Primer: Growing Up and Growing Young In The Federation (and Beyond)

The Shi-Raka do not fear ****. When asked what happens to them when they die. The mercurial nomads will tell people that when a Shi-Raka dies, one of their god-slaves will retrieve them from the Great Beyond for resurrection in the location of the Shi-Raka's choice.

The Kroxaa are an ageless species that do not die absent the application of lethal ****. Xenobiologists speculate that the **** aggression displayed by The Kroxaa evolved as a form of population control and that it is only their constant aggression that keeps their population under control. Whether this biological immortality evolved naturally or was engineered into the species millions of years ago is subject to debate.

In their natural dehumanized state, Vreebach lifespans can vary from decades to millennia based on their lifestyle and diet. Those Vreebach who refrain from ingesting fats and animal proteins can expect to enjoy centuries of vitality. Those Vreebach who make a regular habit of eating animals and fatty fruits will rarely live to see their fifth century.

For the races of The Alliance, mortality is a lifestyle choice, its citizens have access to medical treatments which endow them with ageless vitality and endless youth. The Schar, Annareal, and Kalari all treat anyone in their first three centuries of life as the social equivalent of a college kid who lives at home. People are expected to accrue thousands of years of life experience before being considered responsible enough to hold a position of real power.

The Federation cannot stop people from aging, but it can slow aging down considerably and its doctors are more than capable of restoring a person's body through youthification back to their biological prime. Such treatments are free for all humans and available at reasonable prices for xenos with a charitable owner.

Since the Universal Conscription Act of 233, all humans are obliged to join the Federal armed services for a period of no less than five years upon reaching the age of 21. To meet their recruiting requirements, the Federation's Ministry of Education invested heavily into automated systems to train Federation citizens as quickly as possible. The accelogym was the result. A box not much bigger than an office cubicle on the outside where time moves at an accelerated pace and hologram and forcefield projectors controlled by a sophisticated A.I. create a realistic simulated environment in which a baby can be placed within and raised. The child experiences two decades within their box while only a few hours passes in the outside world.

Though many people prefer to raise their own children and enjoy having a family, a significant percentage of the Federation's human and xeno populations are raised by machines.