Jacob forced himself to focus on work, managing to get things done despite the lure of the Chronivac. It took a while, but he almost forgot about the bag sitting on the edge of his desk. At least, until he accidentally knocked it off.
He grabbed at the bag frantically, afraid the device might break. Instead, his fingers jammed against the controls and knocked it sideways to land inside his trashcan. There was wadded up paper inside to cushion the fall, and Jacob let out a sigh of relief. Then he saw a faint glow from inside the bag. Uh-oh! He must have accidentally turned it on!
As he reached to pull the bag out, Jacob felt strange - a little dizzy and disoriented - and then the walls around him seemed to grow higher, and his feet lifted off the floor. A look down confirmed that he was a kid again, probably the same 13 year-old from this morning! At least his clothing had adapted to fit. But he had to change back quick before anyone saw him! He fumbled for the gab, and then froze as Kris's voice came from behind. "Whatcha got there, squirt?"
Squirt? Jacob looked up at the fresh-from-college tech, a little bewildered. The young man did not seem at all surprised to see a 13 year-old sitting in Jacob's chair. Did he think Jacob was a family member visiting? Not knowing what to say, Jacob stared blankly, the bag still partway in the trash.
Kris reached in and plucked the bag out of his hand with a grin. "What are you trying to throw away? You know I like to tinker with stuff."
Dave looked over the top of the cubicle. "Leave the kid alone, Kris. He's a better IT guy than you will ever be, even if he should be in middle school."
"Elementary!" Kris grinned as he pulled the Chronovac out of the bag and frowned. "This some kind of new toy? Pretty cool looking! Why are you throwing it out?"
Jacob stared at his coworkers, who clearly saw him as a 13 year-old and still had no problem with his being here. He grabbed his ID badge and checked it - sure enough, it showed him as a kid, with a start date of just last year. And a birthdate that made him 13 years old. Somehow, the Chronovac had changed reality so that his age and job were OK.
But now Kris had the Chronovac, and was messing with the controls. Jacob felt sudden panic - no telling what the young tech would do just playing with controls!