Mercury

History
Originally, due to how close Mercury's orbit came to the sun, The White Regime declared that they would not be attempting to reform the planet. It was only with brilliant minds of the best scientists that they had that they were finally able to send people there, creating a barrier larger than that of any other planet in an effort to create a viable ecosystem on Mercury. The scientists who moved there were able to use this shield, The Shell, they named it fondly, to protect themselves from the heat. Amidst all of this, they planted what was necessary for life, finding that plantlife was so close to Sol that it did not need chlorophyll.

Mercury became an officially habitable planet in 3001, when it was announced as a new colony under the Regime. The scientists who had worked so hard to make it considered it their greatest success yet, and found the colourless world (with its clipped brown grasses and blazing sky) to be altogether pleasant. The calming environment flourished, and more and more researchers flocked to the planet.

It took only fifty years before the efficiency of its people became known across the solar system, working on creating new inventions, cures to diseases, testing. And oh, how they did love to test.

Since that fateful day, Mercury has only progressed. Its people are practical and continue their research with whatever means possible, and live a life in pursuit of further knowledge. It is feared and revered as an academic powerhouse, home of the greatest minds in all the worlds.

Interplanetary Relations
Mercury is known for being one of the most openly neutral planets available. Whilst it frowns on nearly any outsider, they love an opportunity to be appreciated for their success. The New Moon provides an ally, and though they do not submit to their will, most of their economy relies on fair trade between the two planets.

Overall, the planet doesn't like to step on any toes, and stays out of any and all affairs. It takes advantage of Mars in that it is an unexplored area ripe for the testing, and when subjects from the planet are brought in sedated for experimentation, they happily accept these non-humans in the pursuit of knowledge.

It isn't that they are racist against the Martians. In reality, a good Mercurian would test on any subject available to them - it is just that Martians are the only they can without stepping on any toes. And they would certainly hate to step on toes.

Other planets view Mercury as what it is; a place of education and higher learning. They do what they must because they can, and are renowned as an uptight society that is neither openly welcoming to visitors, not appalled by them.

Abilities and Environment
Every fifty feet, give or take, there is another ground-based extension of The Shell visible to any and all people who walk the surface of Mercury. There for protection only, it serves to cool the planet's heated environment to a comfortable 28°C, which is constantly maintained in spite of whether it is day or night. It also blocks the highly poisonous atmosphere from the living areas. Their flora has taken on a dull brown hue, grass included, and kept only to produce oxygen for their environment. There are no indigenous animals to Mercury, nor any that have been transplanted here.

Mercurians have taken to cube-like constructs for apartments and work spaces, practical as ever. Every area is connected through a series of spiderwebbing corridors, many of which end in unaccessable laboratories. Their work spaces are built larger than their apartments. Everything is stainless steel, all walls, floors, ceilings, treated with varying finishes depending on the location. Family apartments may be colored, etched or embossed, while the public areas are solely treated so that they do not have a high-gloss shine. The family apartments have no variation, boasting two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a workspace. Children share a bedroom until they move out.

Mercury's people are made with IQ's that on other planets would make them seem like freaks of nature. Though they have developed no heightened senses like other planets have, their IQ range has been known to exceed 200 thus intelligence is their only required attribute.

The people of Mercury only require four hour of sleep in a twenty-four hour span, initialy developed by the first colonists in an effort to get as much work done as is possible, but kept as a deliberate genetic quirk.

Language
Mercurian is well-known as being the most difficult language to learn in the entire solar system. They have over seventy different ways of greeting, ranging from kind of formal to extremely formal. They created flow with grammar that has more rules than sense, and though every Mercurian understands it at a glance, most other races take years upon years to even understand the base of the language. Though it sounds primarily soft and has good rhythmic flow (it was tested for years to determine which sounds people would find most pleasing to the ear), it is wordy and difficult.

Every Mercurian is expected to know a minimum of one other language on top of their complex mother tongue.

Culture and Customs
Mercurian celebrations come only once a year, when the temperature drops to a chilled 27.3°C as the cooling systems power up to prepare for the heat blast the following day. During this celebration, Mercurians take their singular day off for leisure activities. Every other day of the year is spent in work or school, there is no such thing as time off or a vacation on Mercury.

Staring is considered polite on Mercury, among Mercurians. Eye contact that goes into a visual sweep of the Mercurian's fellow conversationalist, and finishes with continued eye contact is the height of polite behavior. It shows to the other that you care enough about them to check and see if they seem ill, so they might get treatment and not be sick or injured. Mercurians are highly aware that not all planets follow the same idea of staring as they do, and can be very strict with children who do not grasp the fact that they may not stare at visitors.

It is considered impolite on Mercury to start a conversation just for the sake of talking. They prefer to the point presentations on all matters, along with hard facts and evidence to back whatever point you're happening to make. They make fine debaters, but terrible conversationalists.

An education is the mark of achievement for any Mercurian child, and every parent is determined their child do the best that they can. In order to not hold any child back from their full potential, each child is tested upon entering first-level studies, to determine what their education track should be. Every child has their own personalized education track, being placed where their first-level testing indicates they are at the level of. It is not unheard of for five year olds to be taking classes with twelve year olds, or twelve year olds with eighteen year olds, if it is a portion of study that they particularly excel in. Everything is by levels, not by years, with first through eighth level considered primary schooling and ninth through twelfth level considered secondary schooling. A child can easily be a first level but taking few courses actually at a first level learning, instead only considered a first level by his or her age.

Graduation from secondary schooling and going to college is a given on Mercury. Yes, there are those that are good with their hands, but everyone is also good at book learning, so it goes without saying that the plumber may very well have his bachelors in physics. Very often a Mercurian will obtain dual or triple bachelor degrees before throwing themselves into their job. What ever the job is, a Mercurian will do it to the best of their ability.

The testing done in first-year commonly is failed by a small segment of children. Traditionally these children are shipped to Earth, where Mercurian-born but Terrestrial-raised adults commonly adopt them. Everyone must be perfect on Mercury, and a child who cannot pass the first-year testing is not perfect. Children are also shipped to Earth for any number of physical ailments that were not caught during gestation, if their parents refuse to raise them. Children can be shipped to the Earth at any age, though primarily it will be before the age of six.

Due to their advanced aging, marriage is the only reason a Mercurian will leave their parents' home before the age of fifty, if they choose to remain on the planet. Despite the small living quarters even familes are assigned, the Mercurians find this more efficient, so that a "large" living area is not given over to a single human being. Children over the age of eighteen have their bedrooms remodeled to allow them their own seperate bathroom and shower in their room, making their childhood room in essence a private apartment, connected to their parents' larger apartment.

Demographics
As of August 3572, Mercury was found to have a population of 4,084,510. Of this, only 403 individuals were not Mercurian born and bred, and 352 of them were expected to leave the planet soon after. The ratio of men to women was precisely 50:50. The average life span of a Mercurian exceeded 100 years by a margin of 20 - 30 more, and the average age was found to be 51.

Appearance and Genetics
Mercurians are strange in that they are currently the only race to employ technology that allows them to select the traits each of their children will carry. Though a few slip ups have been made from time to time, they have successfully bred out a wide array of genes, perfecting the Mercurian race. By carefully selecting a viable man and woman willing to donate, they create an embryo in a petri dish. It is then implanted in a carrier vessel, and when the child is born eight months later, it is passed to a suitable home. It is a three-step process to ensure success without creating too many emotional ties. In combination with the nutritional suppliments, this method of reproduction creates in its people the needlessness for sex, so the people on the whole do not partake in such acts. The rare child that is born through non-Mercurian methods is ostracized and shunned by the majority of the population, unless they can prove themselves through their achievements.

The women stand at 5'5", the men 5'7". Any deviation is an error in genetics that was not caught during gestation. Errors in height are, however, the most common thanks to environmental factors that may be present should the child ever leave the safety of Mercury during their developmental stages.

All Mercurians have brown hair that ranges from a light to medium shade. They carry no gene for anything else, meaning that all Mercurian children will also be brunette when crossbreeding does occur. Mercurians do not grow facial hair. Men and women alike do not let their hair grow much past their shoulders, as it is inconvenient to research.

Thanks to centuries of spending hours inside, Mercurians tend to be very pale.