[ WP ] A tattoo shop where the ink alters your DNA .

Wings were the most common, at first. Everyone wanted wings -- mostly feathery, but a few black and leathery ones as well. That fad died out quickly enough once people realized that the human body did n't have a canvas big enough to allow for wings that could actually support it's weight. 
 
 There's still plenty of dramatic aesthetic body mods, adding horns or turning skin blue or green, but the most common now are the little things. Eyebrows with a little more arch, smoother skin, getting rid of moles or freckles. Light lines and shadows suggesting muscle can encourage actual definition and growth. 
 
 Then there are the specialty shops, the ones that change your race or gender. My grandmother tells me of a time when transgender folks were persecuted, when they had to live their lives in the wrong skin or take hormones. Now it's as simple as a large tattoo in the right place, encouraging the body to conform to what the mind knows and what the tattoo gun directs. 
 
 The government has regulated what can be done, but they can only regulate what they know about. Invisible ink or UV light tattoos can still do the job. Tat hackers find ways to push the human body to it's limits, little waves of lines and codes that edge the human that much closer to the superhuman. The internet whispers of people with hollow bones that can take flight, people who can read your mind, people who can start fires with a flick of their wrist. Every once in a while someone comes forward with a supposed new ability, but it rarely is as impressive as they claim. 
 
 That's because we know it's best to operate in the shadows. Our abilities do us no good if our every move is scrutinized by the media. I am, supposedly, the first of my kind, but I'm sure there will be more. A few specific squiggles of ink at the base of my skull and the world came into sharper focus around me; thoughts and emotions as apparent as the spoken word in the air around people. I'm still working on how to read the signs, but I'm getting there. I have a line from an organization very interested in someone of my skills working for them; I think they might be government, but I'm not sure. For now, I have n't paid for my own meal in three days, so I'm doing alright. I'm content enough to start small. I'll be moving up soon enough.
