Jeff returned to the Chronivac. He had to get his fantasy exactly right. He wanted Kara to wake up in his room, in his body. How was that supposed to work, exactly? The program couldn't move people around. But it did have a timer, and it could put people to sleep.
Jeff waited until it was late. She was probably asleep by now, but he didn't want her to wake up while he figured this out. He made his first move with the Chronivac. Nervously, he set Kara to be Asleep: Duration, 9 hours. Perfect. He pressed Start and after a few seconds, the screen read "Transformation Complete". It was a small step--transforming a sleeping person into a deeply sleeping person--but the mere action of pressing "Start" for the first time made him more excited than ever. This was really his new life: he could do anything to anybody... as long as they were within range of his bedroom. Wasn't he basically a god now? Why would a god be doing something so trivial as wearing a little girl's body for a day? Is this the best he could do?
But this was Jeff's fantasy and if it went well, he was going to have an amazing life. This was only the first step.
"Enough philosophizing," he muttered to himself. He had no idea if this thing even worked. Why didn't he try this out first? Make himself a few inches taller or change his hair color? But he was already in too deep. He made his promise to Kara. This thing had to work, his first transformation had to be perfect, or nothing mattered and he might as well throw the thing out. "I'm a stubborn god," he chuckled.
So Kara was definitely asleep now, and hopefully the machine would keep her asleep no matter what he did. He crept to her room, pulled the door open slowly. He sat quietly at the edge of the bed. "Kara, can you wake up?"
She was breathing deeply. Obviously not going to wake up any time soon. He pulled off the covers and held her shoulder one more time just to be sure. "Kara?"
No response. His heart was beating too fast. This was crazy. He was thrilled.
He struggled to put his arm under her and pick her up. She was heavier than he expected but he knew he could manage. 16-year-old boys have a certain physical strength--a strength he was going to completely lose in a few minutes. He pulled Kara's sleeping body over his shoulder and, struggling, made it all the way to his room. He laid his little sister in the bed and put the covers over her. This was it.
Jeff went back to the screen, which was glowing brightly in the dark and hurting his eyes. He began to get ready for the transformation. He would set it to turn Kara into him and turn himself into Kara, with a slight delay so both of them would sleep through it. Of course he would set the clothes to match. He would wake up tomorrow in Kara's room, wearing her pajamas--no, wearing her body, her face, like the most comfortable outfit imaginable. Then he could do anything. And the machine was password-protected so the situation was completely under his control. His heart was about to leap out of his chest. He was starting to sweat, he was so nervous and excited.