Comms Load 5 - Greyhounds.

So, what is a Greyhound?

Well, more data is listed in the RPG book, but since several characters in these stories live up to the description, let's talk a little bit about what they are.

Human genetic modification has been a reality in this sci-fi world for some time. In fact, most humans alive in 2393 CE have pre-natal modification, or have inherited traits from their parents. The most extreme forms of this are called Chimeras.

Chimeras are artificial subspecies or in some cases, artificial species of creatures. The Greyhounds are one such sub-species. They were designed about 200 years ago, after the unification war. The line was intended to become super soldiers. The UN eventually found out about the project, and freed all of the test subjects, releasing them into the general population.

They were unexpectedly able to breed in with normal humans. While many Greyhound reproduced with each other, many had children with baseline humans as well. They breed true 70% of the time, and this has carried the line through to today's times.

The Greyhounds are very strong, very fast people, if a bit short. Their nervous system is wired differently, and they have and very acute sense of smell, perhaps 25 times human "normal." Nothing like a real dog, of course, but still quite useful.  Greyhounds also see and hear better than baseline folks. A typical greyhound stand about 5'7," can bench press 400 lbs, leap 6 feet straight up, and run at 30 miles an hour for at least 5 minutes.

Originally, the line was not terribly bright, but that has improved over time. Their main disadvantage is that they have trouble focusing. Due to the overclocked nervous system, and very powerful senses, Greyhounds notice everything. Every motion, every smell, every sound registers in their mind.

This makes them easily distracted from complex tasks, and may give others the impression that they are lazy or day dreaming. This is not the case, but it does make folks who have the Greyhound trait expression seem very excitable or distracted. Many Earth born Greyhounds take meds to deal with this.

Of course, very few Greyhound like the feeling of being on meds, and many actively feel cheated of life. A part of the sentiment comes from the fact that Greyhounds do not have the same life span as a baseline human. Very few Greyhound live past the age of sixty terran years. This was a "design feature" in the original line, meant to reduce the retirement costs of for an army using them as soldiers.

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Earth folk are generally intolerant of un-medicated grey hounds, as they are intolerant of Chimeras in general. A lot of people don't like to be reminded of the wars (despite the fact that they were over 100 years ago) and Earth folk also don't generally like to stand out of the crowd. It's very hard for most Chimeras to blend in, either by their appearance, or by their behavior. Earth folk work very hard to be normal, which is why Chimeras receive a higher than average arrest rate and deportation rate.

Full details on Chimeras, Solist racism, and other sci-fi details are pending, so keep reading gang!

I expect one more post this week.
-J