A bell chimed as Megan stepped through the door into the clean, brightly lit reception area that the sign outside proclaimed as belonging to the True Beauty Salon. She'd walked in more out of curiosity than because she actually wanted to try it out; when she'd come down this street, she'd been expecting to find her favorite tea shop, but this shiny white storefront had been in its place. The padded benches along the walls were empty; the only people in there were her and the smiling receptionist.
"Hi, Megan!" The receptionist called, and Megan gave a start at the woman knowing her name, but now that she was paying attention, the receptionist did look... kind of familiar.
"Hi," she replied uncertainly, taking a step toward the counter. She was sure she'd heard the woman's voice before, but couldn't remember where. The woman's black coat stretched tight over her considerable chest, with the salon name embroidered on one side and under that, her nametag named her Ally.
Megan's eyes snapped back to the receptionist's face. The beaming smile and flawless skin were completely at odds with the perpetually tired, acne-prone saleswoman who'd worked at the tea shop, but there was no doubt this was the same person.
Ally giggled, probably at the look on Megan's face, then giggled harder as Megan's jaw dropped hearing Ally giggle.
"So, did you want to try one of our treatments?"
"Fucking Christ, Ally, what happened?!" She finally got out, and immediately tried to stammer an apology, but Ally's smile just somehow widened even further.
"I started working here, Megan! The True Beauty Corporation is just the best company ever! They gave me a free treatment when I started and it was the best thing that ever happened to me!" Ally took one of Megan's hands in both of hers and all of Megan's wonder at the changes in Ally's demeanor were overtaken by surprise at the sensation; Ally's hands felt like they were encased in latex gloves like a doctor or dentist, but she wasn't wearing anything on them. Her hands were bare, but when Megan's attention was drawn to them, they looked slightly off. Synthetic, almost. With a bit of uncertainty, she looked at Ally's face again and saw it had the same plasticky sheen to it as her hands.
"Ally," she asked, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable with the situation, "are you feeling alright?"
Ally giggled again, and just like her smile, it was vibrant, happy and started to strike Megan as fake. "Of course, Megan! I'm feeling better than I ever have, and I promise that you will too after your treatment."
Goosebumps rising on the back of her neck, Megan gently extricated her hand from Ally's and started backing towards the door. Whatever was going on here felt creepy and she was getting the distinct feeling that she didn't want to find out what this 'treatment' entailed.
"Ah," she laughed, hoping her nervousness wasn't showing, "well, I guess I'll have to come back some time. Got an appointment to get to right now, sorry, so I guess I'll just..."
She reached the door and tried to push it open. It didn't budge.
"I've scheduled you an appointment for right now. Please head through to the back." It was said with the same perky tone Ally had been using the whole time she'd been there, with no regard for Megan's obvious attempt to leave.
Not wanting to take her eyes off Ally, Megan didn't turn as she threw her weight against the door a couple of times to no avail.
"Open the door," she demanded, her voice shaking slightly.
Unfazed, Ally picked up a phone on her desk and hit a button.
"Security, we have a difficult customer."
Immediately, three women in black pants, white shirts and sunglasses walked out from a back room. All had large breasts, slicked-back hair, and the same synthetic quality to their skin that Ally had. One pulled out a futuristic-looking pistol, sleek and chrome and covered in glowing lights.
Megan gave up on the door at that point and tried to run, not having anywhere in mind beyond away, but the guard took aim and fired an energy pulse at her. There was a sensation like being kicked and her whole body turned limp and unresponsive a second before her mind followed suit and everything went black.
When she woke up, she was tied down in a padded chair with a helmet-shaped hair dryer attached at the top, one of many in a row along one wall. The four chairs to her left each contained another woman in a different stage of transformation; the one furthest from her had the large breasts and rubbery sheen to her skin that marked her as a victim of whatever this place was doing, while the woman closest to her still looked perfectly normal. Each had the hair dryer attachment pulled down onto her head, each had a medical drip of some clear liquid feeding into her arm, each was staring raptly at a screen in front of their faces showing a woman in a True Beauty uniform speaking to them, and each was mindlessly repeating mantras, seemingly unaware of their surroundings.
"The True Beauty Corporation is the greatest corporation in existence."
"I serve the True Beauty Corporation."
"I am a Beauty, a product of the True Beauty Corporation."
Megan started screaming. It had no effect on any of the other women, but she still screamed. Swiftly, a black-coated True Beauty technician appeared beside her and pulled the helmet down onto her head. Megan's head was immediately filled with white noise that drove everything else out. She stopped screaming, forgetting why she was doing it. She was vaguely aware of a woman in a black coat standing next to her, inserting a drip into her arm, and she had the general sense that there was some significance to this fact, but she couldn't bring up what it was. The woman left, leaving her sitting there alone, not sure what was going on and not able to figure out how she should feel or what she should think.
Her concept of time disappeared, so she wasn't sure how long had passed, but eventually the noise in her head changed from a single whining tone to a rhythmic pulsing. Eventually, she started to make out words in the noise, whispered softly in time with the rhythm.
"
Relax
."
"
Relax
."
"
Calm
."
"
Peace
."
"
Relax
."
"
Hello
