"Ugh, I know I'm going to regret this later..." you mutter as you step up to the photo booth. Before you enter, you turn to Marco and say in a commanding tone "Don't move." Inside, you insert your coin and follow the on-screen instructions. Not that you needed them, as you set up the age adjustment controls for the third time that day. With everything ready, you step out of the booth and hold the curtain open for Marco. "If you really don't believe me, then step inside and see for yourself."
Marco stared at you stubbornly. He said "This is part of the prank, right? I go inside and press a button, only to get covered with slime or get shown a screamer video? Well I'm not doing it, you can't make me do anything." He turned his back and started heading for the exit.
You had reached your limit for backtalk that day. What was with this family and defiance? You yell in a loud, authoritative voice "Get in the booth, Caporaso!" Marco faltered in his steps and turned back to see a seething rage in your face that you only ever displayed when losing in video games. He darted towards you and the booth, ducking under your arm and inside. Cooling your temper a bit, you snap coldly "Just press the start button and we can end this." You close the curtain on your friend and sigh, agitated. This had better be worth it...
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Marco slumped on the stool with a grumble. He didn't know why Will's dad was so determined to prank him, and at this point, he wanted it over and done with so he could leave. He looked at the screen which displayed a live video of himself front and central. He was slightly older than Will, having turned 16 a couple months earlier. His lightly tanned skin was blemished with acne that scattered his cheeks and forehead. He had a squarish face that still captured his boyish charm. He was wearing a low-cut tank top that exposed half a dozen hairs in the centre of his chest. A sparse, wispy goatee rested on his chin with pride, the only facial hair he could grow for now.
Next to him was a smaller, secondary screen that displayed "Increase age: 30", with the number itself in a large font. This must have been what Will, or Will's dad, was talking about. If he pressed the button underneath, it would begin the process that would make him 30 years older. That, or it would drop a bucket of ice water over him... Neither possibility was appealing, yet Marco was curious. Jason apparently used the machine earlier and had become a thick, brawny man of 40. Would he follow in his brother's footsteps? Marco tapped his fingers on the desktop for a moment before slapping the ENTER button, prepared for whatever would happen.
Nothing happened. No dumped buckets, no jump-scare, not even a flash of light to indicate a taken photo. The booth was as silent as ever. The only change was the small screen switching to a new display that read "Current Age" along with his actual age of 16 displayed underneath. After a good few seconds had passed, the number ticked over to 17.
Marco's turned his attention back to the video screen. He frowned. Half his head was no longer in frame. It was almost like he had a growth spurt. Grumbling, he ducked down and fumbled with his seat until he found a lever. Pulling it, his seat lowered and brought him back into shot. Marco's eyebrow raised slightly. His face looked more angular, his jawline resembling a brick. His acne outbreak seemed less vicious, and his goatee looked fuller and thicker. The biggest difference, however, was that his messy, shoulder-length hair had shortened considerably, now styled into a faux-hawk. Marco turned his head this way and that, studying how the facial tracking worked on screen. He hated to admit it, but he was impressed at how it managed to perform real time image editing so complex. It almost looked real.
20...21...22... It was clear that Marco was no longer a teenager. A shadow of black stubble crept across his cheeks while his chin goatee had expanded to surround his entire mouth with a classic van dyke beard. His minute selection of chest hairs had increased in numbers, and how. Black hairs curled across his upper chest like an animal and were still growing, spreading towards his shoulders. He could make out a wide line of black hairs continuing their passage down his stomach through the thin fabric of his tank top. It was almost like a second skin, fitting tight across his growing chest and sticking to his defined torso. He'd always been an active guy, but it was as if he had taken up weight lifting in college. Marco smirked at this newfound athletic structure, maybe this machine wasn't so dumb after all.
25...26...27... The physical changes had mostly slowed down, yet Marco noticed something odd. His hair was changing styles quickly, from a messy pompadour to a short, layered cut to an even shorter flattop hairstyle. All the while, it appeared that his forehead was more prominent than usual. It was almost as if he was... As his hair was buzzed shorter, it finally hit Marco that he was balding. A buzz cut did little to hide the obvious hair loss, his hairline had already receded past his sideburns. Even now, he could see it being eroded away. Marco couldn't help but laugh, why did this image editing software give him the body of a god and the hairline of an old man? Wasn't he a little young? Then with the blink of an eye, his thinning hair vanished. His scalp had been shaved clean, with nary a shadow visible on his smooth head. He glanced over to the secondary screen with a sigh.
30...31...32... Marco rolled his eyes, already bald while his dad was older and had a full head of hair. At least he rocked the look, it made him look tougher. Plus, he had grown out the stubble on his cheeks to turn his goatee into a trim full beard to compensate for his chrome dome. It certainly complemented his muscleman look. His tank top was practically glued to his broad, brawny body, His pecs jutted out from his chest like round, sculpted mountains, his back and shoulders spread wide to compensate for their size. His forearms were rugged and sinewy, while his upper arms were as large as his teenaged head. His waist was as wide as his chest and thick with muscle. To top it off, he was generously coated with a blanket of black hairs that bristled across his exposed skin from the back of his hands to his actual back. There was something ironic about how he had hair on every inch of his body except where he really should have it. Marco almost brought a hand up to feel his smooth scalp before jerking it away at the last minute. This was a simulation after all, this wasn't really him no matter how realistic it looked.
35...36...37... He had reached his dad's age now, and they couldn't have looked any different. His father was a clean-cut businessman who wanted him to follow in his footsteps, something Marco rebelled against. He couldn't dream of being stuck in an office with a 9-to-5 job. And by the looks of him, he was more of an outdoors man, someone who worked with his hands and took shit from nobody. Not that this was real, of course... Marco noticed that his stomach was looking a little bloated, like he had overeaten at a buffet. It appeared he'd reached the point where keeping trim was an uphill task, as his metabolism slowed to a crawl. His suspicions proved true as that small belly began to inflate like a water balloon, his tank top stretching and moulding itself to display its size. Marco sighed deeply, it was nice having a superhero physique while it lasted... At the very least, it seemed like controlled weight gain, a decision to go for size and power over trim aesthetics. And even with the growing belly, he still had arms like logs and pecs like watermelons. He could probably bench press a car without breaking a sweat. Marco grinned at the thought, if only....
40...41...42... Things were almost coming to an end now. White hairs were bristling through his short beard at a rapid pace as if he used to dye his facial hair until he had a change of heart and wanted to look his age. Much like the deep creases that burrowed across his huge forehead. Marco noticed the screen in front of him was starting to turn blurry and unfocused. He rubbed his eyes a few times and reopened them, just in time to see things come back to focus. An attractive pair of eclipse-rimmed glasses now perched on the bridge of his nose, magnifying the wrinkles and dark circles surrounding his eyes. They made him appear almost scholarly, were it not for his brutish body. His belly was overtly round and rested comfortably on his tree trunk-like thighs. His pecs had lost their perky roundness, now looking plump and saggy atop his large belly. More grey hairs made their presence known as his chest hair began to make the turn. Strangely enough, Marco noticed that the hair on his head grew out a couple of inches, leaving him with a horseshoe of salt and pepper hair that wrapped around the sides of his head. The top of his scalp was completely bare, glinting under the light inside the booth.
44...45...46... There was a tiny ding as the number finally reached its target. Marco studied his projected reflection with intrigue. Not bad, he thought. If he actually grew up to look how the machine predicted he would be 30 years in the future, he wouldn't be unhappy about it at all. Sure, he went bald at an early age, he had lost his perfect 20/20 vision, and the less said about his ball gut the better. But he was a hell of a muscle bear, that was for sure. There was also an approachable, fatherly appeal to his bear-like appearance. A friendly man you could trust, yet could be fiercely protective and intimidating if you got on his wrong side. Marco nodded his approval and turned towards the photo booth exit.
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While Marco was in the booth, you stood nearby and had a little browse around the shop. Maybe there was a charm to help find a missing person hidden about. As you were studying a vial of mermaid tears, you hear the unmistakable sound of photos being printed. You head back to the booth and reach into the dispenser, pulling out a series of photos showing your friend's transition from a 16 year old teenager to a 46 year old man. You smirk at the images, he definitely had a hell of an aging experience. At least you weren't the only bald, fat, middle aged man in the room now. A moment passed before that same man squeezed out of the booth. He stumbled over to you and said in a gravelly voice "I did your stupid little magic show, now will you give up this whole prank thing?"
You smile and hand him the photos. "I don't know about a prank, but some magic did happen. I told you it was real!"
He took the photos from you and grumbled "Yeah, photoshop magic. Like I'll really look like that when I'm your age."
You sigh and grip him by his furry shoulders. "Seriously dude? You haven't noticed the grit in your voice, this excessive body hair or your swollen belly? You're literally taller than me right now! Wake up, Marco!" You give his stomach a slap, surprised to find it had some solidity to it compared to your own jelly belly.
Marco glanced down where you slapped him and gasped. "What the..." he mumbled, placing both hands onto his rock solid muscle gut and feeling its heft. Then he noticed his beefy, hair coated forearms and rough, calloused hands, bringing them both up to his eyeline. "No way..." He proceeded to reach up for his glasses, taking them off and squinting as his vision blurred. "Aww man... This is so weird..."
"You still think this is a prank now?"
"If it is, it's really intricate..." he replied sticking his glasses back into place on his nose. You guide him to the mirror on the side of the booth, giving him a moment to soak it in.
"You're taking this whole growing up thing better than I thought." you say, as Marco poked and prodded at his adult body. "Considering how adamant you were that this was a prank."
"Trust me, I am freaking out on the inside..." Marco replied, a little dazed. He rubbed his beard between his fingers, feeling the coarse hairs. "I guess I believed you on some level, I mean the stuff that happened in there was too realistic for some ancient photo booth in the middle of nowhere..." There was a pause as he massaged the top of his bald head, then he continued "Did you have to make me this old? My dad's not even 40 yet. I'm older than my dad now, it's weird..."
You chuckle lightly. "You know we're in the same boat, right? It wouldn't be fair if you were in your twenties while Jason and I were double that. Besides, if those pictures are anything to go by, you definitely grew into your looks. Though that ain't saying much. You're like a gorilla now"
"Har har, At least I'm not a carbon copy of my father like you, Will. I'm my own man. Even if that man is more gorilla than human". Marco then proceeded to beat his chest with his fists, accompanied by loud grunts.
You snort at Marco's monkey antics, appreciating that he wasn't accusing you of trickery any more. Plus, he called you Will instead of your dad! You sling an arm around his shoulder and pull him down to your level, both of you grinning. "So now we finally understand each other, we should talk about your brother..."