Willow waited patiently as the Chronivac fired up. The progress bar at the top of the screen said it was 95% finished.
“I wonder what Sophie will do to me as a doll,” the young woman thought.
It was 98% now. Suddenly, a door opened. It was Sophie coming out of her room.
“What’s that?” she asked, as she pointed to the device in her older sister’s hands.
Willow didn’t expect this, and reeled back. Unfortunately, this changed the position of the Chronivac’s ray. A burst of light flooded the room, obscuring everything.
“Sophie!” Willow yelled, “Don’t startle me!”
She got no response. The young woman eye’s had to take a few moments to adjust, before finally working again. Now with the ability to see, she noticed that her younger sister wasn’t by the door to her room.
“Where did she go?” Willow thought.
She set the Chronivac on the kitchen table, and began to look around. She walked over to the doorway to the little girl’s room, and glimpsed a sight most frightening. In the open doorway was a plush doll with short black yarn for hair. Sophie had short black hair…
“Nononononono!” the young woman exclaimed, “This can’t be real!”
She picked up the doll, and examined it closely. It donned a blue t-shirt with a yellow flower design dead-smack in the middle, and a pink skirt.
“Sophie’s favorite outfit,” Willow thought, in dismay.
She started to walk back to the kitchen, doll still in hand. She picked up the Chronivac off of the table, and pressed the power button. The device didn’t turn on…
“No!” Willow shouted, “Please!”
She tried and tried, but the machine wouldn’t turn on. Then, she had an idea. The young woman found the box the device came in, and examined the shipping label.
The thing that caught Willow’s eye read, “TransDem Labs/ 312 Changeman Street/ Portland, Oregon 97035”
“Portland!?” she thought, “I have to go all that way in order to get Sophie changed back!?”
The young didn’t have nearly enough money to make such a journey. However she knew someone that might…
“Do I really want to do this?” Willow thought.