Ethan smirked, flexing his arms as he admired his 31 year old body. "Not bad," he said softly.
Obviously the increase in age proved that Ethan would be an attractive looking man for years to come. The stubble on his face, the well placed body hair, his bulging muscles, all left little doubt he would be quite desirable for years to come. Running a hand through his mop of auburn hair, he was surprised to see it had darkened as he had gotten older. No longer a bright red, it was more of a rusty brown with reddish highlights.
Ethan now began to think, the Chronovac program worked. With just a few simple keystrokes he had added a decade to his age. Still, other experiments needed to be conducted. He could grow older but could he also grow younger? Looking at the program, Ethan now made a quick change. Now instead of gaining a year with each pushup he would lose a year.
Deciding to not revert the changes yet, Ethan nervously made his way back to his pushup position. While unsure if it could work in the other direction, he wanted to try. Seeing that the revert button was still active, Ethan got down on the floor. He was either about to become an old man at 51 or an 11 year old kid.
"This is nuts, this is nuts, this is nuts," he whispered as he now began his exercise routine.
As he began, he noticed the familiar feeling washed over him again. The man's body felt electric, however, with each pushup he was feeling more energized not less. After doing 10, he paused giving his nude body a quick once over. The man's body hair appeared thinner, his abs looking more defined . It was hard to tell though if his muscles had shrank without looking in the mirror. Tempted for a moment to stop and stare, Ethan shook his head. He needed to finish his experiment first, besides if things went as planned he was going to be in for quite a shock. Taking a deep breath, Ethan continued with his routine silently counting down.
Ten...nine...eight...
Ethan felt odd, his body feeling more energized with each pushup. If his calculations were correct he should be back in his teens. Memories of high school crept into his mind. Dating, the prom, losing his virginity, learning to drive. Despite being a near genius, high school hadn't been so bad.
Seven...six...five...four..
Ethan paused, something definitely felt off. During the last couple of pushups, Ethan had felt as if the floor was growing underneath him. "Why would the floor grow," he thought. It took him a moment to process what had happened but, when it did it was like a bolt of lightning. If the rate of loss was consistent than Ethan was now 6 years younger than when he woke up. He was only 15 now, chances were he had just relived a growth spurt in reverse.
Part of him wanted to stop, if he was only 15 again he wanted tobsee the results. He stopped himself though. At 15 their would be changes but nowhere near as dramatic as what his final goal was. Ethan now steeled himself, closing his eyes as he now took the final few push-ups.
Three...two...one..
Ethan stopped, feeling winded. The last few push-ups had been far harder than he had anticipated. It felt like with each successive pushup he was losing strength as the floor seemed to grow underneath him. It took him a moment to realize he had dipped below puberty, his size, strength, and muscle mass gradually depleting with each rep. Rolling onto his back, he now brought his hands and arms up to take a look at the results.
Ethan gasped, his hands looked so small, his arms mere pencils. The gains of his workout regime wiped away with the loss ofbyears and puberty. Touching his chest and gazing down, Ethan was too shocked to speak. No hair on his skinny chest, in fact as he studied his body the boy could see he was devoid of hair everywhere except the top of his head.
Scrambling to his feet, Ethan blushed. From what he could see his body lacked any muscle, reduced to childish proportions. Puberty now seemed a few years away, Ethan noticing he didn't even have the tell tale lankiness of early adolescence. Embarrassed by his childish appearance, Ethan grabbed his robe, shocked at how large it was.
The robe usually rested above Ethan knees, the sleeves resting above his wrists. Now the robe rested past his knees, the cuffs half covering his small hands. Looking around his voluminous home, Ethan noted just how much bigger it now seemed to his diminished stature. "It worked," he whispered. Ethan frowned, had that been his voice? It sounded so childish. Then again, if he had reversed his age by 10 years he was most certainly a child.
"Well," he said in his now soprano voice. "Lets see the damage." Taking a deep breath, Ethan now marched towards his full length mirror. Feelings of embarrassment and curiosity flooding his mind. Would he recognize his eleven year old self. Reaching the mirror, Ethan gawked at his boyish reflection.
It was him, he recognized the red haired child from his past. Ethan mop of red hair sat atop a round face with a skinny childish body. The regression had eliminated nearly a foot in height from him, leaving the boy a skinny child at under 5 feet tall. All signs of puberty had been wiped away, leaving Ethan a child firmly back in grade school.
"Whoa," he whispered in childish wonder. The boy now reached one of his small hands out tentatively, touching the mirror as if the prove it was real. As his small hand made contact, Ethan jumped. The Chronovac had worked, his experiments were a success. Now the only question was what was next.