1269_UgliesFreeBook

BURNING BRIDGES
They stayed up late into the night, talking with Az and
Maddy about their discoveries, their escape into the wild,
and the founding of the Smoke. Finally, Tally had to ask
the question that had been on her mind since she’d first
seen them.
“So how did you two change yourselves back? I mean,
you were pretty, and now you’re . . .”
“Ugly?” Az smiled. “That part was simple. We’re experts
in the physical part of the operation. When surgeons sculpt
a pretty face, we use a special kind of smart plastic to shape
the bones. When we change new pretties to middle or late,
we add a trigger chemical to that plastic, and it becomes
softer, like clay.”
“Eww,” Tally said, imagining her face suddenly softening
so she could squish it around to a different shape.
“With daily doses of this trigger chemical, the plastic
will gradually melt away and be absorbed into the body.
Your face goes back to where it started. More or less.”
Tally’s eyebrows rose. “More or less?”