Post-emancipation era stood as the start of all scientific and mathematical discoveries. The early 1900's was a stable for scientific evolution; with the epidemic of polio, influenza, and tuberculosis plaguing the world. Scientists, physicians, and mathematicians alike were all looking for a cure; a remedy to cure all the maladies overwhelming the world. Allying governments from three major western countries supported a sponsorship for the physicists and biologists. Together the group of men (let’s be honest, women couldn’t vote, much less be a part of a globally funded research team) banned together and began working on an experimental vaccine (think of Rutherford's theory). It took about five years of hard work to construct the vaccine. The vaccine went through all phases of general testing and once it cleared, it was only natural to seek human contact next. They sought out poverty (all over the world, especially large countries with high death tolls) and began experimenting on them. There were more casualties than survivors, but the survivors were something to be awed at. Not only were they fully cured, their immune system seemed to strengthen by a 1000%.
Their immune system was stronger, more refined, equipped to withstand more strain than an average immune system that mother's vegetables can't accomplish on it's best day. Even if they were infected with the worst kind of bacteria, they simply couldn’t get sick. This was a miracle. That’s what they called it. And the scientists that were involved with it’s production simply couldn’t destroy a discovery so big. The Vaccine changed the wearer’s DNA, mutating it into something else. Testing continued for about the next decade, until the vaccine was deemed perfected, but since it was exceptionally dangerous and had a barely there fifty percent success rate, it's development was banned and all traces of it ever existing was eliminated. The people that were treated were obviously advised to keep the information classified, but extensive records were taken of their background. Data entry knowledge was vastly inferior back then, but papered documentation went a long way. The cured men/women went back to leading their lives. Some eventually got married, reproduced, started their own family tree. The abilities, super-concentrated powers manifested inside the offsprings of the vaccinated people. Thus beginning the first genetic line of super humans.
During 1936 knowledge of these "abilities" rumored amongst the scientific community. Antonio Garelli, a Sicilian scientist who helped create the Vaccine began an organization, funded by old familial money and money that he had more or less stole from the bankrupting economy. The world was falling to shit, why not glorify in it? He began the start of a movement. An organization filled with scientists to rebuild and reconstruct the prosperities they had before. He sought to make the Vaccine more potent than it was before. He became so melodramatically obsessed with his creation that he ultimately injected himself in a fit of insanity, and when he survived the initial vaccination, he was delighted. He then began his own line, started reproducing to see how his genetic line evolved. Most people went insane from the allure of science and Garelli wasn't immune to that. He began gathering as many as his small organization could track down and attempted to study them. A lot of parents willingly gave their kids away, afraid that they had passed on some kind of disease.
Since abilities were the start of a new discovery, accidents happened left and right, including overwhelming death tolls. Garelli could've easily showcased the abilities to the United States Government for Military funding to contain these freaks, but alas, he was a proud man, determined to keep his creations a secret, because he believed he could stabilize them and use them for his own gain. The organization didn't take off until his eldest son's ability came into fruition. Garelli had literally stumbled upon a gold mine. Things that he had only read about in fairy tales were happening in front of him, founded by his mental genius alone. His son retained the ability to turn any object into gold, blessed by King Midas. His eldest son brought with him all the wealth he needed to establish his forefront, and when Garelli passed, his eldest took over the organization, perfecting his late father's hard work. And that organization was called V.I.V.A.
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