P.H.E.R.C

HQ : None

Found on : System Wide

 

 

The Post-Human Evolutionary Research Collective is a widespread organisation throughout the Fringe.  It is frowned upon by Unity, which operates periodic crackdowns on PHERC's tentacular activities.

 

It is for this reason that the organisation shuns sedentary behaviour, and bases its activities on a whole array of vessels in perpetual movement.  Since all the precepts of PHERC activity are to be found in its "bible", the Pherkipedia, there is no real need for centralised leadership.  Various protocols ensure that all PHERC agents use the same version of the Pherkipedia, which is constantly embellished by their contributions.

The primary role of PHERC is to bring about the birth of Posthumans.  This means advancing human adaptability through bioengineering, cybernetic evolution, and human-AI interfaces.  Some examples of their areas of research and intervention are :

• Morphological Freedom: Develops and distributes gene-sculpting treatments, cybernetic grafts, and environmental-specific adaptations for colonists on extreme worlds like 51 Pegasus or gas giant moons.

  
  
   

• Consciousness Research: Explores mind-state transfer, neural imprinting, and quantum memory backups—"threads of self" spun across time and space.

• Dimensional Field Work: Studies anomalous phenomena near the Weak Point, claiming that higher-dimensional adaptation may be key to long term human transcendance.

This does not mean that the organisation is one big happy family.  The Pherkipedia, as an open-source document, is constantly pushed hither and thither by different currents of thought.  When collective moderation fails to carry the day, and opinions refuse to be swayed, splinter groups form that may either be reabsorbed after further dialogue, or eventually named as heretical.  In the latter case, the splinter cells are hunted down by PHERC inquisitors, and given a last chance to recant, or to be purged.  The latter involves a close encounter with the vacuum, without protective equipment.

Feared, admired, and it must be admitted, frequently misunderstood, PHERC walks the line between saviors and mad scientists. Some colonists volunteer eagerly for their procedures; others call them abominations. When Unity tolerates them, it is because their work often pushes science decades forward—and because no one else dares go where they do.