Plebhu
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Plebhu |
Although there are many clades and species of humanoids that have been geneered, or geneered themselves, to differ from the baseline H. sapiens condition in many distinctive ways, by far the most common hu species in the terragen bubble is the plebhum, or common nearbaseline, which can be found in their billions, especially on large orbitals, and among wildhu populations. Plebhu are essentially baselines who, over the millennia have taken genemods, interbred with other clades, or been exposed to wild biomods, random genetic drift, darwingoo, and other factors conducive of natural or artificial selection. The result has been that the baseline human species in the current era is so different from the original type as to make natural interbreeding impossible. Moreover, ey represent a population of astonishing genetic diversity; a diversity unmatched by any other terragen species. Some anthropologists suggest that H. plebus is actually a species group that consists of as many as 10^5 distinct species, but because of intergradations among populations in contact with each other, it is often impossible to tell where one plebhu species ends and another begins. Also, most of these species differ little in characteristics, behavior, and intelligence, and are often interpreted - especially by bureaucrats and admin ai - as "races" rather than a true species
In appearance, the common nearbaseline differs little from H. sapiens, although there is a much wider diversity of pigmentation (almost every shade and colour is represented, although coffee-brown skin and black hair is the most common), facial features, and physique. In contrast to baseline H. sapiens, the ideal H. plebus has superior stamina, intelligence, physical attractiveness, and (assuming no medical nano) a more efficient immune system and greater longevity, as a result of su-gene templates that have been circulated in the public domain. But often the reverse may be the case, and H. plebus individuals may be stupid, clumsy, or physically grotesque, or have a total lack of immune response, being unable to survive without medical nano.
This apparent backward evolution is the result of darwingoo or genmod viruses, often cleverly designed and difficult to remove. Rather than enhance a biont, they would do the opposite. So there are many poor individuals who are the victims of malicious genmod biocode. In the Civilized Galaxy this wouldn't happen, because patches and antidotes are widely and freely available. But away from angelnetting and ai supervision things could be more hazardous.
Also, over-dependence on technology would weaken the genome by selecting out genes that, while not much use in an angelnetted nanotopia, may be vital for survival on an isolated biosphere
Sometimes plebhu exhibit theriomorphic qualities, resemble popular vidstars, or even have unusual bumps and ridges on their head. In some cases plebhus are emotionally immature, tend towards substance and DNI abuse, have far less initiative and are unable to cope without their ai. Some have suggested this latter "hyperdependency syndrome" is the result of memes introduced by hyperturings to make hu more docile, others see it as a simple conditioning response to an environment in which everything is provided for them and there is no need to work or struggle.
