In the early days of space exploration, humanity managed to reach Mars and the other planets of the solar system, but no matter how much they tried, the demands placed on the human body by outer space and harsh planetary environments made extraterrestrial colonization prohibitive.
There were several factors that kept mankind largely Earthbound. Extended periods of living under zero gravity conditions wreaked a terrible toll on the human body despite all the attempts to keep musculature conditioned. But the greatest enemy to space travel were the demands it placed on the human psyche.
Living under the constant threat of disaster, every facet of survival hinging on delicate tools and machinery, led to a condition known as “Inevitis”, the sense of impending doom that would grip most long-term space travelers. For centuries, unmanned craft were the mainstay of exploration and exploitation across the solar system.
In other fields, advances in neurotech had made great leaps, resulting in the widespread usage of devices known as Neural Interface Bands (NIBs). It was worn as a collar and grafted directly to the spinal cord, providing a gateway to the human neural network. It became an interface for a myriad of neural implants and technologies, from virtual reality plug-ins to sensory adaptors. But most importantly and primarily, it became the home for one of the most profound developments since the invention of fire: the Exo-chip.
This genius piece of nanotechnology and cybernetics was contrived by a small, shadowy entity calling itself the Nanomak Corporation. Made entirely in secret and kept that way once it became ubiquitous in use across the human population, it changed the trajectory of human history. Something so tiny and seemingly insignificant, and yet suddenly the doors to the galaxy were flung wide open.
How did it do this? Via the Neural Interface Bands, the Exo-Chip was able to be connected to a freeway of neural channels, allowing for rapid deployment of its nanites throughout the body.
Its main function was to help the wearer respond rapidly to external stimuli or changing environments. It would maintain homeostasis, temperature, oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, hydrostatic pressure, muscle tone and protect the body from environmental conditions (even from the void of space).
No matter the environmental conditions. Be it extreme temperatures, deadly UV exposure, hazardous atmospheric gases, or bone-crushing gravity, the Exo-chip had turned mankind into a Bona fide transplanetary species.
On Earth, this meant being able to breathe the toxic air without any extra equipment. For space travel, humans were suddenly able to live in outer space, and breathe in it. The Inevitis condition became a thing of the past as the psyche was freed from the bodily limitations.
Landing on new planets was as easy as stepping outside. Mars, Venus, Neptune were suddenly new Earths. Once humanity was able to power the warp gate at the edge of the solar system, there were thousands of new worlds ready to be called home.
Once the secrets of the Black Gates were divined and faster-than-lights means of travel between the stars were unlocked, exo-chip enhanced humanity spread across the galaxy.
Today, thousands of years into the future and across countless worlds, each and every one of them unlike Old Earth and utterly alien, the exo-chip has allowed humanity to maintain its “humanness” across its diaspora. There is no need to adapt and change when the Exo-chip can bend the universe to suit the needs of humanity.
