I honestly have no clue what they were doing, so genetic experimentation is just a guess. But that plague you mentioned hearing about earlier? It wasn't normal. I'm not sure how much detail you were given before but it mutated people and gave them powers. Like...Pokemon powers. Shit like thunderbolt and fire spin. So to answer your question, both first hand and watching it happen to other people. Because it affected a whole lot of us.

[This is a good topic of conversation, yes. It has nothing to do with Vriska...even if he can't help but think of the fact that she totally commanded him like he was a Pokemon.]