Terra Nova

**Terra Nova** is the name of a human colony founded in 2071 by a group of scientists who wanted to create a perfect society. They believed that humanity had been corrupted by the years of radiation poisoning after World War III, and sought to eliminate genetic information that was 'inferior' to them. For over two centuries, the planet was ruled by a technocratic elite, and societal position was determined by one's genetic lineage and inheritance. Crimes were punished in various unique ways, including genetic alterations to increase the feeling of pain, removing senses, or even changing gender if convicted of rape. The technocratic regime finally fell in the 2260s upon intervention of the USS Enterprise under command of Captain Kirk.

## History

When humanity found that there was life in the stars, a group of intellectually-minded humans who believed in genetic engineering, despite the horrors of the Eugenics War (what some called World War III), as a means to perfect humanity. A number of scientists and intellectuals licensed four ships with continuum distortion propulsion drives and took a number of willing and desperate settlers on a trip to what they termed 'Terra Nova' to colonize and perfect humanity.

Headed by Eugene Cumberbatch from London, Heinrich Messer from Berlin, and William Taggert from Texas, the scientists canvased Earth and used their considerable wealth to acquire gamete donations from men and women based on intellect, beauty, math ability, intuition, and other desirable traits, and using the technology the Vulcans had given Earth, began calculating the best matches, and producing embryos to take with them to the new planet. The trio then recruited a number of men and women of like mind, as well as women who were willing to be surrogate parents to the 'improved' humans they wanted to create. The first round of children born on Terra Nova, born in 2074, were from the first run of selected embryos. Eighty children were born in 2074 on the planet.

The planet formed an appointed council and shut itself off from Earth, not wanting to 'pollute' their genetic improvements with inferior Earth genetics. Eugene, Heinrich, and William formed the triumvirate where two of three were enough to make most decisions for the colony, and a council would run the daily operations of the colony - construction, laws, money, and so on. The Triumvirate passed a regulation that any woman who had more than 5 children, her family would not pay any income tax on items bought for those children if at least 2 were surrogate children.

Families on Terra Nova were routinely large and the children became taller, fitter, more attractive, more athletic, and more intelligent. The colony was somewhat technocratic, with peoples' places in society determined by their genetics. Crime is low due to prevalent surveillance and the use of biometric measures for identity and accessing most buildings and vehicles. Having children became regulated such that to be married, two people had to submit their DNA to the colonial council to verify if it would produce useful offspring, with useful being attractive and intelligent.

Due to the original triumvirate, the large majority of people on Terra Nova have blonde hair, red hair, or light brown hair, and blue, green, gray, and to a lesser degree hazel eyes. Men are all over 5'8" tall, and women are all over 5'6" tall, and are all shapely. Both men and women have athletic physiques and women do not have large noses; the 'crone nose' was restricted via genetics and does not occur. The high degree of control of the society for the first two centuries led to a common look to people from Terra Nova that is still prevalent today.