Thorne Family Adventures

The Thorne Family Adventures are an anthology of stories set in the increasingly grim world of Dimension Delta Zeta 17-46 and involving at time both Super Force and specifically, Samantha Grey.

Writer's Guide (1964)

The Thorne family exists at the intersection of genius, tragedy, and global conflict. Their isolated life on a secluded Caribbean island is a fragile truce between one family's need for peace and a nation's demand for survival.

Dr. Vivian Thorne: The Defiant Genius (Born 1923)

Dr. Vivian Thorne is the NAFR's foremost normal-human mind in Quantum Gravitation and an Apex Researcher (age 41) whose brilliance is critical to the Republic's survival. Her service is driven by a deep, tragic paradox. Born into the elite Boston Brahmin class, her talent quickly placed her in the nation's top academic pipelines, eventually leading to her encounter with "Doctor Philadelphia," the metahuman responsible for approving Apex candidates. While pursuing her Ph.D., she met and fell in love with Damien Thorne (a nuclear chemistry student), though his distraction over her brilliance led him to fail the course.

Her personal life was shattered circa 1962 when Damien, an NAFR Strategic Infrastructure Engineer, was killed in the British atomic attack on Baltimore during the October War. This event created her defining conflict: she hates war with every fiber of her being, but she fears her nation's defeat more, viewing her work developing war-critical technology as a necessary sacrifice to protect her children and the NAFR from future atomic fire. A Maverick Genius with a defiant streak, she actively aims to speak up and offer guiding wisdom to the NAFR's leadership, holding them to task to live up to her nation's high ideals. Since early 1963, she has worked in profound solitude on a Caribbean island, intensely focused on a revolutionary breakthrough, acknowledging that "every discovery has a shadow."

Major Rex Corbin: The Augmented Guardian (Born 1913)

Major Rex Corbin (age 51 in 1964) is a symbol of the NAFR's meritocratic military, a hardened, professional soldier whose focus is now directed toward a personal mission. Born in rural Texas, he earned his stripes as a "Mustang" officer via a Battlefield Commission in the South Asian War, rising to Major (O-4). His career was shattered in 1962 during Operation Chimera Block, which ended in catastrophic failure due to the military's disastrous underestimation of Imperial metahuman intervention—a systemic failure that broke his "direct and unwavering" moral code.

While shielding a victim, he sustained a catastrophic arm injury, which was fitted with a sleek, highly integrated Tactical Stabilization and Micro-Dampening Unit. This augmentation restored his function but deemed him unfit for conventional combat. Leaving soul-crushing desk duty, he accepted a secretive offer to "Retire" and join the Shadow Guard. In early 1963, he was assigned as the Protector and Logistical Assistant for Dr. Thorne. His professional duty has evolved into a paternal bond with the children, Caleb and Zara. He is the gatekeeper to Dr. Thorne's solitude and the bulwark against all external threats.

The Thorne Children: Protégé and Witness

The children were forged by the tragedy of the October War, making them resilient co-conspirators in their family's dangerous existence.

Caleb Thorne (The Protégé)

Caleb is Dr. Thorne's son, born in 1953, forced to mature quickly. He is surprisingly adept at a young age, e.g., assisting Major Corbin during attacks by feeding tactical coordinates as if it were a video game. His motivation is familial love for his mother and sister, and a driving curiosity about the world around him.

Zara Thorne (The Witness)

Zara is Caleb's adopted sister, born in 1954 and orphaned in 1962, brought into the family in the aftermath of the October War. She is also a vital part of the team and is the Keeper of Secrets, representing the moral human and empathic core of the narrative.

Series DNA and Wild Cards

The core structure and tone of The Thorne Family Adventures are a deliberate homage to the beloved 1960s adventure cartoon Jonny Quest. The series captures the classic dynamic of a brilliant scientist and his family undertaking perilous, globetrotting adventures supported by a capable military protector. Dr. Thorne replaces Dr. Benton Quest as the genius scientist. Major Rex Corbin embodies the steely resolve and guardianship of Race Bannon, with the added layer of a cybernetic past and growing paternal bond. The children, Caleb and Zara, are the adventurous, tactically-adept kids who transform their isolated, high-tech research outpost into an action-adventure backdrop, constantly menaced by global enemies and non-conventional threats.

The ultimate wild card in this environment is the Super Force and its operatives, most notably Samantha Grey. Super Force is the highly secretive, metahuman-led branch of the NAFR war department, whose existence remained classified until well after the series' timeline. Major Corbin's service failure involved metahuman intervention, and the Thornes' highly classified Apex research is a magnet for enemy metahuman and Super Force counter-involvement. Appearances by the volatile Samantha Grey—a powerful metahuman whose missions are often brutal and covert—inject unpredictable, transcendent power into the family's world, creating intense internal conflict for Vivian Thorne, Major Corbin, and Vivian's children.