Period of the Space Exploitation Singularity
This era begins with Ken Li’s foundational Transhuman Memorandum and culminates in the ascent of mutants, ushering in a singularity in space exploitation and human evolution.
During this period, massive space mining corporations accumulated staggering resources from asteroid mining and shipbuilding. These corporations soon grew too powerful for their own good, each generating in a single day more revenue than all of Terra (planet Earth) could in a year, with one minor exception. Throughout, Ken Li became a major stakeholder in every space corporation, all while remaining based on Terra.
The epoch is marked by covert conflict between rival groups of transhumans. Ordinary humans, meanwhile, were relegated to roles as technicians and nurses, maintaining but rarely shaping the future.
Ken Li’s power base took a unique form: he created a cyborg superorganism, a council of his own clones networked into a single, supermassive AI. In contrast, corporate C-level management consisted of replaceable human executives, mere figureheads within vast AI-controlled pyramids of power. The true core of these corporations was the pilot: massive, scorpion-like cyborgs who controlled the gigantic mining vessels, pushing their performance well beyond initial mission parameters.
Terra’s principal role became that of a nursery, cultivating a select few talented enough to be integrated, via neural links, into the colossal cyborg machines. This led to widespread resentment among the rest of humanity, occasionally erupting into violence and spawning cults. Such unrest was managed by a small cadre of special agents, each equipped with hidden electromechanical enhancements.
We can visualize this period as tarnish: rusty old massive mining ships speeding to and from Mars, blemished, corrupt earth governments with AIs and agents trying to maintain peace and order, while in the background, the first mutants mature.
Originally created May 5, 2025, this living article will evolve. As new events and stories are documented, this record will be updated accordingly.