And Jack knew just the place. After hastily making some sandwiches and The boys ran outside where, thanks to the chronivac, they found five bicycles sized just right for their new 10 year old bodies. Fire haired Jack led the other four boys on a two mile ride across town which was fairly exhausting for boys their size. Finally, they rode through the elaborately landscaped entrance of Rosewood Village. Jack explained that his mother had wanted to move there but that they hadn't been able to afford it. He'd gone with his parents and had seen the place then. The lack of affordability didn't surprise Tony as he looked around. The townhouses in clusters of eight were all bigger than either the St. Martin or Sullivan houses. the units in pairs were even more so. The cars in front of the townhouses or in the few small parking areas were the newest, biggest, best SUV's and sports cars.
A few people glanced askance at this squadron of 10 year old boys rolling through Rosewood Village, but no one said anything or tried to stop them. Jack led them to a far corner of the site where a crushed stone path left the parking lot. Jack led them 100 feet along the path. Even the woods alongside it were manicured, the trees all pruned and ornamental shrubs planted here and there. Jack swerved off the path and tossed his bike to the ground. "Here it is!" he shouted and immediately stripped off his kid's clothes and sneakers. He ran screaming down to a pond that the others could just glimpse below them through the leaves. With their emotional maturities all set at the same 10 years old as their physical maturities, the boys immediately followed suit and ran after Jack equally naked shouting just as boisterously.
Lightning fast Tony was catching up to little Jack when, all of a sudden, through the woods, he could see a pond, maybe a hundred feet across with sides of vertical granite and boulders. But right in front of them was a sort of stone platform jutting out toward the water with a very thick rope hanging over it. The rope attached to the high branch of a mighty oak adjacent to the pond. Jack never broke stride, grabbing the softball sized knot at the end of the rope and swing out over the pond with a shout of "Geronimo!" before splashing down in the pond a good 8 feet below. Little Tony jumped up and down waiting for the rope to swing back and pulled it to the back of the platform before following suit. The water of the pond was deep and crystal clear. It was also cold. But after a minute of swimming and playing with Jack, it didn't bother Tony at all.
Over and over in the remaining warmth of afternoon, the boys jumped into the pond from the swing rope. They had contests for swimming which, all of which, to Eric's chagrin, Tony won. They had contests for coming up with the most spectacular jump into the pond and to try to retrieve rocks thrown to the bottom. As light started to dim, the five boys pulled on clothes again, mounted their bikes and rode back to the St. Martin house.
They had bowls and bowls of their favorite sugary cereals for dinner and spent the rest of the night watching tv and wrestling with each other. At 10:30, Jeff, who had kept his own emotional maturity setting at 16 years old surveyed the scene. Tony and Mark, wearing only Spiderman underoos and with dried milk and sugar still circling their lips were asleep in the middle of the pillows on their parents' queen size bed with unaccountably naked Jack in between them, all three spooning, on their right sides with left arms over each other. Jeff swept bits of Super Sugar Crisp and Count Chocula off the bed and then shook Eric, asleep in a nearby chair with a still lit video game in his lap. "Time to go to bed, Eric". Eric yawned and nodded then climbed up onto the bed and moved right into formation on his right side behind Tony. Jeff laughed. Well, alright, he decided. He turned off the tv and went over to the other side of the bed where the clock radio was and slid under the covers in front of Mark.
They woke in almost the same position except for some intertwining of legs. All five took a moment to remember being turned into 10 year olds and immediately had some more cereal. They set out on what would be the pattern of their next few days. Pack sandwiches and sodas and ride out to Rosewood Village. Then strip and jump, swim and play and laugh for several hours at Rosewood Village's swimming hole, then laugh and ride back home at 5 o'clock or so. That was followed by more cereal, laughter, games and tv before sleeping in a heap on Tony and Mark's parents' bed.
The boys might've gotten tired of going to Rosewood Village's pond anyway but the decision to try something different was made for them on Monday. The boys had had a rollicking good time again and were laughing as they jogged back up to their clothes by the crushed stone path. Their bikes were right where they'd left them but their clothes were nowhere to be found. The boys panicked. Mark started listing all the ways they could be arrested and wondering who would be called seeing as they were in a sort of limbo away from parents. Tony and Jack immediately set about trying to find their threads. They looked all around the woods and gradually worked their way toward the parking lot. They saw an old woman look at them disgustedly as she got into her Mercedes sedan and ducked belatedly behind a shrub topped with purple flowers. Both saw the dumpster at the corner of the parking lot at the same time. In the distance, from another portion of the site, they heard a garbage truck emptying a dumpster.
"Oh shit" both grumbled and they ran over to the dumpster oblivious to who may be looking and see two naked boys. They hadn't been near a dumpster since reverting to being 10 year olds, so it seemed gigantic. There were trash bags at the front of it such that Tony and Jack couldn't see inside. Jack tried to pull himself up on it but failed. Tony jumped and pulled and stood atop the corner of the metal box. He took a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching and saw curtains ruffle at the window of one of the nearest units. From atop the box, Tony could see all their shorts, t-shirts and sox and shoes in a pile in the middle of the open side of it. "I see 'em!" he shouted to be heard by the three in the woods. A fresh rumble from the garbage truck could be heard in the distance. "Hurry up then!" snapped Jack. Tony walked the tightrope of one edge of the open side and then stretched his leg out to the metal cover of the other half. He was in a complete split that he could not have made as a 16 year old. He reached down among the refuse and grabbed a handful of whatever he could. A shirt, a pair of shorts and a shoe went flying up into the air to land aside the dumpster and be retrieved by Jack. Over and over, Tony swung one arm into the dumpster in a sort of windmill motion that ended with his launching an article of clothing out to Jack or the others now gathered there. Only his own incredible hulk underoos and shorts remained but they were at a lower spot than any of the other items had been. Tony stretched his rubbery little body as far as he could but his fingertips were just short. He swiveled his little hips a bit, stretching his legs even further so that his rear was actually below the top of the dumpster. He swung his arm, clutched and got the articles and then threw them up in the air in one motion. But he couldn't control his momentum and soon he was windmilling both arms trying to regain his balance. With a thud, he hit his head on the frame of the box as he fell inside.
"Tony!" Jeff had been the first to get dressed, little Jack hadn't put on a thing yet, and returned to the dumpster opening only to see Tony fall in. This was when the garbage truck came into view. With a poorly muffled rumble it turned the corner of the nearest building and headed straight for their dumpster. Jack joined Jeff in waving frantically for the driver to leave the dumpster alone. The middle aged man in the driver's seat wore earmuff style headphones though and didn't hear a word they said. He saw a naked red haired boy and another boy jumping around like little animals and just went about his job.
To the boys' horror, the truck moved quickly and efficiently in and slid giant prongs into slots on both sides of the box. With an increased mechanical rumble, the truck swung the box up over the top and, with the box upside down over the opening in the top of the truck, gave it a shake to make sure all the contents of the dumpster had fallen out. The driver managed the process as he always did despite the amazing sight in front of him. The naked red haired boy had climbed up on the front of the truck and was pounding on the windshield hysterically. He pushed the lever to drop the box and pressed the button for compaction. The little fire haired animal went even more crazy. He gave the little wild boy a squirt up the butt from the windshield washer spray and rapped his little fingers with the windshield wipers. Banshee boy jumped off and the driver did his three point turn and left, oblivious to the screams of the boys.
Jeff had tried to run after the truck but Jack, Mark and Eric remained where the truck had just been. They were the ones who heard sounds from inside the dumpster. With a boost from Eric, Jack was up on top of it and swinging open the metal top of one side. "Tony!" he called out with a shout of joy. There on the bottom of the dumpster with his hands fingers still curled around a thin cross brace bar at the back of the box. Jack jumped in and helped Tony up and then out of the dumpster. As they went back to the pond to wash some indeterminate crud off themselves, Tony explained that he'd hit his head and grabbed the bar just as the box was being lifted to be emptied out. His buddies all gave Tony hugs before they got on their bikes. But they didn't immediately drive home. They stopped at the entrance and each of the five chose one of the rose bushes in front of the complex's elaborate sign and pissed on it as much as he could. They jumped on their backs and pedaled off at top speed.
The next day, they went to the town run pool almost equally distant from the St. Martin house in another direction. They had to wear suits there and the lifeguards seemed ridiculously bossy. Toward the end of the afternoon, one picked Tony and Jack up out of the water holding each by one wrist and pronounced them officially thrown out of the pool for splashing a group of girls who complained vehemently about them, though it was a setup because the girls had splashed them first.
The day after that, they went to the six flags park two towns over. They had to ride a bus to get there and once there were happy to find that all of them were just a little taller than the marks on the "You must be this tall to go on this ride" signs. They rode all the coasters and the other big rides. They filled their little bellies with pretzels, cotton candy and soda. By the time they got home to the St. Martin house at 8 pm, they just crawled into bed and slept.
When Thursday rolled around, Tony's brother wanted to try some more chronivac magic. After much pleading, Jeff agreed to turn Mark into a greyhound and Tony as well, to go with him. Tony went first, Mark marveling at his brother's metamorphosis as Tony sprouted a tail and fur and his face reshaped and then Mark became a greyhound as well. While Jeff and Eric spent the day at a cub scout camp, the two St. Martin dogs went to the park for a day of frisbees and running, with Jack who pretended to be their owner. Just as Tony did before and again this time, Mark loved it. The amazing feeling of speed of being a greyhound combined with the fascination of the new sense of smell and animal instincts made it a much more exciting ride than anything at the amusement park. When they got home, Jack served them dog food which the enthusiastically gobbled up. They stayed dogs overnight, sleeping atop the covers while their 3 friends were underneath. As soon as Jeff got up, he turned them back into their 10 year old boy selves.
Mark couldn't stop talking about how great it had been and Tony took the opportunity to . At the swimming hole, he'd told Mark all that they'd done and that had been done to them. When he told Mark about being gay and having sex with Jack, Mark had blanched. Tony tried to make the point that what you do transformed into another body or with a transformed mind was no reflection on what you naturally are. But the look in Mark's eyes when Jack made a joke about being sodomized by Tony told him that Mark had a hard time accepting that it didn't reflect on you. But Tony asked Mark how he felt about eating dog food. Mark felt it was silly to see anything wrong in it. He was a dog, after all. Tony made the analogy to being gay and being the bottom or giving fellatio and Mark reluctantly admitted it was the same principle.
"But, that Emma Chase made you do that with your best friend?"
"It was probably easier to do with Jack than anyone else. My best friend? A guy who I already felt brotherly affection for? A good looking guy. All that's missing for is for the two of us to want guys and she zapped that into us. And while it was, it was cool."
"Really?"
"I'd be lying if I told you that it wasn't fun"
"Jack?"
Jack sitting right there listening, looked Mark in the eye and nodded. "That's part of the use of the chronivac, Mark" said Jack. "Understanding. You know what it's like being a dog now don't you. Tony and I know some of what it's like being gay. We're our real selves again, but we understand that. And that's cool."
Mark sighed. "Wow"
"I don't feel any shame at all in the stuff we did" said Tony. "And we did everything" laughed Jack. "That wasn't the real me" continued Tony, "I've dated Jennifer and Kristin since then but I carry the memories with me and any inclination at all to make fun of a gay kid is completely gone." Jack nodded. "Well, I didn't do that anyway. Phil Lukowicz, the kid with the pink hair? I'm friends with him"
One other subject interested Mark. Tony's appearance. He and Jeff had explained the chronivac and how Emma Chase erasing his profile had forced him to pick someone else to be. But it wasn't the mechanics of it or the process that confused him. Mark wanted to look like Tony now did. The idea that Tony had once had the same huge nose and loving cup ears as he did but now looked like a slim god suggested only one thing. He could, too. Why not? He hinted as much to Jeff who said that the chronivac wasn't just a plastic surgeon and that he, Eric and Jack hadn't changed anything about themselves.
Sunday morning rolled around and Mark happened to be alone with Jeff in his parents' bedroom. Jeff glanced over at the framed pictures on the small table next to Mrs. St. Martin's dresser. Mark stepped forward. "See a theme?" he asked. Jeff looked at the forest of them. There were expensive metal frames for 8 by 10's. There were postcard sized pictures in wood frames. There were all size pictures in between. Jeff saw photos of Mr. and Mrs. St. Martin, both old and recent. He saw photos of Mr. and Mrs. St. Martin and their daughter Cindy, recent older, posed, natural and in various vacation locations. He saw all sorts of photos of Cindy St. Martin.
"Hey, there aren't any of you or Tony"
Mark pulled a tiny dusty frame out from behind and 8 by 10 of Cindy. Tony and Mark looked oddly uncomfortable. Jeff started counting. Mark interrupted him. "It's one of 27"
Jeff whistled.
"Tony and I like to call it the Cindypalooza or the Cindyfest"
Tony was in the room now. "Oh, the pictures. You see why I told you there aren't any pictures of me to use to make a new base profile?"
"Yeah, she's pretty obviously the favorite"
"Our parents never came to our little league games and evey year at Christmas they give Cindy more presents than Tony and me put together. Way more." said Mark.
"When Emma Chase turned me into a ballet dancer, I was the star of the whole place. They had the equivalent of scouts from actual ballet companies coming to look at me. But my mother was still telling relatives what a wonderful dancer Cindy is while not mentioning me" said Tony.
"At Thanksgiving, one of our aunts on my father's side made some little remark about Tony being handsome and my mother launched into a whole thing about how Cindy's this and Cindy's that. We've never gotten any support at all from our parents. Ever. I always had to rely on Tony. Yeah, I'd like to be . . really good looking like Tony but a lot of that is just wanting to be like Tony."
Jeff sighed and shook his head slightly.
That afternoon, they all gathered in the kitchen to transform back to their true ages. Jack went first as they all watched his bright red hair darken a bit in the process. Eric became his muscular defensive tackle self. Tony became his 6 foot one, slender athlete self. Mark grew back to 13 year old height. He saw Jeff smirking at him before he noticed something was different. His forearm looked a little different. He felt really good but not so good as when Tony yanked him over in front of the mirror on his mother's dresser, standing beside him. Mark's face and body were a 3 years younger copy of Tony's only with his green eyes instead of Tony's light gray eyes.
"Seems to be some kind of problem with your profile" said Jack. "We'd better register this one with TransDem before anything else happens to it"