SPOILERS AHEAD FOR HEROED

Origin

In 1895, a man in Pennsylvania by the name of Phineas Morington III began research into medical needs for his dying daughter, Abigail. He brewed concoctions and tested all known remedies to aid Abigail’s waning health, but nothing seemed to make her better. He began recruiting aides to help research faster. He finally made a breakthrough when a blood transfusion from a local circus was the cure.

The local circus was in town, and its renowned sideshow of unique individuals came with it. The usual strong man, bearded woman, and smallest man were all present. But there was also the world-famous sword swallower, who could place 36 swords in his throat at once. The sword swallower, who was never named, donated his blood (under duress) to Phineas.

With no other hope left, Phineas applied a blood transfusion to Abigail, who remarkably recovered the next day.  Phineas was lost for words, and he returned to the circus to thank the sword swallower for saving his daughter’s life. However, the circus had already packed and left.

Phineas decided to focus on medical research to help people like his daughter and recruited his small team as his first assistants. He named the company PHIN, which was his childhood nickname.

Early Years

By the turn of the century, Phineas’ small company had moved to a building on the heart of Philadelphia. Their primary focus was health and pharmaceutical needs. At around 1910, Phineas and his team discovered something that would revolutionize science.

Abigail, who had not been sick since her blood transfusion, fell from a horse and broke he leg. But he bones magically healed in a matter of moments. While some people feared this miracle, Phineas began to question the blood that had cured his daughter.

Taking a sample of Abigail’s blood and analyzing it, Phineas discovered a hormone within his teenage daughter that had never been documented. This new hormone, which he called Healocide, was transfused into another dying five-year-old boy. However, this boy died almost immediately after receiving the blood sample.

Confused, Phineas and his team began to work hard on what made his daughter so special. She was put through rigorous tests that put her body through unbearable stress, but Phineas’ curiosity would not waver.

The Discovery

After 20 years of research, and dozens of test subjects later, Phineas, not 75 years old, had uncovered the secret to what made his daughter so unique. Unfortunately, Abigail would not live to see this discovery. Due to the stress the test had put on her body, her healing ability no longer reacted, and she passed away in a testing facility.

Phineas and his team discovered the hormones that caused puberty, also released special hormones. While these hormones were not in all teens, they did often grant special abilities when exposed to a stimulus. These stimuli could be ingested or applied to the person. However, Phineas would not see the extent this breakthrough would lead.

Change

In the years leading up to and through the crash of 1929, Phineas grew very ill, passing away on September 15, 1939. With the Great Depression and World War 2 taking place, many of the teams that had made up Phineas’ research were attending to other requirements. Many were sent overseas to fight, most of which would not return.

After the war, PHIN was in a state of disrepair. Phineas had no immediate family any longer, his wife dying in 1935 and his only son dying in the war. The company was taken up by a former researcher on Phineas’ team named Robert Oliver, who began a massive restructuring of the company.

With the knowledge of these special hormones, Robert formed new divisions within the company to reach more testing groups. He wanted to focus on the neurological side of the subject and how their brains reacted to the stimuli. He also formed a R and D team specifically to find more hormones. He changed the name of the company to an Acronym: P.H.I.N. This stood for Pharmaceutical Healthcare Intelligence Neurology.

With this new company structure, P.H.I.N became the leading company in pharmaceutical needs. They supplied hospitals with medication and neurological equipment, as well as served the average consumer. But this was all to further their research ideals and uncover human potential.

The Subjects

Decades passed, and P.H.I.N had expanded to all parts of the United States. Knowing that the hormones were triggered at puberty, testing facilities were built underground in hundreds of high schools. The idea would be to observe these teens and pick out the ones who showed potential.

The teens were known as subjects and designated a number. Some of the subjects survived and developed new abilities, while others rejected the treatments and died. The subjects were usually abducted and brought to the testing facility to determine if they possessed a hormone trait or not. If they did not, they were released. If they did, they would be marked and given a specific stimulus to activate their hormone. In either case, the subjects had their memory wiped and placed back where they were taken.

If the subjects reacted well to the stimuli, they would be observed for some time and brought back to the facility for further tests. It is these tests that most subjects did not survive.

Heroglysine

Subject 1126, also known as Max Gillian, was the second subject in the history of P.H.I.N. to display signs of the hormone Heroglysine. Heroglysine is a rare hormone that is reactive to any other hormone and can absorb and replicate any other special ability. To this day, it is unsure of what hormone will activate, but such a rare case is highly sought after.

The first Subject to show signs of this was Subject 1227 in 1972. He developed super strength and flight, but the testing proved to be too much for his body to handle. He died shortly after as he tried to escape the testing facility that was in Sauget, IL. The facility caved in killing Subject 1227 and everyone else inside.

Subject 1126 is still missing and his current whereabouts are as of now unknown.

Project Mixer

Project mixer was the codename for the failed experiment to embody multiple hormones and abilities from several individuals into a single person. The person chosen had to be strong, willing, and be able to follow orders. The hub for Project Mixer was in a testing facility in Michigan. The subject, Subject 0001, was a local quarterback of the local high school. He was chosen after being humiliated by Subject 1126.                

Project Mixer was deemed a failure, as Subject 0001 reverted back to normal after several months at a rehabilitation center. The responsible parties for Project Mixer had also been apprehended due to some unknown interference. This particular facility has been shut down, and all incoming requests for supply have been forwarded to the nearest facility in Chicago.