Put simply, Chimerics are genetically-engineered or modified organisms. The situation is far more complicated, however, by the fact that chimerics can evolve and develop in unpredictable ways, becoming noxious parasites or multiplying herders. Parasites are described in another section. Chimerics are their benign cousins. Chimerics range from seemingly-normal cows with enlarged udders to exotics such as miniature rhinos and the all-new runt which resembles a heavy-set pony/camel cross that can go for two weeks without food or water and is amazingly strong.

The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 freed up huge resources in the genetics industry. Increases in computing power made gene-identification much faster than previously possible while the improvement of gene-splicing and other modification techniques allowed a debate on the nature of genegineering to emerge in the Noughts. That debate was won by pro-choice geneticists with backing from industry amidst the general tolerance of the public. Huge advances were made in the 2010s - including the discovery of the now-common Clotis generator - which culminated in the alleged deployment of grown creatures bred for war into the jungles of Sumatra by the US Special Operations Command.

The War changed all that. Everyone remembers that war as the Dirty War, for good reason. All the human mastery of genegineering was turned towards death and corruption. A billion people died, and everyone was afraid for their lives in a world suddenly thrown into ecological disaster and biological backstabbing. Mutant organisms roamed like wildfires from one hot zone to the next, with scientists' supposed anti-species cures only making things worse and accelerating the fatal cycle of hyperspeed evolution. The consequences of this disaster were predictable; a complete clampdown on genegineering and other technologies in the form of the draconian Technology Control Regime (more on this here).