Greg drives up the driveway towards the garage, he stops in front of the garage door and turns on the radio, “hey, Jeff,” he says, “I know you want to get home and become yourself again. I promise I won’t be long.”
Greg hears Jeff sigh, “it’s okay, Greg,” he says, “I can wait, and don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
Greg shuts off the “car” and Jeff is sent into sleep-mode, the teen then gets out and walks up to the main entrance of the mansion. As he walks up the stairs, he sees Mr. Huff waiting for him by the door.
Mr. Huff opens the door and steps aside, “please, come in,” he says.
When Greg steps into the mansion, his eyes widen in amazement, “holly... hell,” he says, “this place is amazing!”
Mr. Huff lets out a snort as he follows the teen inside and closes the door, “it’s okay... I guess,” he says.
Greg turns to his teacher, “sir, I don’t understand why you seem to hate this house.”
“I don’t hate it,” Mr. Huff replies, his arms crossed and a frown on his face, “I feel embarressed by it.”
Greg looks at his teacher in confusion, “it may not be my business,” he says, “but...,” before he can finish, Mr. Huff cuts him off.
“Follow me to the lounge,” he says, “I’ll explain everything: why I am embaressed by this house and most importantly why I am such an bully and asshole.”
Greg follows Mr. Huff into the lounge, the teen can’t stop looking around, “this place is really amazing,” the boy says. He then spots a portrait of an older gentleman hanging over the fireplace, “who’s that, sir,” he asks, pointing.
Mr. Huff looks up at the portrait, “that...,” he says and then hesitates, before continuing, “is my grandfather. He was a very rich man, he built this mansion.” Greg’s teacher then looks at his student, “please, have a seat,” he says, nodding towards an armchair, “would you like anything to drink? There is a small bar in the coffee table, help yourself.”
Greg nods, he takes a Coke and sits down on the armchair, Mr. Huff sits down on a second armchair, which is opposite of Greg’s. The boy takes a sip from his Coke, he then looks at Mr. Huff, waiting for his teacher to start explaining.
After a long silence, Mr. Huff finally speaks up, “I guess, first I’ll try to explain why I have become such an ass,” the man lets out a sigh before continuing, “you see, Greg, growing up in my family was... tough.”
Greg tilts his head, “in what way, sir,” he asks.
Mr. Huff shoots Greg a scowl, “IF you’d let me talk, you’d know,” he barks.
Greg flinches, “so-sorry, sir.”
Mr. Huff huffs, he then continues, “as I was ABOUT to say, before being interuppted, is that my dad is the one to blame. He was one of those “dads” who believe what they say goes, on a daily basis he would threaten me and my mother.”
“Th-that is terrible,” Greg says.
“It was,” Mr. Huff replies, he then sighs, “especially towards me, he regulary beat me up, I have been a skinny kid. He always shouted at me, calling me “weak”. When I turned just six, he started to push me into doing fitness, especially lifting weights, with only 10 years I had the muscles of a 30 year old.”
“Damn,” Greg says.
Mr. Huff nods, “my friends all started to avoid me, because I looked like some kind of... monster...,” he continues, “it hurt a lot mentally, loosing my friends and being treated like some kind of freak. My dad was happy though... and “proud”... he always said, “friends would only be in the way”. I really suffered and became frustrated, but my dad kept saying that I should never show emotions or weakness. So I stored all the emotions inside of me, as I grew older, I started to become more and more violant... I became what my dad wanted me to become: a monster!”
Greg could hear in his teacher’s voice, that Mr. Huff really was suffering under his dad, “I am so sorry, sir,” the teen says.
“Now you know why I treat everyone the way I do,” the man says.
“But why not change as soon as you moved out of your parents home,” Greg asks.
“You don’t think I didn’t try,” Mr. Huff asks, “I took thousands of hours of therapy, nothing seemed to help, not even drugs which would keep my “short temper” and “violant side” under control!”
“Sounds like your... dad... really messed you up,” Greg says.
“I hated that bastard until the day he died,” Mr. Huff growls, “I didn’t even visit his funeral nor have I been to his grave! I have nightmares about that... that... man!”
Greg lowers his head, “I am so sorry to hear that, sir.”
“As for this mansion,” Mr. Huff says, looking around the lounge, disgust on his face, “I inherited it. Guess from whom... yep... my asshole of a dad! I tried to not accept it, my mom however “insisted” that I take it.” Mr. Huff rolls his eyes, “my dad really mentally destroyed my mother! She always took his side, she didn’t care about what I wanted! This effing house was forced on me!”
“Have you thought about selling it?”
“I tried,” Mr. Huff says, “but the second the potiential buyers find out WHO’S mansion it is: I never hear from them again and am unable to reach them! My life is cursed thanks to my parents!”
Greg can’t believe it, “man... you really went through some... shit,” he says, “s-sorry, didn’t mean to curse,” he quickly adds.
“All good,” Mr. Huff says, “actually it did feel good to talk to someone about this,” he adds and actually smile.
Greg smiles back, “I really like the real you, sir,” he says, “this side of you is really nice.”
“Pfff... haha,” Mr. Huff laughs, “good thing my parents are no longer around, good ridence, to hear that!” Mr. Huff leans back into his chair, “I just wish there would be a way to change what has happened, or at least a way to change my life from this hell to something much... happier!”
Greg looks at his teacher, ‘should I tell him,’ he asks himself as the Chronivac pops into his mind, ‘I really can’t stand seeing Mr. Huff like this. I think it would not hurt to at least tell him about the Chronivac and what it is capable of doing.’
Mr. Huff senses that Greg has something to say, the man tilts his head, “what is it?”
Greg blinks as he is torn out of his thoughts, “oh... um...,” he says, the teen hesitates, but then decides to do it, “I... I know of a way to... make your wish for a better and happier life become true.”
Mr. Huff raises an eyebrow, “oh really,” he asks with scepsis in his voice, “do tell!”
Greg takes in a deep breath, ‘no backing out now,’ he thinks to himself, “there... there is this program called “The Chronivac”,” he begins.
“And?”
“We-well... the program is able to change lives... to good or... worse,” Greg says.
“How,” Mr. Huff asks.
Greg thinks what a good excample would be, he then decides to tell Mr. Huff about his “car”. “Have you wondered how I got my hands on that brand new Jeep Wrangler?”
Mr. Huff nods, “I actually was wondering,” he says, “you and your family aren’t exactly “rich” folks. So how did you get your hands on that car?”
Something in Greg tells the teen to “shut his trap”, but the boy does not listen and starts explaining to his teacher everything that has happened.
By the time Greg finished his story, Mr. Huff’s face shows disbelief, “so, you are telling me,” the man says, “that Jeep out front is in fact your older brother “Jeff” who has been transformed into a vehicle by your dad and that... program?”
Greg nods, “y-yes, sir,” he says, “I know it is hard to believe, but I assure you: it is true!”
Mr. Huff looks closely at Greg, something tells the man that the teen is not effing with him, the man leans back in his chair. The expression on Mr. Huff’s face changes from disbelief to curiousity, “what else can that program do?”
Greg shrugs, “not really sure,” he says, “I didn’t have time to study it further. But, I guess anything you desire or want.”
“Hmm...,” Mr. Huff says, “if it is true, a program like that could cause major chaos in the wrong hands.”
Greg nods, “I agree,” he says, “I am pretty scared of it, to be honest. If it is able to transform a human into a vehicle... what else is it capable of doing?”
“Is it just available for computers, or is there a App version?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Greg says, “I do have a App on my phone, but it appeared only when Jeff transformed into my car. I guess if something would go wrong I could transform him back into a human.”
“I see,” Mr. Huff says, “let me check,” Greg watches his teacher pull his phone out. Mr. Huff opens the App-Store on his phone and puts in “The Chronivac”, the man’s eyes widen, “there is an App with that name,” he says. “It even says what it is able to do in the description,” he continues, “really? Changing someone’s gender? Age? Race? Sexual Orientation... it even is able to transform humans into animals or some kind of hybrids?”
Greg could tell that Mr. Huff is getting more and more excited as a grin appears on the man’s face, “wh-what are you thinking, sir?”
Mr. Huff looks at Greg, still grinning, “I am thinking of installing this App and trying it out,” he says, and before Greg is able to say a word, Mr. Huff already has clicked on the “download & install” button. While waiting for the App to install, Mr. Huff’s head is swirrling with thoughts, ‘if this App really is able to do all this,’ he thinks to himself, ‘I’ll have so much fun with it. But, first I need to test it out, and I already have a “volunter”... hehe...,” the man looks at Greg, trying to decide what the best “test” would be.