As Dan hurried, she felt another change overcome her. She froze. Then, as she was in the housing department, made a quick detour. She stood in front of a mirror and felt like crying from relief.
Every change that had been made, beyond being turned into a toddler and becoming diaper-dependent, had been reverted. Dan was back to his old genders and old features. No doubt his parents would squeal in delight seeing him like this, dressed in bright red overalls and a matching bucket hat. As he looked at his reflection, a red pacifier to match his outfit appeared in his mouth. Dan rolled his eyes, but couldn't bring himself to spit it out. Sucking on it was very soothing.
Dan's badge buzzed and fell off the front of his overalls. He quickly picked it up and stuffed it into the pocket on his chest, where his phone had been relocated to as well. He had to hurry if he wanted to get the girl to turn him back into an adult.
Dan only made it a few steps before someone grabbed him.
"Little boy, where are your parents?" asked the middle-aged man holding his arm. The man had a baby in a slung across his chest and a shopping cart full of baby supplies. The baby giggled at Dan.
"Um..."
"Did you get separated from them?" the man asked. Dan tried to come up with something to say, but was so startled by this new development that he couldn't think. "Okay, don't worry, I know just where to take you." The man lifted Dan into the seat of the shopping cart. "You're not the first lost child I've seen wandering around here, and I doubt you'll be the last." The man shook his head. "People treat this place like a free daycare. It's a business. If you want your child watched, take them to the actual free daycare in the back of the store, don't let them run loose," he muttered.
Dan wondered to himself how many of those "lost children" this man had found were actually employees in a situation like his. Right now, he was going to just allow the man to bring him to the daycare. Once at the daycare, he could talk to one of the workers there to explain what was going on with him. He silently sucked on his pacifier as the man pushed the cart through the store.
The daycare was at the back of the store. The man entered with the cart. The employee at the front desk, a young man named Devin, looked up. He smiled.
"Hi, Mark. Find another wayward kiddo?"
"Yes, I did," said the man, apparently named Mark. He lifted Dan out of the cart and set him on the front desk. There was a squish as Dan was set down. "I think he needs a fresh diaper."
"You got it. Thanks as always for helping us keep track of the loose kids," Devin said. Mark exited the daycare with his baby and cart. Devin turned to Dan. "Okay, there have only been a few times where Mark brought us a kid that was actually a kid. Every other time, it was some poor demonstrator that got stuck in diapers. If you're an employee, go ahead and show me your badge."
Dan reached for his employee badge in his chest pocket and...