Underground Knowledge — A discussion group discussion

Excerpt from The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy:


“Our orphans exist on the frontiers of modern science,” the doctor said proudly. “They each have two more chromosomes than the average person. For all intents and purposes, they are post-humans. Superior in every way to the rest of the population.” –The Orphan Factory


Besides the psychological manipulation said to be needed to create programmed killers, the human body must also be enhanced. Manchurian Candidates would be of no use to intelligences agencies if they were not physically capable of carrying out complex assassinations. It is one thing to have a malleable brain, but quite another to have the body and physical skills of a killing machine.

Common claims to emerge regarding the physical training inductees receive in these black op programs include harsh trials of strength, martial arts and weapons training, feats of endurance and wilderness survival tests, and even flying various aircraft. The result is super soldiers who are trained to extremely advanced levels in numerous disciplines – much like our fictitious orphan polymaths in The Orphan Trilogy.

Beyond physical training, forcibly altering and enhancing assassins’ bodies would be another likely way to create the ultimate killing machines. This could be achieved by genetic engineering ensuring none of the usual genetic imperfections would exist in the Manchurian Candidates’ bodies.

Administering advanced substances – of the chemical variety or otherwise – could also be a way to manufacture such individuals. Steroids would be the obvious one, but that’s probably too simplistic an approach for designing elite assassins.

The 2012 film adaptation of The Bourne Legacy, which stars Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz and was directed by Tony Gilroy, shows the CIA improving their operatives by altering their DNA with top-secret drugs. In the film, Weisz plays a CIA chemist employed to create the drugs that make Renner’s character and other operatives superior to average humans, not only intellectually, but also physically.

We explore a similar theme in The Orphan Trilogy by showing the orphans regularly ingesting the mysterious Ormus aka White Gold. Unlike the substance given to the spies in The Bourne Legacy, Ormus is not a manufactured laboratory drug but a naturally occurring substance that exists in the real world. It allows the orphans to run as fast and fight as well as any adult.

For all anyone knows, Ormus may actually be one of the substances being used by the world’s elite assassins.

Bourne Legacy in 60 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcDIl...