"12! Guess I'm just that lucky." John breathed a sigh of relief seeing the result. Alex's face turned red as she just stared at the dice. Maybe she thought she could make it roll to a lower number by focusing hard enough.
"Ugh, fine, I'll be the one to test the feeblemind ray. But if we gonna treat this like a study, let me do something first." Alex went over and sat down at John's desk, grabbing her laptop adorned with various Pokemon and nerdy joke stickers. "IQ tests may be faulty, but I want to verify this isn't gonna mess with my head at all."
John could see her search for a brief 20 question IQ test online, and she began running through the questions as best she could. Before long, a pop-up appeared that showed:
*** YOUR RESULT IS: ***
113 IQ (You rank in the 80th Percentile of our testers)
"Wow, 113! No wonder you got into college." John affirmed feeling a little relieved he didn't have to see what he would get. Knowing his experience in high school, he probably would score a little under average compared to the Econ Major sitting next to him.
"It's hardly an accurate assessment with just 20 questions and a timer. Just like the ACT's. A second result would at least provide more assurance." Alex refreshed the page and went at it again, this time seeming even more invested in scoring high.
*** YOUR RESULT IS: ***
118 IQ (You rank in the 88th Percentile of our testers)
"See how skewed that difference is? It's all bunk. My sister took one of these with her friends once and got a 125... I bet I could score better though."
"You're stalling." John could tell Alex was trying to waste time and avoid her dice-rolled responsibility.
"Alright, you can zap me with the weird ray. It's not even gonna do anything, right?" Alex seemed to assure herself as she spun her chair around and fidgeted with her hair. "And don't hit me in the eyes with it, okay? I don't want it to burn my retinas or anything."
John checked the gun's setting was at Lv1 and steadied his aim on the girl in front of him. ("It shouldn't do anything, so why do I feel so nervous using it?") He thought to himself as he tensed up and pulled the trigger.
The gun buzzed as it's lights pulsed and a pink beam seemed to shoot out of it. He held it for a second or two before it seemed to stop. The strange light so transfixing he hadn't even paid attention to Alex who had her eyes closed the whole time. He took a moment to look over his friend and was frankly shocked. Her hair, once mussy with quite a few split ends was now rather luscious and glossy. The few blemishes on her cheeks had vanished and her gaunt angles had filled out to look smooth and rounded. Her lips were noticeably bigger with better color, and even her posture seemed to be much better. Beneath the baggy clothes, John could actually see the faint outlines of some curves to her. It felt weird to say, but his friend looked....really cute.
"Is it okay to open my eyes now?" Hesitantly blinking them open before John gave an answer, not that he was able to say much of anything at the moment. She got up staring at her friend's perplexing expression before she got up to look into a small wall mirror he had in his room.
"...Woah, did that thing actually...work?" She tilted her head back and forth and looked down at her figure, which both parties could now tell looked more toned and well-proportioned.
"Oh my gosh! I look great! I feel great! This is so cool!" Alex jumped up and down in a giddy celebration as John redirected his attention to the marvel he seemed to have in his hand, turning the gun over to see how it could have done this.
After getting out her burst of upbeat energy, John could see Alex's eyes focus as she headed back to the computer and took the IQ Test again. Though her demeanor had completely shifted from before. This test barely seemed to phase her and she coasted calmly right through it.
"118 again! I get to have the brains AND the body." Gesturing with her hands up and down herself as she giggled a bit as the performance, something Alex normally rarely did. "I wonder if this is permanent? I wouldn't mind feeling this cheerful and relaxed the rest of my life."
"The gun didn't say anything about a time limit, maybe-" Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Hey Johnny, Mom wants me to tell you dinner's almost ready." Came the recognizable voice of his older sister Jennifer. No one else called him Johnny. Thankfully she didn't open the door or even wait for an answer before leaving. Working at the accounting firm left Jennifer pretty exhausted to deal with anyone or anything after hours except her bed. John felt his heartbeat resume it's normal beating, but Alex seemed practically unphased despite being almost being caught together in a boy's room with the door shut.
She turned back from the door with a rather mischievous smirk as she whispered, "I think I know a good candidate for a blind subject test of your Bimbo Ray." John and Alex both looked down at the stranger-than-fiction device he held.