Transhumans

Transhumans are former humans who have been given genetic updates and overhauls with Synthetic DNA and improvements to make them no longer human.

## History

#### Concept

The concept was simple; *if we can make synthetic organisms, can we not improve ourselves in the same way.*

### Creation

Initially, Amelia Samodiva tested the process of transhumanism on herself, using the preternatural daughter she made: Roux, to trial its effectiveness, first starting small by '*upgrading*' her immune system, then moving on to other things like '*upgrading*' the cells of her heart to be more effective.

Due to the ethics of creating a Synthetic Human, Samodiva had to be clever and cunning about how they were made. She recruited several of her most trusted friends within Atlas and Aura to help with creating other prototypes for testing out the viability of the Preternatural genome by mixing in a lot of other Synth genomes to reduce the 'human' base they had used.

With this, they tested out their new concoctions upon primates first, before gaining support from Guy Daniels to test upon humans. The subjects used in the first tests were all life sentence criminals from across the world. Samodiva being keen to make sure that the Transhuman process could work upon a wide range of human genetics effectively without killing the person depending on what other conditions they had.

There were a lot of hiccups, and although many countries were more than happy to get rid of prisoners who would be spending a long time within their jails, it did draw attention, and so Samodiva and her team had to make sure that they were perfecting their work enough that they could return the survivors to prison without much disruption. Many didn't make it however. The initial success rate was only at 17%.

After extensive testing from Samodiva, made a break through and officially began testing upon a small number of willing participants using the first standardised DRACO and VIRGO bases to trial. Success rates leapt to 85%

By year O, Preternatural Transhumanism had become perfected and Samodiva moved on to other synth species to test, with Canids and Pards becoming safe for use, several years after.

### Process

The process varies with what synth the person is becoming. Sometimes it can be as simple as falling asleep into a coma and waking up changed, other times it can be chronically painful and even lethal as essentially what is happening is a viral infection taking hold of the body.

As it is a virus created by Atlas, it is very strictly controlled as there is a great fear of Hasekura from gaining access to it and potentially infecting the human population with it. It is non-transmittable but that wouldn't stop Hasekura from trying to alter it to be such, and if they did so it could potentially be highly destructive to all organic lifeforms.

In most cases, memories are lost.

## Becoming Transhuman

#### Willing Participants

Willing Participants are offered the chance to become Preternaturals, Canids, and Pards, as they are three current options that have the fewest dangers to them.

Many of these willing participants are usually military personnel or scientists, and are given the 'safe' versions which have been thoroughly tested. Often retired Preternatural Origins are used as they are the most studied and the safest when it comes to updates and changes that have been made. DRACO, VIRGO, GEMINI, LEO, ORION, and LYRA are the most common bases used.

The newer Origin bases are currently being tested.

#### Unwilling Participants

These people usually are those who are not given a choice or who are coerced into it. The methods of coercion can range from being told that they're taking part in a clinical trial for money, blackmail, extortion, and even kidnapping.

Some less savoury Atlas Bunkers have worked with governments wanting to reduce the number of prisoners or refugees and migrants, or homeless people and so often kidnap people from these populations to test the newer versions of transhumanism viruses on.

## Biology

### Genetics

Transhuman Preters get these extra chromosomes added into their genetic makeup after a virus first destroys as much of their original human DNA as possible and hijacks the cells to recombine what is left over to make them Transhuman.

### Internal Biology

Most transhumans are Preternaturals, and are given a huge 'upgrade' from their human biology with much of the synthetic genetics overriding and correcting issues that come from being human. This includes:

* Gene changes
* Advanced immune system, making them immune to all major viruses and diseases such as flu, colds, cancers, and neurodegenerative issues.
* No allergies or intolerances
* accelerated healing
* increased bone density
* improved senses
* Organ function changes or enhancements; liver regeneration is amplified, other organs will also regenerate themselves if they have suffered damage.

### Physical Abilities

As with any synth, the abilities of transhumans, varies with what they have been made to be.

There are issues with inserting talents such as muser abilities or telkens into transhumans, as it can cause major damage to their brains if added in at the wrong point of time. When this window is, is still being narrowed down.

## Non-Preternatural Transhumans

This is still a developing technology, utilizing different methods to acquire different results.

To grow the additional limbs for these transhumans, it takes between 6 months to 2 years. Some limbs start off in a similar way to the bones of babies where they are very soft and semi-flexible before hardening up over the years as they grow. Tails are the easiest to develop as they can begin as cartilaginous attachments however it takes a while for the nervous system to develop and for the new owner to gain control. Other developments such as eye and hearing enhancements, claws, integumentary structures are often faster than additional limbs.

Wings for both Chiros and Avios take the longest time to develop and often have to be grown separately, or if a donor is available, stripped of all the original DNA so that the new owner's DNA can be added in much like an organ transplant, and then have to be surgically attached later. Lots of complications arrose intially with the development of this.

So far the optimal age range for transhumans is between 16 and 25 years old, however as ARCDA has a public ban on transhumans in minors, younger transhumans who are below the age of 16 are often the result of underhanded deals or illegal testing.

#### Canids

Transhuman Canids are much more human in appearance than ordinary Canids, however depending on what they have been redesigned as, it can lead to some interesting features and side effects such as strange ear shapes, additional fur or whiskers, dew claws replacing thumbs, excessive teeth growth, and hyper salivation.

#### Pards

Unlike Canids, Pard-Transhumans are surprisingly a lot more stable and more refined in their appearances once the process is complete.

#### Avios and Chiros

This is the Transhuman process with the most risk to it, with the majority of cases not surviving or becoming 'reset' with the amount of neurological changes happening to them which can cause extreme memory loss and other issues. Chiros are safer to produce than Avios however the time it takes to grow all the bones for the wings is longer as well as developing the membrane.

#### Rattan

Surprisingly, Rattan-Transhumans are easy to produce, and are used in developing new growing limbs or features. Tail tests were very effective with Rattan.

#### Primates

The easiest Transhuman to produce aside from Preternaturals.

## Transhuman Characters

* Amell Rakena - Avio
* Beth Lovelace - Avio
* Kathy Grey - Avio

*Minor Characters*

* Teal - Avio
* Fury - Preternatural

## See More

* Amell Rakena
* Beth Lovelace
* Synths
* ARCDA

## Trivia

* A lot of doctors in Atlas are Transhumans.
* Due to the dubious ethics surrounding becoming Transhuman, a lot of the initial testing was kept secret.

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