Bitek

Bitek (from Bi o tech nology) is a technology based on genetic engineering. It is used by Edenists extensively in every aspect of their lives, while Adamists use are typically limited to geneering of next generations and cloning of body parts, relying mostly on nanotechnology instead.

Origins of Bitek
In the 2030's extensive engineering of the human genome began, increasing longevity, health, organ efficiency. Cosmetic adaptations became possible too: choosing the colour of your baby's eyes for example.

Biological Machines: Bitek Servitors
As knowledge of how to manipulate the genetic make-up of all life on Earth grew, some began to experiment with animals, leading to the development of servitors, animals adapted for specific tasks. The servitor monkey was developed with greater dexterity and increased mental function to work as a servant or domestic cleaner. Different servitors were developed for different purposes.

Eight years after servitors came into common use, a new way was developed to control them: Affinity. Anyone with Affinity could directly instruct a servitor to perform a certain task.

Habitats and voidhawks
Affinity allowed for greater and greater developments in bitek. the Neural Symbiont allows for a connection between the neural structure of the user and the bitek unit.

Neuron Symbiont Implants
While Adamists don't possess the affinity gene, a number of them use neuron symbiont implants to allow use of affinity. Foremost among these are Blackhawk captains, who use neuron symbionts to provide them with a unique affinity bond with their bitek starship. Similarly, many supervisors on primitive colony planets and boosted combat mercenaries also use neuron symbiont implants to give them an affinity link with a variety of animals crucial in assisting with their tasks.

Depending on the type of symbiont implants used, this affinity can allow an Adamist to achieve full general affinity, allowing one to communicate with Edenists or other affinity-capable organisms, effectively becoming an Edenist; Adamists who decide to join Edenism are implanted with such symbiont implants. Examples of Adamists using neuron symbiont implants enabling limited affinity include Powell Manani and Reza Malin.

Tropicana
Almost all Adamists stopped using bitek following Pope Eleanor's excommunication of all humans with the affinity gene. However one planet, Tropicana, persisted with using bitek for a wide variety of tasks.