Hybrids - A Study
Origins
The Third Great Expansion, starting in 4347csd, was a time of hardship for many of the new settlers. Most of the easiest and closest worlds had already been settled. The Confederation, and Humanity, reached further up and down the Orion Arm of the galaxy. Worlds that had been overlooked for greener pastures were now being settled. Some more difficult worlds were bypassed by the Confederation, or claimed first by other worlds, attempting to form a secondary tier of governments where a loyal, Confederation government could still have holdings and exploit the population and resources of a new planet.
Early in the terraforming processes, life was harsh and dangerous. Capital punishment could be done as simply as casting someone outside. Casualties grew on these more marginal of settlements. These casualty rates were unacceptable to the outwardly caution and politically minded Confederation. Not to worlds who sought power and influence.
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The Confederation Directorate of Science declared its intention to resurrect an old, dead line of research - inter species combinatorial genetics. It was hypothesised that the strengths of certain species would be able to augment the abilities of Humans, and make the act of colonisation less hazardous, and thus more politically palatable. However, to maintain secrecy, all research was done on Earth in classified, underground facilities. This had the added advantage of easy, unfettered access to a number of harsh environments on the now pristine and sparsely populated planet.
The research would use the reflexes of hunters to make better pilots. Bats and birds could fly around low gravity environments. Thus was borne a noble enterprise - The Hybrid Programme.
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In 4382csd, the experimentation began based on these millennium old records. The first attempts were not viable. Then, the viability was short lived. The initial "successes" survived only to puberty. And that survival was borderline, filled with pain. It took decades to develop Hybrids that were viable, fertile, and intelligent. Although, for nearly the first century, their lives were painful, their appearance crude and animalistic.
Hybrids, Empathy, and Artificial Intelligence
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The growing pains of the expanding Confederation let to another branch of research at the Science Directorate. Computing power was rapidly becoming an issue. The growing Confederation needed ever larger and more powerful computers to model and maintain records and logistics. By 4423csd, research began, also on Earth, into combining Humans and computers in an attempt to develop true Artificial Intelligence. These two clandestine programmes shared some facilities in the name of efficiency.
As the Hybrid programme advanced, it was discovered that Hybrids, on the whole, had a much greater sense of empathy, and possessed an intuition that could not be explained. Some claimed to sense a web that connected all sentient creatures, Human and Hybrid.
With the disappointing results of the Human-computer interfaces, it was decided to attempt a more radical interface with the more intuitive Hybrids. Their brain, brainstem, and spinal column were all tapped, and given hardware to control. The extreme pain of this procedure was managed by bypassing the pain centres of the brain. There was no shortage of volunteers for this, as many Hybrids still lived in pain from imperfect DNA grafting and body morphing.
It was then that something unexpected was discovered - Hybrids had an incredible intuition when they became AIs. They could reach conclusions that were accurate, yet unexplainable. Many a scientist was ridiculed for suggesting that a precognition was unleashed.
This led to the discontinuation of the Human-computer interface program as scientists focused solely on the Hybrid program, perfecting both the interface and the Hybrids themselves. Volunteers were surgically altered and suspended in a vat of bioactive bacterial nutrient suspension, commonly called bio-bact. The most powerful and intuitive of these biological AIs was named Artemis, who went online in 4447csd.
In 4530csd, fully artificial AIs were developed, using tested positronic networks to mimic the patterns that the Hybrid AIs had developed themselves as they reconfigured their own networks. These positronic AIs were smaller, less energy intensive, and had none of the moral conflicts or public relations problems of the Hybrid AIs. It was decided in 4560 to discontinue the Hybrid AI program and focus on positronic AIs exclusively.
Artemis was the final Hybrid AI to be decommissioned in 4570csd. Her station was remotely ordered to de-orbit into its host proto star. Records of final confirmation were lost, presumably due to a radiation flare from the port star as the de-orbiting sequence began. No follow up investigation was ever completed.
Early Hybrid Society
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By the time the Hybrid AI programme had ended, the Hybrid development programme had reached maturity. Many of the original goals of the Hybrid programme had changed. Machines were developed that were more efficient than Hybrids at the difficult tasks of early terraforming labours. The sunken cost fallacy then became dominant. New purposes were found for the self replicating and growing Hybrid populations. Many species were officially abandoned, and allowed to die out through a humane sterilisation pogrom that was accomplished with an engineered airborne virus. Small populations were maintained for further research.
Other species were allowed to propagate and flourish as bound labour on various planets throughout the Confederation. With their high reproductive rates, they were especially valuable in high risk and labour intensive operations such as mining, factory work, and farming. The females of many species were useful as household servants and hospitality workers. A new pleasure industry also grew around certain desirable species.
Interplanetary labour reallocation became common as certain planets gained reputations for superior populations of individual species. For unknown reasons, these transport ships suffered a statistically significantly higher rate of random slipspace losses. As planetary settlements of Hybrids developed, these transports helped spread a more common culture among the widespread Hybrid communities. A common language and religion seemingly developed organically, and spread rapidly.
Hybrid Language and Religion
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The Hybrid language and religion became intertwined. Both appeared to be based on a mythical Web-That-Binds, an overlying connection between all of Humanity, both Human and Hybrid. Their language, Jongwen, has a foundational connection to this same concept. Confederation officials have had little success in a full translation and understanding of either, as the Hybrids guard this knowledge fiercely.
The common religion became known officially as Thread Communionism in governmental documentation, and The Weave among the Hybrid communities. The methods of spread and harmonisation remain undiscovered. The Hybrids insist that the Old One communicates with the Prophets, sharing all knowledge. This is, of course, patently absurd. Covert methods of slipspace communication were and are a priority of Fleet Intelligence investigation. Thread Communionism preaches a spiritual connection amongst all Hybrids and promises the arrival of a promised Messiah, known as the Ghost, or Varash in their language.
Until 5342csd, Hybrids had no rights, and were considered to be bound labourers, even those who had no current boss. Their communities were open to any authority who wished to search for new labourers. An amendment to the Founding Charter gave the Hybrids rights and privileges, yet these were poorly enforced. The trade and transport industry simply moved off of the books, and was conveniently overlooked.
This grey market in Hybrid sales and trading became quite lucrative until 5575csd. Unexplained disappearances jumped in frequency, far beyond statistical anomalies. Hybrid traders, always superstitious, began blaming the Ghost, saying that divine vengeance was being wreaked upon the traders. It was at this time that an rumours of an attack upon a Fleet Intelligence research facility began circulating among Hybrid and Trader communities alike. No official confirmation of these rumours was ever to appear.