The distant future of humanity.
The age of the augmented - with nanite tech, human sculpting is used to overcome the hazards of interstellar travel. Death by decay of the flesh is an old myth whispered of in history books. In a reality where people can alter their bodies and minds, a struggle to maintain the human identity evolved into the theory of the soul. Although traits may be enhanced and mental dysfunctions corrected, acceptable thresholds for natural personalities were established. A person's mind; their memories, feelings, and emotions; this cannot be altered. Augments consider themselves human because of this, and the limitations of feelings such as fear or jealousy are accepted as proof of their true natures.
But over the millennia, some factions rose in opposition to augmentation - considering only natural cycles of birth and death essential to be truly human. A few colonized planets renounced their heritage and cut themselves off from the galactic whole. The consensus among the Augmented was to respect these "retros," and so Galactic Law - the codified morality that all Augments try to adhere to - laid out a policy of no contact. Retros should be left alone.
Only a special few regularly engage in interstellar travel. With top speeds of 0.95 the speed of light, a single trip takes years or decades. To withstand the G-forces necessary to reach such speeds, travelers spend most of that time in stasis - suspended animation, possible due to their augmented natures. "Home" for the Augmented is Null Alpha - a colossal space station at the center of explored space. Communication between colonies, ships, and home are limited by light speed, but all send regular reports to Null Alpha, where technological advancements, scientific discoveries and news are sent out to the rest of the galaxy. An interstellar crew may enter stasis at the beginning of a decade-long trip, and awaken at the end with new information available in their minds, new upgrades completed while they lay in stasis.
Human minds sometimes succumb to commit criminal acts, and Galactic Law addresses this, too. For the most egregious of crimes, the most severe punishment is the Soulwipe - the criminal's memories are wiped clean and their core personality altered. Legally, what remains is a new member of society, separate and distinct from the original. Soulwipe is effectively death in the eyes of the Augmented.