How Did Homelander Become a Girl?

Edgar had yet to become Vought's true ruler, but he had recognized something before most of its scientists and executives.

Power that could not be replicated had no commercial value. Power that could not be controlled was a risk a corporation had to eliminate in advance.

After the meeting, Vogelbaum did not give up on SOL-0.

Quite the opposite.

Edgar's words gave him a new direction.

If they could not understand this infant, they would use him as a starting point and create a similar test subject from an embryo.

Vought had Compound V, genetic data from countless superpowered people, and sufficiently advanced embryonic technology. They might not be able to reproduce SOL-0's unknown circumstances, but they could try to create a life just as stable and powerful—one that truly belonged to Vought.

A few days later, a sealed silver case was delivered to the underground Research Center.

Vogelbaum put on gloves and personally checked the samples inside. A name appeared at the top of the paperwork.

Soldier Boy.

He was Vought's strongest and most influential Superhero. The case held samples of his blood, tissue, and reproductive cells. Soldier Boy had willingly provided them, but even he did not know Vought had been secretly collecting and storing his genetic material.

"Use Soldier Boy's genes as the foundation."

Vogelbaum gazed at the equipment in the cultivation room, his eyes burning as though he were looking at a treasure about to enter the world.

"Screen again for compatibility with Compound V."

"We need an individual enhanced from the embryonic stage."

A research assistant beside him asked:

"What's the project designation?"

Vogelbaum suddenly looked through the glass toward SOL-0 in a distant Observation Room.

"Since we're creating someone capable of replacing the heroes we have now..."

"Let's call it the HL Project."

"Homelander."

Homelander.

Lin Mo discovered the project by chance several months later.

By then, he could crawl.

With limited sunlight and nutrition, his body was growing noticeably faster than an ordinary infant's, but he kept his abilities in check, never letting Vought see his true limits.

He was occasionally taken to different parts of the laboratory for examinations. During one transfer, his cart stopped briefly outside the embryo cultivation area.

Through two glass walls, Lin Mo saw rows of cultivation equipment. One Incubation Chamber was running.

An embryo that had not yet fully formed floated in clear fluid. Beside the Incubation Chamber was a highly restricted project file.

Lin Mo could only see part of it.

[Compound V embryonic compatibility: stable.]

[Sex: female.]

Female?

Lin Mo paused, then relaxed. There were plenty of female superhumans in the original story. The person inside might be Maeve or Neuman.

Time passed into early 1981.

After development in an artificial womb and an accelerated gestation, HL-01 completed the birthing process ahead of schedule.

That day, Lin Mo happened to be taken to the embryo area again for a cellular energy test.

As he passed an isolated Observation Room, he heard a baby crying.

The sound was faint, yet stronger than an ordinary infant's cry.

Lin Mo pushed himself upright and turned his head.

Through the thick glass of an Incubation Chamber, he saw a blond baby girl.

Her skin was pale, her eyes were not fully open, and numerous monitoring leads were attached to her body.

Several researchers stood around the Incubation Chamber, recording her vital signs.

The baby girl seemed to sense something.

She slowly turned her head and opened her eyes, meeting Lin Mo's gaze across the glass.

Lin Mo had assumed she was just another unusual test subject created by Vought.

Then the electronic file beside the Incubation Chamber refreshed. A striking line of red English text appeared at the top.

PROJECT HOMELANDER.

Below it was her official experimental designation.

HL-01.

Lin Mo stared silently at the blond baby girl in the Incubation Chamber, utterly stunned.

After a long moment, a thought surfaced.

No way...

How did Homelander become a girl?

The subject of the Homelander project was female? Homelander had clearly been a man in the original story. Had this world diverged from the very beginning?

As that thought arose, the long-dormant system interface in his mind suddenly flickered.

[Unknown change detected in a key plot individual.]

[Timeline divergence has occurred.]

[Analysis of divergence source failed.]

[Host, proceed with caution.]

Then the light in his mind went out completely.

No matter how Lin Mo called for it, the system did not respond again.

1983.

Vought's experimental observation area, sixth basement level.

Lin Mo stood before a mirror almost as tall as he was. He raised both hands and carefully straightened his white child-sized shirt.

The shirt was plain and had no buttons, but a line of black text was printed across the chest.

SOL-0. That was the designation Vought had given him. They had also given Lin Mo another name.

Carl Lin Mo.

Three years had passed. The infant who could only lie in an incubator had grown into a child who could walk and talk on his own.

The boy in the mirror had black hair and fair skin. His features had yet to mature, but their contours were already distinct.

On the surface, he looked no different from an ordinary three-year-old Asian child. At least, Vought was willing to believe that.

"Raise your arms."

A researcher's voice came through the speaker overhead.

Lin Mo looked up, his expression relaxed, with just the right touch of confusion.

"Like this?"

His pronunciation was not perfectly clear, and he deliberately kept his speech at the pace expected of a three-year-old.

"A little higher."

Lin Mo raised his arms as instructed.

A scanner moved slowly along his body, recording his skin temperature, bone density, and cellular activity one by one.

He had been through examinations like this more times than he could count.

At first, he had been interested enough to count how many tests he underwent each day. Over time, he had grown numb to them.

Eventually, he stopped counting. Vought's research on him never ceased.

Electricity, hypothermia, impacts, radiation, drugs...

There had even been Sonic Stimulation designed specifically for superpowered people. Lin Mo had found that sonic attack so novel the first time he encountered it that he froze on the spot. It had no effect on him at all, and he had nearly given himself away.

The danger of these experiments kept increasing as he grew older, but the results barely changed.

Low-voltage electricity caused no injury. Heat and cold only made him uncomfortable. Even when a tiny wound occasionally appeared, it healed on its own before the researchers finished recording it.

Vought eventually classified his abilities into three categories.

Exceptional durability, rapid healing, and mildly enhanced strength.

That word, mildly, was the result of three years of careful restraint.

In reality, he was already strong enough to deal with everyone here with ease. If he did not have to hide his abilities, he could even tear open the Observation Room's metal door with his bare hands.

But what good would that do?

Beyond the door lay a corridor. Beyond the corridor was a security zone, and behind it were several more floors of underground facilities.

Even if he fought his way out of the underground Research Center, an entire city awaited him outside, along with Vought's personnel and intelligence network spread far and wide.

He was a three-year-old child with no identification, no money, and no real understanding of this era's society.

Where could he possibly run?