To go along with the previous post, which had the original entry, this post has the promised re-draft. It features several noticeable differences alongside added segments from before and after the original extract. Enjoy!

Skin Deep Re-Draft

Good morning, Bright Sparks and Visioneers! It’s a beautiful, brand-new day on Tau Zeta. Please head to your workstations so that you can do your part in keeping the homeworld young and vibrant. Video screens throughout the corridor relayed the announcement made by a young and energetic woman. Her voice, however, was being slowly drowned out by the bustling soundscape of rush hour on Tau Zeta’s enclosed capital.

Within the crowd of perfect faces, one stood out: older, flustered, weaving unskillfully through the throng of colonists getting to work. Her nametag read Hera, Head Visioneer, and she continued to battle her way through until she reached what looked like a door to a high-level meeting room.

Opening the door, inside sat several important-looking people around an office table, all as young and beautiful as those in the corridor. Curiously, the only difference between the meeting tables on Earth and Tau Zeta was the built-in vanity mirrors allocated to each seat.

Moving to the head of the table, Hera began to address the team.

“Apologies for the delay, but we’ve got a lot to get through, so let’s get straight to it.” She went to pick up a tablet with the day’s agenda on it, only to stop, noticing that her team were staring oddly at her.  

“Is there something wrong? We have a lot to get to.” Unsure of how to answer her pointed question, it took her close colleague, a clean-shaven man, to break the ice.

“Hera… you look so old!” On a planet once said to have been able to conquer star systems on looks alone, the very mention of ageing was blasphemous. Before Hera could respond to the insult, however, someone more diplomatic chimed in.

“You’re showing signs of ageing, Head Visioneer!” The very notion took Hera by surprise. She’d only just taken her first dose this morning. Peering into the vanity mirror next to her seat, she was shocked and disgusted by what she saw. While only just starting to emerge, the clear signs of her advancing age were plain for all to see.

“Excuse me.” She left the room, finding the nearest powder room to regain her composure. Seeing that it was empty, she then proceeded to take a small pill out of her purse before swallowing it.

Plain and unassuming, the pill that she had just taken could’ve easily been mistaken for a commonplace paracetamol. However, this drug’s effect had nothing to do with alleviating pain; it was the Great Luminary’s wonder drug. Known as Rejuvia, it could stop and reverse all signs of ageing—so long as you took it twice a day.

Perhaps the one she took this morning had come from a faulty batch; it was rare but not unheard of. However, any worries about the second pill were quickly wiped away as soon as it started to take effect.

Within minutes of taking the drug, ripples coursed across Hera’s body. The wrinkles and crow’s feet vanished without a trace, leaving an appearance even a twenty-year-old would envy. Hera smiled slightly as her body went back to normal. Without warning, however, intense pain shot throughout her body—something had gone wrong.

Completely crippling her, she’s forced to the ground in a futile attempt at gaining back any sense of control. Under the soft light of the powder room’s LEDs, it was clear that it was already too late. Far from the picture of health, Hera’s glow had transformed into slimy, translucent skin.

Now able to see beneath the epidermis, something strange and inhuman had become visible. Grey and pulsating, it was trying to set itself free.

“AHHH!” Screaming under the pressure, it was the last sound Hers would ever make. Before too long, two wings, cracked and imperfect, emerged from her back. Next, a demonic and grotesque body escaped. It was littered with ugly, bumpy protrusions that seemed completely out of place in a colony world that valued youth and beauty over all else.

Without much delay, it had fully freed itself, escaping through an air vent. Hera, however, had not survived the ordeal. All that was left of her was a husk, like that of a shed snakeskin, covering the floor…

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