Jay stood back and watched, as Simon and Bryan made a bee-line for the kitchen. It was kinda awesome - and shocking - seeing his best friends thunder along the hallway. He felt kinda odd, being 16 - almost 17 years old.
Before, he'd been the youngest of the group - his birthday next week would have put him at 13 with Bryan and Simon. Now, he's the eldest of their neighborhood trio - serving as babysitter, guardian, and driver. He pulled out his wallet and found a couple $10s and $20s in there - money from Mr. O'Sullivan for the weekend. He blinked, realizing that memory was a new one. He shook his head, a little aggrevated at the seamless way the device Simon used had altered their memories.
Looking at the table, Jay realized that Simon had left the Chronivac behind, probably in an attempt to get to the food faster than Bryan. He picked it up, looking the small laptop device over. The screen came on, and it was simple to work through - he saw his profile, Bryan's, Simon's, even Simon's dads -though that last was greyed out. "SUBJECT OUT OF RANGE" it said when Jay tried to access it.
He pulled up his own and read through it. Jason Stuart Miller/16/6'0"/173lbs He looked over the more detailed profile information. It read more like a typical jock without focus. High coordination, high flexibility, solid muscle base - but nothing standing out as a spectacular athlete.
Jay looked closer at the various options. One had a 'Future Potential' build - and it had a couple ideas inside it. He looked over the various options - Sumo Wrestler, Olympic Skier, Bareback Rodeo Cowboy, NFL Quarterback. Jay thought about it and wondered if he should test it out - let the others know about it. It wasn't like it would affect the others, Jay mused.
He selected NFL Quarterback, because he liked football - having watched it with his dad and brothers a lot growing up - they all wished he put on muscle and could try out for the team. He hit enter, and the Chronivac began buzzing.
Jay panicked, looking around, wondering whehter it was supposed to do that. A blinding flash hit him from the device, and he let it fall to the carpeted floor. He stumbled, feeling weird, as his whole body tingled. The sensation faded, along with the flashes of light from his eyes.
He blinked furious and stumbled forward a bit, attempting to avoid the device - and the multitude of cans and wrappers on the floor. He banged his knee into the couch and grunted. And stopped. His grunt sounded different. As his vision fully cleared, Jay looked and nearly fell down.
His eyes looked over two thick mounds of muscle, each stretching out his shirt - a football jersey from the high school. He raised his arm and saw a thick 20" arm that stretched the sleeve, veins popping out on his hairy forearm as he rotated his wrist to fully pump that arm. His mind buzzed - as new information seemed to come out of nowhere - stats of his weight lifting, nutrition (he wasn't the junkfood eater - that was Simon and Bryan - he ate tons of protein and kept himself toned), football strategies, practices ideas. Jay felt himself look forward to those Friday Night Lights, where he lead his team out on the field, JR Varsity, since he was a sophmore, but where they had a 6-0 season thus far.
Jay looked about again, fully reoriented and excited to show his best friends his new body. He picked up the Chonivac and looked at the new stats: Jason Stuart Miller/16/6'0"/223lbs. In the reflection of the display, he noticed his facial hair looked different. He tried to see it in the dark glass, but it was unclear, so he went over to the hallway mirror. Instead of the sparse chinscruff and mousy stache he'd had before, now Jay sported a dense moustache, growing heavily on his upper lip and falling down the sides in thick lines to his chin. His sideburns grew thicker too, almost mutton-chop in length, but kept trim to 1/6".
Jay looked back at the messing den, where his textbooks lay on the end table. Bryan had been helping him study last night, preparing for his college exams, his memory said. He shook his head again, knowing he, Bryan and Simon had spent last night playing video games, but now, it was like a faded image - replaced with a clearer one of the taller, younger teen guiding the football jock through Algebra and English, while Simon did his work.
"Hey...Guys...you gotta check this out..." Jay called out, his voice almost half an octave deeper.