I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the Champions campaign I ran a while back. I stumbled across this document (February 1999), a letter to the Voyagers from their most hated foe, Jack of All Trades. It was just a one-off fight scene to fill space between arcs, but, man, I love Jack: So very evil, so very mad.
Jack was a mad scientist, specializing in biochemistry. See this comment thread for his background.
Dear Colleagues:My continued investigations into the manipulation of the human genome require me to once again ask you for assistance in evaluating the products of my experimentation. I have taken the liberty of performing the experiment in a location convenient to you, the reflecting pool in MacArthur Park, where I have released a tailored virus in aerosol form. The experiment should be in the evaluation phase at the time you read this. For technical reasons relating to the nature of the binding sites I am currently using, the experiment should affect only adult females in the first 18-36 hours of their menstrual period. I anticipate between 4 and 8 experimental subjects.
The experimental subjects should display three characteristics of infection:
- A sharp rise in body temperature to between 100 and 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
- A manifestation of superhuman powers of unpredictable type.
- A complete repression of group empathy (i.e. perfect sociopathy) except as regards other infected subjects.
Please document your interactions with the experimental subjects as thoroughly as possible. This is for science, after all.
You need not be concerned about the subjects in the long term. The experimental vector is designed to be vulnerable to the human immune system, so that the effects of the experiment should be negated in five to seven days.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Cordially yours,
Jack the Researcher
Research supported by FBI case #189635286.
Posted by Greg at August 2, 2007 10:46 AM