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“Operation Virunga” is a top secret United Nations led program more than 50 years in the making with the goal of developing gorillas into international security operatives to augment military defense and covert operations.
Infant test subjects are cultivated in laboratories, selected for advancement, given simple pet nicknames, and sorted for intended functionality conditioning. Those that pass all final stage focus trials (and survive) “graduate”. Memories are scrubbed of the horrific process before being officially deployed as soldiers. A complete “cycle” for one single ape subject (referred to by Verunga alumni as “tree-to-street”) costs upwards of $50 Million per gorilla and lasts about 5 years.
The program was shut down in 2059 after the infamous Devon Island disaster where an isolated special projects laboratory was commissioned to conduct experiments on accelerating simian brainwave enhancement. The experiments worked all too well with the newly cunning test subjects freeing themselves and fellow apes, organizing a revolt, violently dispatching all human analysts and guards onsite, and ultimately taking control of the entire Canadian region. It took US military forces over a month to destroy the gorillas and reclaim the territory. The event sparked great debate within the UN and the program was close to being permanently terminated if not for the efforts of senior program examiner Dr. Elias Keck who vigorously argued that “the crowning moment of gorilla humanization” was mere weeks away and promised to “exponentially elevate standards and potential for primates as a whole”. The UN oversight committee knew full well that an advanced gorilla army might be the only thing able to address the threat of a full blown White Martian invasion of Earth: The program was officially reinstated in 2061 by unanimous vote. With even tighter controls and heightened pressure on ape subjects, the revamped Verunga project proudly produced reconditioned Trial Set Epsilon consisting of its three most capable graduates to date: Mayo, Pepper, and Sgt. Howler.
If the experience on Devon Island serves as the worst example of Operation Verunga, Mayo stands among the program’s greatest achievements. As eloquent as he can be ferocious, as quaint as he is sophisticated, Mayo graduated with honors from a University of Cambridge-equivalent doctorate program in a 3-Year period. Excelling in all aspects of advanced military training, Mayo has become the symbol of Operation Verunga’s potential and future. He’s even authored convincing dissertations and conducted speeches at several conferences promoting the merits of the revamped program. A poet at heart, Mayo has special connections with human space travelers Dr. Diwa Martinez who tirelessly supported his progress through his difficult “incubation” period and Elias with whom he shares an affinity for Stenhammar compositions.
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