Humanity of late 23rd century

Since the early 21st century, by the end of 23rd century, humankind's population grew five times, reaching over 32 billion, gathered mainly in humongous megacities, which often embrace the whole countries as in case of Japan or Poland.

Megacities have layered structure with the richest people living on top and bottom-most being either kept intact as (inter)national heritage or degraded to slums.

Humans no longer have to be bound by gender at birth. Medical improvements allow children to be born as so-called third gender which grants them a choice if they want to be female or male before reaching adultery.

Between age of 4 and 6, every child whose parents can afford it, can receive an implant that will be assisting them through the whole life. Those implants are actually a really complex computers capable of performing all the functions (and more) obsolete smartphones supported until second half of 21st century. Parents are often ready to do anything to get at least a low tier implant for their children - in order to live a decent life, it is a must as most of social communication between adults uses implants as a medium. If you do not have an implant, in most influential circles it is equal to not existing. Getting this built-in technology is a key, especially in a world when one can live up to the age of 200, while still appearing young as 100 year old.

Advanced birth control lets people freely choose the time to get a child, given they have money to afford that. In most advanced countries, the system works really well, but there are still countries that cannot establish birth control support due to lack of funds.

Humanity makes a great use of renewable energy like sunlight, wind, waves/tides or geothermal heat. However, in some regions, nuclear power plants are still operational, mainly due to the climate and lack of other energy sources.

Fuels like coal, fossil gas or petroleum are basically explored with such resources reaching unreal prices, exceeding highest prices set for gold in human history. Only richest people, who can afford classic cars are ready for such cost.

Airplanes are no longer the fastest transportation, being beaten by maglevs reaching speeds u to 4000 km/h. Flying is used only in situations where maglevs route does not have a proper connection to specific destination.

Gravitational or magnetic drives took over the transportation, though sound and fusion propulsion is also used, but not as frequently. Usage of magnetic fields to generate energy is most common in 23rd century.

Glassteel - a new kind of material mixing advantages of glass and steel, used in one of modern Wonders of the World: Tokian Mirrors, protecting the megacity from tsunami.

Artificial gravity was invented to keep natural environment in space. In case of Future, the ship sent to The New Gaia, its core is placed horizontally, connecting the stern with the bow, but the direction set by artificial gravity makes the crew feel as if it was set vertically.

Orbital ring was created around Earth - construction was possible owing to resources gained from mining on Mars and planetoids; main functions of the ring include protection from meteors and building starships.

Cities under domes - technology created for colonizing Mars. Due to long time required for terraforming process to be concluded, temporary cities were established underneath domes with artificial atmosphere inside. Cities on Mars are based on engineering typical of late 20th century with one of cities resembling Manhattan from 1998.

Mecha - advanced stabilizers and light engines with high output made it possible to create bipedal vehicles previously seen mainly in Japanese manga and anime; initially created solely for military purposes and thus named Mobile Tactical Suits, MTS ended up being also used in day-to-day activities. Two models were taken onboard Future for expedition: American-made Savage and Polish-made Ursus, each having distinct features. Savage is a versatile, all-purpose machine - smaller than standard mecha, ideal for quick actions requiring maneuverability. Ursus, on the other hand, is the biggest mecha ever made, originally produced with the purpose of working in mines located on Mars; however, following manufacturer's seeing a modified version equipped with weapons saving the whole country, a new military version was introduced: since then Ursi are known as mobile fortresses.

Field Suits - known as F-suits or simply as FS, these are like smaller brothers of mecha; though they look like special ops gear, these are actually closer to mecha in terms of enhancing user's abilities, but granting visibly lower protection.

Hive drones - as name suggests, it is a group of drones with hive behavior implemented; mainly used for military purposes, may be also used for protection in harsh environment. Equipped with electromagnetic emitters, these drones are capable of rendering much bigger machines non-operational.

Robots - more intelligent than their predecessors made over two hundred years before; there is still a lot of scepticism about mass-producing; mainly used in combat or in harsh environment where people cannot live.

Wyverns - small airplanes designed for reckon, using elecromagnetic and gravitional force to fly.

Mobile factories - heavily modified transporters were equipped with production lines and 3D printers required for creation of components.

Medical tubes and replicators - advanced med systems allow reconstruction of organs; as long as person is alive, it is possible to treat even most severe injuries, except for brain damage.

Despite all of that, humanity is still struggling to continue on living decently. It shows that even with top tier technology available, if you disregard your environment, it will come to haunt you at some point. Moreover, even under the threat of extinction, many will still be bound by money and aim for power.