Human

Humans are the dominant species in the Galaxy so far. They are as diverse as can be, with many genetically modified off-shoots.

Baseline Vat-Grown Baselines
Non-Baseline Humans Oxokumi

Baseline Humans

• Regular, default humans. They live long, healthy lives thanks to gene therapy and a concerted effort to eradicate genetic diseases. Most humans live an average of 100 years, although due to time dilation effects of space travel, several humans have lived chronologically for over 120+ years.
• Many humans have undergone cosmetic augmentation, both genetic and mechanical. While there are some who oppose this (mostly fringe extremists), by-and-large, humanity sees no difference between a non-augmented human, and a human with small genetic modifications.
• Large-scale human modification is both restrictive and rare. Only a few planets allow widespread genetic tampering, and most of them lie outside of Sol space. Sol does not permit those who have heavily tampered with their genetic code which leads to a largely baseline Defence Force.

Baseline Human is a catch-all term for non-modified humans, humans with no significant genetic alteration. All humans live long, healthy lives thanks to a concerted effort in the mid-21st century to eradicate genetic disease. Gene therapy is commonplace throughout human space. It is responsible largely for the extension in an average humans lifespan, with many not even considering it abnormal.
Those with cosmetic modifications are still technically considered baseline humans, no matter how unusual. However any human with a non-standard internal biology is not considered a baseline.

Vat-Grown Humans

• Vat-Grown Humans are still baseline humans. They have very few genetic differences, but are considered paler than normal humans.
• Vat-Growns cannot be grown to adulthood. It is both illegal and impossible to 'flashgrow' a human. Attempting to do so results in severe mental and physical trauma as well as certain death for the subject. All changes to the human genome are done to the embryo, which is grown to childbirth. The only difference between regular humans and Vat-Growns is that they are created in an artificial womb.
• As such, Vat-Grown Humans were developed as a means to create 'designer babies', and to provide children to those unable to do so. The concept of a mass-produced human workforce is extremely controversial and considered morally unacceptable within Sol.

Vat-Grown Humans are also still baseline humans. They are an extremely common sight across human space, making up a large part of human make-up. Historically, the concept of 'test-tube babies' goes back to the mid 20th century, and the science of in vitro childbirth continued to develop alongside human medical science. Many children were born, of two human parents, in a vat well into the 2100s and beyond. Similarly, the modification of humans to better suit off-world environments was a practice encouraged by many of the early spacer pioneers.
The science of 'mass cloning' however, is a much recent development. In the late 21st Century, the various Earth governments enacted harsh genetic testing laws against the production of adult humans when it became clear that such a thing was impossible. These laws continued to remain in place under the successive government, the United Nations of Sol-Aligned Systems. In the 2260s, pioneered by research conducted on planets outside of Sol, such as Lorriman and Gilgameshi research labs, allowed for the first genetically specific children to be born, with selected genetic traits highlighted. These children would become the first of many 'Batches'. While impossible to grow adults, it is possible to mass produce embryos, grow and selectively cultivate its DNA, and then raise the child to adulthood naturally. This is an extremely long process, with the oldest of these batch children being in their late 40s. With news of their success entering Sol, Corporations subsequently petitioned for the relaxation of harsh genetic testing laws, with the first Sol-born GM Vat-Growns being made en-mass in the mid 2270s. By the 2280s, the practice of designer children was introduce to the SCG, where it has become common practice amongst the elites of Luna, though the concept has been decryed as simply a form of futurist eugenics, by many critics.
Vat-Growns suffer serious mental and physical defects if grown to adulthood, and as such have traditionally been a means of providing children to those unable. The majority are largely unchanged from baseline human genetic structures, however corporate 'batches', specifically produced with defining genetic traits, are becoming a much more common sight within Sol space. With recent advances in cloning technology, the idea of a gene-modified mass produced human has become a public issue, one that could potentially outproduce natural human birthrates, something every populist in the galaxy is happy to run with. Many corporations operate in an ethically grey field, with only the most powerful of trans-stellar corporations able to withstand the public pressure against the practice. This often has the unintended side effect of pushing smaller, but compassionate companies either into bankrupcy, or into the uncharted lawless regions of space to continue their work.
Outside of Sol Space, such as in the GCC, Vat-Grown technology has started to influence much of modern life. Corporations in the GCC are permitted to grow large numbers of vat-growns for labor, a practice decried as slavery by parts of the SCG. The GCC Propaganda machine continues to infer that the SCG are behind the large-scale 'vat-flight' occuring in places with limited workplace safety laws. Similarly, stories exist of vat-growns being produced in uncharted space, but no such confirmed reports exist.

Designer Babies

• Designer Babies were first created in the 2170s when it was clear the rich and powerful of Sol would pay to ensure their children fitted their desires.
• Since its inception, the concept has now become available to the middle-class, who can now pick potential genetic traits from a catalogue.
• Designer Babies have become an issue of member states rights. While the federal Sol government does not ban this concept, many member states certainly do.
• They are most common on worlds with a wealthy or 'trendy' populace, such as Ceti Epsilon, Lordania, and Luna.

A concept first pioneered in the late 2270s, it became very clear that the rich and powerful of Sol would pay good money to ensure their future progeny was of 'strong genetic stock'. This trend continued down into the wealthy social class, who latched onto the concept of a designer baby with almost inhuman appeal. This concept is banned on many worlds outside the core, but anywhere the rich and influential live, their children were likely designed down to their eye colour.

Corporate Vat-Growns (CVGs)

• A rare, but increasingly common sight in human space. The mass production of humans is a real and ethically grey industry.
• Slavery, indentured servitude, and unfair practices are all illegal in Sol space. However, prior to around 2298, there existed a massive labour shortage on Sol colony worlds. Sol had expanded too quickly, and needed a population to match.
• In the early 70s, Sol signed many contracts with legitimate corporations to provide a large number of people to populate these colonies. Unfortunately, they turned 20, and reached legal working age, around the start of the Gaia Conflict.
• Restrictive laws mandate that all grown children must be cared for, educated, and held to extremely strict child safety standards. They are monitored for much of their life, and typically afforded many luxuries not given to poorer families. Many of these children are often 'adopted' by families, who provide a stable and healthy life in exchange for cash and corporate interference in the child's life.
• Some CVGs are given singular names or identifiers, such as ID-John, BQ1-Bob or Thomas-582. However, those adopted by families tend to adopt the family's surname, though their singular identifier can be used interchangeably.
• CVGs are present wherever corporations hold influence, and are largely seen staffing Sol installations due to the abundance of CVGs raised around 20 years ago.
• With the practice being seen as a modern-day slavery by numerous critics, several Sol Members have declared their intent to bring a vote to ban CVGs at the next Assembly session.

With cloning on the forefront of human scientific advancement, cheap mass production of bodies is a very real and rather ethically grey industry. Although slavery, indentured servitude and flash-cloning are all illegal in SCG space, there still exists a margin for those legitimate corporations able to take up contracts for growing and raising vat-grown humans to populate new colonies or installations.
Most Corporate Vat-Growns are given a singular name and identifier, or other form of mononym,
There is a sizable number of CVGs on planets such as Luna, Mars, Ceti Epsilon, Lordania, and Venus. Many corporations have sprung up in Sol space, specifically focused on the production of corporate batches, many of which have work contracts with Sol governments.
This practice has been compared to a modern-day slavery by numerous critics, but remains in place by both Sol and Terra. The Confederate Systems of Lordania is the only interplanetary government that has banned both DBs and CVGs.

Non-Baseline Humans

Non-Baseline Human is a catchall term for the countless modified humans that exist across the cosmos. They are united by their non-standard human biology, which sets them apart from regular non-baseline humans. The most common of these non-baselines are the Gravity-Adapts, and the Space-Adapts, which came about as a result of space colonisation. Those that undertake self-modification are given the name Boosters, though many do not identify as this label, such as the Vissite, who consider themselves transhuman. Some planets have banned self-use genetic modification, leaving it in the hands of corporations and governments, many of whom have sought to commercialise the trend, offering cosmetic cat ears at a low price. While many decry the corporate influence in self-modification, their operations are usually much, much safer than the backstreet clinics.
Altering a living human at the genetic level is an extremely difficult task, requiring therapy and extensive medical care, though like all advances in science and technology, it is becoming easier and easier with every year. As such, a subculture has developed in planets with tolerant laws as well as in interstellar space. This subculture, known as the 'Boosters', pride themselves on self-modification, undergoing cosmetic and biological gene alterations. This process is often one-way, and as such, many planets, especially those with conservative leadership have banned genetic cosmetic surgery. This has not stopped a large number of 'backstreet gene clinics' operating away from the eyes of the government. While stories of horrific accidents have dissuaded many, an equal amount have undergone procedures.
On planets such as Venus, the rich corporate booster is becoming a common sight, with the Venusian yuppies promoting the corporate modification and slowly beginning to normalise it throughout Sol space, though many conservatives frown upon it. It is important to emphasise that this is not one movement, with many booster subcultures opposing corporations, and others accepting them.
There are three main types of Booster; the Tritonians, a name given to the various aquatic-modified boosters, initially a concept designed to colonise ocean worlds, it was soon phased out in favour of better habitat building, however the subculture continues to this day outside of government involvement; the Transhumanists, the various boosters with non-specific mods specifically for adaption to the environment or an improvement of human biology; and the Cosmetics, Boosters with cosmetic augmentation such as animal traits for the purpose of beauty and identity.
Boosters are spread across the galaxy, and are a common sight in human space. They have become much more prevalent after the restriction of the genetic testing laws in the late 60s that contributed to the advancement in vat-grown technology. As the ability to mass-produce adult humans is impossible, genetic testing had to be done on consenting humans, many of whom became the first new non-baseline adaptation since the early colonial era. Despite the risks involved, most of these first boosters are alive and well in the modern day, though often without the distinct cosmetic changes that denote modern boosters.

Boosters

• Refers to people of non-standard biology. Cosmetic traits alone do not make someone a booster. Tritonians, Grav-Adapts, and Space-Adapts are all considered a type of booster, although other non-specific types exist.

Grav-Adapted Humans

• Grav-Adapts were created to withstand pressures many times greater than Earth's atmosphere. Because of this, they are rarely seen in space or on ordinary terrestrial worlds.
• Modern Grav-Adapts are the descendants of their modified parents. The genetic changes for grav-adapts are passed on from parent to child, unless one parent is a baseline human, which will lead to a baseline child.
• They are heavier and stronger than baseline humans, have thick radiation-resistant skin, and dense bones. They suffer in zero-g with significant pains due to their size. They are able to tolerate regular 1g, but it is not pleasant for long (12+ hour) durations.
• They are a highly insular group of people who form communities in locations that baselines may find unsuitable, such as Emerson in the Barnard system, Eos in the Helios system, and many habitats in the upper atmospheres of gas giants. There is even a population of grav-adapts living at the bottom of the Earth's pacific ocean.
• They have large, close knit families that are often spread out across human space. They are more common in Terran space than Sol space, and make up a bulk of the Gilgameshi non-baseline population.

Grav-Adapted Humans, specifically designed to withstand pressures, are a rare sight in Sol space. Due to Grav-Adapts preferring a higher pressure and gravity than on Earth, many baseline humans have never seen a grav-adapt, except in deep space. Heavier and stronger than a baseline human, gravity-adapted people have thick radiation-resistant skin with a high lead content, denser bones, and recessed eyes beneath a prominent brow in order to shield them from the glare of a dangerously bright, alien sun. This comes at the cost of mobility, flexibility, and increased oxygen requirements to support their robust metabolism. As such, they have become a highly insular group of people, coming together to form communities in places such as the atmospheres of Gas Giants, underwater/underground habitats, and other locations that baseline humans would be unsuited for.
Originally designed to colonise Near-Sol systems with planets unsuitable to regular humans, they are the dominant population in Barnard's Star, the planet Eos in the Helios system, and many other harsh worlds. There is also a sizable population of grav-adapts living at the bottom of the ocean on Mars, many of whom settled on the planet prior to terraforming and stubbornly refused to move as the sea level rose. Many are close knit within their families, even if that family is spread out across space. They are typically more common in GCC space, and make up a bulk of the Terran non-baseline populace. Despite the GCC's known anti-xeno stance, it is considered to be more tolerant of Human variants than Sol. With Terra's focus on a dominant Terran 'megaculture' irregardless of one's baseline status, Sol's openness and tolerance of the many different cultures and beliefs has allowed a sense of speciesism to persist. This is known as Sol's intolerable tolerance, and is a source of contention between many member states.
Modern Grav-Adapts are the descendants of the original modified humans, as the procedures required to change a natural human is extremely traumatic and only performed in specific circumstances. The change is passed on from parent to child, except in the case of having a baseline parent, in which case the child is born a normal child. In this case, many families choose to conceive their child via vat-grown technology to ensure healthy genetics.

Space-Adapted Humans

• Space-Adapts are designed for life in zero, or near zero-g conditions. They are the most expansive kind of human, and exist in the billions off-worlds.
• The majority of space-adapts in Sol come from orbital habitats such as Sobdet, in the Sirius system.
• Originally they were the unintended consequence of childbirth in space. Genetic Engineering has mitigated most immediate dangers of zero g birth, and now space-adapts live long and healthy lives.
• They are typically tall, think, and have near translucent skin. In regular human gravity, they are seen as slightly frail and stumbly. In lower Gs, they are some of the most acrobatic and capably athletic people in space.
• They are resistant to asphyxiation and toxins, but suffer from weak bones and a vulnerability to bright lights.

Space-Adapted Humans are a type of non-baseline human designed for life in zero-g conditions. Originally the unintended consequence of child development in space, modern day genetic engineering has mitigated the immediate dangers, and now most space-adapted humans live long, healthy lives. Typically tall and thin, with almost pale, translucent skin, they are often mistaken for sickly and frail. In regular human gravity, this is definitely the case, but in lower Gs, they are extremely capable and athletic, able to outperform any other human sub-type in Zero G. As such, they're quite resistant to asphyxiation as well as toxins, but they suffer from weakened bone structure and a marked vulnerability to bright lights.

The Space-Adapts of the modern day are the descendent of the originally modified humans, and are expected to exist in the billions, with most living off-world in places it is hard to conduct a formal census. They have suffered discrimination by baseline humans as a result of their somewhat strange modifications. The largest concentration of space-adapts in Sol space is on the orbital habit, Sopdet, in the Sirius system. The rest are spread out across the cosmos, carving a home anywhere they can, both in and out of Sol.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The human anatomy remains the same as it has for eternity, with augmentation, both genetic and mechanical, still following the traditional forms of human biology.  

Human tolerance of augmentation depends on culture, with some groups of human being pro-transhumanism, and some being against.  They are extremely varied in their beliefs, but tend to follow the crowd, with planetary cultures often falling in line with the majority view.

Genetic Descendants

• Oxokumi

Scientific Name

Homo Sapiens

Lifespan

120-150 Years (Core Worlds), 90-110 (Frontier Worlds)

Related Organizations

• Brae Commonwealth
• Fregherikan Democratic Republic
• Oxokulumab Federation
• Vaikuntha Commune