During Slouch's childhood, he undertook surgery to get separated from his twin brother. Sadly, Slouch got all the good organs and Sludge was sold off to research by his parents. Though cloneing had recently been banned by Earnonian law, he continued his research into clone technology for apparent business applications (Cloning for Fun and Profit), perhaps by selling insurance ("Insurance Sales Techniques"). But ultimately he may have been the one who hired Ael to produce a clone army for him from a secret base on Mitos 15. Around the same time an underground rebellion, R.A.L.P.H. began promising to crush the clone threat. R.A.L.P.H. had successfully sabotaged at least twelve of his laboratories over a one month period.