Mike unfortunately, was also unaware that he and his wife were done. The short comments after long days of work and general lack of attentiveness to one another had led them to where they are and Mike only realized he didn't WANT to take care of the ever growing list of demands his wife was placing on him. This was Jane's way of feeling appreciated now that she wasn't maintaining the house out of love. If Mike took the time to think about it he would ultimately realize why he didn't want to contribute, but without reflection he simply reasoned that he needed a break or was tired.
Mike, seeing the Chronivac actually worked decided like many, to mess around with things he knew practically nothing about. Mike heard the lawn mower going back and forth and wanted his life to be easier, and his level of obligation to the family to be lower... "If there was a way to make Jeff take initiative, that would save me a ton of pain." Mike had forgotten that he was no longer in his mid forties and his back no longer hurt but that was besides the point.
Mike initially began looking for obedience but being a savvy man he realized Jeff would still resist if he didn't want to do something, barking orders and giving constant direction didn't sound like fun. Mike instead found a section that allowed him to trigger the reward system of Jeff's brain upon completing chores and a trickle of encouragement when working toward a larger goal and taking actions to accomplish it. He was also sure to not reward Jeff if he had willfully caused the chore to begin with. We don't want Jeff trashing stuff just so he can fix it.
Mike pondered a moment before his lips twisted into an evil grin... "Unless... he's renovating..." Mike clicked a few more checkboxes tied to researching, and project planning. By the time Mike was done, he had the expectation that Jeff would happily help take care of the house throughout the week, and spend his weekends excitedly tackling bigger projects for fun instead of video games or getting into trouble.
Jeff trudged back and forth pushing the mower and resenting his dad. After all, Jeff didn't care about the lawn, nor was it his lawn to take care of... He was sweating heavily from the exertion and decided to take a water break. Looking over what was left he estimated another 30 minutes till he could get back to his computer.
Mike had done some final tweaks so that Jeff wouldn't notice anything out of place on the Chronivac or have the urge to change it and he turned awareness of his own physical changes off for the world.
Jeff went to the kitchen and began pouring himself some water noticing his dad's open and half consumed beer with resentment and a twinge of curious jealousy. Jeff chugged several glass-fulls of water and stood panting trying to cool off. A moment later Mike came in, "Hey Jeff, you're doing a good job out there. I have an errand or two to run, and when I get back I need to light up the sticks in the fire pit cause its getting too high, weed your mom's garden, and redo the edging around the landscaping. If you feel like taking care of any of that while I'm out it'd be appreciated, but I understand if you're tired and want to play video games." Mike chugged the last half of his beer before heading toward the door.
Jeff dismissed the idea of doing any of that, especially with already having the rest of the lawn to do. The water he just chugged told his body to fill his bladder and Jeff needed to go pee before returning to the lawn. This brought him within range of the emitter and a gentle tingle buzzed in Jeff's brain for a second.
Jeff returned to the mower and he felt his first twinge of excitement which caught him off guard. "Yeah, can't wait to get this done..." Jeff reasoned. He pulled the starter cord and got another boost. Began mowing and another. When he finally finished he was flooded with a burst of joy. Jeff tried to tell himself it was because he could go back to what he was doing but he knew different. He was proud of the job he did and that the chore was complete. He was almost sad that he'd have to wait a week before he could do it again.
"What am I thinking?" Jeff wondered as he went inside and grabbed himself more water. Returning to his computer he found his dad's email account open and rolled his eyes. Having forgotten the Chronivac Jeff thought of his video games and was less than enthused. His mind wandered and came to recall that his dad said he could light stuff on fire! That was exciting! He might as well, he needs a shower after mowing the lawn anyway. And thus Jeff's home improvement addiction began.