Set in the year 2600, the human race is divided into two lineages: the Adamists, with their heavy reliance upon nanotechnology, and the Edenists, shunned by Adamists because of their discovery and use of the "affinity" gene. Within this universe, large corporations are developing entire planets for material gains, small planetary systems are at war, alien races flourish peaceably alongside humans, and research is conducted on a civilization that was mysteriously wiped out over two thousand years ago.