Lucas was a former member of the Richards' team conducting research on the Fallow Trees on the island of Metavira, and one of Jack Richards' most trusted assistants. When the healing properties of the Fallow Sap were discovered, he convinced Jack to let him set up his own lab on the opposite end of the island, claiming research would progress faster. Once established, he betrayed the Richards, killing the rest of the research team, destroying Brenda Richards' lab, and seizing control of Metavira and very nearly every Fallow Tree growing on the island, and began processing the sap himself, taking advantage of the sap's rarity to make a profit for himself.