Jack had been watching as things unfolded, currently he was having a late lunch in a near empty bar. By the second day stories of strange occurrences had begun, and now the world had identified the virus and was working on the cure. Due to the hyper-genderism the patients exhibited many assumed they had progressed to something between 21 and 25.
News reports exacerbated the fear and terror showing parents who's 4 year old suddenly aged what seemed like 20 years and was throwing a tantrum because he couldn't have ice cream before dinner. Other stories raised the questions of legality tied to physical age versus biological age, consent, emancipation, driving rights, ability to get a job, voting rights, and so on.
Furthermore, schools were shutting down, an outbreak in an elementary school managed to effect 79 students in the course of 30 minutes of chaos. Talk of a full blown quarantine to keep parents from catching it and passing it to their children were being taken seriously while parents of adult children and non parents were in an uproar over the concept... there was even demand for long term assistance to families with "adultized children" and demands to temporary social security disability on the grounds of similarities to people with mental handicaps.
The stock market was roller coastering as panic over the future was causing massive sell offs but others were sure that baby formula could be repurposed to protein powder and as quickly as a stock dropped it came back up...
Jack was annoyed. he hadn't anticipated people being so... so much... Jack wanted his "plague" to spread and that wouldn't happen if everyone was staying at home, keeping distance, and cowering. Jack smiled while fingering his ring. "Maybe its time my virus mutated."
Jack thought for only a minute or two before realizing the problems with his original setup. Leaving the children infectious and mentally the same pushed them out of their normal lives but left them nowhere to go, causing a burden on their families and thus society... "I wish the children, once turned into adults would begin to take on adult mentalities including life and social skills, language, habits, and muscle memory abilities gleaned from the adults the virus came into contact with before infecting them." Jack whispered to the ring...
"There. This should make life very interesting..." Jack thought for a few more moments, we can't have people hiding away... "I wish that the infected adults would become more optimistic and extroverted, wanting to throw or at the very least attend parties, and become much more physically affectionate with everyone, hugs, handshakes and high fives, back rubs, especially with children."
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It had been almost a week since Joey (2 stories ago) was tricked into contracting the virus by his Dad and Uncle Bill. This last week had been surprisingly boring since he was kept home from school and his dad had to work. It was really strange that his dad let him get infected, one minute he was worried about his safety, the next he was being sent out on a small boat with a known infectee.
Joey had gotten a new wardrobe because his new build no longer fit in a medium youth. By mid week Dad was talking about throwing a party to celebrate Joey becoming a man last weekend...
Joey was conflicted and angry, he felt betrayed, trapped, and scared. He didn't know how to be a man yet, and it was thrust upon him against his will. Though part of him was very excited to experience what its like to be an adult out in the world.
Joey glanced at the clock seeing it was nearly 5 and realized his dad should be home in about an hour. Something clicked in his brain that he could start dinner and somehow that sounded like a good idea.
Joey went downstairs and after quickly reviewing the fridge contents, settled on burgers. Despite having never cooked anything more complex than mac and cheese, he whipped up burgers and seasoned diced potatoes on autopilot like he'd done it a million times before. He even got the grill going and chopped up some onion, tomato and found some lettuce to go with it. By the time dad came home the burgers were just coming off the grill and being plated up, the small patio table was set and ready to go.
"What's all this?" Dad asked with a surprised smile.
Joey snapped out of a fog remembering everything but unsure where it came from, "I uhh... was hungry and didn't want to wait for you to cook something after you came home."
"Makes sense, you're probably still getting used to your new appetite." dad grinned patting Joey's muscular shoulder.
Joey quickly brushed off the grill letting the chunks that stuck to the grate fall into the coals. Then he sat down with his father who was staring in amazement at the smorgasbord before him. Joey began assembling his burgers and passed the condiments over to his dad as he finished with them.
As he finished assembling Joey realized he forgot drinks and saying as much, popped up and ran inside to grab them something. Returning, his dad gave him a funny look and Joey immediately feared something was wrong with the meal. "How's the food? Is it under or over cooked? Improperly seasoned?"
"No, on the contrary, its delicious. I dare say better than I could have done. When did you learn to do this?" Dad complimented.
Joey was already half way through his first burger, apparently his lie about being too hungry to wait for dad to make dinner was somewhat true, though he didn't realize it at the time. Joey swallowed, and took a few chugs of his pop to wash it down. "Well, I don't exactly know. I remember what I did but don't know how I knew how to do it. It was kind of like brushing my teeth, I knew how to do it because I did it before, but I didn't do it before." Joey took another drink before digging into the other half of his burger, a few minutes later and the potatoes were being shoveled in like they were evidence of a crime and he had to get rid of it. A few more chugs of his drink and he was onto his second burger...
"Hey Joey, since when do you have more than just ketchup on you burger?" Dad asked with a curious tone.
"Never! I hate..." Joey looked at his decked out everything burger loaded with mayo, mustard, ketchup, raw onion, pickle, tomato, lettuce, and cheese.... Joey looked at the tiny remaining bite with newfound disgust, then to his dad with confusion, who burst out laughing. "I'm really confused..." was all he could manage to say dropping the last bite to his plate.
Joey finished his drink and decided he could do without the last bite as he began collecting the condiments and leftover burgers and buns having leftovers for tomorrow.
"Joey, thank you. Dinner was delicious." dad said. "I'm guessing your answer will be the same as the other questions, but since when do you opt for beer instead of pop or milk?"
"Eww, I don't..." Joey looked at his pop can realizing for the first time it was a beer can, and also realizing he tasted and recognized beer as he drank it.
Dad broke down laughing much to Joey's surprise. "I wanted you to grow up, I can't hold it against you when you act like an adult."
"Yeah, Why DID you do this to me?" Joey asked suddenly angry.
"This disease is highly contagious, and we could either cower until you do catch it, or face it head on. Did you want to avoid your Uncle for the next 10 years? What about your fiends and classmates that caught it? Did you want to remain the last 13 year old, or become one of the ever growing number of 20 somethings? Like the baby boomer generation, there is power in numbers and this is part of giving you your best chance. Being part of this group is going to be a wonderful opportunity for you."