The first thing I noticed were the eyes—glowing orange-red, like backlit amber. They didn’t blink. Just stared, wide and unblinking. Something about their shape was off, warped… almost reptilian. They made my skin crawl.

  Then the teeth—fangs, I thought at first. Sharp. Predatory. Gleaming like polished bone. But something was off. The longer I stared, the more the truth twisted into view. They weren’t fangs—just canines. Elongated, unnaturally so, sharpened to precise, cruel points. Too smooth. Too white.

  The others were different. Duller. Slightly yellowed. Ordinary, almost forgettable. But those canines… they didn’t match. They stood out like something foreign forced into place—silent, gleaming threats among the rest.

  They didn’t look like they were made for eating. They looked like they were made for killing.

  Claws came next. I hadn’t noticed them at first, but now I couldn’t stop seeing them—long, curved, built for rending, twitching slightly as if eager to be used. They looked... hungry.

  But it wasn’t until I saw the ears that something in me truly recoiled. Pointed, orangish-red things that twitched with a kind of consciousness—as if they could hear my thoughts. Or maybe just my heartbeat, which was far too loud now.

  And then the tail. Long, fluffy, deceptively soft-looking. Orange, fading to a blood-red tip that pulsed subtly in the low light.

  I stared at the thing in the mirror. It stared back.

  And I realized—

  I hadn’t moved.

  I looked away —but the reflection didn’t.

  It lingered. Just a beat too long.

  When I finally dared to glance back, it was in sync again, but the damage was done. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. My heart thudded like it was trying to outrun me.

  That thing was me.

  Those were my eyes. My teeth. My claws.

  No amount of blinking or shaking my head could undo it. I reached up, slow and shaky, and watched my reflection do the same. My fingers hovered just below my face, afraid to touch what I might feel—but curious, too. I brushed a fingertip against one of the sharp canines. It was cold. Too smooth. Almost artificial.

  The kind of thing you’d find in a lab, not my mouth.

  “What did they do to me…” I whispered.

  ARIS’s voice chimed into my skull, calm and detached.

  “Eighty-one percent?” My voice cracked.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I backed away from the mirror. My tail dragged behind me, brushing against the floor like it had always been there. Like it belonged.

  I didn’t feel human anymore.

  I didn’t feel like anything I had a word for.

  Just a thing stitched from teeth and fur and someone else’s idea of survival.

  I turned away from the mirror. I didn’t want to see myself anymore.

  Not like that.

  "Aris? Where is this orientation module?"

  "Why did you do this to me?"

  "What? What was that?!?"

  "No not that. The other part!"

  "So my eyes aren't working now?"

  "Fine. Whatever."

  I walked into my pod and tapped the screen. Which then played a video.

  "Ok. Aris what's my first class?"

  "What next orientation video?" I asked before another video played on the screen.

  "Aris where is this Phcw the orientation video mentioned?"

  “Thanks,” I muttered, walking over and picking it up. It looked like a sleek wristwatch. The moment I touched the top, a holographic panel flickered to life.

  “Cool. A fancy smartwatch... yeah, that totally makes up for being a genetic freak.”

  I tapped through the glowing interface. “Aris, where can I get some food in this place?”