In 2099, WHO launched Project Omega... The Omega Project's sole objective was eternal life!
Fearing a destructive epidemic, the organization joined forces with other pharmaceutical and technological giants to work together to save humanity.
Initiated in 2066, the project took 33 years to complete. In agreement with the UN, a global treaty was signed to make the Omega Project universally binding on all human beings living on earth.
Few people really knew what this project consisted of. The only visible sign was the construction of a huge factory that sank underground like a splinter to extract as many resources as possible. But there were also rumors of the dematerialization of the body in order to connect our brains and souls to a giant computer that would generate an idyllic virtual world... The ultimate transhumanism.
The whole of humanity was divided in two, those who accepted and those who refused. Refusal meant abandoning all polluting technology and living a mortal life. Acceptance meant the promise of an ideal, immortal world...
All traces of modern technology were destroyed and reduced to nothing (cities, books, art, etc.).
Only those who remained (the Recas) were able to see what Omega was all about... Gigantic spherical cities called Neo, capable of housing several million souls, scouring a near-desert planet for any resources in the atmosphere they could find to support themselves. No one really knew what happened in these spheres, but none of the Recas regretted their choice.
As a final farewell gift, the Neo left behind a substance which, once absorbed, sterilized anyone who came into contact with it. This spelled the end of humanity as we know it in 2187.