Jeff paused in the middle of petting Irene's head as a thought struck him. "Wait a minute... how did this happen?" He wasn't a scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but even his basic understanding of biology told him that evolution didn't work this way. Even ignoring the fact that his mom was an individual, other things nagged at him. Where did the four arms come from, for instance? Why did she develop four pairs of breasts only to reabsorb them?
"There must be something I'm missing", mumbled Jeff. "Uh... think you can hang out here for a bit longer Mom? And... not eat the flowers?" He gave Irene one last pat and a kiss on the tip of her fanged fly-trap snout. The great beast gave a contented snort and lay down, scratching her head with one of her long hind legs.
Leaving his mom to her relaxation, Jeff sprinted back to the computer and the Chronivac. Sure enough, the transformation was marked as "Complete". But poking around with some of the tabs showed something Jeff had missed the first time around: an Automatic/Manual toggle. It was set to Automatic. Next to it was a button that said View Details.
"Hmmm..." Jeff clicked on View Details. The first thing he noticed was that the timescale read 5,000,000 years instead of 5,000. "No wonder she changed so much... stupid typo", he grumbled to himself. Then he went through the step-by-step breakdown of his mother's evolution.
+++ Evolution Package +++
+++ Direction: Forward +++
+++ Time: 5,000,000 Years +++
+++ Environmental Factors: ERROR - NOT SPECIFIED - CHOOSING RANDOMLY +++
+++ Environmental Factors: Grassland Biome +++
+++ Allow Artificial Modification? ERROR - NOT SPECIFIED - CHOOSING RANDOMLY +++
+++ Allow Artificial Modification? Y +++
+++ Number of Steps: ERROR - NOT SPECIFIED - CHOOSING RANDOMLY +++
+++ Number of Steps: 8 +++
+++ Initializing... +++
+++ Step 1: Env = Yes / Artificial = No / Height+, Intelligence+, Morphotype [see details] +++
+++ Step 2: Env = No / Artificial = Yes / Mutation: Four Arms [see details]+++
+++ Step 3: Env = No / Artificial = Yes / Mutation: Multibreasted [see details]+++
+++ Step 4: Env = Yes / Artificial = No / Mutation: Claws (hands) [see details]+++
+++ Step 5: Env = Yes / Artificial = No / Mutation: Claws (feet) [see details]+++
+++ Step 6: Env = No / Artificial = Yes / Mutation: Tail [see details]+++
+++ Step 7: Env = Yes / Artificial = No / Size+, Predatory Lifestyle, Morphotype - Saurian [see details]+++
+++ Step 8: Env = No / Artificial = Yes / Mutation: Flytrap Mouth [see details]+++
+++ Evolution complete - generating log +++
+++ Save Pathway / Revert / Continue evolving +++
Jeff sat back in his seat, trying to process all this information. Alright, so there was a LOT to deal with here, a lot of details that could be adjusted. Or controlled. If all that could be done with Automatic random changes, who could say what else he could do?
Jeff paused before clicking the Undo button. Now he wanted to see what he could do with a bit more control. Or maybe try another type of transformation? There was his mom, and the Chronivac also picked up his annoying little sister in her room (did she really just not notice all this happening?). Before he could make a decision, a beep announced the presence of a new person in the house.
A quick look at the scanner showed that it was Jeff's best friend Bethany. He'd known her since grade school, and they had united over a shared love of fantasy, sci-fi, and video games. They'd never been romantically involved - Bets was practically a sister to Jeff, and besides she really wasn't his type. Short, skinny, flat-chested, with dark pageboy hair and usually wearing loose, unflattering clothing - she might as well have been one of the boys. But maybe she could be evolved too... or changed in some other way? Before she discovered Irene, of course...