“The other twists its huge head into shot – revealing scales of bright, lustrous, metallic green. A long body, coiling and sinuous, with five glitter-dark eyes – and a feathery crest like some strange bird. A Quetzalcōātl. A dragon-serpent…..”
About half the known population of The City count themselves as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Beings who might once have been humans, monsters, or perhaps something stranger. The GMO races have all undergone some kind of change, often profound, that has made them more (or less) than human. Often with plantlike, animal-like, or alien features. Or simply extra eyes, ears, noses, tails, or limbs in general.
In short: GMOs are a broad, broad, category of anything ‘not human’ but not quite odd enough to count as a monster, or anything odder.
Degrees of Modification
GMOs range wildly in rarity, type, beauty, and so on. However, they normally all get lumped into one of the following boxes:
- Demis :: Any GMO subtle enough to pass for fully human might be labelled a ‘demi’, and most barely stand out as irregular. Most simply have oddly coloured hair or nails, a patch of scales, or perhaps some ‘interesting’ ears. Many are bullied by humans or GMOs for ‘pretending’, or forced to pick a ‘side’.
- Halfers :: Stuck in the middle, halfers usually seem more human than not. They may, however, have scaly skin, strange eyes, multiple arms, horns, or some other oddity. The line between them and the others is very fuzzy (often literally), and they often find themselves lumped in with Demis or Mutants.
- Fullforms :: are not even remotely human, and generally count as their own distinct species or subtype. Fullforms can be extremely aloof toward ‘lesser’ GMOs, but this is largely because they fear being labelled as Monsters.
- Monsters :: In theory; a ‘Monster’ is a nightmare abomination of the Wilds or the Deep City. A thing escaped from a lab, or mutated from something else, that presents nothing but a danger to Sentients. In practice; any Fullforms or Gone Wrong that can’t speak might be labelled a Monster. This can lead to them being hunted, enslaved, experimented on, or worse. The line between Fullforms and Monsters is shaky, and they all know it.
Types of Modification
As wild and varied as GMOs are, humans love to divide things into boxes – and that is what they have done. the result is a strange kind of hierarchy of distinct subgroups that all overlap far more than anyone wants to admit. Particularly the groups themselves. These are:
The Gene Sculpted
“How do you feel about…. wings?”
What if you could redesign your body? If you could transform it in any way, or shape, you pleased? Would you do it? And what would you choose?
Known as ‘Mods’, or ‘Sculpts’; The Gene Sculpted are people who choose to be remade, reborn, and redesigned by a Genetic Architect. Easily picked out from other GMOs, Mods are unusually pretty and coherent in their body-designs. Normally these include aesthetic touches, colours, patterns, and so on that GMOs don’t normally have.
Becoming a geneSculpt can be as cheap (and slow) as injecting nanites from a vial in a vending machine. Or it can be as expensive (and fast) as hiring an expert, or AI, to remake you from the ground up. Sculpts are generally looked down upon by other GMOs as ‘pretenders’, and can be seen as traitors (or weirdos) by humans.
Be warned, that modifying your body without a full genetic check-up is a good way to end up as a Gone Wrong.
- Esoterics :: are high society Sculpts who tend to be Aristos, or close to it. Esoterics emphasise a kind of ‘eerily beautiful, alien, inhumanity’ in their designs and are very minimal when it comes to animal qualities. Working, instead, on skin that literally glows with little stars or hair of literal silver. Suffice to say: they are The City’s number one source of Tall Blue Elf Chicks.
- Mythics :: try to accurately and perfectly recreate the fantastical, fanciful, creatures that were once said to populate the mystical Surface World. Such as: ducks, dogs, cats, tigers, unicorns, rabbits, and dragons. The rumour mill can’t decide if GMO races began as Mythics, or Mutants, somewhere far in the past. However; it’s typically seen as very rude to mention either idea to a GMO’s face.
- Fantasists :: A form of Mythic who seek to create known fantasy races in the real world. There is typically a Fantasist storm whenever a popular new show comes out. Fantasists, however, rarely have staying power. They often revert, or simply move on. Of all the Sculpt subgroups, Fantasists are the most mocked – even by other Sculpts….. and other Fantasists.
- Flux :: Often called ‘Pretenders‘ the Flux simply desire to become GMOs, and so they pick a regular race and customise it to fit themselves from millions of possible parts in a literal Character Creator system. ‘Higher’ Sculpts tend to look down on them as ‘entry level’; but becoming a Flux is the most accessible, affordable, and accepted way to join the club. It’s also the easiest way to end up as a Gone Wrong, if you don’t do it properly. Humans often view Flux as ‘race traitors’. Flux have led to the common GMO insult “Hey! Did ya buy that tail in a vending machine??”
- Normies and Scrubs :: Are ex GMOs who have their genetic traits ‘scrubbed’ or ‘normalised’, turning them into regular (ish) humans. Or, at least, human-looking Demis. GMO clans tend to treat Normies/Scrubs as scum, and will often lump all Demis into their category. Sometimes scrubbing goes wrong, resulting in a Mutant with regrets. Most Scrubs are Gone Wrongs, lone GMOs in human areas, or former Flux who got bullied.
Naturals
“She coils on the table. Tail wrapped around her. Slatted eyes, narrow. “
They may be scally, furry, or have wings – but most GMOs are simply born that way. This makes ‘Natural’ GMOs the most common and accepted kind. Most are brought up in a clan, district, or caravan of similar GMOs – and often develop their own distinct cultures and norms as a result. These vary wildly, and are frequently at odds. The most primitive being between GMOs who are racially at odds. Rats and cats. Wolves and prey. Snakes and Avian.
However, there are some common elements. Most ‘act their species’ to some degree, and Naturals (including Demis) typically never wear shoes – seeing them as a ‘human thing’. Fullforms tend to dress minimally, if at all. Around half the clans shun cybernetics entirely. Some major types of Natural GMO include:
- Avians :: Any GMO who can fly or who has wings is typically dubbed an Avian, regardless of how birdlike. This has lead to a lot of in and out-group fighting over what the term really means, and if it should apply to bats or other GMOs. Avians are prone to breaking off into racial factions rather than clans.
- Serpans :: The serpent races (including unwinged dragons) are shunned by most other GMOs. This is particularly true of Avians, who have deemed them monsters. Past attempts to exclude and exterminate the serpents have led to them creating their won, strange, cold cultures down in The Deep City. That winged dragons get a ‘pass’ is a source of great contempt.
- The Murk :: Collective term for all fully aquatic GMOs. Since they live well bellow the water, little is known about them. It is likely they are as numerous as the Above races.
- Canids :: Collecting all dog, fox, and wolf species; the Canid tribes have a ‘friendly but exuberant’ reputation. Varying between wild hunters, caravaners, explorers, tinkerers, and more; they often pride themselves on their nomadic, tribal, lifestyle. Cats like to pretend they’re as dumb as rocks, but this is far from true. Bats may, occasionally, consider themselves part of the culture.
- Felines :: One of the more populous races, cats vary wildly in size but seem far more prone to mutation than other races. Cats have a reputation for attacking the ‘prey’ races, though it’s hard to know if it’s deserved.
- The Boneless :: Comprising insects, crustations, and other creatures who stray closer to the monstrous than the sublime. Many view the more human races as fleshy troglodytes.
- The Urve :: Slime people are still people! Kinda! The ‘Urve’ are a strange, semi-liquid, race that may have been an early attempt to create a shapeshifter. Or, perhaps, a bacterial GMO. As such, they are typically mute and have their own weird little districts. One of the few fully mute races to not be automatically classed as monsters.
- ‘The Fleet Of Foot’ :: Called by most ‘The Alliance of Prey Races’, or ‘The Bleaters’. The Fleet Of Foot encompass a large collection of races that the ‘predators’ describe as ‘smelling like food’. For example: deer, rabbits, sheep, and so on. As a group, The Fleet are massive and nation-spanning. They are nothing to mess with.
This is just a small selection of the full menagerie of racial alliances in The City, some of which have coalesced into city-states. Including:
- Highwing :: Founded by the Avian Conclave, Highwing is an almost entirely GMO district founded by The Avian Conclave around ninety years ago. They have a distinctly ‘if you don’t have wings you’re a servant’ attitude.
- Windrun :: A very varied, and non-species specific, district to the north of Highwing. It has a better attitude to humans, but Fullforms look down on everyone.
- Legaurd :: More lupine in nature than the others, Legaurd considers fur normal, and dubs most humans ‘bald’ or ‘shaved’. This attitude is fairly good natured, and generally leads to good relations with human districts. Accusations of forcible Flux conversion of human residents are strongly denied by the local government.
Synthetics
Synthetic, inorganic, lifeforms are not typically counted as GMOs, but can fully resemble them. This leaves them in a strange kind of limbo, despite appearances. Synthetics that look like GMOs may appear more abstract in design, with feathers that float free; unattached to their wings. As such, they often resemble Esoterics – who take a lot of inspiration from their designs.
The Synthetic Alliance would like me to remind you that Synthetics are not cyborgs, robots, or AIs and should not be treated as such.
Mutants
“That’s a nice…. uh…. whatever that is.”
Most define mutants as ‘humans with extra human bits’ – such as extra fingers, arms, legs, or hair. But, in reality, this can apply to literally any GMO species. For example: an Avian with extra wings where wings shouldn’t grow. A cat with extra eyes. A Drakkin with extra tails.
‘Mutant’ is a hazy category; since any type of GMO can be a mutant, and all mutants blur the other GMO categories. Especially Fullforms, though they often deny this strenuously. This means most mutants aren’t seen as mutants, and the rest are lumped in with ‘Halfers‘. Who, in turn, distance themselves from the other subtypes of GMO.
Mutants have their own subtypes, including:
- Tweaks :: A tweak might have an extra finger or two. Or an eye where they shouldn’t. They are the Mutant equivalent of the ‘Demi’.
- Flailers :: Have too many limbs. This term can be an insult, or a friendly jibe.
- Morphs :: Escape being ‘mutants’ via genetic modification. Often into a GMO species, as this is typically seen as easier.
- Fades :: Seen as a cheap way to escape being a mutant, Faders replace their mutated parts with cybernetics or implanted biological limbs. Kami is considered a ‘Fade’, since she was born with six limbs but had them replaced with metal.
- ‘Gone Wrongs’ :: a ‘polite’ term for ‘geneFreaks’, who have been mutated beyond all sense and reason. Often with antenna for hair, or limbs growing from very odd places. True Gone Wrongs are typically unique even within their family, due to their utterly unstable genetics. However; some are simply GMOs that look strange, even by the broad standards of Fullforms.
Other Types of GMO
While this list seems extensive, it is only a small selection of the wider world of The City. Most of which has not, and will never, be fully explored. What wonders, horrors, oddities, and madness can we claim lie somewhere out in the depths?
Who can say.