Robert felt giddy as he clicked the final Change button. He hadn't thought twice about clicking the "permanent" option: he didn't need to have experienced much of human life to feel certain that he wanted no more of it. He didn't know all that much about foxes or what it was really like to be one, but how bad could it be? He knew they were beautiful animals, and surely foxes didn't have to constantly put up with teachers calling them "average", bullies pelting them with slurs, parents telling them they were too young to date, and constant pressure to learn about math, history, language, and computers just to grow up and get some boring job. Foxes certainly don't have to worry about rich kids making fun of their average clothes, because foxes don't have to wear clothes, and their fluffy fur coat is way prettier than some overpriced Bangladeshi T-shirt with an over-hyped name-brand logo on the front.
After a few seconds of nothing happening, it finally crossed Robert's mind that the Chronivac might not really work, and that his parents and bullies would probably laugh at him for believing in such things at his age. Then he noticed his face felt funny, especially around his eyes, lips and cheeks: he could feel things twitching around there, and it seemed that the sounds in the room had become louder and easier to pinpoint. Remembering the mirror above his dresser, he hopped up from his computer chair and shuffled over there, fingers crossed as he did so. He gasped and covered his mouth when his reflection came into view. He knew what he'd asked for and what he was hoping to see, but he was still taken off guard by the sight of large triangle fox ears swiveling around on his head, and long black whiskers sticking out of his face. He nearly jumped for joy after touching them and confirming they were real! The ears were furry and way larger than he expected: orange near the bottom, white on the inside and black near the top. He hadn't thought about how far his new whiskers would stick out from his face or how sensitive an animal's whiskers could be: they were firm to the touch and jerked themselves around a bit in the air currents from his average window fan.
Looking more closely at his hands, he smiled a wide grin to see his claws starting to form! He thought about how useful growing his own sharp points on his fingers could be, for hunting or digging or fending off anyone who might want to mess with him. He thought about the boring and mildly difficult shop class he'd never have to go back to: after his transformation was over, the only tools he'd ever need to learn how to use would be right here, attached to his very own self wherever he went!
A quick burst of dizziness passed through the boy's brain--a volcano of new knowledge was erupting into his mind from somewhere in his throbbing, swelling face. It took him some moments to realize what exactly he knew and how exactly he knew it. After some reflection, it became clear that Robert could detect almost anything inside the room and beyond it through his moistening nose: he could smell his gender, his altering species, his excitement, his computer, his bed, his papers, dozens of different kinds of food in the kitchen, multiple species of birds and rodents outside, and the lingering scents of his household's family members and recent visitors. Combined with his large ears that could hear things chirping outside and scurrying behind the walls, Robert could already tell it was going to take him some time to practice tuning out distractions and focusing on anything, just like it had before his doctor prescribed those attention pills for him back in first grade. His new and improved senses were already bombarding him with a constant inflow of facts and potential interests, far more than he could get from his computer during those dumb research projects his teachers give him C's on.
Forcing himself to focus on his changing appearance again, he was impressed to see that his face had finished growing a large amount of orange and white fur, his nose and lips had turned black, and his mouth and nose had cooperated to reshape each other into a long, whiskered muzzle. He looked like a fox already! (At least, he looked like a fox in the mirror, which was only showing his face and his furry white chest.) Pride and enthusiasm bubbling up inside him about what he had been able to do to himself using his new device, he let out a loud yip and then became even happier when he realized how inhuman it sounded. He'd be making his own way in life, out in the woods, before anyone could say what happened to him!
"Does the 'average' teenager get to do anything like THIS?" he thought slyly.
It soon occurred to Robert that, in addition to all of the other strange things he was experiencing, he could feel a pleasant motion somewhere within his body, somewhere he'd never felt any motion before. It was almost in his back--if he were to try to describe where he could feel it--but not quite, because it was somehow lower down or further out. When he then felt something soft and hairy brush against his legs and ankles, he looked down. That's when he got to see the long, white-tipped brush of bushy orange fur swaying and curling behind him for the first time. Discovering that he could make deliberate selections from its extensive range of possible movements, he looked back to watch it flex and curl behind him, learning how it felt to have such length and flexibility beyond what used to be the end of his own spine. He found it felt oddly comforting to wrap his tail around himself like a blanket or a bath towel, and he was amazed by how far he could bring it around! Robert hugged his new fox tail, drinking in the scent of his own personal mix of oily secretions within its soft fur. His little black nose twitched at the end of his orange-and-white snout, even as long orange hairs were sprouting from his back. You could say he felt better than average, to say the least!