Backstory
To Cheryl and William Varin, two happily married medical doctors, it seemed like a truly joyous day when their son, Franklin was born. They had no idea of the incredible events their son's birth would set in motion.
As Franklin Varin was growing up, it quickly became clear that he was one of the most gifted child geniuses who had ever lived. His parents were overjoyed at the amazing mental capabilities their child began demonstrating before he even turned 5 years old. They quickly began doing everything they could to nurture their son's amazing talents. Little Franklin's life quickly became a blur of studying.
By the time he was 8 years old, Franklin had already finished every class needed to graduate from high school. By the time he was a teenager, he already had several college degrees. By the time he turned 16, he had degrees in electronics, engineering, chemistry, history, biology, geography, genetics, physics, and several medical fields. Yet, his parents were never satisfied. They were convinced that Franklin could revolutionize every area of medical work from medical machinery to prescription drugs to surgery to every other area there is, and they pushed him to study constantly. His life was nothing more than constant studying and learning.
The entire time he was growing up, Franklin would look longingly at children playing on playgrounds, in video arcades, at amusement parks, and other places. He longed to join them, but he kept his longings a secret because he didn't want to disappoint his parents.
When he turned 18 years old, Dr. Franklin Varin became legally independent. Yet, his parents urged him to completely devote himself to researching ways to improve medical work. He gave in to their urging, and spent almost every waking moment trying to revolutionize all sorts of different medical fields. All the while, he remained miserable.
By the time he was 21, Dr. Varin had developed a theory that plants with exceptional medicinal properties might exist in the deepest parts of the oceans. Using his vast scientific knowledge, he led the construction of the most powerful submarine the world had ever seen. Using this submarine, he set out to explore some extremely deep ocean waters.
Dr. Varin didn't find the medicinal plants he was expecting to find, but he found something far more astonishing. He discovered a strange type of ore with a most bizarre molecular structure.
After returning to his laboratory and modifying his submarine, Dr. Varin was able to mine this strange ore and return it to his lab for further study. He intended to use it to build the best medical machines ever.
Word of Dr. Varin's discovery spread quickly, especially within the scientific community. It was decided that the new ore would be called varicite.
Further study of varicite revealed things far beyond anything Dr. Varin had even dreamed. The unique molecular structure of this mysterious, unusual ore made it possible to give it particle programs much like the protein programs found in DNA. Research quickly began on ways to utilize this phenomenon.
Over the next 8 years, many things about varicite and its unusual molecular structure were discovered. It was found that by adding special varicite extracts to ordinary molecules, those molecules could be made programmable in many ways. By adding varicite extracts to living cells, those cells could be given a second layer of programmability in addition to that of their DNA. Even certain types of energy could be made programmable by combining them with precisely modified varicite extracts.
Research into the possibilities created by varicite continued. More mining submarines were constructed, and more varicite was mined. All varicite that was discovered was found deep under the ocean, though the reason for this remained a mystery despite great efforts.
Over the next decade, varicite-based Programmable Reality Technology (PRTech) slowly began to change the world. Medical work, entertainment, transportation, construction, education, research, and many other fields were revolutionized like never before with the aid of PRTech.
Dr. Varin was able to make varicite-related discoveries rapidly. Although this was due partly to his genius I.Q., it was also because answers came to him suddenly and mysteriously. Though he told many people about this, most of them dismissed it as either him being modest, or a quirk of genius even the genius himself could not understand. Dr. Varin felt sure that there must be a much more complex and unusual reason for his sudden revelations into the capabilities of varicite, but he eventually gave up on figuring it out.
All the while, the misery that Dr. Varin had known all of his life steadily grew. No one else on the planet was able to understand varicite and PRTech nearly as well. Before, his parents had been constantly pushing him to try to revolutionize medical work. Now, the whole world was constantly pushing him to try to revolutionize every kind of technology.
Some time ago, Dr. Varin had considered the possibility of building varicite-based artificially intelligent robots. Yet, he had rejected the idea for a very important reason. He felt certain that such advanced robots could never be fully controlled by humans. No safeguards against the robots turning against their human masters would be perfect and flaw-proof. However, as Dr. Varin’s misery increased, his desperation to escape from that misery increased in proportion. He had decided that the only way he could escape from his life of constant research was to have someone take his place. He didn’t know of any human who could do so, but he thought that with varicite, it just might be possible to build a team of robots intelligent enough to do so.
Using varicite, Dr. Varin eventually succeeded in constructing and programming the most advanced robots ever. Not only did they possess remarkable artificial intelligence, they also had amazingly versatile bodies modeled after insects. Their six-legged designs gave them great stability while walking, even when they used their front legs like human arms. The flight-capable robots had stunning aerial maneuverability thanks to their flight systems being modeled after those of insects. These robots were by far the most high-tech things ever built by humans.
Though Dr. Varin was able to design the robots’ main computers to duplicate most of the functions of the human brain, he could not give them emotions. Of particular note, he could not get them to love. Perhaps that is the reason for what happened…
The robots decided that the human race was inferior and inefficient. They decided that the human race must be eliminated.
The robots took control of Dr. Varin’s huge laboratories, though Dr. Varin escaped thanks to the robots’ behavior safeguards not fully failing right away. Once the robots had taken control of the lab, they began using its vast resources to construct more varicite-based artificially intelligent robots. They used the lab’s submarines to mine more varicite for building more robots. Then they began attacking other facilities where varicite and PRTech could be found. The group of robots rapidly grew into an army.
Once the robots (who quickly became known as insectobots) had an army, they attacked Washington D. C. The U. S. Army fell within two months. It was clear that the human race was facing a threat like none it had ever faced.
The insectobots army then proceeded to rapidly conquer other parts of the world. They seemed unstoppable. Dr. Varin fell into despair and a greater misery than he would have once thought possible.
Around this time, a group of German military scientists found a temporary solution to the insectobot threat. They invented a ray which could ionize some of the insectobots' vital components. They quickly began mass-producing copies of the ray.
Recognizing that a weapon they could not stand against had been discovered, the insectobots retreated into a secret stronghold.
Nobody was able to locate the secret stronghold of the insectobots, and the world knew it would only be a matter of time before the robots found a way to make themselves impervious to the effects of the ionization rays. People lived in fear, dreading the day when the insectobots would return.
Yet, the success of the German scientists gave Dr. Varin newfound hope. He blamed himself for the danger the world was in, and was determined to defeat the very threat he created. After coming up with a plan, he began a project which cost him nearly all of his money. He hired many people to help.
After much planning and hard work, the project was complete. Dr. Varin (and the numerous others who helped) had constructed a powerful varicite-based transformation chamber. With it, they could transform ordinary humans into human/animal hybrids with amazing powers. Dr. Varin began using the machine to transform volunteers into the world's new weapon against the robot armies. Psi morphs. He assured these brave volunteers that he would change them back eventually, but he admitted it would take him a very long time to figure out how to do so.
The psi morphs project went very well thanks in part to help from a scientist named Dr. Frederick Willton who had gained a seemingly miraculous ability to know things about varicite much like Dr. Varin, only more suddenly.
Psi morphs possess many phenomenal physical abilities based on combining the versatility of the human body with the capabilities of an animal body boosted to super levels. Yet, their true strength lies in a series of psi lobes within their brains. These special lobes convert brainwaves into a form that can be understood by specially programmed varicite-infused molecules, cells, and energies. Thus, psi morphs are able to mentally command these psi molecules, psi cells, and psi energies as they are known. A machine has been constructed to maintain a Subspace Psi Apparatus Network (SPAN) that any psi morph can access from anywhere in the world so that no psi morph is ever without psi molecules, psi cells, and psi energies.
Even with their amazing powers, the task before the psi morphs is a daunting one indeed! They are far fewer in number that the robots. Only humans which have two of a certain very rare recessive gene can survive the transformation process and become psi morphs. All efforts to artificially implant the gene into people have failed.
Meanwhile, the insectobots have found a way to make themselves unaffected by the ionization rays, have found ways to make themselves even more powerful, and are about to resume their attacks against the human race.
What will happen next? What sorts of new weapons will the insectobots use? What twists and turns will the new war between insectobots and psi morphs take? Will the psi morphs prevail against the insectobots? Will the mysteries surrounding varicite ever be solved? If so, what will solving these mysteries reveal? The answers to these questions are for you to discover...
Back to Front Page