Francisco Alfaro

Project 9, Batch 9, Subject 5

Aliases: 5, Francisco Alfaro

Operator DNA Classification: Hybrid Chimaera

Donors: Frederick Jaeger, Wicked

The AIDOS armor was originally created as part of a partnership between Advanced Idea Mechanics and the Onyx Forge, a transhumanist splinter group of the Hand. The goal was to produce a supply independent infiltrator and raider unit, but cost overruns, sloppy code, and strained relations between AIM and the Forge stalled the project. In an attempt to recover their investment Forge technomystics performed a rite that bound the spirits of several Hand elders to the armor prototype, but this had the unintended consequence of rendering it unusable to all but a handful of *hypothetical* users. This would have been the end of the story if the armor had not been stolen by a thief by the name of Frederick Jaeger. Although cowardly and self doubting by nature, he did embark on a brief heroic career during the 90’s and early 2000’s under the codename “Dragnet”. He would eventually vanish much the same way he had arrived. The AIDOS once again disappeared until it resurfaced in one of AIM’s Chilean facilities  in 2030.

With the resources of an entire continent even discarded projects could be reexamined, and rather than work from scratch AIM decided to work around the Onyx Forge tampering. The AIDOS was refitted and the search for a viable pilot was conducted. Through trial and error it was determined that there were two types of operator could control the AIDOS effectively: a sufficiently powerful necromancer/medium or an X-Gene with similar properties. Obtaining samples from one of Brazil’s Arks, the design team spliced together the DNA from Frederick and an unknown mutant donor with the requisite abilities. This took a few tries, but eventually Subject 5 (who would eventually come to self identify as Francisco Alfaro) would be thawed in 2038.

 

At this point AIM’s overall success in Ark projects had been decidedly mixed, particularly when introducing non-mutant DNA into the mix. In their exuberance over a successful (and minimally flawed) test subject, they gave Subject 5 considerable freedom. He was allowed to pursue his own interests to a limited extent, and no expense was spared in his training as a new breed of industrial spy. If the experiment and subsequent training regimen proved succesful, they would step up production. In retrospect their optimism was poorly placed…

 

One of their greatest mistakes was allowing him to spend time alone with the AIDOS: the Hand elders contained within the armor were hardly docile, and the prospect of liberty and an apt and willing pupil was too good to pass up. They began to mentor him in the arts of the Hand, and pushed him to explore his nascent psychic abilities. AIM had only intended for him to be able to communicate with and control the Elders, but under the Elders tutelage he became a fully functioning telepath. For his part Subject 5 was not oblivious to the fact the  spirits might have ulterior motives, and took advantage of their fractious nature to maintain control.

 

AIM’s other (and probably greater still) mistake was allowing him to socialize with other subjects. Subject 5 quickly bonded with Subject 40-4 from the Sentinel Research program. In addition to companionship, the two men were able to compensate for limitations in each others skillsets.Friendship or fraternity might be a strange word for people raised in such an environment, but it was probably the closest either had gotten to normal social interaction.

 

The possibility that they could make it on their own quickly began to grow in Subject 5’s mind, and when he psychically lashed out at an AIM administrator during testing he discovered that both programs involving the two clones were slated for termination. AIM was aiming for more malleable, more immediately beneficial projects…which meant a purge was coming. He had been planning an escape already, so when 40-4 approached him with a proposal to aid each other in escape, it was an easy decision.

 

Since their escape, “Francisco” (one of them had to have a name after all) has provided the muscle and eyes of their industrial espionage operation. He acquires or destroys while 4 studies and improves the technology for resale. He does his best to temper the zeal of his colleague and to control the Elders within the armor. An island of realism in a sea of grand ambitions and obsessions, Francisco just wants to live on his own terms. And maybe get 4 that Sentinel. He owes him that much.