Miran Species Profile

[Kyan Mackenzie]

Miran

_{Official Starfleet Species Report}

Homeworld: Miri's Planet, Earth II, or M-2553
Species Classification: Humanoid
Affiliation: United Federation of Planets
Language: Federation Standard, Other Terran Languages
Currency: None
Leadership: Federation Oversight Council
First Warp Flight: N/A; Post-Industrial Society
First Contact: 2266
Year Joined UFP: N/A; Federation Protectorate
Species Features: Slow Aging, Identical to Terrans, Juvenile Physiology
Canon Appearance: TOS Ep 8, "Miri"

The Onlies, known today as Mirans, were children native to the Beta Quadrant who were the sole survivors of a viral holocaust on their homeworld. They were discovered by the crew of the Constitution-class USS Enterprise NCC-1701 in 2266 when the Enterprise investigated a radio distress signal coming from an uncharted planet.

Physical Profile

Appearance
In physical appearance and internal anatomy, the Miran race is identical to Terrans due to their planet's similar evolutionary history (see Notes, below). Nearly all surviving Onlies are prepubescent, with only a few having aged into adolescence, so the entire race is composed of children - all of whom are over 400 years old. Their inability to physically mature has left them imbued with juvenile energy, impulses, and shortfalls - such as the need for play and more hours of sleep for healthy development. As the active form of the virus which caused this de-aging mutation proved fatal to the sexually mature population of the time, there are no Miran adults and it is unlikely that any of the surviving Miran population will age into adulthood for centuries to come.

Lifespan
The product of their forebears attempts at prolonging life, the children of Miri's Planet had their RNA re-written by a virus which functioned in preadolescent beings to alter their metabolism so that they would age 1 month for every 100 years. The successful genetic manipulation gives the surviving Onlies a life expectancy of 80,000 years or more - barring disease, injury, or disaster. At the time that Captain Kirk discovered the Onlies, the children were already over 300 years old and had managed to survive on their planet alone while still playing like the young people they appeared to be.

Psychological Profile
While as varied as any group of children, Miran's exhibit the same developmental processes as is common in human children. The stereotype is that they are often hyperactive, mischievous, and prone to rapid shifts in their emotions. What makes Mirans unique is their demonstrated survival instinct, as evidenced by surviving alone on a planet for over 300 years, and the experience they have gathered in the last century with exposure to advanced education and the Federation. In terms of psychological maturity and bearing, no two Mirans are exactly alike and their individual differences are as widely spaced as in the humans they resemble so closely. Almost all are playful in some fashion and refer to their games as foolies

Homeworld

Located in the Beta Quadrant, beyond human colonial expansion as of the mid-23rd Century, the homeworld of the Onlies was first discovered by the USS Enterprise. The world is geographically exact in comparison to Earth, including planetary composition, density, atmosphere, geological development of continents and oceans, and evolution of the species. In 2266, Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy described Miri's Planet as being a textbook example of Hodgekin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development. That is, the requirements for life to form in the vastness of space requiring similar conditions be present, that there would exist worlds with no connection to one another that had undergone parallel evolutionary processes to identical result.

Prior to the arrival of Starfleet and the Federation, the level of technology on Miri's Planet was consistent with a post-industrial society equivalent to the mid-20th Century on Earth; however, the extinction of the planet's adult population had left the world to undergo centuries of decay as the children were unable to maintain the facilities and technology.

The Federation Council elected to make Miri's Planet a protectorate following first contact with the Federation in 2266 and the recommendation from Captain Kirk. A mission was established, staffed by teachers and doctors, in order to provide adequate educational and developmental support for the Onlies.

History

Almost nothing is known about the early history or development of Miri's Planet and its indigenous people. Given the similarity to Earth and humanity, it is supposed that the planet's development followed the same pattern as Earth's, and the evolution of the species similar patterns to Terrans.

Life Prolongation Project

"You know grups, you know what they do. The hurting. Killing... That's right, the way it was in the before time.
- Jahn (Star Trek: The Original Series, "Miri")

_{An example of the metabolic decay, rapid aging, and insanity associated with the active form of the Life Prolongation Virus that destroyed all adult lifeforms on the Miran homeworld.  Image copyright Paramount}

At some point prior to 1960 CE, scientists on Miri's Planet began experimenting with viruses as a means by which to extend the mortal lifespan. Called the Life Prolongation Project, this genetic research ended with the disastrous release of a global pandemic sometime between 1959 and 1966. The virus worked as originally designed when it inhabited the bodies of prepubescent children; re-writing their metabolic processes to slow their aging, at which point the virus became inactive in their bodies; however, in adolescent and adult populations the virus became unstable and mutated into a deadly strain that accelerated the person's metabolism. Symptoms of the mutated virus included disfigurement, madness, and eventual death. As the pandemic decimated the world population, the children were made victims at the hands of their enraged and insane parents, guardians, and teachers... until the adults died. And all that remained were the children.

Gathering together for survival, the children came to identify themselves as the Onlies and sought shelter inside of the cities where they could scavenge for food stores and hide inside of the buildings. As centuries past, from time to time one of the children would age into adolescence, at which point they would become infected with the mutated form of the virus and die as their parents had.

First Contact

"But I remember the things you grups did. Burning. Yelling. Hurting people..."
- Miri (to Captain James T. Kirk), 2266

On stardate 2173.5, the USS Enterprise was on a mission of exploration through the Beta Quadrant when the ship detected an Earth-style radio signal transmitting what appeared to be an automated distress beacon. Arriving at the source of the transmission, the crew discovered a planet that seemed a duplicate of Earth. Beaming down to the surface, they found an antiquated ghost town. Tracing the source of the transmission, the landing party was first assaulted by a disease ravaged man - who suffered a fatal seizure shortly after - and then discovered a girl hiding in the ruins of a building. Identifying herself as Miri, the girl explained that there was no adult left alive on their planet; which was now populated solely by the Onlies. To Kirk's astonishment, Spock estimated Miri's age to be over 300 years.

The members of Kirk's landing party soon discovered they were now infected with the same mutated virus that had centuries ago decimated the planet, save for Science Officer Spock. Kirk quarantined the landing party until Doctor McCoy could find a treatment for the fruits of the Life Prolongation Project; something McCoy called a failure despite Miri being evidence to the contrary. Initially feared and despised by the Onlies because of their distrust of grown ups, Kirk struggled to get the children's cooperation as McCoy worked to cure their disease. Though neither Kirk or McCoy was successful at first, both would later achieve their individual goals. Kirk secured the cooperation of the Onlies, while McCoy used himself as a guinea pig in a gambit to see if his serum was a cure or poison.

The mutated form of the virus cured, the genetic manipulation done to the children's metabolism remained. Leaving members of his own crew behind to take charge of the children, Kirk requested that the Federation send teachers and caregivers to establish a formal mission on Miri's Planet, concluding Federation First Contact with the Onlies.

This first contact would appear to violate the Prime Directive.

Children of the Federation Family

Under the watchful eye of the Federation mission on Miri's Planet, the 'Mirans' - no longer thinking of themselves as the Onlies - have developed an eclectic and unique culture of their own. While governorship of Miri's Planet technically rests in their duly elected Council of Youngers, the legislative body more closely resembles a children's clubhouse than a planetary authority and the Mirans seem content to allow the Federation Institute to manage the day-to-day administration. Inquisitive and precocious, Mirans were serving in Starfleet as early as 2292, when Evangeline Erinth became the first Miran to serve aboard a Federation starship.

Today, with over a century of advanced education under their belt since that fateful first contact with the crew of the Enterprise, Mirans are a race of opposites; equally adept at navigating a playground as they are at advancing the professional fields they elect to explore; such as Miran engineers, who are known for their unconventional designs, or Miran scientists who look for new methods of candy making with the same imaginative approach they might apply to astrophysics.