Category: homo sapiens sanguinius

Hemo Sapiens Versions

Posted in hemo sapiens, homo sapiens sanguinius, Sci-Fi, WritingTagged , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

The Hemo Sapiens project has had my mind and fingers pretty occupied lately. I am a structured thinker, so I need to understand a lot of minutiae as I world-build. One aspect of this world are the inhabitants. As the setting is modern-day earth and the near future, much of this is established and can be left unsaid, but newly introduced characters need some definition, boundaries, and rules. Here, I explore this.

At the highest level, we have genetically engineered embryos that have been cloned in versions, as outlined below: alpha, beta, gamma, and so on. Each successive version has improvements over the previous version.

The first, alpha, version are substantially similar to humans, save for being sanguivorous or rather macro erythrophages or hemophages, to borrow some near terms. Not being, obligatory hematophagous, they only require blood as ancillary nutritional intake.

Hemo sapiens extract blood through their hollow fangs. The blood is processed an metabolised by an special internal organ.

In the accompanying podcast audio recording, I provide addition behind-the-scenes editorialising. This complements the content below. So check it out.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ridley-park6/episodes/Hemo-Sapiens-Creature-Versions-e28lk0q
Podcast: Ancillary audio for this page content

Versions

Alpha (2022)

The alpha versions of hemo sapiens arrived in 2022 (31 October 2022); They are wholly like humans except they have hollow fangs to extract blood and a specialised internal organ. Without a viable blood source, hemo sapiens exhibit symptoms similar to severe anaemia. 

  • – Baseline with fangs and blood metabolism
  • – Identical lifespan and physiology to humans
  • – No enhanced abilities

Beta (2032) 

  • – More efficient blood processing  
  • – Superhuman strength and stamina if fed enough blood
  • – Accelerated healing and injury recovery
  • – Higher immunity and disease resistance
  • – Improved cognitive abilities and focus
  • – Lifespan increased to 120 years

Gamma (2037)

  • – Enhanced speed, reflexes, and agility
  • – Low light vision capabilities 
  • – Rapid healing of minor wounds
  • – High pain tolerance
  • – Increased lung capacity and breath holding
  • – Resistance to toxins and pathogens
  • – Lifespan increased to 130 years

Delta (2040) 

  • – Significantly extended lifespan to 160 years
  • – Accelerated cellular regeneration 
  • – Ability to ingest limited amounts of non-blood food
  • – Increased strength without added blood consumption
  • – Powerful immune system resists virtually all toxins and diseases
  • – Delayed onset of ageing effects

Epsilon (2042)

  • – Maximum lifespan extended to 200+ years  
  • – Regeneration and healing within minutes even from major wounds
  • – Blood consumption reduced to minimal levels
  • – Near invulnerability to toxins, viruses, and infections
  • – Telepathic communication among Epsilon hemo sapiens 
  • – Extrasensory perception (limited precognition)
  • – Heightened intelligence and cognitive function

Milestones

  • Year 2012 – CRISPR first used to edit genes
  • Year 2017 – Scientist begins early CRISPR experiments on somatic cells
  • Year 2020 – First successful CRISPR germline edits made to embryos
  • Year 2022 – Alpha version hemo sapiens born
  • Year 2032 – Beta version hemo sapiens born
  • Year 2039 – Gen-One Alpha hemo sapiens emerge as Gen-Zero members begin reproducing
  • Year 2037 – Gamma version hemo sapiens born
  • Year 2040 – Delta version hemo sapiens born 
  • Year 2042 – Epsilon version hemo sapiens born
  • Year 2048 – Gen-One Beta hemo sapiens emerge as Gen-Zero betas begin reproducing

World-Building Hemo Sapiens – Maths

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Claude, Generative AI, homo sapiens sanguinius, Short Story, WritingTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

As per my last post, I’ve spent the morning world building with Claude 2, my trusted generative AI mate–and I’ve got a ways to go. Any fictional world needs boundaries and constraints. What are ethe rules of operation?

My initial story is set in the near future, so I had to pick an origin date and extrapolate in order to determine a likely population for the story. Like anything that propagates, hemo sapiens need to have some concept of a generation. The rest is maths. What’s the attrition and net survival rate, population rate, and so on. As I’ve noted previously, Claude 2* and ChatGPT 4* are both horrendous at maths, so I was not surprised that it failed so miserably. Here’s a quote from Claude:

Having the scientist start at 28 in 2012 would put him at 42 for the Gen-Zero birth in 2022.

Claude 2

That’s right, adding 10 years to a 28-year-old in 2012 makes him 42 in 2022.

I’ll share more of the world I am constructing after I hit the spreadsheets or Mathematica. It may not be great at world-building, but it knows how to add 10 to 28.

* I cite the versions in case future versions perform maths skills better.

More Hemo Sapiens

Posted in Book, homo sapiens sanguinius, Short Story, Status Update, WritingTagged , , , , , , 1 Comment

Now I’ve really done it. Distracted myself to no end. No wonder I can’t seem to finish anything lately. My recent foray into Hemo sapiens or Homo sapiens sanginius was only supposed to be a quick diversion to clear my mind. Instead, it’s got me thinking about an entire universe from origin to however-so-many scenarios.

Now I am pondering whether to write some loosely connected short stories or assemble a larger work, like a novel or series. Why not all of the above?

The challenge is that I am more curious than passionate about this, and I’ve got only a fleeting interest. Perhaps. I am no stranger to speculative fiction, but world building is not up my street. And urban fantasy, to the extent that this might be urban fantasy, is not a favoured genre. I’m looking at you, Twilight.

I may simply noodle this for now until I suss out something. Meantime, I may be sharing my thoughts and output here. Please stand by…

Hemo Sapiens

Posted in homo sapiens sanguinius, Short Story, WritingTagged , , , , , 10 Comments

I’m new to writing short stories, but I am an experimental writer always up to a challenge. Here are the opening paragraphs of Homo Sapiens Sanguinius, a phrase I might spell differently each time I type it. The setting is near-future Brighton.

“We’re not vampires,” I spit out, locking eyes with Ray as he scrubs down the bar. The pub’s shoddy lights throw dodgy shadows all over. Smells like a mix of skint dreams and last night’s piss-ups.

Ray sets down another pint, glass tilting in practiced hands. “You alright, Eddie? You look knackered.”

“Am I bloody alright? I’m gutted, mate.” He slides the pint toward me—amber nectar topped with froth. A quick fix, but who’s fooling who?

The telly flicks from some wanker politician to the news. Dr. Sarah Wright’s name crawls across the screen. “Dozens more dead.” My stomach churns.

“Bollocks,” I mutter, necking half the pint. It’s all gone tits up, and what’s everyone doing? Gawping at footie like we’re some sort of joke.

I drain the last of my pint, eyeing the telly again. “Fuckin’ useless, all of ’em,” I grumble, my finger stabbing at the air toward the talking heads. They’re just prattling on, ignoring the shitstorm brewing.

Ray catches my drift, his eyes narrowing. “You reckon they’ll sort it?”

“Sort it? Mate, they’re more clueless than a sodding chav at a wine tasting.” I toss some coins on the counter, enough to settle the tab. “I’m off. This place is doing my head in.”

“Take care, Eddie. And watch your back, yeah?” Ray calls out as I turn to leave.

I push through the door, the pub’s clamour fading behind me. Fresh air hits my face like a wake-up slap. Only it ain’t waking me up from this nightmare.

Just then, I bump into some bloke. “Oi! Watch it, wanker,” he snarls.

“I’ve got bigger fish to fry than dealing with tossers like you,” I snap back, shoving past him.

As I stomp down the pavement, each step heavy with dread and resentment, I can’t shake off the thought: we’re on our own in this mess, no cavalry coming for us. And that thought? It’s bloody terrifying.

Disclaimer: This content relates to a work in progress. As such, details are subject to change or removal.

Homo sapiens sanguinius

Posted in homo sapiens sanguinius, Short Story, Status Update, WritingTagged , , , , , 3 Comments

I thought that I was onto something when I was diverting my attention with a new short story. This story is set in (relatively) near-future Brighton where an emergent species coexist alongside us homo sapiens sapiens. Borrowing from the existing taxonomy, I decided to try homo sapiens sanguinius, bloodsucking, thinking man.

In this story, these people experience a pandemic due to a government experiment gone awry. Any similarities to Covid-19 is purely coincidental. And I’ve got a bridge for sale.

These people are known idiomatically as hemo sapiens and pejoratively as vampires. They are like humans in all ways except they also need to drink blood through their fangs, their only outwardly distinguishing feature. No other vampire lore need apply. Being a new species, mating is iffy, but I won’t address that anyway. It’s supposed to be a short story.

Myself, I am not into vampire stories or urban fantasy, yet here I go–and I’m not sure where it will go. I’m not sure I think in short story. Lots of reductive editing. Time will tell.

If you’ve got any comments to share on hemo sapiens or writing short stories, feel free to leave them below.