Age of Superpowers

A period of time during which the Earth was divided among several colonial powers. The population of Earth was divided between the Idealist ruling class and the Mehum worker class. Mehums came from the vassal countries dominated by the superpowers, and were denied citizenship unless they performed military service.

## Genetic Engineering and the Rise and Fall of the Age

*From the forums:*

It can be said that the Age of Superpowers was fueled by biotechnology. Synthetic lifeforms were engineered to act as laborers and soldiers. By the end of the war the first fully organic mecha were being produced. The human race itself was divided into castes based on the level and type of genetic engineering people had.

People who had received genetic augmentation were known as Idealists. Although most of the superpowers were nominal democracies, the self-perpetuating nature of wealth and genetic advantage allowed the Idealists to maintain their position as the de facto aristocracy.

Outwardly, Idealists looked like regular human beings. They tended to be taller and more attractive than normal. They were far stronger, faster, and smarter than unmodified humans. It should be noted that Idealism refers to the cultural phenomenon, and does not imply a specific set of genetic modifications. Among Idealists there were many different social ranks, largely based on family reputation and quality of genetic augmentation. Huge sums of money were spent by families to upgrade their children; technology advanced so quickly that parents could not expect their children to keep the same social status as they had unless their genemods were far superior.

A number of genetic modifications used by Idealists provided special abilities that normal humans don't have, such as night vision, photographic memory, and instant mental calculation. Other modifications were purely cosmetic. The eye color currently known as Idealist Green may have been a purely cosmetic mod, or it may have served as a type of identification. Idealist Green eyes normally appear green, but under ultraviolet light they fluoresce purple.

Many of the genetic modifications used by Idealists carried a heavy price. Most Idealists had to eat a special diet or take certain drugs over the course of their lives in order to keep their modifications in check. Failure to do so could result in the regression of their abilities, insanity, disability, and even death.

Unmodified humans were referred to as Mehums\*. This group also included people whose genetic modifications were considered obsolete, as well as the illegitimate children of Idealists. Certain genetic modifications used by the Idealists contained a sort of copy protection, so their traits would not be properly expressed in a child that was conceived naturally.

Many Mehums hoped to upgrade their children so they could join the ranks of the Idealists. Some families saved money for years so a single child could be upgraded. In certain superpowers, a different route was available- one child could be conceived as an idealist in exchange for another child first being conceived as a Morg.

Like Idealist, Morg refers to social class moreso than any specific genetic modification. Morgs are genetically augmented human beings, but unlike the Idealists they occupy the lowest rung in society. Many different types of Morg were created. Some were engineered to serve as military commanders or soldiers alongside bioweapons. Others were created as servants and assistants to Idealists; these Morgs would typically be given a submissiveness gene. Intelligence-enhanced yet compliant and unambitious Morg scientists would be used in weapons research. In general, Morgs were incapable of having children of their own.

After the Night of Fire, the routine use of genetic engineering came to an abrupt halt. Many Idealists died or went insane in the aftermath, as the pills and medical support they needed to maintain their genemods were no longer available. The existence of Idealists as a ruling class had ended.

Today, many people have some genetic modification in their heritage. In addition to engineered genes passed down from Idealist and Morg ancestors, there are also cases of transgenetic pollution and radioactive mutation. It's not known whether certain traits - such as the cat form mutation that Meivus has - were originally Idealist modifications, Morg modifications, or examples of transgenetic pollution. Certain genetic modifications continue to exist as "sleeper traits" - they only express themselves if paired with another modification located on a separate chromosome.

That's a basic overview of genetic modification among humans. Some time later I can talk about synths and other biotechnology.

* A term I stole from Robert Anton Wilson, though he may have taken it from somewhere himself.