Experiments and Offspring

Experiments and Offspring is...

Plot
An unnamed narrator explains that the Phaelites' and Meethlites' experimentation with the Marlquaan and with genetic engineering has led to them altering themselves. Also explained is how the Experiments and Offspring program was started, and how it led to the near-destruction of Phaelon. The smartest of Phaelite scientists found themselves on Earth, where they became an underground group of US government scientists. Following them were the worst of the worst of Meethlites: the Hebbleskin Gang. Phaelites and Hebbleskins had infighting, but were bitter rivals competing for influence in the world. Both had recruited some and abducted others for purposes of experimenting with making mutated armies. However, it remained to be seen whether or not the Experiments' offspring would manifest as anything practical for either side.

The story then cuts ahead to the year 1942. Anti-Japan hysteria is at an all-time high. A theater is attacked by a man from Japan who can generate almost any chemical from his fingers. Dubbed "Molarity," a manhunt begins for the fugitive. The Phaelites alert authorities that "Molarity" is a Meethexo, an unstable offspring of a Meethlite experiment. A man named Torimi Hoshijo was abducted by the Hebbleskins thirty years prior and experimented on, and Molarity was his child. An FBI investigator named Fred Thernip then agrees to go with Phaelite scientist to track down several Phexos that have been studied secretly, hoping at least one will be able to confront Molarity. With a little help from the OSS, they exploit the personal tragedies of an exposed Centhuen Prototype Phexo named Charles Hammerstein to recruit him to their cause. They promise him that if he'll serve in the army, they'll set his girlfriend Lacey Akawa free from the internment camp where she's been relocated to. Dubbed "Centipede Charlie," they recruit him plus a few other recovered Phexos to become a task force to hunt Molarity down.

Donald "Arrowfrog" Walters is the first member to be added after Charlie. He is soon joined by an Eskimo boy named Akiak Sundue, who can breathe underwater. Akiak states his preference to go by the name of "Anarteq," after the legendary boy who turned into a fish. Another underwater breather with sharpshooting skills joins the team, dubbed Rebecca "Becky Ryba" Volstikar. The small team sets out to hunt down Molarity, and manages to find him. However, he has become an efficient criminal with poisons too deadly for most of the team to handle. When the Hebbleskins unleash several Milthuen Prototypes to protect Molarity, the small band of heroes defeats them. Arrowfrog ends up sacrificing himself to kill Molarity, with the two being poisoning and killing each other off since the one chemical Molarity's body could not tolerate was homobatrachotoxin. Before dying, Molarity infuses Arrowfrog with concentrated sodium hydroxide.

The other Phexos get sent on various missions in the Japanese theater. Becky Ryba is sent to China, to aid in resisting Japanese forces there. She ends up battling some additional Milthuen Prototypes before being overwhelmed. Centipede Charlie takes on and helps disrupt a partnership between Japanese forces and German ones. However, he ends up being sacrificed in the process. Along the way, he befriends a man by the name of Tobey Flippo. Centipede Charlie ultimately fails his mission, and Becky Ryba is gunned down after defeating one foe too many. Only Anarteq leaves the war theater alive. However, the Hebbleskin Gang grows wise to Tobey Flippo's involvement and begins stalking him. The Phaelites plot how to use that to their advantage to create a new Centhuen Prototype, given that Centipede Charlie was an early partial success.