The tinted-window SUV rolled down the dirty asphalt between warehouse buildings. The car door opened, and reporter Chris Lippard was deposited at a set of cement stairs leading to a bland pair of steel grey double doors on rusty hinges. It was all bland and ultimately forgettable. No numbers, letters, or other signs indicated this was the studio of revolutionary BioArtist Laurent Steif.

Of course, nothing this anonymous is accidental.

Lippard had undergone a lengthy background check and...