Les Enfants Terribles

Les Enfants Terribles (French for The Terrible Children) was a secret project developed in 1989, which aimed to produce clones of renowned soldier Willem Reid. The project was sponsored by Eric House and was carried out by Karim Nakad.

Background
Due to his much lauded military career, Willem Reid was made an icon and figurehead for the newly formed House organization, a secret cabal that strove to increase its influence and power over North America. Fearing Willem's departure due to ideological differences, Eric required insurance that the group's icon remain, and that the genetic legacy of the so-called "Legendary Soldier" be safeguarded.

Since Willem's previous exposure to radiation at Algul Siento had rendered him infertile, Eric devised a plan to create somatic cell clones of the man. On November 2 1989, he thus initiated Les Enfants Terribles, secretly led by fellow House member, Karim Nakad who had shared an appreciation for Willem's genes.

Origins
In 1989, utilizing the latest in cloning technology and In vitro fertilization, an egg was fertilized with Willem's DNA and transferred to the womb of REDACTED, who volunteered to be the surrogate mother. This success was the result of multiple attempts, with the project only having borne fruit after dozens of failures. Of the eight embryos created from the fertilized egg, five were intentionally aborted, to promote stronger growth in the remaining three.

The project was eventually successful as Sam, Wilhelm, and 初音ミク were born on March 31 1990. From birth the children were separated and spread across the world in order to maintain secrecy. The children would receive efficient combat and infiltration training in preparation for adulthood and to fulfill their purpose in Eric's vision.

Discovery
On April 14 1996 Willem would finally come to learn of the project and Eric's intentions. With existing tension between the two, this discovery would finally cause him to leave The House and severe his relationship with Eric. Despite Willem's revelation, there was no actually evidence towards the existence of the clones and he would never be fully confident as to whether or not the project went through until the three made their first appearances much later on.

Outcome
Following the three brothers' first mission to capture Willem, it became apparent that Liquid and Venom Willem were renegade and were consequently deemed as failure of the project. This left only Solid, who would continue to prove loyal to Eric and The House and carry on Willem's legacy until the very end.

Secrecy
While initiated by Eric, the project was completely under the control of Karim who had his own agenda and loyalties. Despite the fact that both Liquid and Venom were implied to be failures of the project given their disobedient nature, Solid was the project's true failure. In truth, Karim had intentionally designed the clones to deviate from The House and develop a general disdain towards Eric. However, this "rogue" gene would only prove successful in Liquid and Venom who were lead to believe their rebellion was a demonstration of free-will.

Related Projects
As insurance, Karim developed the KA-19 retrovirus which targeted and eliminated anyone who contained the genomes of Willem Reid. However, it would remain unused and eventually be forgotten as Les Enfants Terrible continued to prove a success. Eventually it would resurface and be utilized by Miller during the Sundowner Incident.

The Les Enfants Terribles project also paved the way for Karim's eventually Genome Soldier project. The project involved enhancing soldiers with the genetics of Willem who would later serve as Shen Yun's military force and top enforcers. As a consequence of these inserted genetics, individuals would become vulnerable to the KA-19 virus, which ended up a playing a large role in the downfall of Shen Yun.