Todd smirked as he looked down at Elaine Sterling, his least favorite professor had gone from an arrogant, haughty woman to a sniveling child. While most people would be satisfied by this manner of revenge, Todd’s curiousitywas now only beginning to peak. “Elaine..um Professor,” he said slowly. “Look, maybe, maybe you were right.”
Elaine sniffed, wiping her nose on her overly large sleeve. “Really,” she said. “You, you believe me?”
Todd nodded, in truth he already knew what had happened but an idea had formed in his head. He was now curious about how Elaine would interact with his other test subjects, that and he wished to experiment further on his former professor. “Yes Elaine I believe you,” he sighed. “But, here’s the thing. It’s going to be really difficult to prove. Why don’t you come with me for now so we can go and figure things out.”
“But I don’t even know who you are,” the girl whined. “I should probably stay here, maybe call a doctor and have myself checked out. Trust me I can handle myself.”
Todd had prepared himself for this answer, Professor Sterling was the type of woman that would not seek his assistance. She always insisted she could do anything herself. Fortunately for Todd he had the perfect answer. “I understand Professor,” he started. “But right now, you look like a child trying to play dress up. Chances are if you try to do things yourself or get anyone else involved they may treat you as a child. What happens then? I may be willing to believe you but others may just be dismissive of your plight, I’d hate to see you placed in foster care or DCF. Then we may never be able to fix what happened.”
Todd watched as the grown down woman turned these thoughts over in her head. He had made a valid argument, she did look like a child. While Todd may be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt would others? At best they would consider her an imaginative child and shoo her off campus, at worst the authorities would be called and she could find herself under the care of the state. What would happen then? Would she ever be able to fix this and reclaim her life. “You make a valid point,” she sighed as she looked herself over. “Okay, I’m willing to let you help me.”
“Excellent,” Todd smiled. “Now, why don’t you put your shoes on and follow me.”
Elaine looked down at her diminutive feet, wincing as she realized her shoes had fallen off. As she now tried to get them back on she frowned, realizing how much smaller her feet had become. Todd watched as the professor now tried to walk, her heels flopping as she walked unsteadily. “You okay Elaine,” he asked, suppressing a grin at the child’s comical appearance. “I’ll manage,” she grumbled. “I just didn’t realize how much smaller I had become.”
“Well don’t worry,” Todd said. “We’re going someplace quiet. I know a couple of people who might be able to help.”
As the two walked across campus back to his dorm room Todd listened to Elaine struggle. The girl stumbled often in her too large shoes as they walked. The sounds of childish groaning brought a smile to Todd’s face as they walked the short distance. “Where are we going,” Elaine whined, adjusting her I’ll fitting clothing. “My dorm room,” Todd answered. “I live in one of the suites and my roommate isn’t around. It’s private and quiet, you’ll be safe there.” Although unsure about accompanying Todd back to his dorm Elaine realized her options were limited.
Thankfully for the two neither was seen by anyone as they quietly entered Todd’s dorm. As Elaine entered she spotted his couch, quickly rushing to it and discarding her overly large shoes. Groaning in relief she now rubbed her aching feet. As she did she could see a small amount of blood pooling on a portion of her nylons where her feet had been rubbed raw. “You feeling alright Elaine,” Todd asked.
“Not particularly,” she grumbled. “My shoes gave me blisters and I’m pretty sure my feet were rubbed raw by them.”
“I’ll check my bathroom my band aids,” he stated. “In the mean time why don’t you just settle down and relax.”
As Elaine settled into the couch Todd entered the bathroom. While he was retrieving bandages for the girl he had other motives in mind. Todd had already sent text messages to both Beth and Liz, telling them to meet him at his dormwith a change of clothes. Elaine wasn’t much smaller than Beth at this point, meaning they would hopefully be able to find something for the girl to wear. What Todd was most interested in though was examining his device. Pulling it out of his pocket, he examined the status of Elaine Sterling.
As he gazed at the readout he could see that aside from her physical nature, she remained unchange. Elaine’s intelligence, maturity, and experience indicated that she was a woman of 50 with an extensive educational history. “Hmm,” he mused. “Elaine’s results are very similar to what Liz’s were when I regressed her.” Glancing back at Elaine he could see the girl was now watching the news. “Let’s see if we can’t alter Elaine just a little bit,” he smirked as he entered a command into his remote.
Elaine fidgeted slightly as she watched PBS news. On her rare days off she usually enjoyed catching up on the news of the world. As she watched though she began to become bored by what was on. For some reason she found the program to be quite boring today, grabbing the remote she now found herself flicking through channels searching for something else. After a brief moment she paused on one of those trashy morning talk shows that she so often despised. As she was about to change the channel she found herself stopping, for some reason the program didn’t immediately repulse as it often did. Placing the remote down Elaine now began watching, finding the program to be quite enjoyable.
Todd smiled as he glanced at the remote. He had lowered Elaine’s maturity, leaving her with the tastes of the typical college age woman. “Not bad,” he whispered. “But that show seems a bit too old for her right now. Let’s see if I can change that.”
Elaine smiled as she continued to watch t.v., she never would of thought that something like this would be enjoyable. After a few moments though she began to grow bored once more. The show no longer appealed to her like it had only moments ago. Grabbing the remote she once agin began to flick through channels, pausing when she stopped on MTV. Letting out a girlish squeal, Elaine tucked her legs underneath as she now watched, finding the show that was geared towards teens and preteens to be highly entertaining.
Todd looked at his remote, reading the display. “Subjects current maturity level matches female human of twelve years of age,” he read. “Maturity levels indicate subject has interests in programming geared towards the 12 to 18 age bracket. Subject is also prone to poor judgement choices of adolescence.”
“Perfect,” Todd grinned. “Now not only does she look 12, she’s going to act like she’s 12. Let’s see how this goes before I make her as smart as a 12 year old or just a 12 year old all together.”
“Here Elaine,” Todd called. “I found some band aids for you.”
“Oh um, thanks,” she said, blushing slightly. “Like your a total lifesaver. I really hurt my feet pretty bad in those shoes. I probably have a blister for sure.” Elaine paused as she realized what she had just said. When she had talked she had sounded like a child instead of a mature woman. Glancing at the t.v. she gasped in shock, realizing she was watching a program for teenagers. “Oh my god what the hell,” she exclaimed, wincing at her own statement. “Like why am I watching this junk? And why am I talking like this?”
Elaine looked nervously at Todd, wringing her hands nervously as she looked him. “Oh god,” she whispered. “It’s still happening, I’m like, talking like a kid now too.”
Todd tried to keep a straight face as Elaine groaned in obvious frustration. Elaine now not only looked like a child, she was sounding like a child as well. Slowly but surely Elaine was racing back towards her childhood and losing any semblance of adulthood.