Doctor Helen Cooper was a famed scientist who was most notable for her work with Imulsion. She ended mankind’s dependency on fossil and nuclear energy by discovering and perfecting the Lightmass Process, which allowed humans to turn raw Imulsion into cheap fuel and energy for Sera and its people.[1]
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Helen Cooper was born and raised during the Age of Silence. She lived through an era of peace on Sera, but was also experiencing an energy crisis that was unable to support the large human population as every means of alternative energy failed - possibly inspiring her at a young age to find a solution. She became a scientist and doctor in chemical engineering.
Gold Rush[]
Lightmass Process[]
During the Age of Silence, a phosphorescent, volatile, low-viscosity fluid called Imulsion was discovered by an oil-exploration drill. Originally a scientific curiosity, Cooper saw its potential as it appeared limitless. She engineered the refining method that could transform Imulsion into a usable fuel source, called the Lightmass Process. Eventually, Imulsion became the newest fuel source for Sera and supplied its people with power once more, thrusting Sera into the Golden Age.
Pendulum Wars[]
Power of Imulsion[]
Because of Cooper's work, Imulsion became a valuable source of energy, and those nations with natural reserves became economic and political powers on Sera and merged to form the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG). Other nations with little-to-none Imulsion reserves became economically bankrupt and merged to form the Union of Independent Republics (UIR) to fight the COG over control of both Imulsion and Sera. This became known as the Pendulum Wars, and would last seventy-nine years.
Death[]
At some unknown point in time, Dr. Helen Cooper died.
Legacy[]
Although Cooper’s findings were meant to benefit mankind, they eventually led to her to being indirectly responsible for subsequent catastrophes and the near extinction of the human race.
The economic and political consequences of Imulsion as a fuel source led to the seventy nine year Pendulum Wars, which saw millions dead. Meanwhile, Imulsion fumes caused a fatal respiratory condition called Rustlung, affecting mostly Imulsion miners and their families - as their children exhibited birth defects. The COG, fearing the ramifications of producing and distributing a toxic fuel source, opened the New Hope Research Facility under the Department of Health to house the children of afflicted Imulsion miners and develop a cure for Rustlung. Dr. Niles Samson used Imulsion and the DNA of creatures from the Hollow to transform the children into mutated and aggressive chimeras called Sires. Samson later combined their DNA with the embryonic stem cells of Myrrah, a child born with a genetic immunity to Imulsion, and created the Locust Horde, who colonized the caverns beneath Mount Kadar to establish their civilization, Nexus.
As the Locust presence in the Hollow and Imulsion production grew, a new epidemic occurred among the Locust and creatures of the Hollow called Lambency. Imulsion was discovered to be a parasitic fungi, colonizing their hosts to infect other organisms through mutations and expelling of Imulsion fumes. The Lambent pushed the Locust Horde out of the Hollow. Desperate, the Locust waged a genocidal war against the humans of Sera to conquer the surface and escape the Lambent. During the seventeen year-long war, 99% of the human race was exterminated. The Lambent eventually emerged on the surface and caused a pandemic. The Lambent were eventually vaporized by Professor Adam Fenix, using a targeted radiation device called the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon, aimed to kill Lambent cells.
The Locust were crystallized and evolved into the Scions, a mechanism designed by Dr. Samson to ensure generational conflict. The Locust Scions created a bio-organism called the Swarm, capable of transforming all lifeforms into members of the Hivemind to be controlled. The Locust rebuilt their army through the Swarm to finish their genocide of humans to colonize the surface of Sera - plunging Sera into another global conflict originally caused by the Imulsion refining discovered by Dr. Helen Cooper.