Jenny was excited about her upcoming birthday, but she also had a vague sense that something or someone was missing. It was probably a hang up from being an only child. As she slipped into her mother's office while the babysitter made out with her boyfriend in the living room, she secretly wished this room belonged to a brother or sister.
She spotted the brightly wrapped package inside the glass cabinet next to her mother's desk. The cabinet was locked. Jenny debated trying to pick the lock, but decided to try checking her mother's computer instead. She knew her mom kept a detailed budget. Hopefully, Jenny thought , the payment register will be more specific than "Jenny's gift."
There wasn't even an entry for Jenny's birthday gift. Not even a toy store purchase. Hm, what was this chronivac icon?
She clicked on it and saw the words "Barbie doll". Aha! She opened the file and was shocked to learn that she had had a teenaged brother, but that her mother had erased his existence. She wanted to remember, and in clicking the program keys she also managed to restore Jeff's mind to his plastic inanimate body. Jenny printed out the user manual for the Chronivac, and took it back to her room to study.
Jenny figured that her mother's new boyfriend would have considered her mother to be too old if she'd had a teenage son, and that was why her mother had deleted her own son. Jenny swallowed hard. What if her next boyfriend didn't want her mother to have any kids? She had to do something, after all Jeff was her brother!
Inside his shrink wrapped prison, Jeff's mind screamed for help. His mother had said a brief goodbye as his consciousness had faded. She hadn't planned to return him ever to his humanity. He didn't know if she had a sadistic streak and had decided to restore his mind or if perhaps the Chronivac had a time limit setting. He hoped it was the latter, but when nothing else happened he began to fear the worst. Perhaps she didn't even remember that he had ever existed, and an errant key stroke had restored his mind but nothing else. He couldn't even tell where he was. All he could see was the backside of the wrapping paper with Happy Birthday spelt backwards.