She could see Jeff troubled by what was happening to him, possibly unhappy, much in the same way she was able to also tell Jeff seemed clueless about a number of things around him. Observing how he still didn't seem to grasp his name was now Nikki, that he came when called automatically without a second thought, that he squatted to do his business like a bitch would, Lisa stared at the dark purple collar that had appeared on her desk a couple days ago. Knowing she should put it on her former brother, she found herself unable to do so as her mind wandered to other things she'd noticed since she'd used the Chronivac to turn her brother into a female beagle.
That it actually had done what it claimed shocked her. When she'd used the programme, she'd thought it was a game, a joke, or both. But, after she'd seen with her own eyes how Jeff behaved, that his bedroom had vanished, reality had warped around them as pictures had gradually disappeared, and she'd heard their mother addressing her brother by a girl's name, the truth had sunk in. Taking the disk out from the middle drawer of her desk, she thought about the few things she'd added at the last minute, like how she'd locked Jeff's age at five months until he finished transforming, at which point he'd start to age normally for a dog, the inhibitions she'd set to keep him out of certain rooms and off the furniture, how she'd left his mind fully human, but had added the option that he'd be able to slip into a normal canine frame of mind with ease, and often without realising her was doing so, as well as how he could be mounted by any number of dogs, but could only get pregnant if the other dog was a like what he was to become, a pure blood beagle. Mulling over these, Lisa booted up her laptop and logged into her screen.
Moments after the machine had cycled through all it normally did, Lisa inserted the disk. Waiting as it pulled up and installed the programme, she crossed her arms and idly tapped a fingernail against her arm. Letting her mind wander, she wondered if she was a bad person for what she'd done. Forcing a person to become something they weren't supposed to be, even if they had considered doing it them self, left her feeling all muddled up inside. Asking herself if she should stop Jeff's transformation, revert him back to being her brother, she thought all the times he'd proven to be a jerk and an over-opinionated snot, among all the other issues she'd had with him. Balancing it out with how, every so often, he could prove to be a decent person, was even nice to her, she found herself conflicted. Seeing the Chronivac had finished installing, she removed the disk and hid it back inside her desk.
Computer put into standby, Lisa found she didn't know what she should do. Standing, she hugged herself as she crept across her room and out into the hallway. Hearing soft noise coming from room that had become a combination sewing and laundry room since she'd used the Chronivac, she tiptoed toward the room and peeked in. Seeing her brother and what he was doing with her blankets on his dog bed, Lisa turned away in embarrassment and hurried down the hall as quietly as she could. Looking into the empty room and not seeing her mom, it would have come as a surprise to her if she'd known that seconds before she'd stepped into the doorway, Jeff's pants and underwear had been still on the floor, but had faded away, erased from the new reality created. Turning away from the door, still needing someone to talk to, she headed for the kitchen, where the first thing she'd saw was the bowl of water and empty bowl that usually was filled with a small, but equal measure of wet and dry dog food mixed together, once in the morning and again in the evening.
They had appeared, or so Lisa had noticed, some time after her use of the Chronivac. Having a hard time wrapping her mind around the concept that her brother now ate out a bowl on the floor, and that thanks to parameters she'd set he only ate the mixture of dog food provided, it would have come as a shock to her if she understood how Jeff felt about having to put his face into a bowl to eat, that he'd at first resisted, but had eventually given in when hunger finally won out. Heading over to the table where he mom sat working on something, Lisa sat and waited until her mother looked up and told her, "I'll be starting dinner shortly."
It wasn't exactly what she'd come in to talk about, but Lisa still managed, "Okay," before she blurted out, "Can I ask you something?"
"Kind of busy with these forms, but, sure," her mom replied.
Unsure how to broach the subject, Lisa tried to think of a way to do so as a number of options cross her mind. Settling on, "I have this assignment I have to do for school. But, I'm not sure how to do it. See, it's this hypothetical question of, suppose you had the option to change a person against their will. The person wants to undergo the change, mind you, but you have the option to step in and force them. Would you? Would you let them make the decision themselves? And, if you did step in, is it wrong what you did and should you change them back to allow them to make the choice on their own terms?"
"Sounds like it's an assignment of the question of ethics," her mother stated and when Lisa, who didn't know what ethics was, didn't say anything, her mother offered, "This is something I am afraid I cannot help you with. It is something you have to figure out on your own. As you grow older, you're sure to face such predicaments, and you’ll have to weigh the pros and cons before each choice you make. This is one of the natural orders to life," and with a smile, her mother finished with, "I'm sure you'll figure it out. Your smart. Don't let it discourage you," before she reached for her pen in an indication their conversation was finished and her mom wanted to get back to working on what she'd been doing before Lisa had sat down.
With a soft, "Thank you," Lisa stood and exited the room. Creeping back the way she'd come, she peeked in the laundry room long enough to see her brother was now burrowed underneath the blankets on his dog bed. Heading back to her room, Lisa closed and locked her bedroom door. Sitting down at her desk, she didn't activate the computer, but instead stared at it as she absently played with the tags on the dog collar and wondered if maybe she should turn her brother back.