Branson Beauty or the surgery first experimented on on the Phoenix Colony to help people look younger has always drawn a lot of criticism for the vanity involved in keeping the nearly fifty year old Branson looking like a twenty-something. The sin of vanity has been covered in many versions of the broadcast networks across the known worlds.
This process became much worse when the surgery was used on the Tellarite people to remove the notoriously wrinkling skin to leave them looking like the "long pigs" of Earth legend. Basically all that remained of the once defining features of one of the founding races of the Federation was the pig snout. Even high ranking Tellarites like Jaskal Naar'Haaj adopted the more human appearance. Once again, the interplanetary media blamed the surgery and blamed Branson's obsession with looking younger for turning people into humanoid clones and accused the Branson Beauty approach as fundamental in the breakdown of the heritage of great peoples including the Tellarites. Few have heeded the warning, more Tellarites are opting for the nanobot surgery to alter the genetics of their outer appearance.
The process drew even more criticism when members of the Tellarite sub-race, the Tellarite Bovidae, a once enslaved people were able to gain access to the approach. Many members of the Bovidae people had hoped that a more humanoid appearance would help them shed the shackles of their oppressive history. The interplanetary media and many religious and cultural leaders in the Tellar System immediately spoke against abandoning their heritage and their traditions. Examples like Native Americans and African Americans of Earth were paraded out as these once proud people became "more white". This message was criticized by the youth of the Bovidae people claiming that the improved appearance would lead to better integration. These cultural leaders called it better "assimilation" not integration. The words have a special meaning in 2394. Many people lived through the Borg. The word assimilation is a word of terror.
One example of the Bovidae attempts to become more humanoid has been King's Fleet student Betsy Bose who had been a beacon of integration for her acceptance both in the King's Fleet and in the culture of the colonies for her relationship with Covenant Energy CEO Nicole Branson.
Unfortunately, like so many others who have underwent the surgery, the hormones of life alter their approach seeing the nanobotic changes to the features as a virus in the body and keep trying to bring back the original features defined in the DNA code. This means that those hormones have to be dealt with quickly. This is usually done through sexuality and multiple examples have been seen especially involving the Bovidae DNA. Betsy became obsessed with not reverting to her cow like appearance. She had the surgery multiple times, against the recommendations of noted physicians like Dr. Skylight Greene and Dr. Chikace Larle.
On May 24, 2394, Betsy Bose died on the operating table trying to once again reverse the potential reappearance of her calf snout and udder. The death is now being held up as a staunch criticism of the Branson Beauty surgery.
FBN and RBC tried to stick a camera in the face of Branson as she left the medical facility but she quickly headed into the shuttle. The infamous curse of the Black Widow is now being shown by every gossip network in the known worlds. Those persons who became associated with Branson end up dead.
A strong movement is now afoot in the Tellar System to ban the surgery. Other planetary systems are looking at abandoning the attempts to look more humanoid as well. Only time will tell.
Posted by:
Nicole Branson
Widow of Betsy Bose
Cold Camelot, Reykja Penthe
King's Fleet
