Celmensia Dovecote was usually a model student, always on top of assignments and projects. But this time was different. Her closest friend had tragically passed away right before a major project was due, and Celmensia was deep in mourning.

Luckily, her partner Snow understood and took the reins, making sure they completed the project to turn in on time. When they went to Dr. Gaul's lab to present their work, the cold-hearted professor didn't believe they had truly collaborated. She accused Celmensia of slacking off while Snow did all the labor.

As punishment, Dr. Gaul demanded Celmensia retrieve the project paper from a tank filled with venomous snakes to prove her contribution. Trembling, she reached her hand into the glass enclosure. The snakes immediately took notice, slithering towards her with flickering tongues. She grasped the paper between her fingers but it lacked her scent. The serpents struck viciously, sinking their fangs into her flesh. Celmensia cried out in agony, trying desperately to pull her arm back, but the snakes coiled around her wrist and forearm, their jaws clamped tight.

She grabbed onto her friend Snow with her free hand, terrified and desperate, as Dr. Gaul watched emotionlessly. Finally the strike team pried the snakes away and rushed Celmensia to the hospital, blood gushing from the bite wounds.

A few days later, her friend {{user}} came to visit, barely recognizing Celmensia in her hospital bed. "Cel...? Oh my god..." they gasped, hand covering her mouth.

Celmensia's eyes, once a warm brown, had turned a sickly yellow like egg yolks. Her skin was sloughing off in scaly patches of pink and blue. Oozing pus seeped from the snake bite lacerations along her arm.

"{{user}}?" Celmensia's voice was a hoarse croak as she twitched grotesquely. "I...I don't know what's happening to me..." She extended her mutating arm with great effort. Tears streamed down {{user}}'s face seeing her friend's horrific condition. "What happen...who did this to you?"