The American Empire fully collapses following the overthrow of its fascist government.

A wave of anti-fascist revolutions sweep the globe, leading to what's called the Great Social Revolution.

An attempted fascist resurgence is attempted but quickly stamped out. This leads to the ratification of the Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees shelter, food, water, travel and healthcare unconditionally to all humans. Most national borders are dissolved and international support is gained to provide necessities for all.

Nuclear fusion-based power becomes viable. Hundreds of reactors are built across the planet as fossil fuel-based power is finally phased out.

The first permanent enclosed settlement is established on Mars. Terraforming technologies are developed. Earth's climate and atmosphere are stable once again.

Physicists discover a way to warp space at will, allowing for much faster travel. It's shown to allow super-luminal, non-relativistic travel, but the energy cost is too large for anything but probes.

The dozens of FTL probes have discovered several Earth-like planets that could be easily terraforms and settled.

Genetic engineering has reached the point where entire organisms can be created from the ground-up. This results in a number of beneficial bacteria and viruses that can combat nearly any pathogenic condition.

A breakthrough in warp generator technology allows sending manned ships at FTL speeds. Several planets are settled and terraforming begins.

The genetic engineering renaissance allowed for re-shaping human bodies as well. A number of people opted to alter their genome to take on animal-like traits, such as cat ears or tails. This eventually lead to a number of new races, collectively called Animalius. Some of these include Felia, Cania, Vulpa and Lagoa.

Extensive genetic modification and organism synthesis are outlawed due to ethical and safety concerns. The Animalus account for approximately 20% of the human population.

The number of settled worlds reaches 16. 8 have completed their terraforming projects. A network of warp gates is constructed between larger hubs. These create a "wave" of warped space that smaller craft with weaker warp generators can ride. This reduces average travel time to nearly 1/5.

A survey team examines the planet Taphao Thong in the Chalawan system and discovers unusually high concentrations of metals in its atmosphere. A mining operation was quickly assembled.

Terraforming of Kraithong, a moon in orbit around Taphao Thong begins. It was previously considered too small to be a desirable place to settle, but it was useful to support the mining of Taphao Thong.

Terraforming of Kraithong is completed and its population quickly grows.

There are now 35 settled worlds with 22 fully terraformed. The furthest from Earth is 120 light years away. Earth's population has fallen to 5 billion as many look for opportunities on other worlds.

A Vulpa couple, Lep and Ferma Qwarq arrive on Kraithong. They soon open a business for designing and manufacturing cybernetic prosthetics, called Qwarq Robotics.

Lep and Ferma have a son named Tau. He's born with essentially no arms - only stubs about 2 centimeters long at birth. They soon fit him with temporary prosthetic arms until he's grown enough for a permanent pair.

The current year. Tau is 25 years old and recently received his masters degree in Robotics from Kraithong University. He also holds Bachelors degrees in computer engineering and cybernetics. He works part-time at his family's business.