Begun as a defense industry contractor during the Cold War, the Human Engineering Life Laboratories has grown to become a wealthy and influential research organization with expertise in many fields. Since the mid Seventies it’s included studies of superhumanity and genetics among its activities, and many corporations have come to rely on H.E.L.L. as a source of information and assistance.

H.E.L.L. was founded in 1988 by Frederick Anges, a gifted scientist. The first few years of The Human Engineering Life Laboratories' existence were rough, with the firm barely scraping by on whatever bits and pieces of work Anges and his few employees could obtain. But in 1992 their persistence and sacrifices paid off when H.E.L.L. won a contract to develop combat enhancement drugs for the US military. It did the work so well that some of the government’s military contractors took note and began sending more work H.E.L.L.’s way. The company’s success was now assured. In 1997 H.E.L.L. underwent the first of several expansions. Anges’s agile mind wasn’t satisfied with just developing new military technology; he wanted to learn more, experience more, and do more. He established what’s now known as the Research Section to function as a think tank-style organization. His justification for this was increasing the range of services H.E.L.L. could offer the government (and possibly even private organizations), but his real reason was satisfying his own intellectual curiosity. The Research Section initially focused on topics pertaining to the war in the middle east, but over the next decade branched out into topics of interest to private commercial clients, such as market research for large companies.

In 1999 H.E.L.L. became the latest in a long string of victims of the criminal organization Venom. The Nest Leader of Washington, hatched a plot to infiltrate the US government through its service providers — including H.E.L.L. Over the course of several years he got some of his underlings hired by H.E.L.L., first in minor clerical positions but later into the ranks of the scientists and researchers. Information these moles fed back to the Venom clued them in to projects the government was working on and provided other valuable information for his overall plot. Slowly but surely they worked their tentacles into the Pentagon and other branches of American government, only to trip themselves up by moving too quickly. When some choice information came Venom's way through one of his H.E.L.L. sources, they tried to blackmail the Secretary of Defense into becoming their puppet. The Secretary refused and turned to several superheroes for help. The heroes investigated, and their work soon led them to H.E.L.L.. A brief but intense confrontation with the Venom agents resulted in significant damage to H.E.L.L.’s New York facility, several injured employees, and two deaths. For Anges this incident was like a splash of cold water in the face. He was shocked and dismayed at how easily his company had become a Venom patsy, and deeply grieved by what happened to his employees. H.E.L.L. had dabbled in studies of superhumanity and related phenomena before — it couldn’t survive in its industry if it didn’t — but now he realized the company had just been dipping its toes in those waters. What it needed was a serious focus on the problems faced and posed by superhumanity, particularly the threat of supervillains
and even superheroes. To that end, Anges did two things. First, in 2002 he created a new branch of the Research Section, the Superhuman Studies Division. They soon began offering its services to police departments,
government officials, and similar organizations, often for significantly reduced rates. Second, he instructed the various divisions of the Applied Sciences Section to create small sub-sections devoted primarily to studying (and in some cases inventing) super-technology, mostly with an eye toward countering or restraining supervillains. Some experts scoffed at H.E.L.L.’s entry into the “field” of superhuman studies, thinking it the dilettantish fad of a man who’d been hurt but would soon find more profitable activities for his company. They couldn’t have been more wrong. Thanks to the quality of its work (and those reduced rates, which it still offers to this day), H.E.L.L. soon became known for the accuracy of its studies of superhuman activities, the insightfulness of its psychological profiles of known metas, and the sturdiness of its patented Meta Restraint System devices. Today H.E.L.L. finds itself with almost more work than it can handle. It has hired additional personnel and began building a series of secondary offices, across the US, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Compared to many corporations of similar size, H.E.L.L. has a relatively simple table of organization, one that reflects its roots as a scientific research company focused on defence contracts. The chairman and chief executive officer is Frederick Anges, it has an active Board of Directors, but in most cases they tend to defer to his wishes even though he and his family at this point only own 34% of the company’s stock (which is publicly traded on the NASDAQ). Anges has proven to be a shrewd businessman, so his directors’ faith in him is usually justified.

Broadly speaking, H.E.L.L.’ services fall into two categories: contractual and speculative. Most of its work is contractual, meaning that it’s conducted according to the terms of a contract with an outside party (often a government, but sometimes a corporation or wealthy private employer). It works on or researches whatever the person or entity contracting its services wants it to, whether that’s preparing a report on meta human impact on the European economy, an analysis of potential security issues in sub-Saharan Africa, or a scientific study of the effects of alien genes. In other cases H.E.L.L. does work “on spec,” hoping to attract enough paying customers to make the work pay for itself. Typically spec projects are seminars that interested persons pay a steep fee to attend, but some spec projects involve technology. To provide these services with maximum efficiency (and profitability), H.E.L.L. divides its workforce into two sections: Applied Sciences and Research. Within each section are several divisions focused on more specific fields of study.

The Applied Sciences Section is the core business of the company that it was originally founded to do: scientific and technological research and development. Even today its work largely involves defense contracting for the United States military (and some other allied militaries), though it does significantly more corporate/commercial work now.
Some of the divisions within Applied Sciences include:
Applied Biology Division - used to be the smallest division of Applied Sciences, but over the past two decades, as biology has made new and amazing strides, it’s grown and become a much more important part of the company. Its researchers focus on all aspects of the biological sciences, including genetics (some participated in the Human Genome Project), microbiology, and agricultural biology. As of 2009, some of the division’s cutting-edge research projects involve attempts to create biological batteries and computer systems, efforts to cure some genetic-based diseases, and a long-term experiment designed to improve rice crop yields.
Applied Chemistry Division - This section devotes long hours and considerable brainpower to developing new chemicals, finding new applications for existing chemicals, and improving chemical manufacturing processes. The division is well-known in security circles for its work on non-lethal chemical weapons designed to incapacitate targets without lasting harm, and in environmental circles for developing technologies that decrease industrial pollution output.
Applied Physics Division - While it’s true the division engages in more than its fair share of “blue sky” research projects that bear little (if any) practical fruit, it also does plenty of work that the company makes money from. Its studies of supertechnology have yielded some excellent results, and several of its scientists maintain close contact with scientifically-minded superhumans to exchange ideas.
C.S.I. Division - The Criminalistics Division functions partly as a private criminalistics laboratory that runs various tests (such as DNA “fingerprinting”) for police agencies for a fee, and partly as a consulting service to assist with matters related to forensics. Superheroes who don’t have expertise in this area often meet with Criminalistics Division scientists to have evidence analyzed for clues they (the heroes) can follow up on.

The Research Section grew organically as H.E.L.L. evolved and realized it could make money offering additional services to its standard customer, the US government. It’s basically a “think tank” that researches (a) whatever it’s hired to research, and (b) subjects it thinks it can earn money on through books, seminars, and the like. Some of the section’s divisions include:
Consumer And Corporate Affairs Division - tackles research projects for private commercial clients — other corporations, industry lobbying groups, and the like.
National Security Studies Division - this section explores the subjects of threats to United States security, the role of American military and intelligence in the modern world, international historical and economic developments of interest to policymakers, and the like. Nearly all of its researchers have some level of security clearance.
Superhuman Studies Division - this section researches aspects of the Superhuman World not covered by some other division of the section. Examples include the impact of superhuman combat on city infrastructure (or the insurance industry), how superheroes interact with the media, and the ramifications of corporate sponsorship of superheroes.

H.E.L.L.’s most important resource is the vast amount of information it collects, analyzes, and archives. Its overall corporate library is extensive, though in this day and age researchers tend to rely on computerized databases as much as on books and written reports. And H.E.L.L. gives them plenty of access to such things; it subscribes to literally hundreds of database services ranging from the relatively mundane to the ultra-exclusive. Access to these sources is one of the “perks” that attracts many top-flight researchers to the company.

In the minds of the public H.E.L.L.'s primary business is researching and developing new technologies, and there’s no denying it devotes a lot of money, time, and effort to that pursuit. As a result many of its facilities are filled with valuable technology: expensive computer systems; various types of high-end manufacturing equipment; elaborate sensors; and of course all sorts of prototype and experimental devices that H.E.L.L. scientists are working on. More than once some supervillain or criminal organization has targeted H.E.L.L. to steal such things.

Although it’s often underestimated, even by company employees, H.E.L.L.’s influence in government circles is one of its most important resources. Many officials trust H.E.L.L. and rely on the conclusions of its researchers when analyzing policy matters. Defense contractors know that for decades H.E.L.L. has crafted cutting-edge military systems that got the job done. H.E.L.L. personnel often testify on Capitol Hill, and Anges is said to have the ears of several senators and congressmen.

With so many trade secrets in its labs and classified documents on its researchers’ desks, H.E.L.L. takes security seriously. A legion of security personnel is on duty night and day to protect the company’s resources. Anyone visiting an H.E.L.L. facility is expected to sign in and out, and if appropriate his license tag number and other pertinent information are noted by personnel at the security desk. While on H.E.L.L. premises he wears an electronic badge that’s coded to let him into areas the company wants him to visit and keep him out of places he’s not allowed to go. A central security computer can trace his movements based on where the badge goes. At night, electronic security systems also help to protect H.E.L.L. facilities (and in some sensitive areas they’re used in the daytime as well). Typical examples include motion detectors, body heat detectors, window monitors, and closed circuit TV cameras.

MetaTech has spies inside H.E.L.L. Thanks to them, slowly but surely MetaTech is developing a fairly thorough and often disturbing picture of much of what goes on at H.E.L.L., a firm whose ability to develop cutting-edge military systems interests it very much. Genetech also has agents within H.E.L.L.

What H.E.L.L. is really doing: Anges believes metahumans, extraterrestrials and basically anything non human represents a threat to us, and through natural evolution will eventually replace humanity on earth. H.E.L.L. is dedicated to finding ways to if not eliminate, control these threats to humanity. To that end they are willing to break laws, engage in experimental alterations upon other human beings, and ruin lives for the higher goal. Their creations are no less exempt. H.E.L.L. uses its own military commando teams who undertake their tasks with the zeal of madmen and wish to purge the world of the meta menace - utilizing a level of violence that clearly makes them the oppressors, yet they are too absorbed with their own violent prejudices to pause and contemplate. Their first physical act of violence committed was the kidnapping of the young mutant with earthquake powers. They brought him to San Francisco, where they hooked him up to an elaborate device that would amplify his powers. Their plan was to force him to cause an earthquake at the San Andreas fault, damaging California. H.E.L.L. believed that when the public found out that a mutant had caused all the destruction that it would further discredit mutants in the eyes of the public, but Omega Factor foiled their scheme and rescued the mutant. Subsequent schemes have all been foiled by various superheroes but noone has yet learnt of H.E.L.L.'s involvement.

Enemies