History of Dr. Sloan Matthews

Dr. Sloan Matthews is notorious for his betrayal of U.N.I.O.N. But many aren’t aware of who he was before this.

Born May 9, 1992 in Riverside Connecticut, Sloan’s parents were Kenneth and Betty Matthews. From an early age, he showed an aptitude for science and mathematics. He won many science fairs and was the top of his class all throughout elementary and middle school. This even led to him skipping a grade and entering high school at 13.

Riverside City had always been a seeming hotspot for unusual crimes and criminals. Those with somewhat unbelievable skills and abilities. Sloan had always been fascinated by these sort of urban legends and started following their pattern across the country. He was convinced there was some truth to them that was being kept from the average person. But in 2005, the world changed. 

A large-scale conflict occurred in Seattle that became the reveal of true supernatural abilities to the world. A scientist that the media dubbed “The Technomancer” and “The Nanomancer” began an attack on the city. He used a combination of a nanobot cloud and cyborgs to kill citizens, using the technology to resurrect them as additional cyborgs. The incident drew in many to defend the city including the Supervillain Assault Specialty Squad who were investigating the early reports of the cyborgs prior to the attack. Some local citizens also discovered their post-human abilities that day due to the stress. But the true hero that stepped up was none other than the mythological demigod Hercules.

Rumors swirled back in World War 2 that someone calling themselves Hercules fought on the side of the allies against the Nazis, but any official reports had been classified. Hercules spent the remaining time trying to keep a low profile, the horrors of industrial war having weighed heavily on his soul.

With the others taking care of the cyborgs and nanobot threats, Hercules took to going after the Nanomancer directly. His great strength and strong skin kept the scientist from making headway in attempting to convert him to one of the mindless cyborgs. Hercules drew the fight out of the city, and the nanobot cloud with it. The Nanomancer began to use his abilities to enhance his own strength to even the fight. Eventually, the nanobots began to eat away and convert Hercules’ skin. Unwilling to have his powers used for such evil, the demigod made his peace. He then ignited the power within his Amulet of Zeus, engulfing himself, the Nanomancer, and the nanobot cloud in an ichor-fueled inferno. 

Watching all of this on the news from across the country, Sloan felt both vindicated in his beliefs and horrified at the scale of horrors in the day’s events. He was depressed, nearly catatonic, leading his parents to enter him into therapy to draw him out of his shell. This led the young man to be bulled mercilessly by some of his peers. This led him deeper into his interest in the now burgeoning field of post-human studies to distract from the torment he was enduring internally and externally.

In the summer after graduating high school in 2007, Sloan was excited to move onto starting at the University of Connecticut in Hartford. He knew his path now and was finally seemingly back to his old curious self. But life had one more bad hand to deal to the young man. 

His parents took him on a trip to San Francisco, where they were unfortunately caught in the middle of a fight between The Nuclear Family and the villain Chronosis. The time controlling villain took the three Matthews as hostages. Before the Nuclear family could stop it, Chronosis called their bluff, rapidly aging Betty and Kenneth Matthews. While the family intervened before Sloan himself was impacted, Sloan was horrified by the experience. Their bodies seemingly over 100-years-old, the decline for them once getting back to Riverside was just as rapid. Not long after, they passed, devastating Sloan.

Being given a full ride to college, Sloan leaned on his previous time in therapy to process his grief and continue on with the work. It was at that point he decided he would learn to end the threat of aging and even reverse it, so eventually no one would face his kind of threat again. From there, Sloan threw himself into his studies, eventually getting his doctorate in Biomedical Engineering. Despite being mostly oblivious to things outside of his work, his outwardly chill nature led to him finding a serious girlfriend.

His rapid pace eventually drew the interest of the U.N.I.O.N. who recruited him shortly after his graduation in 2013. With having to move from Hartford back to Riverside, Sloan promised his girlfriend they would make it work. They maintained that long distance relationship even after his promotion to Dr. Lydia Alverado’s assistant. Sloan threw himself into U.N.I.O.N. to prove himself, even taking extra time as a field operative in the hopes of being given funding for his own research. Despite this, the organization continued to push this off. 

Shortly after his adventure with Hyperact, Vizual Aid, Yardak, Dr. Matthews was approached by a member of Black Crystal, who offered him the funding he wanted in exchange for being a double agent. Despite his conflicted loyalty, Sloan took the offer. The chance to keep what happened to his parents from happening again was too overwhelming. He broke things off with his girlfriend, not wanting her to be caught in the crossfire. And from there, he began to report on the events at U.N.I.O.N., leading to the eventual breakout from Echo Base and attack on Riverside City.