The RecloySo logo which has the word scribbled on in bold text with two drop shadows and a scribbled underline
A digital art piece depicting many people who have been infected by Skelz as the worms cral out of them. One woman even seems pleased by it all. We see the faded image of a smile with teeth, along with the text Skelz.

Skelz | A Parasite that took over and Became human

by
Joanah Kirk
in
A skelz piece where in Mary and Zack are in an alleyway meeting Nilre, a seemingly friendly Skelz with blue stringlike flesh and a red suit. We see Mary and Zack in striped, tattered cloths. And far behind them is an uneven brick wall.
A photoshop of various people at a table eating dinner. Except, they aren't people, they're Skelz. We can see their stringlike flesh on their bodies, puppeting the bones of these people. The Women have wings on, and the men are bald. There's even kids here. Their eyes sitin their faces, as they would on anyone. But these are the eyes of the hosts they once had. They're all staring at the camera in shock.
A digital artpiece of a Skelz with her string like flesh in the shape of a woman wearing lingerie as she hugs two children next to her. They try to pull away, crying on the couch, but she won't let them leave as the worms crawl into them. Meanwhile, we see through an archway that the kitchen is on fire.
A purple Skelz occupying an empty skull without eyes as it crawls around on the ground. It seemingly smiling with its worms of flesh
Mary and Zack walking around with Nilre at a Skelz marketplace. Mary is wearing her purple dress while Nilre has a top hat and white gloves. He's suggesting to Mary to leave alone one of the venders.
A digital art piece depicting many people who have been infected by Skelz as the worms cral out of them. One woman even seems pleased by it all. We see the faded image of a smile with teeth, along with the text Skelz.

Skelz are a creature concept of mine for a story I’m developing called Thought of the New. They’re essentially strange zombies. This string like mesh of flesh parasite that wound up infecting humans. A war brewed, trying to stop them as they spread around, At first acting feral, but slowly grew more human, even tricking various people into trusting them before infecting them as well.

Humans had tried many things to kill them, even nukes, but nothing seemed to work. All it did was make the world less hospitable to humans.

The story takes place years after the world has settled with Skelz now as the dominant species, acting human. Every host they gain new memories, new personality traits, keeping some of their own. So many choose to act human, pretending there’s nothing wrong. Pretending that this is how things have always been. Them puppeteering the bones of their once hosts.

Mary and Zack facing the Skelz

Two kids take the lead of this story. Those kids being. Mary and Zack. They’ve been hiding from these creatures for years, but find themselves falling back into the world, and they’re faced with the reality that the Skelz are more docile than before. But is this all a trap? They can’t simply forget what happened to their friends and family. What happened to their parents.

They find themselves taken in by a seemingly friendly Skelz named Nilre. He’s blue with a red suit and hat. Hungry and alone, the two kids are desperate for the food they’re given in this strange world. The two wonder if they can accept how things are now, or how they can escape, not wanting to cause a scene.

It seems the Skelz don’t even notice they’re humans. But is that a trick? Surely, they can see the skin on these two. Surely they can tell with the eyes… the eyes of their previous hosts. Somehow they can see through those. Their tendrils mimicking not just muscles, but neurons as well. It’s like they’re all neurons covered in a layer of muscle.

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