In 2683, human civilization entered the “Third Era of Interstellar Colonization.” The Terran Federation controlled colonization rights throughout the solar system and in twelve nearby star systems. It had built 37 space stations and terraformed 22 habitable planets, bringing the total population to over 58 billion. Technology was sharply divided: the Federation’s core regions, including Earth, Mars, and Alpha Centauri, possessed advanced technologies such as warp travel, mind uploading, and genetic engineering. The outer colonies, by contrast, relied on outdated chemical-fuel engines and basic artificial intelligence, with some even retaining forms of agrarian society.
