>>6043148Before your disbelieving eyes, the flesh sloughs from where the bones should be, but there are none. Not even a skeleton. Liquefied skin collects to a puddle under well-worn boots, which without a structure supporting them, fall to either side. The robes of his office are discarded then, and what lays beneath is unspeakable.
Where once a human stood, now towers a grotesque mass of black sinew and coagulant oil. Nowhere is a distinct face or appendages visible. For the first time in a long time, you are at a loss for words. Raw instinct drives you to grip the sword handle at your waist. The Royal Guard snap to combat readiness and, as drilled, hesitate to fire. Tension like the weight of a gas giant's core crushes the throne room, before the moment passes and a word escapes your synthesizer. "...what!?"
The tendons undulate, and a toothless maw opens in the center. It speaks with a wet, guttural diction. "This has been a long time coming, your majesty." If you had a jaw, it would be agape. "I must confess. I never was human, nor am I descended from any of the genewrights of your magnificent clade." The mass ripples, and the sound of its voice seamlessly shifts to that of the Igor you knew. "My kind are utterly unknown to the wider galaxy. I break a great taboo in revealing myself to you in this way. I will break another, in telling you of our purpose."
