Ready Art Explains the Growth Lab - Episode 003
Added 2019-02-17 23:19:05 +0000 UTCThis is a series of posts where I answer questions I get from you inside and outside the Patreon about what the fug is happening in the Growth Lab.
Here we go again! Let's get it rolling.
The Origin of the Growth Lab Virus, Energy and why it is even around - This is an abbreviated version of the whole story with added bits that might have not shown up in the comics.
In the GLab universe pre-comics there was a government funded program to discover a new energy source. It was supposed to be something magical like cold fusion or some sort of man made element. Two internal government groups worked together on this. The Air Force and Army.
The Army (research guided by Hannah Stromberg) saw it as a way to develop a super soldier like person. The energy was thought to allow some sort of (force) field around the soldier as well as make them super strong, much tougher than normal and in some test cases even survive in the vacuum of space. This is all still pre-Growth Lab mind you.
The Air Force (guided by Luna Masters) saw the energy as a way to allow huge advances in transportation and deployment. Luna was able to link the energy into a process she developed (with her team). They created a prototype matter beaming system (like the Star Trek transporter) that allowed people to be beamed from one location to another. The limits at the time were about 800 kilometers (roughly 500 miles). The system was seen as pretty stable but was in the process of testing.
At the start of the Growth Lab we meet a scientist who is working on modifying what Luna and her team have been able to do and folding it back into the Army's research. The thing here is she is one or MANY people across the country and the globe who have been assigned a small part of the whole project. Still, she was provided with enough of the research to create an unstable hybrid energy source. That effectively was the growth virus. Most all of the story takes place after this moment which is cataloged in Growth Lab 1.
That's a really high level look at the GLab origins! There's more of course and it all makes a sort of sense to me! haha
On Luna's personality My observation on Luna's driving force (at least as I consider her actions throughout the series) is she is always trying to prove she is smart first and a 'big titty woman' a distant second. This is again back to the idea she has struggled for most all of her adult life under the assumption by many that she somehow slept or sexed her way to achievements. If not that then she had some sort of unfair advantage due to her sexuality. She doesn't exactly hide her body but she really doesn't use it as much as she could. Then we get to the growth energy and it causing her to unclothe and unload a lot of her inhibitions. I think I have a story around somewhere that the GLab represented one of her first sexual experiences. Not that she never had sex but she has lead a somewhat celibate lifestyle due to her dedication to work and science. Of course with the growth outbreak all that has changed and she has quickly become more comfortable using the thing at her disposal to get her way. I guess she is a little more Machiavellian at the moment and looks at things a little more like "the ends justify the means".
On Luna's Personality Part 2 I wouldn't want it to seem like Luna is angry or mad about what she views as her situation and the way people perceive her. Mostly she just deals with it and does the best job she can. With the growth she realized she might be able to advance her theory growth energy can be utilized for a beneficial purpose. In her mind, the energy represents a power source for science. One thing she was working on in GLab 11 and 12 directly was a matter transporter powered by, you guessed it, the growth energy. Only at that time she had no idea about the side effects. You see, the OTHER part of the military was run by Hannah who were using the growth energy to create basically Super Soldiers. But that's a whole other story! In summary - Luna has a huge ego but she is quite smart in certain respects. Her big failing is her overconfidence and tendency to gloss over possible problems.