After the Singularity event, the 22nd century saw unregulated Eugenics experiments running rampant. Scientists could tweak genes, modified the human form in any way they wanted. This rampant unregulated and at times unethical abuse of this new form of technology lead to the first Eugenics war. People were no longer people. Some added muscle mass, some grew appendages, what could be done was really limitless. That had a disastrous effect on society. Not everyone wanted to join in on this body reshaping free-for-all. Many liked being and wanted to stay being Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Unfortunately, some also wanted those who embraced this new technology to cease living. Thus, the Eugenics war exploded.

Of course, by the time the of this war, Humanity had spread out a bit from Earth and into the inner system. New Luna, which was able to remain mostly neutral during the War, was thriving as were other less developed colonies and spatial habitats. Though many of the colonies were neutral, the war did spread to those areas as well. Simply put, the colonies simply didn’t have a strong military in which to stave off incoming waves of the war machine of terrestrial earth. But, due to it’s isolation deep in the moon, New Luna was not an appealing target and was able to remain out of most of the conflict.  It’s interesting that the one place that was created in the hopes of preventing an all out Eugenics war became the safe haven for many fleeing the effects of it.

When the war started, there were several Neo’s that had grown in population. Several aquatic varieties, some avians, even some that had molded their bodies to better survive extra-terrestrial locations such as Mars and the deep caves of Mercury. It was, and is, really interesting how most Neo species choose to modify themselves along lines to allow them to live in a natural environment without the requirement of technology.  A fact about this time, most of those that had modified themselves were individuals. Meaning there weren’t any large amounts of Neo’s that were genetically the same and compared to today’s Sentient’s, most of the changes were cosmetic.

As the war churned on, countries fought each other for the right to control the technology. Some fought for the Neo’s that could not fight for themselves, claiming that they were, deep down, still humans. At times during the war countries split apart, sided with different nations, army’s often fought their own. It was truly a giant mess.

Most of the Neo’son Earth will killed. A large amount fled, with Cy’s and AI’s, to the outer system where they still live today. They had to alter themselves heavily to survive in those harsh environments but they did and do. When the war finally died down it left the inner system a mess of destroyed stations and broken space vessels. The Lunar and Martian surfaces were littered with bodies, burnt out vehicles, and countless other leftovers from the war.

One group of Neo’s that managed to survive, did so by hiding. When the war started a group of aquatically modified people went deep in the Earth’s oceans. They found the Mariana trench, altered themselves to survive the pressure while still keeping the ability to breath open air, and vanished beneath the ocean. They actually thrived beneath the sea. They had brought sea technology, mostly primitive organic based technology, with them and managed to improve upon it. They augmented the organic based computer and technology system. Literally grew homes, vessels to travel in, and even defenses to protect themselves against the war raging above. More importantly they were having offspring. They had not modified their genetic code in nearly 100 years, adopted as a requirement for Sentient status, and were now becoming their own species. As intelligent as Humans but distinctly different in every other way.

Eventually they were able to tap into radio broadcasts from the surface and they realize that the war was long over. The hatred of their kind had muted and there were those that were more accepting. They decided to reveal their colony, long unknown from everyone.

It was a sunny day in Florida, July 22nd 2245, when the first of them returned to the surface. They arrived in one of their grown sea ships. They were greeted with fascination, awe, in some cases even fear. Their coming to the surface, and their decision to rejoin Humanity, was a pivotal moment. They proved that an augmented, changed, group of humans could live, have children, those babies would share in their changed features and they would be a stable and viable species. Most of those on that first ship were children of the original’s that hid in the deep trench. Their existence paved the way for the Sentient Accords to be drafted and accepted by the ever changing community of Mankind and the people of Solar System. They were welcomed as hero’s by nearly every group in existence at the time. They were the first to be given full Sentient status. Theirs was the first new nation to be recognized beneath the sea and warmly welcomed to the UN. Innovations from their aquatic kingdom spawned a new age in sea and space exploration. Organic technology was taken to a new level. Their species name was decided on and agreed upon. Homo Sapiens Aquāticus had arrived. They had shown that change wasn’t evil. That humans could alter their genetic code and still be humans. They loved and died just like any other.

In the years since their re-emergance from the sea. The cities beneath the waves have grown and become major destinations for tourism and opened up vast areas of uncliamed land that would become nations and cities in their own time. Perhaps the most interesting of all, it was members of Aquaticus that first settled Europa. The cities there are magnificent and awe inspiring. I for one thank God that they surived the First Eugenics war, were hidden for the second, and re-joined Humanity. We are so much more richer for their presence.