Skin Husk – Kobo eBook

Ruth Calder finds the defect under an inspection lamp: a pale crescent at the edge of a protective suit’s visor. The suit was last worn by her brother Ellis, two hundred and forty-seven days ago. The service record still lists the shoulder injury he has since recovered from. Ruth marks the suit to be held back. It should never leave her bench.

Then she sees Ellis in the glass corridor. He ducks beneath a pipe and moves with the stiff shoulder she remembers. The real Ellis is standing beside her.

At Aegis Renewal Services, a returned suit is supposed to pass through the building in one direction. Every cage has a destination. Every repair leaves a record. Now Ruth and the night shift have to trace equipment that may already be on the road while something wearing a familiar face learns which gestures make people step closer. The first time it gets Ellis wrong, Ruth knows exactly what to look for. The next time she sees it, the mistake is gone.

As the shift turns into a fight to keep the breach from spreading, the crew can move fast or take the time to verify who is standing on the other side of the glass. Both choices leave somebody exposed. Ruth has spent years catching faults that other people wave through. Tonight, the hardest thing to identify may be the brother she thinks she knows by heart.

Skin Husk is a body-horror novel set over a night shift where a familiar face can get something close enough to touch you.