, Fly-Boy, Heavyweight, and TKO), Evening, the Faretti Brothers (“Strong Manny,” “Joey Brains,” and “Slick Willy”), The Fearsome (Silverback, Sir Razor, the Vermin), Larceny, Inc. (Get-Away, Grab, Smash, and TrapDoor), the Spanish hero El Matador, the Millennium Bug, the Oliverti Family enforcers Knee-Breaker and Strongarm, Rant and Rave, RIOT (Armorine, Flag-Burner, Insurgent, Little Hawk, S.D. Ivan, and Slam Dance), and the Xegnome. Other less-than-human results also exist, and formerly-human monstrosities created by the process include Daddy O’Long-Legs, Death Caul, Howl, Midnight-Owl, Urban D-K, and dozens of other monsters loosed on the world after testing.