Loved this. Near perfect short story with great pacing, and it gave a really good entry point to the lore without smothering the story in it. That being said, I can't decide if the theme integration was earned or tacked on at the end.
Viewing post in Always Darkest (OPR Writing Jam 13) jam comments
I definitely had that theme planned from the get go of the story. I just couldn't get the phrasing to work right. Originally the cultist was going to sell the enhancements to the planet touting their authenticity and pedigree. In the end, when things were revealed to be insidious, noting they were close enough. But upon writing the opening, the form and flow changed to be more of an internal political coup which made me have to rewrite the ending dialog.