Spider Mutant
| Name | Spider Mutant |
| Race | Mutant |
| Type | Arachnidian |
| Faction | Independent |
| Premiere | Desideratum: Blood Bonds |
| Relative(s) | None Applicable |
The Xenopox Virus was created at MedUSA, a laboratory, in Oregon, though as a company, its facilities are spread across the globe. The base of the chemical concoction was the actual poison of the snake god, Ophion. In ancient times, anyone that Ophion bit would become snake people, reptilians. They would bite others, and the further away from Ophion’s original victim, the less human traits the victims would keep and the more of a reptile they would appear.
The original poison used had come from an ancient unearthed relic. Using the poison as a starting point, MedUSA began testing and tweaking the properties. The original idea of the board of directors and several of the scientists was to find a way to resurrect the snake god himself, perhaps by cloning. However, all attempts using the poison, failed. They then tested the poison on animals and people. By studying the effects on a microscopic level, they grew to understand the properties of the substance better. It caused mutations of varying types and degrees based on mixing with the DNA of different organisms. After the lab was destroyed by Siri Solen, the mutants that managed to escape sought refuge in the nearby sewer system.
One strain of these fleeing mutants was the arachnidians. Among those were the giant mutant spiders. Humans bitten by these spiders, or their queen, the brood mother, turned into black-eyed spider people. Black-eyed children or people are an American contemporary legend of paranormal creatures with pale skin and black eyes, who are reportedly seen hitchhiking or panhandling, or are encountered on doorsteps of residential homes. In reality, these infected people serve as workers and breeders for the mutant spiders that they serve. Like the infectulonian spiders, since these mutants share some of that DNA, these humans also have mandibles and occasionally other random spider mutations. However, they do not have the power or hypnotic abilities of infectulonian spider soldiers.
Absinthe Van Gothen fought these mutants in the Portland Sewer System, specifically the Big Pipe Project section while attempting to find the Night Stalker, Molly McCoy. Molly had been bitten by one of these very spiders becoming a mutant spider girl. Absinthe shot the spider mounting Molly and was forced to knock the girl out when Molly tried to bite her. She was taken back to Sanctuary where Siri Solen took to studying her condition. Siri set out for the Hawthorne Asylum to get a clean strain of Xenopox from Demented. Once there, the doctor abducted Siri and coerced her to aid him in his nefarious deeds. Absinthe was forced to retrieve Siri and on their return, Molly was healed.
