The Altered.

guys please don't read this anymore lmao i write totally differently now💋

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In a future where humans are genetically modified -- 'altered' -- at the age of sixteen, the world has been, until now, a safe place. Without changing a person's personality, undergoing the Alteration perfects their appearance, IQ, and even their immunity to diseases. No human passes the age of sixteen without being Altered.

In the blink of an eye, things change.

An ominous message is sent out to all of those below the age of sixteen, providing precise instructions that suggest they flee. Simultaneously, a deadly virus starts to spread all about the world, attacking only the Altered -- every human over the age of sixteen. The virus eats at the modified human brain, and soon the Unaltered begin to realise that the Altered are losing their minds.
Home is no longer safe. Friends and family turn on one another, losing control of their own minds and bodies.
The Unaltered aren't safe. Even if the virus isn't attacking them, the ones with the virus are.

Set on a pristine, futuristic Earth, this is the apocalypse like you've never seen it before.

(Rated mature for graphic depictions of violence and mild language.)

Banner credit to @itsnothardtodreamx

1st Place winner in the 2020 Spring Awards!
Runner up in the 2020 Harmony Awards!
2nd place in the Belle Amé Awards 2020!

[This piece was originally for the Open Novella Contest 2020, but has now surpassed the length of a novella and is a novel.]