
[2197-2243  A Human Question]

By the late 22nd century, the cyborgization of the human species
was well underway. Since the 50's, numerous machines had been
designed to do nothing other than link with the human nervous
system and provide artificial sensations. These psychedelic
sensitizers or sex machines as they were sometimes called were
by the close of the century responsible for as many as a million
fatalities worldwide. To compound the problem, the public seemed
oblivious to the mounting death toll. This crisis prompted the
United Nations to create a Council on Human Affairs, and for the
first time in its existence, the U.N. began dictating a universal
morality from its high pulpit.

   For the most part, this infringement on private enterprise
came as a shock to the business sector which began moving its
more questionable operations off-planet where the Council would
not have legislative jurisdiction. However, as the 23rd century
dawned it became apparent the U.N. would have more on its hands
than mere sensitizers.

   In 2231, unprecedented breakthroughs in biogenetics allowed
the precise description of an unborn child's future traits, and
by the end of the decade, the IHM Corporation began marketing its
First Step program to prospective parents. First Step was
basically a euphemism for the alteration of the genetic
material of an unborn fetus in an attempt to create perfect
human beings. As the U.N. began wrestling with the ethics thereby
involved, geneticists began work on altering the human DNA to
even greater extremes. In the majority of cases, the geneticists
delivered on their promises, producing evermore intelligent,
physically powerful, and dexterous humans, however in a certain
number of cases mistakes were made, and artificial mutants were
born. Although many of these accidents were promptly disposed
of, not all could be hidden so easily. Finally, in 2243, the U.N.
passed a comprehensive ban of genetic engineering on human DNA.
By this time, however, several million super-children had already
been born, and although this figure represented only a small
fraction of earth's thirty billion inhabitants, the threat of
superbeings pounded a serious impact on the social psyche.

