Vessels

From Gothpoodle

Revision as of 19:38, 20 July 2012

Vessels

Human

• Baseline Human: Common in Third Wave and not uncommon in Fourth Wave nations. In Fifth Wave nations, “baselines” are usually either immigrants from poorer countries or elderly.
  • Complication: Floater (2028): Baseline humans raised in zero-G or microgravity who lacked compensatory genemods. Most grew up in poorer orbital or L5 communities. They can also represent early Duncanites. They tend to be tall and fragile and suffer in normal gravity.
• Genefixed Human: At a minimum, most parents screen unborn children for any genetic “flaws” and, if they exist, have them fixed. A genefixed human is someone who has gone through this screening, even if no gengineering was needed.
  • First-Generation (2020): Screened for genetic defects.
  • Second-Generation (2035): Screened for physical features which would cause someone to be considered unattractive.
  • Third-Generation (2050): Screened for mental instability.

Human Genetic-Upgrade

Genetic upgrades are the product of eugenic genetic engineering. A genetic upgrade is completely human, but his genes were selected to emphasize particular traits. Couples usually donate their own eggs and sperm, which are tweaked by the gengineers and fertilized in vitro. Single, infertile, or gay parents can clone themselves or acquire needed eggs or sperm from gene banks. A child’s sex can be specified or left to chance. Once the upgraded, fertilized egg is ready, it can be implanted into a mother’s womb or raised in an exowomb. Two people sharing the same upgrade sequence are not twins: their gene donors determine unspecified traits such as facial structure and hair, eye, and skin color. However, the process is delicate enough that if upgrades of different types mate with normal humans or each other, they’ll probably end up with a baseline human child.

• Alpha Upgrade (2050): The Alpha was the first commercially successful genetic upgrade certified to be error-free. It has been widely licensed and pirated. Careful eugeneering ensures an attractive, athletic, healthy individual. There are 40 million living Alphas.
  • Olympian (2065): The second-generation Alpha possesses metabolic and glandular modifications to burn off excess fat and optimize crisis response.
• Ishtar Upgrade (2064): General-purpose upgrades such as the Alpha are common, but more specific packages are designed for parents who want particular types of offspring. The Ishtar gene sequence is one example, created to produce children optimized for professions such as dancer, gymnast, pop star, or model. Biotech Euphrates eugeneers selected a light, elfin build and a facial bone structure to produce distinctive but attractive looks. An extra feature was an augmented liver. In a controversial move, Biotech Euphrates modified the Ishtar neurochemistry with gene sequences thought to enhance ego and competitiveness. Some believe that they went a bit too far . . . There are 150,000 Ishtars alive.
  • Siduri (2079): A second-generation Ishtar that increases lifespan and reduces the ego issues.
• Metanoia-Series Upgrade (2065): Genetically enhanced intelligence remains controversial, due to the subtlety of gengineering required and the difficulty of measuring results. Radical attempts at redesigning the brain often result in insanity. More modest successes have been achieved: GenTech Pacifica’s Metanoia made careful use of gene sequences known to correlate with enhanced memory and concentration, and “Metas” now consistently score 10-20 points higher than baseline humans on the ASIT. The upgrade is increasingly popular, with 1.3 million alive today.

Parahumans

Parahumans are products of species gengineering, and incorporate nonhuman DNA sequences.

• Aquamorph (2075): GenTech Pacifica’s Aquamorph is one of the more visible econiche parahumans. Aquamorphs store oxygen in the myoglobin of their muscles, much like cetaceans. Thousands live on Earth, many near the Elandra sea habitat.
• Tennin (2058): Duncanite gengineering optimized the Tennin metabolism for life in zero-G and microgravity environments without bone and muscle wasting. Now Tennin make up a majority of the Duncanite population. They tend to be tall and thin, with good looks and unusually long toes usable as grasping fingers. There are about 160,000 Tennin. Avatar licenses the genes; many non-Duncanite spacers pick it for their children.
• Wu Tsao (2084): Gengineered by the Wimmin’s Pantropic Collective of Margaret Station, these parahumans are a fusion of Tennin and Metanoia. They are exclusively lesbian females who can give birth to clones of themselves.
• Yousheng (2068): Xiao Chu created this pantropic parahuman design for Mars settlement. They’re similar to an Alpha-series upgrade, but have modified lungs and biochemistry for surviving on the surface with minimal protection, as well as radical hormonal and reproductive cell genemods. The latter reflect Rust China’s desire to increase its population, but have also led to accusations that Xiao Chu is “turning humans into bioroids.” Rust China offers economic subsidies to colonists who choose to have Yousheng children.
  • Viking (2080): Since 2080, Colonial Genetics has offered a licensed version without the hormonal and reproductive modifications.
• Ziusudra (2073): This Biotech Euphrates “ideal” parahuman is designed for high intelligence and lengthened lifespan. The Ziusudra looks fully human. Its many transgenic genemods include a redesigned heart, arteries, spleen, and gastrointestinal tract, plus alterations to cellular repair systems to aid longevity. Currently, 11 million exist. There are many licensed or reverse-engineered variations.
  • Nyx (2084): Genehackers Inc. reverse-engineered the Ziusudra and made radical modifications to sleep-regulating structures in the brain, but seem to have compromised some of the parent design’s attributes. They need less sleep but don't have the increased lifespan.

Bioroids

Bioroids are living beings created fully formed through biogenesis.

• Incubus (2084): A pleasure bioroid based on a discontinued Biotech Euphrates design. Polykeratin tissue and hormonal nanofactories let the Incubus switch its apparent and functional gender, or be both at once. It boasts exceptional voluntary control of certain muscles and responses to heighten its partner’s experience.
• Sea Shepherd (2080): This GenTech bioroid is a skinnier and more streamlined version of the Aquamorph parahumans with sharp teeth.
• ZR-3 (2070): An early Xiao Chu Mars-operation bioroid, used both as workers and soldiers
• ZR-5 (2075): These Xiao Chu space-operations bioroids have light-gray skin, blue hair, and small suckers (derived from tree-frog genetics) on their fingers and toes.
• ZR-7 Tianyi (2072): The ZR-7 Tianyi is a popular “social interface” bioroid biofactured by Xiao Chu, often employed in jobs such as butler, front-desk secretary, flight attendant, host/hostess, etc. Since the 2080s, the Martian Triads and other syndicates have sold illegal knockoffs of the Tianyi as pleasure bioroids – Tianyi look like fashion models.