Jeff had spent the rest of the early afternoon relaxing. It was Friday after school, homework could wait, he was fantasizing about when he would start bulking with muscle and wondering if he was going to suddenly feel like working out or if he'd just start growing. He had dinner with his parents, the meal was a bit more veggie focused than what he remembered as usual but seasoned well and ultimately Jeff didn't mind.
Evening came and Jeff got a text from his friend, Erik, who lives roughly 8 blocks away. It was an invitation to play the new console game that came out, Murder Hobo 12: Hobo Extravaganza. This game promised to be the first of its kind, a game that could be played entirely as an FPS MMO, a solo survivalist game, a city builder, a military RTS, a party based RPG, or any mixture in between! Also any non aggressive or even sufficiently demoralized NPCs could be converted to your cause to join your team and then traded on an online market if you don't like their bonuses... The hype was beyond massive!
Jeff asked permission and was on his bike within 2 minutes of the notification chirping. As Jeff arrived the game had finished downloading and time blindness took over. They worked together figuring out how to unlock each of the game modes. The game began first person, not knowing where the attack will come from, but as your energy bar reduced, an alert came up saying you need to secure shelter, beginning his survivalist camp mode, after surviving alone for a while and securing basic supplies and stability, the city builder mode became available unlocking the NPC recruitment features, after leveling your NPCs up you converted the city into a military camp enabling RTS mode and sent your band of hand selected NPCs on missions which was RPG mode. At 10:45, the pair were getting a handle on the mega quest system, which tracked progress and management through each of the game modes simultaneously. A popup eventually congratulated them on completing the tutorial, roughly 4 hours into the game!
The inevitable phone call came summoning Jeff back home, hinting that he was in trouble for not already being home given how late it was, and begrudgingly Jeff complied. The Chronivac had since determined a course of action to achieve the set of goals laid before it and though not reaching it's ideal level of seamlessness, would do, given the user's constraints.
Adam White, 24, was living his best life, he'd contracted lycanthropy several years ago and had it managed. In his universe, the full moon, day before, and day after all trigger the change, but it's a known disease and there are facilities he can rent for those nights all throughout the world, and given the threat it poses, its being researched heavily for a cure. For Adam, it was a waning 3/4 moon and he didn't have to worry about changing for several weeks so he was drunk and high at a party reaping the benefits of his disease which were all those Jeff had listed. He was lean, muscular, charming, well endowed. He contracted it after puberty so he's average height but that doesn't stop him from fully enjoying every non full moon night. That is, until he turned the corner to enter the kitchen and found himself on a dark street somewhere holding his empty red solo cup.
The Chronivac had shifted reality so that it was the night before the full moon in Jeff's universe, despite the moonlight he was walking his bike, having been told not to ride on the street at night. Up ahead he heard someone call out in confusion, "What the? Hello? Guy's? What the hell is going on?"
Jeff being the trusting, good natured kid he was, responded. "Oh hey? Who's there?"
Adam was trying to sober up as best he could and heard a kid respond to him, "Hey, I was just inside an apartment, I have no idea how I got here... where's the nearest complex?" Adam's changes had begun but he wasn't expecting them, nor was he in a state of mind granting him a high level of awareness. Jeff happened to be traveling toward the moon so Adam was completely in shadow.
"Apartments? You're in suburbia dude." Jeff walked over to the man staying 10 feet away and tried to think, "Umm, there's a gas station over there, the main road, I think there's apartments like 5 miles that way." Jeff pointed, his back to the man.
"This doesn't make any..." Adam turned, looking for nearby tall buildings only finding houses, then he looked up. "NO! That's not possible!" His transformation rapidly took over completely, leaving him a hulking anthropomorphic wolf-man, in tattered clothes.
Jeff couldn't believe his eyes, werewolves aren't real, but why would someone be pranking him at this hour? Now irritated for being delayed and probably in more trouble, Jeff said, "Okay, nifty trick man but I am already in trouble for being late getting home... good luck with that." and continued walking going past the monster.
Adam was no longer in control, he was no longer drunk due to his increased mass, but he was tipsy and high which messed with his wolf instincts. Jeff's mere presence would normally make him a threat or consider him a meal but the wolf was still trying to get it's bearings since Adam never got high before the change before. Realizing it was in a more vulnerable state, and with its closest, most immediate threat retreating the creature attacked biting Jeff's shoulder/base of his neck, ensuring Jeff would be unlikely to follow it as Jeff was injured!
As Wolf-Adam rounded a house he was whisked back to his universe having completed his purpose in this one, he came to 3 minutes later, a man again, his clothes restored, on the apartment complex's rooftop staring at the waning moon, disturbingly hungry after having had the most intense daydream about becoming the wolf.
Jeff cried out in shock as pain suddenly erupted from his shoulder and he was pushed by the force falling over his bike injuring his palm and shin which he bashed on the petals. He struggled to disentangle himself from his bike and stand back up. He saw something run towards one of the houses without any lights on. Looking back, the weird guy was gone and Jeff was hurt and upset... "Way to take it too far man! You're a jerk!" he yelled bitterly as the adrenaline cooled off and left him with hot tears in his eyes. His whole arm and chest burned and felt hot, his instinct was to cover his wound, leaving him to steer his bike with his arm on his injured side. It was slow going the rest of the way home, he hit his other shin while walking home once or twice, and with each step he felt worse and worse.
Arriving home his parent's outrage was cut short by the state of their son, he was covered in sweat, could barely keep his eyes open, his shirt was saturated with blood and had holes in it. Terror rapidly became confusion as his mother started wound assessment, and despite the shirt and blood, no injuries could be found. Jeff definitely had a fever though, and once his mom said he could go to bed, he discarded his pants and underwear right there in the bathroom in front of her, walking to his room naked, and collapsed on his bed asleep. without shutting the door to his bedroom or turning off the light.