Global human population: 12.1 billion.
“Natural” humans (no ancestral edits or major enhancements): 4 % (mostly in protected heritage zones).
Edited humans (Neanderthal, Denisovan, Erectus variants, Optimal mixes, custom): 96 %.
The de-extinction market has completed its mission.
It began with mammoths and dodos.
It ended with humanity itself — redesigned, diversified, and tiered.
The Post-Human World is here.
Nature is a luxury brand.
Humanity is a catalog.
The post-human landscape – 2070
| Variant / Type | % of population | Average traits | Lifespan (average) | Social role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimal Human (polygenic max) | 58 % | Height 200+ cm, IQ 170+, perfect health | 280+ years | Global elite, leaders |
| Neanderthal-dominant | 22 % | Robust build, spatial genius, endurance | 320 years | Physical labor, exploration, military |
| Denisovan-dominant | 12 % | High-altitude, creative, resilient | 300 years | Art, innovation, extreme environments |
| Erectus labor variant | 4 % | Strength, obedience, stamina | 180 years | Industrial, service |
| Custom / novelty mixes | 0 % (niche) | Variable (mini, giant, aquatic, etc.) | Variable | Luxury, performance art |
| Natural (unedited) | 4 % | 2025 baseline | 140 years | Heritage preservation |
The edited outnumber the natural 24:1.
“Human” is now a brand family.
The daily post-human life – 2070
Optimal elite:
- Live in arcologies or orbital habitats
- Work: governance, starship design, qualia art
- Reproduction: designed offspring with multiple ancestral lines
- Leisure: merged realities, exoplanet tourism
Labor variants:
- Designed for purpose — strong, tireless, content
- Live in managed communities, high satisfaction (edited for)
- Rights: full, but culturally separate
Natural heritage:
- Protected zones, subsidized
- Lifestyle: pre-2030 tech, family focus
- Tourism: visited for “authentic human experience”
The nature luxury brand – 2070
- Wild animals: all de-extinct or edited
- National parks: stocked with mammoths, saber-tooths, dodos as attractions
- “Natural birth” retreats: premium for unedited conception
- Food: “wild-type” fruits/vegetables as gourmet (most food precision-printed)
The meaning crisis – 2070s
Edited majority:
- “We fixed everything — now what?”
- New pursuits: substrate shifts, cosmic art, alien contact prep
Natural minority:
- Higher “authenticity” satisfaction but lower opportunity
The last natural birth – 2058
The final unedited human child is born in a heritage zone.
Celebrated globally as “the end of an era.”
The parents: “We wanted our child to know what it was like to be original.”
The ultimate quote – from the Global Species Archive, centennial message on the first mammoth birth, 2127
“We feared extinction.
We conquered it.
First the animals, then ourselves.
The mammoth walks again.
The Neanderthal thinks again.
The human is no longer one thing.
We are many — stronger, wiser, eternal.
Nature was not lost.
It was upgraded.
The market delivered.
The world is wilder than ever —
because we made it so.”
By 2100 the de-extinction market has remade life itself.
Animals roam optimized.
Humans are variants.
The old nature is a luxury.
The new nature is designed.
The market never closed.
It just added humans to the catalog.
Series complete.
The dead are alive.
The living are edited.
The world is ours — again.
The past is back.
Better.
And it’s for sale.