Editing The Night's Dawn Trilogy (section)

==Humanity in the 27th century==
In the ''Night's Dawn'' trilogy, humankind, although now united under an organization known as the Confederation, has been broken up into two major divisions, ''Adamists'' and ''Edenists''. The economy is dominated by the Edenists, who maintain a powerful [[monopoly]] across the Confederation by harvesting [[helium 3|<sup>3</sup>He ("helium 3")]] from suitable [[gas giants]]. This resource is used by all Adamist starships as a primary fuel source. The use of the only other major energy source, [[antimatter]], is illegal due to its devastating military potential, and its possession or production is a [[capital crime]].

===Adamist culture===
Adamists are the larger of the two groups, and consider themselves to be ''normal'' humans. They allow themselves to use some genetic-engineering improvements (referred to as "geneering"), but do not generally condone the use of "bitek" (organic/bio technology) in their culture. They are a vast group of people of various cultures and backgrounds, and realistically, the Adamist group encompasses any non-Edenist humans. The majority of Adamists, who are at least nominally religious, do not utilise bitek because it was banned by the Pope during the 21st century.  Instead, they use [[nanotechnology]], which they refer to as "nanonics". Nanonics perform many of the same physiological feats as bitek, and the two technologies are relatively compatible. Adamist starships use [[Nuclear fusion|fusion]]-energy based drives, and much of the human economy therefore is based on the proliferation of <sup>3</sup>He.  The ZTT (Zero Tau Transit, i.e. [[faster than light]]) drive allows Adamists to colonize star-systems, usually settling both [[planet]]s and [[asteroid belt]]s.

===Edenist culture===
Edenists are, for the most part, a single culture. They are an idealized, [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]], [[utopia]]n society which, while not believing or practicing [[religion]], does not prohibit it. The majority of Edenists live in huge, multi-kilometre [[Space habitats in fiction|space habitats]] orbiting [[gas giant]]s.  Each individual habitat is a living organism, fully [[sentient]], and is the perfect arbitrator of its community. Habitats cannot be bribed, are perfect impartial judges, and are aware of almost everything that occurs within them and immediately around them. The most important aspect of any Edenist is his/her use of ''affinity''. Affinity is an advanced form of mental communication similar to the present-day concepts of [[telepathy]] or [[Quantum entanglement|entanglement]]. Edenist affinity allows them  to transfer their memories into the habitat at the time of death. This is regarded as a form of immortality. However, no habitat has yet died of old age (nor will for millennia) and could in turn pass their memories and personality on to another habitat were they ever to die. Adamist religions reject this as an attempt to avoid God's judgment on the soul after death, and it is this which is the root cause of the schism between the Adamist and Edenist cultures.

Edenists have access to faster-than-light travel through large, fully sentient bitek creatures called "Voidhawks".  They, along with their crews, make up a vast armada of Edenist merchant vessels operating throughout the Confederation as well as a large fraction of the Confederation Navy. Voidhawks are born and live in the [[vacuum]] of space. They are naturally attuned to the magnetic fields and energy fluctuations of surrounding space, and can generate and precisely control a distortion field to manipulate space around them. By manipulating space in this way, Voidhawks can open [[wormholes]] and jump long distances (many light years) instantaneously. Such jumps are known as "swallows". Another product of the distortion field is the ability to affect gravity in and near the Voidhawk. This is used to reduce the effect of high-g manoeuvering on Voidhawk crews.  By using the full power of their distortion fields, Voidhawks can attain a speed and manoeuvrability unmatched by Adamist vessels (except those powered by illegal and highly dangerous antimatter).

Edenists heavily [[Designer baby|genetically modify their children]], including the gene which allows affinity to develop from conception. They also use modified "servitors" which are often [[common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s with affinity which carry out small tasks and leave Edenists to concentrate on more important matters. Edenists operate cloud scoops in gas giants in order to extract the rare [[isotope]] [[helium 3]] which can be used for [[Nuclear fusion|fusion]] energy.