Project CHIMERA

Project CHIMERA was a pre war experiment conducted by the United States, designed to combine human and animal DNA in order to create the perfect soldier. It is believed that this is what is responsible for the Dammed Men, the Hissers and the Skintakers, which are notably not found in other regions of the pre war wastes. The reason for this is believed to be the projects laboratory being located near Buffalo, as test subjects were frequently captured Canadian dissidents and insurgents. The premise involved the utilization of animal DNA to give desirable traits to human beings through combination of DNA. A method of making animal and huma DNA compatible was first established, followed by the creation of hybrids. Attempts at both editing embryos and fully developed humans were tried with various degrees of success. The hope was that if they could create a controlled mutation of fully grown humans, they could say give soldiers night vision from owls or the echolocation ability of a bat or even the ability to enter hiberation so as to use a minimal amount of supply.

The project, as ridiculous as it sounds, was never meant to actually get off the ground. It was devised as a psyop against Chinese infiltration, being a piece of fake intel that was deliberately unsecured so that Chinese spies would report it back. It was one of many ficticous projects, all treated in a similar manner, so that they could narrow down where the leaks were coming from. Unfortunately for the CIA, another department of the American government seen this intel as well and thought it was a legitimately good idea. They began the project in 2073, with the first breakthroughs in August 2077.