The Dexians

The Dexians are a race of humans regarded as scum by almost all other human races and species. They are a race who have so damaged their DVA that they are born genetically damaged and diseased beginning their lives in pain which they prove resilient enough to deal with. Science cannot cure their condition but they have developed a process where technology can gradually "heal" them transforming them into a race called the Delphians. Their story begins with a starship whose people became incredibly wasteful so that by the time they discovered a world capable of hosting human life, they were already transformed into what they would be destined to become. Life, at first, seemed good for them as they terraformed this planet and named it Dexus after their leader. But the Dexian's technology quickly devolved to become something akin to 20th-century Earth and while they initially built a civilization based on super science, this promptly fell into ruin and neglect.

As their science and technology devolved, so did their world and gradually this took a heavy toll on them physically until most became mutants called the Kalnor while the fortunate few scavenged their once-advanced technology becoming cybernetic beings. They began calling themselves "Punx" as a species because their knowledge base included science fiction terminology that they felt defined what they were becoming. Cyberpunk , biopunk , steampunk , dieselpunk , and other genres seemed to all apply to their dystopian society. As they again developed spacefaring technology, they ventured forth to their systems sister planets where they began terraforming them with mixed results. But, they were a hardy sort who had accepted dystopian social norms and their bodies would be adapted to survive under the worst conditions.

While some Dexians maintained a level of humanity heavily dominated by cybernetics, many became mutants or outcasts whose bodies were simply too heavily damaged to be accepted by the general population. This would not mean there wasn't hope because as Dexians cast off body parts in favor of cybernetics, those body parts would be provided to replace the mutant's own damaged parts. Mutants were a labor force doing all the things that needed done that normal Dexians refused to do. Terms like "dregs" became commonplace for these peoples but mutant would remain their official designation but in a more compassionate manner as they weren't hated (by most) but they were somewhat feared as most Dexians saw themselves in these unfortunate wretches. So developed an entire industry designed to "heal" them as there were no cures for their genetic condition, only a means to adapt.

Their entire culture would evolve based on the concept of "adaptive evolution" where they altered their bodies using artificial and cosmetic means until the Delphian race began to emerge from among them as an elite class where wealth and control allowed them to achieve a sense of perfection. There are three stages that define Delphians as Stage One is more an artificial shell formed around their bodies that mimic their ideals of beauty while the body beneath the shell may be heavily damaged or even mutated. Stage Two is a more developed stage where the body beneath is healthier (at least in appearance) while Stage Three is a physical level reaching their visions of perfection where cybernetics are now integrated at a cellular level.

Where most Dexians are essentially sterile with only about ten percent of their populations capable of breeding, all Delphians can procreate. The way they achieve this, however, is based on being transformed into intersex and being able to self-inseminate which guarantees their offspring will be mutants. As their pregnancy forms, their stomachs begin to grow until forming a transparent dome around the growing fetus so that it can be seen visually as if contained in glass. The fetus is normal until around the sixth month when the first signs of degeneration are revealed at this point and the dome surrounding the fetus is removed where it continues to develop outside of the body in its self-contained womb. These are sold to the lower Dexian and mutant classes where the Dexians take the best developed and mutants accept the rest. Delphians are pregnant through their entire existence and whether they appear male or female (a choice), it is their fate to be the baby-makers for the entire Dexian race.

Although their existence might seem a futile one of pain and suffering, Dexians have evolved to endure and can survive where most humans cannot because the ancestors from which they came were genetically altered for just this purpose. They were to be the first humans on terraformed worlds that were unfit for general human populations where their DNA was extremely adaptive. Dexians, unfortunately, evolved in a dystopian environment where they heavily polluted their original homeworld and evolved to survive under such conditions which damaged their DNA. Around eighty percent of their populations evolved into mutants and the remaining twenty percent were relatively normal because their DNA was much stronger so that they could maintain their almost perfect human appearance. Other human races avoid Dexians when it comes to procreation because their DNA passes into other races and they begin to degenerate genetically if the process isn't culled out with those females who've become "infected" being sterilized or killed if they don't go with the Dexians to become part of their general population.

One caveat of being a Dexian, however, is that they have extremely long lives of up to five-hundred years. During this time, survivors strive to make themselves "more perfect" until undergoing the processes that transform them into Delphians for the greatest part of their lives for around three hundred of these years. Mutants can gradually adapt and evolve until becoming Dexian and "Harvesters" often seek out Dexians killed in various unfortunate circumstances to sell their physical remains to be used for improving mutant's physical forms using surgery and cosmetic means. Thus, most Dexians do not hate mutants as one day they might be recognized as Dexian themselves, and Harvesters often become among the more perfect of the Dexian species in appearance because they get first dibs on the bodies to improve their own appearance. Because they are human, they can use the bodies of other humans for this purpose but they have the limitations of the original owner so if they have a lifespan of a century then they will wear out just as quickly when used as part of a Dexians body.

EPILOGUE

The Dexians are a people accepted throughout the galaxy among alien species moreso than among human species. The reason for this is based on procreation and the fact that Dexians have a greater propensity for committing sex crimes. While this isn't as much of an issue where Dexian females are concerned (because their children are Dexian), it is more of a problem where males are concerned because other human species and races do not want Dexian DNA intermixed with their own. While most Dexians are sterile, the chance that they might still have the random successful coupling where their seemingly sterile bodies still produce the random means for producing a child often requires that they prove that all such means have been surgically removed. Even among the females, if they do become pregnant they are required to leave with their child and return to Dexian homeworlds. Likewise, any human female who chooses to be with a Dexian male must leave or face harsher realities.

But, for all of this, there are the occasional children conceived who are "perfect" genetically and where their curse is lifted. These rare births are highly sought after because no science on any world has corrected the Dexian genetic problem and these rare Dexians not only are all capable of breeding, but at least half of their offspring are cleansed as well. As for Dexian physiology? Dexian mutants still possess vestiges of humanity in their appearance with the least of them being able to pass for Dexian. Dexians themselves differ from their original human forebears because all Dexians possess at least some mild mutations that are surgically or cosmetically often dealt with using cybernetics. The structure of their face reflects a harsher life but the key differences are that their nasal bone forms higher into the skull so there is no dip, purple is their primary eye color and their bodies often seem to have large areas of scarring which they are unfortunately born with.

Just a simple story about one of the escaped starships that found and then terraformed an alien world but who devolved back to a civilization built on fossil fuels and the devastating consequences in a fantasy setting. It is an incomplete story open for further development and artwork. It is not the only works that will delve into the "punk" genre of science fiction but it will be one of the more obvious that seemingly incorporates them all.