Just a normal life

My name is Mateo Hearth and my life is boring and average, and that is saying a lot, after all, you could customize your body in any way you wanted between the limits, a humanoid body was the rule to follow, outside of that is prohibited and sanctioned. It makes people crazy they say, your soul wouldn't accept that body they say, and hell there are lots of examples of that in the news. And my body complies with those rules so much I could be used as a guideline. I'm the average 1.90 meters, with the all perfect 2 arms, 2 legs, and 1 head, basic. And with black hair, light brown skin, 2 eyes, 1 nose, 1 mouth, 2 ears, and I have to be gotta be specific, there are some wild combinations out there. And I'm fine with that, I like my body, I like the simplicity of it, even if the other kids of school call me ancient or outdated.

My only nonbasic feature may be my eyes, they are hearty green with some blue spots, same as my parents, and supposedly my grandparents who I never met, and all Hearths, in which we aren't that many either, just some uncles that I don't see often and an aunt that used to take care of me when my parents were working. And so I was discouraged to change my eyes, everything else was fine, but no my eyes, "that's what makes us Hearths, Mateo. It's a tradition" they say, and it's not uncommon for families to share some features to be physically relatable, so I don't mind it, It isn't outlandish as other eyes I have seen at school.

And that is why boring me is average, of course perfectly symmetrical in all parts, with clear skin, and a model-like body, but that is just plain average. When everyone can change their body, well gradually and with a good length of time, all physical features become something of a fashion statement. Trends come and go, and the new handsome look will be old news the next week. I still remember the awful time when everyone thought having no eyebrows was cool. Even if it only takes a couple of weeks to regrow that little change, it wasn't pleasant to look at in history class, when Mr. Corden decided to have a makeover when the trend started.

And so, I don't put a lot of effort or thought into my looks, I rather spend that time, and more importantly energy, in synthesizing, and you guessed it, everyone else finds it boring, but not me, I like synthesizing, the Hearth method, or at least my version, is great for relaxation and produce great results, even if it is prohibited to tell that info to anyone but your parents.

Synthesization, as discovered long ago, is the ability to gain energy from the suns actively, and it's what gives our nanites, the stuff our body is made of, the energy to live, and when that energy is controlled, it can be used to change or connect with external nanites. In the past, as Mr. Corden told us, humans only absorbed their energy passively and had limited abilities to manipulate external nanites, in their tools, shelter, and clothes. With time, our tools became more advanced and so our techniques. Some better than others, and the sharing of those techniques and tools, now weapons, was the spark that started the first conflicts in Terra. After that, it wouldn't matter if your synthesization technique was better or not, or if your type of tools and weapons were more efficient. The only thing every group wanted was to be recognized as the best, regardless of the actual truth. And the war went on and on, for centuries and centuries, till the 6 more powerful Clans, the Big 6 as are called now, decided to stop, to ceasefire, and to start an alliance to unify the world and stop all conflict between the now nations. They succeded, and are to this day proclaimed as the world saviors, even if those clans are not in the public eye anymore, with just some sightings in history as leaders, diplomats, and sometimes warriors defending the nations.

I am also grateful to the Big 6, they allowed Atena, my home country, to exist, a country where everyone is encouraged to experiment with synthesizing techniques, hoping for better ones each generation, the perfect place for a synhead like me. you know, just normal life.