Of the major factions, the BIOS have long held themselves to be the true future of humanity -- not only in the historic, but also in the evolutionary sense as well. While other factions, most notably the Iron Coalition, have sought to preserve the culture of Old Earth, the BIOS have only looked ahead, utilizing scientific techniques once held in the most scandalous of views.

Begun as a project in genetic engineering, early discoveries of BIOS operating facilities actually served to feed the first DataNet reports. Since then, the BIOS have remained notably silent on the Net, refusing to discuss battle results or faction plans. However, directly against this trend, elder leaders of the BIOS council have recently released a statement of their philosophy. Troubled times have hit the BIOS, most notably with the disastrous release of their violent Gen-6 spawn, and they may be going through a critical period of reorganization . . . and re-commitment to fundamental faction ideals.

Before publishing the recent BIOS statement, let's take a brief look back at their history:

• February 2033: Project: ALEXANDER begins, run by GigaCorp's Emmet Longstreet. The project - designed to develop humans better suited to operating in an orbital environment - is kept secret, as cloning and genetic experimentation have been outlawed on Earth.
• December 2036: Underground journalists sneak into the operations center and discover several discarded project failures. These failed experiments are being “recycled” (destroyed). Massive public outcry and legal proceedings ensue.
• December 2056: Longstreet commandeers a large transport ship, supplies, and the remaining ALEXANDER project subjects (the first BIOS) - and heads off into the outer regions of the system.
• April 2058: Longstreet and the BIOS establish a hidden colony near Saturn.
• March 2063: Emmet Longstreet dies at age 95.
• June 2143: GigaCorp forces discover a BIOS “enhancement facility” near Proxima Centauri, where human captives are being genetically altered against their will.
• June (present): The Rixian Unity arrives in the system. While numerous BIOS defect to the aliens, it is speculated that these agents are merely being sent to gather information.
• July (present): The sixth generation of BIOS (Gen-6's) are created and released. As each generation grows progressively more violent, these latest Gen-6's immediately rebel against the ruling BIOS council before being subdued.

"Centuries before, the prophet Charles Darwin first reported on the advent of evolution. It was, in his opinion, a fact of nature that individual species adapted to the stimuli of their environment genetically. The strongest survived the daily trials of life; they were thus able to mate successfully and promote their unique genetic variations that had helped them succeed. Over time, such breeding allowed for a natural genetic selection.

"Darwinian selection works well philosophically. In practice, however, this theory tends to fall apart.

"Evidence does not show that the strongest examples of a species survive to promote their genetics, while weaker examples fall by the wayside. The world is far too random to have seen the success of this method. “God does not play dice with the Universe,” it has once been mentioned. The world simply does not allow enough time for species to breed successful progeny. Such a trial-and-error method does not allow enough time for species to genetically adapt. Instead, the ability to adapt to the environment is an inherent ability buried somewhere deep within each species' genetic code. Genetics will simply change itself, when the time is right and the need is present.

"It is the BIOS belief that the self-promotion of a species' own genetic code is simply the noblest and most sensible endeavor that species can perform. Genetic manipulation is man entering a working relationship with his own self. “God helps those who help themselves,” it has also been said; and man best helps himself when he helps his genes."

Photograph, from DataNet file archives, of one of the few planetary BIOS mining facilities known to exist: