Lore: Sudo-human (and why it’s not spelled pseudo-human)

SUDO Corp Headquarters

Near the end days of humanity before there was a hint of the Cataclysm, humans yearned to reach the stars. Knowing they were never going to beat the laws of physics, and there was no way for a human crew to travel between stars in a single generation, the idea remained a dream.

There were other problems to consider, such as adaptability and fitness to survive in similar but not exact biomes. Humans are durable but do not adapt quickly. These hurdles along with physics needed to be overcome. Governments and influential people around the world called for ideas to send our seeds to the far reaches of the galaxy.

Many ideas surfaced but the one that caught on with the people that mattered came from a small startup of “Tech-Bro’s”. They dreamt up the idea of creating a new race of humans with the necessary traits built in, baked into their very genes to do the job for us.

They called them pseudo-humans, needing to raise awareness and money using the term Sudo-human was a marketing decision that felt right at the time and as a bonus could be trademarked. Hence the SUDO Corporation was born to DO the SUper task of colonizing planets and ensuring the human race would live on forever.

These pseudo-humans would carry locked away in their genetics the original DNA of actual humans. Where under the right circumstances they would give birth to successively more human offspring with each peaceful generation until all that is left in the world are regular real humans with all our faults and problems.

The word peaceful was important, for without peace these Sudo-humans were anything but peaceful, they were intentionally designed to discover, subjugate, and replace any advanced species or alpha predator they find on their target planet. They were perfect, savage, unapologetic colonizers.

Sudo-humans grow up fast, the earliest stage or colonizers reach adulthood in under seven years. They stay in that peak form of fitness for the next eighty years before showing signs of aging. When the aging begins they weaken and will usually succumb to disease or organ failure within fifteen years. Barring disease and a lot of luck, it is theoretically possible for them to live upwards of 150-years.

There are engineered controls to ensure the population can always be managed. Reproduction is entirely controlled by will. If only one party is actively trying to create a life, conception cannot occur. Requiring mutual consent to conceive a new life. The sex of their offspring can also be determined through mutual intent. There is only a surprise in regard to the baby’s sex if the parents are not in agreement or purposely leave it to chance.

Besides living a long life with perfect health, they also have what’s called a knowledge inheritance. Only a few understand how important this is as everyone is born with the same level of education. Hearing a new word triggers memories that are already present from birth. Language skills develop quickly, allowing two-month-old babies to be verbal. The same goes for mathematics, everything from counting to advanced physics is waiting to be brought to the surface with a word, picture, or experience.

The knowledge inheritance doesn’t end with academic topics. Also baked into each Sudo-human are advanced survival skills, surgical knowledge, and hundreds of combat skills and entire martial arts. Seeing a weapon for the first time will summon memories for its care, creation, and the many ways it can be utilized to subdue, maim, or kill all manner of life forms. Knowledge is still no substitute for training, muscle memory is not inherited. Practice is still required to excel at any trade, occupation, or art.

Adaptability being necessary and the color palette of distance worlds unknown, they are given full control over their skin coloration within human norms. Given time they can change their eye and hair color as desired as well; though few realize or even bother to do so. Generation beyond colonizers are still cookie cutter, with only slight differences in height, build and facial structure. Their eyes and hair are the one random element at birth that gives them individual identity.

Colonizers and their later incarnates known as War Born are born drab with grey skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. Only their peaceful offspring show genetic variation. The further along towards humanity the greater the diversity of hair and eye color. Hair and eyes can be any color within the standard range of visual perception.

The SUDO Corporation didn’t send their creations out into the emptiness of space alone. They were given three companion animals. The first was for utility, a Sudo-Canine, designed to quickly evolve into whatever breed is best suited to the task at hand. Hook one up to a cart and its offspring will become a Leonberger in two generations. Keep working them and they will evolve to the size of draft horses. Likewise put them in a pasture to watch over a herd of Cavi and you'll get Sheppard's. Train them to be vicious attack animals and you'll have a kennel full of fifty pound chihuahua's.

The second companion animal was to multiply their combat effectiveness by increasing mobility and lethality. Inspired by popular media concepts of the past, the SUDO Corporation created a custom species of velociraptor to assist in exterminating any resistance to human settlement. They made effective mounts and could be used as independent extermination squads, assign a species for destruction and they will hunt it to extinction.

The third animal was created as a stable food supply for Sudo-humans, canines, and raptors alike. One with a rapid breeding cycle, with a perfect balance of protein, fat, sugars, and nutrients. The starting stock was Cavia porcellus also known as the Guinea Pig.

Once a planet is taken, the SUDO Corporation’s final creation can be deployed. The ARCs that carried the thousands of colonizers also has the embryos and artificial wombs to introduce tens of thousands of animals native to their home world to fill any gaps inflicted on the planets ecosystem while securing a place where humanity can flourish.

There’s more lore to reveal regarding the SUDO Corporation, their creations, their many missions, and their competition but I’ll leave those subjects for future posts.

The short story titled Defender is a dark tale that introduces the reader to that first generation of colonizers as they find themselves on a hostile planet, but with gaping holes in their knowledge inheritance, including all references to their three companion animals, access to their ARC ships, or weapons. After Defender the story picks up ~7,000 years later when humanity is about to reemerge.

In the novel Embers Burn, there's a further exploration of the colonizer mind-set, where a population of War Born grows too big to contain itself and follows its urge for conquest.

Monster Within shows a more positive coping mechanism for the War Born and I hope brings some awareness to the various mental health issues we face in these modern times.

Arthur’s note: The idea of pseudo-humans was not part of my original story outline. It actually came from a thought experiment. One night while lying in bed sleepless, I asked myself what could be changed in human nature to solve our current real-world social struggles. That night my brain went into overdrive, solving problems, real and imaginary and birthed Sudo-humans, turned Lost Children, turned War Born in the Return from Cataclysm Saga.