We can easily admit that though science and technology are both science in the sense that they both depend on scientific principles (or vice versa if you're a Heideggerian), but the difference between gaining an accidental power from a science experiment and intentionally developing technology to acquire super powers seems enough of a difference in kind to justify a distinction.
Why? They are different
narratively but City of Heroes is supposed to leave the narrative of the character up to the player. Getting your powers because you are a scientist who is experimenting on yourself is certainly different from getting them because of an industrial accident, but that distinction is best left up to player bios to resolve.
When you say that powers from a science experiment and powers from a technological invention are different enough to justify a distinction, in what way do you want *the game* to honor that distinction. In what way do you want the game to make Science powers work differently from Tech powers such that
the player has no say in the matter. When you are Science origin, you can only use Science enhancements. You aren't allowed to use Tech enhancements (at least when we get to SOs). You have no say in the matter: that's how the game works. Fortunately, there's really no difference between Science SOs and Tech SOs, so its not a big deal.
But that's the point. Why make a distinction - Science Origin and Tech Origin - and then deliberately make sure there exists no actual in-game difference between the two. That's a worthless distinction. They could have just made a blank on your character bio called "origin" and you could have put anything in there you wanted. You could have put "alien transdimensional lifeforce transfer" and that would have been just as valid of an origin as "Tech."
You don't make a game option, tell the players to pick one, and then tell them it won't matter. That's stupid. You only make options if the options mean something. So: do you want Science and Technology to work differently in City of Heroes? Probably not. Some players probably didn't want anything to operate differently than anything else. They wanted origin to be just a free label they could stick on anything. For that matter, some players felt "Fire" should be just a label they could stick on anything they wanted to, and if they wanted a Fire attack that held instead of doing DoT, that should have been their option.
Let me know if any of them become game designers. In the meantime, real games are a balance between freedom and structure, and good games balance the two. Contrary to some people's belief, there is such a thing as too much freedom. When anything goes, the game has no structure, no rules, and nothing interesting can happen. Choices don't matter, because there are no choices. No matter what you do, you still get the same everything as everyone else. For some that's paradise. For most, including me, that's a disaster.
*If* they wanted Origins to really exist at all, the only reason for Origins to actually exist as a game mechanic is if different origins were going to work differently, have different rules, be able to do certain things and not do others. If you don't want that, toss Origins into the bit bucket and make it a free text form on the bio. But if you do want that, I don't think Science, Technology, and Mutation should work differently. They all work by the rules of what passes for science in your world. In fact, even calling them "Origin" is slightly misleading. Its not about how you acquired the powers. Its about the source of those powers themselves, the rules by which you can use them. Fire burns, bullets make holes in things. Mutations are a different way to acquire powers, but those powers will still (most likely) work on the basis of scientific principles. They will give you a biological healing factor. They will make your bones as hard as carbon fiber. They will increase your metabolism and your muscle strength. They will change you in ways you'd assume grant abilities in a scientifically (or pseudo-scientifically) extrapolatable way.
TL;DR version. Its the beginning of time, and we're making City of Heroes. I tell you we're going to make something called origins, and what the player chooses will be significant. Origin A will have features Origin B won't have, and vice versa. If you pick Origin A you'll be able to do things origin B can't do and vice versa. How many origins do you want? One? Ten? What should they be, given each one will work differently. Do you even want them at all?