The Colonials were a tragic posthuman species whose origination story is one of injustice and cruelty. They were created through genetic manipulation by an alien race known as the Qu, who had invaded the home planet of the Star People. The Star People had remarkably managed to heroically repel Qu invasion forces on two separate occasions. However, the third time, the Star People ultimately fell to the superior Qu forces after a hard-fought campaign of resistance.
Seeking twisted retribution against the Star People for their stubborn defiance, the evil Qu decided to genetically alter and transform the captured Star People into a new servant race - the Colonials. The Qu were ruthless and unethical masters, intentionally designing the Colonials' bodies to be able to suffer and retain intelligence, but also be restrained as living filtration devices for Qu waste products.
The once free Star People were warped against their will into engineered brick-like shapes called Colonials. Their bodies were cubed and immobilized, with random orifices created to filter feed on Qu waste. They retained the complex eyes and advanced intelligence of their human ancestors. However, their nervous systems were minimized, so that the Colonials could feel maximum pain and anguish at their horrible predicament of being trapped as living waste processing units.
The Colonials were also designed with both sexual and asexual reproductive capabilities so their population could be maintained over time. Some Colonials had both eyes positioned on one side of their cubic bodies, often on the same side as their filtration orifices. Others had one eye on each side, with the orifices and remaining eye randomly placed. No two Colonial bodies looked exactly alike, but all were optimized to maximize suffering and submission.
After the Qu departed, the enslaved Colonials were left behind, forced to reproduce and expand for around 40 million years. Over time, Colonial evolution took divergent paths, forming specialized colonies with different adaptive traits. Some grew enormous taproots to access distant resources, while others developed starfish-like limbs for locomotion. Certain colonies evolved poisonous claws and aggressive weaponry, triggering an intra-species arms race, while other colonies responded with defensive armor plating. One colony even produced enormous watcher eyes to survey for threats.
Despite their horrifying origins and twisted mutations, the Colonials proved highly adaptable and resourceful, evolving a wide array of survival strategies. However, their advanced minds could never forget the gross injustice inflicted upon them and the unspeakable atrocities done to their Star People ancestors. The Colonials persisted, making the best of their cursed predicament, waiting and hoping for a chance at redemption. Their story represents the depths of suffering inflicted through unethical bioengineering and the potential for the indomitable spirit to overcome adversity.