The Terragens

The tiny island which ruled a sea...
Terragen, a portmanteau of Terran Genetics, is the term typically used to denote the various offspring of Homo Sapiens Sapiens and the uplifts which came from Earth life, such as intelligent canids, simians and other "helper animals". However, in all technicality, humanity's tendency to "terraform" worlds and transplant their own crops and animals- in modified form, most often- extends Terragen to mean all Earth-derived life.

Earth is only a single planet in a vast sea of nothingness, and that it so impacted the galaxy is both remarkable in the near zeitgeist, and in line with common developments over hundreds of millennia. How it came to be will not be discussed here. Suffice to say that span of empire affects how greatly seeds from the imperial birth world disperse, and humanity was quite willing to modify itself.

Homo Sapiens Novus
Far and away the most common of the human subtypes, Homo Novus has all but replaced the old 21st century baseline. On the whole, Homo Novus is a little smarter, faster, more durable, and in general healthier. As creatures go, the Homo Novus is quite well adapted to settling a variety of planets, although atmospheric problems and chemical imbalances in local environs will still overcome natural adaptations without technological support.

Homo Novus does not differ very much from unaugmented humans of the early 21st century, and as a result their outlook is not overly changed. The vast masses still consume, still feel pain, and joy and love and fear and hate, and in general their culture reflects a blending of the myriad entities of Old Earth, from the heavily Asian- especially Chinese and Indian- cultures of some colonies to the German, French and British cultures prevalent in colonies like Gaia. In the Terran core, and in the scores of successor states cut loose by Operation Ragnarok, the identity of the average human is not to their ancient ethnicity first; instead, they view themselves as part of their state, with a strong ethnic and racial background supporting it. The legacy of Terra's social engineering attempts runs strongest in Homo Novus, which is still not far removed from the struggles of humanity when it occupied only a single planet.

Homo Sapiens Latinus
Otherwise known as 'Elves', the Latinus subtype began as a biological weapon attempt. The original concept had been to breed humans with pinpoint reflexes and supreme flexibility- the perfect snipers, pilots and scouts. Many of these traits, however, were coded into the genes of the test subjects, whose subsequent generations continued to be part of the test. Over a period of centuries, a subtype emerged with precisely the qualities the Directorate wanted; around 2251, the date at which the Askari War became a major fixture in humanity's affairs, Latinus pilots were at the forefront of battle and achieved many of the great maneuvers and coups celebrated in history. Their contributions to victory, and the Directorate's general permissiveness of culture offshoots, led to a flowering of internal identity.

Latinus is lithe, quick, and generally bellicose, being ever-willing to fight against external threats. Latinus is also preoccupied with a harmonious existence in its environment; this does not entail eschewing technology, but rather using technologies that blend with nature. The Blue Forest on Gaia is a prime example of this; the trees within form interlinking meshes of electrical and information transfer; the spaces between are almost orderly, like earthen streets, while the thick branches above can support the weight of naval pinnaces and self-repair with the help of both biological and mechanical nanomachinery. This strange outlook has driven home the 'Elf' name as much as their pointed, sharp ears.

Homo Sapiens Faber
It was inevitable once the pseudo-mythic subculture of Elves rose that Dwarves would rise with them. The many deep space miners, ensconced within their habs, came by their cultural affectations slightly more sarcastically than most. Avid consumers of recreational literature and simulations, the original "dwarf" miners were simply people who had taken on the same type of genetic experimentation programs as Homo Latinus, and who spent much of their time within high gravity mining worlds or deep space rocks. When they heard of the changing culture within the Directorate, many of them got together to form a counterculture out of pure amusement. Over time, the humorous edge dampened slightly, but Homo Faber isn't known for being overly serious; life in the shittier colonies Terra holds is rough and even brutal, and if you don't laugh, what hope do you have?

Homo Faber is squat and thick, their bodies designed for use on crushing gravities and the tight spaces of rocky mining habs. Faber is relatively strong and very durable, with muscles capable of taking far more strain than most anything. Though rarer in the 46th century- the style quickly became slightly modified Novus and mining machines- their communities are still held together by steadfast work and willingness to go where mining operations often will not, being perfectly well suited to very unfortunate local circumstances.

Uplifts
Uplifts are a strange case. When the Directorate began experiments in improving the Evocati further, part of that was transgenic modification. Because most Evocati augmentations are not burnt into the subject's genes, many of these had to be patterned over, and a series of creatures spawned from the testing, from the neo- animals, otherwise nonsapient creatures with improved cognition and physical abilities, to truly sapient entities of near-human or human intelligence, chiefly the great apes, certain canids and dolphins.

Uplifts are a very rare thing to see; humanity was not overly interested in populating its space with other sapient life forms, and for the most part Uplifts did not leave the Terran core worlds, although a few small colonies exist outside of Terra's bubble. Uplifts are considered a subject peoples, treated the same as a truly alien race with integrated status into the Directorate; they're afforded all the legal rights of a citizen, though socially their status differs from place to place, and their populations are not massive, often centering on worlds they were given for settlement.

To transcend state...
"'What is a human but a being of limited ability to adapt? The fastest evolution in humanity takes millennia to work. We came to the stars through machines; machines filtrate through our lives as surely as our own skin, which we have modified so thoroughly in many cases that we would be nearly angelic to our ancient cousins. Why not continue the trend?' -Unattributed Pamphlet disseminated within the comms nets of six Terran core stars."

"Transhumanism" isn't a term that the Terran Directorate likes bandied about, for in the philosophy and policy of the state, human is human and Terran is Terran. However, the fact remains that the Directorate's highly developed bio-augmetic and cybernetic technologies have opened up a host of new opportunities for a species previously bound to one functioning state.

Few worlds pose a serious problem to human settlers, who can receive transgenic augmentations to deal with increased radiation levels or thinner atmosphere, and indeed only the most extreme planets are a serious threat; alien diseases, monstrous entities and extreme biodiversity are challenges on lush worlds, while lack of the basic necessities for Earth life-- such as thin or no atmosphere, no water or scarce usable water, extreme toxic contamination such as from heavy metal saturation-- are the greatest challenge overall, being far and away the majority of planets encountered.

Two dichotomous examples can be drawn just from the Terran core systems, one of planet Gaia in Epsilon Eridani, and one of Teutoberg in the Tau Ceti system. Gaia is nearly perfect for Earth life, with so little modification necessary that the main problem was transplantation of Earth's crops and animals; most of the native life was edible, and the air was quite clear with a very slightly higher oxygen concentration. As a result Gaia is often considered the industrial and social hub of the Directorate, much as the Throneworld of Terra is the cultural seat and military juggernaut of the core systems.

Teutoberg, on the other hand, is a planet of extreme heavy metal saturation with compounding problems of presumed-artificial wildlife-- nearly all carnivorous-- and anomalous corrosive fogs which make settlement a constant battle of maintenance and culling. Most food is grown in orbit; only those with effectively reengineered-- and often largely mechanical-- bodies can really tolerate any of the local wildlife or food grown on local soil. Those who can effectively form an elite class, and contrary to the division endemic in most worlds, the less augmented masses aspire to their example. Teutoberg is a source of transhumanist influence, especially toward a mechanical transformation.

However, it would be unfair to imply there is a dichotomy between organic and cybernetic "transhuman" modifications: the Evocati are a prime example of entities which blend both methods seamlessly, to the point where it's unclear whether they are a majority machine or organic. As the worlds of the Directorate, and indeed all across Terragen-colonized space, differ so too do their views on modification of the body, from the use of herbal drugs in primitive bronze and iron age societies to the uploading of minds into mechanical frames, or the replacement of natural organs and limbs. As with many social forces, the drive toward modification is one reaching its flower in the Age of Rebirth.