PROJECT skins: What is the connection?

We've got a bunch of awesome new PROJECT skins coming out next month, which I'm super stoked about, and it got me thinking about whether there are any connections between the different champions who have these skins, and lore-wise, why they might have been selected to become PROJECT (other than obviously Riot just wanting to give them cool new skins), and for that matter, what is the mysterious group or organization that seems to have selected these particular champions for "upgrading" or "enhancement" or whatever you want to call it.

List of characters, for reference: Yasuo (the first). Master of sword and wind technique, essentially a ronin and wanderer. Origins in Ionia. Master Yi, the most expensive skin, and if you look at him, the most upgraded of them all, who seems to be completely machine at this point, rather than still a person within some kind of upgraded suit or with mechanical augmentations. Also a sword master, of the Wuju persuasion. Hails from Ionia. Fiora, another master swordsman and duelist, possibly the greatest in the land (and this is speaking lore-wise, not considering gameplay balance at all). Lives in Demacia. Longs for a worthy opponent, and to restore honor to her family's name. Leona, maybe not necessarily a sword master, but wields a sword and is a defender and protector from Targon. Represents the sun and wields the power of its light to vanquish her foes. Lucian, doesn't use a sword. Is an expert gunslinger and marksman, very quick and agile. Fights to purge evil from the world and maybe one day free his beloved Senna's soul from Thresh's captivity. And Zed, a ninja, hated by Yasuo for being one, though they don't have a direct rivalry. Doesn't use a sword but is a master of other types of deadly blades and shadow techniques.

Anyone see any connection these might have to each other, or reason they might have been selected for the PROJECT? What exactly IS this PROJECT? Who is funding it, running it, and building military robots to attempt to keep the PROJECT subjects from escaping (and failing miserably at that)? Anybody recognize the glowing neon emblem behind Fiora in her PROJECT splash? What sorts of hellish tests might Yasuo, Fiora, Master Yi, Leona, Lucian, and Zed have been put through to enhance their abilities and make them more powerful? Are they even human anymore, or just highly sophisticated android facsimiles of their former selves? Or am I looking at this all wrong, and they're not ESCAPING from a top-secret facility, but actually INFILTRATING one, and were given enhancements for the sole purpose of this mission? Possibly most important of all, why do all the PROJECT champions (with visible hair) have SILVER hair?? Let's get those theories going, lore junkies!