Dean recoiled from Robin, grabbing a towel to cover himself. "What's happening to me!?" The teen fell against the wall and slid down into the corner. After a moment, Brad realized the big, bad biker dude was crying!
His daughter stared at the freak, but then. instead of screaming and running away, she squatted down by Dean and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be OK. I'll call the hospital, and then I'll stay with you."
Call the hospital? Uh-oh. Brad didn't want any of that! It wouldn't take much to turn the boy all the way into a gorilla, or maybe a chimpanzee. But that would still be a problem. Anyway, now that he had gotten the satisfaction of seeing Dean cry, he actually felt a little bad.
Checking the menu of the Chronivac, he found what he was looking for. UNDO. As Robin stood up to go to the phone, he clicked it and grinned as the hairy monster was suddenly handsome biker boy again. Robin gasped, and the young man scrambled up. "What the fuck!?" They looked at each other. "Was that some sort of freaky hallucination?"
Damn. That left Brad with the same problem - a boy too old for his daughter. Too old. Hmmm. Brad grinned and started playing with several of the options.
Dean wiped his face off and checked himself in the mirror, ashamed of his tears. After the shaggy ape man, his real face looked like a boy's! Except... he frowned. The faint mustache he had been working on was gone. And his tan was fading out, leaving little specks! Freckles?
Robin's mouth fell open and she stepped back from him. "What's happing this time?"
The leather jacket and expensive jeans he was wearing shifted and settled as his body got smaller, then changed into a Spiderman T-shirt and dirty shorts. At the same time, his hair grew out into a tangled mop, and began to shift color towards a dull brown.
Dean backed away from the mirror. "This has got to be another hallucination or something!" But his voice cracked as the now 16 year-old in the mirror lost another year. His face was coarser, almost unrecognizable, and the muscles he had worked hard for had shrunk. He looked like some dumb, homely kid!
"No!" This was worse than the beast-man! He cried out and started for the door, but stumbled as Brad jerked the slider bar over and stole 4 more years.
Confused, the now 11 year-old boy looked up at Robin, and then back down at himself. "This can't be happening!" Then he gasped as he shrank again, losing another 6 years. Now a five year-old, his T-shirt turned bright blue, and Builder Bob appeared on it.
Brad looked at the image on the Chronivac. No way Robin would be interested in the homely little boy Dean had become, but how did he explain the change? He scanned the menu, and spotted something he hadn't noticed before. INCORPORATE. Clicking the option, he found a list that said ALL, PHYSICAL, MENTAL, ENVIRONMENT. There were also options for AFFECTED: USER, SUBJECT, OTHERS.
He grinned and selected ALL, and OTHERS. Robin shook her head, and then stared at Dean. "Well, are you gonna go potty or not?"
Dean stared up at her. "Huh? What are you talking about? I'm Dean! Your boyfriend!"
Robin laughed. "My boyfriend? I babysit you, Dean!"
Dean's mouth fell open. "But..." Brad clicked on SUBJECT. "The boy blinked, then looked around in confusion. "Hey! How did I get in here?"
Robin sighed. "You said you had to use the bathroom. If you don't, why don;t you head on home now. I bet Builder Bob will be on soon."
The little boy frowned, and then nodded. "Yeah. Builder Bob. I like Builder Bob!" Using the Chronivac screen, Brad followed his daughter and the former boyfriend outside, when Dean's motorcycle was now a tricycle. The little boy grinned. "Mommy says I can have a two-wheeler next year!"
"Yeah, right." Robin looked bored. "Go on home now, and tell your mom I can babysit tomorrow night like she asked."
Brad grinned, and selected SAVE. The Chronivac whirred, and then flashed the message - SUBJECT COMPLETE - ORIGINAL DATA DELETED.