Microstory 204: Species

This is a microstory. You'll have to read it to find out what it's about.

There were a number of genetically engineered races across the galaxy, and the universe. They were all created using human DNA, sometimes mixed with that of a different species, but often just altered manually to mimic the properties of something else. If the new species was created from scratch, and guided as it went along its journey of billions of years, then we call it a superspecies. It is human, but it’s what humans would have become under slightly different environmental circumstances. If the DNA is taken from a live originator, and changed to form a separate human line, then we refer to it as a tangent species. It will only take thousands, maybe millions, of years of evolution to stabilize the new race. But if the genetics of a Generation Alpha is adjusted, with the material remains within the bloodline, then we end up with a subspecies. There are many reasons to create a human subspecies, but usually scientists did so in order to create something tailored for a certain job, or way of life. Here are some examples from the Lactean galaxy:

The Tabachi were created as a warrior species. They could fly, they were thirsty for victory, and they were extremely difficult to kill. The Laieran were sort of made accidentally as a way to prolong a normal human life. It was not their intention to create an infectious new race. Werewolves were actually not originally human. They began as experiments to find a way to increase the intelligence of animals. Few of the test subjects survived, but the ones who did passed on their intelligence to their children, and their descendants were later subjects of further experiments to give them the ability to become human. This was a long process, and an often painful one for the highly unstable generations that had to endure life as outcasts before being accepted into society. Dwarves were bred to be short and stout so that they could mine for desirable materials on heavy worlds. Giants were...really just made to see if it could be done. Theirs was a disastrous failure, resulting in great deal of extremely large people with a host of medical problems, causing them to die out rather quickly. Savons were also formed out of sheer incompetence. They were wise, and valued for their ability to speak profound truths, occasionally with a hint of precognition, but they also somehow had the side effect of aging rapidly until resembling the elderly, and being forced to remain in this state after death, which usually occurred a bit later than it did for standard humans. Like Tabachi, Elves too were created to be warriors, but their lower bodies were disproportionately muscular, and their upper bodies were dangerously dense, preventing them from being able to swim. All of these subspecies had their benefits, as well as their design flaws. But in the end, many scientists came to the decision that natural evolution had already picked the best possible outcome.