Jennifer had an ample figure, not really fat but more weighed down from long hours at a desk. In college she had prided herself on biking to all of her classes and it still showed in her legs, but that luxury of time for exercise left when she turned 22 and joined the coffee-bean counters. God, she hated dealing with traffic now. Her ears registered Roxanne, their mom, telling her to pass the word along to Johnny as her mind focused it's remaining energy on undoing her tawny-colored hair from it's business professional bun and kicking off her work heels. Her boss was an old-fashioned businessman and expected button-up shirts and black work skirts and stockings on the female employees. Jennifer didn't mind it much, but having just about any cleavage meant keeping every button done up or risking looking 'too loose' according to him. And these late spring days could already get hot, and being well-endowed became more of a curse than a blessing.
Johnny's door was closed so a quick knock and a reciting of what their mother said was all Jennifer bothered with before making her way to her room to put down her computer bag. She didn't even notice as she walked back down the hall two sets of eyes peering out the doorway at her.
Alex had the camera on her phone open and snapped a shot of Jennifer. "Okay, make sure you have it set to Lv1. We can look at before and after photos to see what all changed. And she looks like she needs this good energy more than anyone."
"Set, just need her to be facing away so she doesn't see the beam." John aiming and firing once she passed by the door again.
*ZAP* Jennifer couldn't tell why, but all of sudden she felt waaay more positive and relaxed. She'd just been thinking about something that was bothering her, but suddenly nothing of the sort came to mind. Her top was feeling a bit tighter, so she undid one of the buttons. No real harm since she was at home now, she thought. Since she had tomorrow off, maybe she'd go for a jog in the morning with this extra energy she had, letting her hair down effortlessly out of it's bun.
Meanwhile, her younger brother looked on at his newly revitalized sister from his door. "Did you see that? I've never seen her look that refreshed and energetic." Alex looked confused by his statement.
"See what? She always seems that way whenever I've seen her, though I have no idea how she does it. Why did we think we should zap her, anyway? She already matches the Lv1 description."
Now it was John who replied confusedly, "...That's because I just DID zap her? Didn't you see? The pink beam that hit her back?"
"No, when did that happen? Nothing about her even changed."
John heard this and was about to call his friend crazy, when suddenly a lightbulb went on in his head. What if no one else could see the beam or the change it caused? A decent theory, but then why would Alex have noticed her own change?
"Come on," he said as he opened the door and had Alex follow him down the hall toward his sister.
"Hey Jennifer, how are you feeling today?"
"Oh hey, Johnny! And Alex, right? I'm really good actually. I don't know why but tonight I don't feel burned out from work. I actually feel refreshed."
John could see Alex furrow her eyebrows at this and parroted her opinion, "Don't you always feel that way, though? You seem like you've always got energy to spare?" John felt the ray gun vibrate slightly as he held it behind his back.
"...Huh, you're right. I do, don't I? Must be I'm just good at handling work stress. Anyway, I'm gonna go down and help set up for dinner. Tell Chloe she needs to come down, too. And your cute friend is welcome to join too," winking while she enjoyed making her sibling feel awkward.
John rolled his eyes as Jennifer walked back enthusiastically toward their mom, who showed with no surprised to a plucky, relaxed Jennifer at all. As they headed back toward his room, with Alex gave him a bewildered look and whispered, "why did you do that just now?"
"Cause I'm a genius, too. You and my mom both seem to think Jennifer is looking and acting normal. What if that's because the change is only apparent to the user, like with the main characters in Twilight Zone episodes?"
"Decent theory Rod Sterling, but you forgot that you told me you used the gun on me and I can tell I've changed." gesturing to herself.
"But I told you, and my sister thought she seemed different too until I acted just like you and said she seemed normal. And she believed it! What if the person only thinks something is off until they get told otherwise?"
"Woah, that would be freaky. How could a little gun like that effect everyone like that, though?"
"Well how did it give you perfect hair and posture?"
"MAGIC." They both said in unison.
Alex decided not to stay for dinner, but agreed she needed to come back tomorrow to keep investigating this thing they had. Being methodical, she wrote down the list of questions still not fully answered they would need to figure out:
1. Is the change permanent? If not, how long does it last?
2. What triggers the target believing or disbelieving they changed?
3. What happens if someone is shot multiple times at the same or different settings?