Aware of how long they'd been in the bathroom, and the pizza must be showing up soon, Lucy shared a look with Jennifer and the two settled the matter with Lucy stating, "I think they've been punished enough. And if Felicity ought to be punished further, we should decide later," whilst Jennifer said pretty much the along the same times.
The two looking at each other as they finished, then the other girls, a nod of agreement was shared. Exiting the bathroom, they started to head back to the living room, but after a couple steps, Jennifer slowed. Despite what Lucy had explained what she'd done, Jennifer could still feel Jeff inside her, as a part of her, lurking somewhere deep within, ready to step forward, wanting to reclaim his old life. Bothered by this, she considered her options before reaching out and grabbing Lucy's hand to get her attention.
When she had it, she was about to ask something, but upon seeing Tanya, Natalie, and Diana had also stopped, she faltered. Feeling flustered, she stammered out, "Uh, can, uh, you all give me, uh, I dunno, a minute to ask Lucy something?"
Three grins greeted her at this and Tanya whistled, Natalie gushed, "I wanna hear all the juicy details," whilst Diana uttered, "Ooooo."
"It's nothing like that," Jennifer replied, cottoning on to what they were hinting at, and feeling more flustered, she added, "I wanted to ask Lucy a question. Something about the Chronivac," and seeing they still didn't believe her, yet, at the same time, were teasing her in the friendly manner friends, even sisters, would tease each other, Jennifer huffed, "Come on," and gently pulled Lucy away.
Not sure what the other girl wanted to ask, nor what it had to do with the Chronivac, Lucy followed along. Hoping it wasn't something idiotic, she waited until Jennifer had shut the door and sat down at the computer before asking, "What's up."
Jennifer, taking a moment to collect her thoughts, at last settled on, "Can you help make me, me? I mean, is there some way to use the computer to, I dunno, remove the part of me which isn't me? The part of me who used to be Jeff and make me completely Jennifer Grace?" and realising she was rambling, she took a deep breath, was about to start over. But before she could say anything, Lucy stepped closer and said, "I understand," and pulling up the girl’s profile, she offered "Let's see what we can figure out.”
What exactly they were looking for, neither really knew. Scrolling through the information, seeing some things which were really intimate and meant to be kept secret, Lucy pretended she hadn't seen them, something Jennifer was grateful for. Discovering areas greyed out and inaccessible, both were curious as to why, but then moved on. Deeper and deeper in they went, searching for any hint of Jeff, and as she went, Jennifer began to learn things about herself she hadn't given any thought to. Wanting to know how the Chronivac determined certain things, like her sexual attraction, she saw was set to her being attracted to girls, she also wondered how Lucy felt knowing the girl she was helping was gay. Wanting to ask, she instead put a pin in it, as she figured it was something which could wait.
After some time, Lucy shook her head and commented, "I don't know if we are ever going to find anything," and indicating what was pulled up, she explained, "There's just too much data to go through. If we try to go through all of this, even skipping over the stuff we cannot access, we'll be here all night. Maybe longer."
Seeing the other spoke the truth, Jennifer sat back in the chair to think. Mulling over her options, still able to pick up on the part of her who was Jeff, who was upset and worried about what had been done, and what she was trying to do, she struggled to find a solution. Thinking about who she now was, the memories she had growing up Jennifer Grace, then what she could recall of her life as Jeff, an idea started to form. Curious, she scrolled back up, stopped when she saw information about activities she'd engaged in, groups she'd been part of, and with a quick click, she changed one thing. Setting it so she had been a girl scout since the age of five, and her mom was working to get her re-enrolled, she wondered if this would purge Jeff from her as she hit save, then committed the change.
Next to get, guessing what she was doing, Lucy kept silent. Watching as the other girl got a weird look on her face as part of her life was reconfigured, she waited a moment before asking, "Did it work?"
Still able to sense Jeff inside her, Jennifer sighed, "No."
It obvious how upset her friend was, Lucy gave her a hug. As she did this, she said, "Hey, it'll be all right. You'll see. And, I dunno, maybe this is just something you'll have to get used to."
She didn't want to, but, at the same time, could see the logic in what her new friend, and former sibling, told her. Nodding, displeased there might not be a way to completely remove Jeff, she looked at the computer screen, and was about to exit the programme when she whispered, "I want to try one more thing, if that's all right."
Lucy gave a wave her hand to indicate she could right ahead, though the look on her face stated she cdidn't think it would work. Ignoring how the girl was looking at her, Jennifer set a minute and a half timer, scrolled over to her age, then dropped it down to two months. Shifting the discomfort so it wouldn't be so bad, she hoped this would work as she saved the new changes, then, after taking a deep breath, initiated the change.
What she expected to happen, didn't. The instant she told the Chronivac to do its thing, she immediately came over all itchy. Feeling as if a million insects were walking all over her, Jennifer grew alarmed when she felt herself slipping away. Mind regressing as fast as her body, her clothes ballooning around her, she kicked her feet and legs, and waved her arms and hands in a useless fashion. Upset, but unsure by what, she resisted the urge to start crying as she regressed back through the years, laid back on the chair, managed to kick off her shoes, socks and skirt-shorts, and squirming, she blinked up at the world she no longer could see properly, nor understand, and began to babble like the newborn she'd become.
From where she stood, Lucy watched in awe as her new friend regressed back through the ages, going from nine to an age she wasn't sure of, but guessed it was less than one. When the baby Jennifer had become kicked off part of what she was wearing, Lucy picked up the skirt, folded it, and set it on the desk. Looking at the infant now lying on the chair, wondering what she should do, worried the girl would wiggle off the desk chair, Lucy reached down and picked up Jennifer. Not sure how to hold her, she soon grasped were to put her hands to support the girl. Looking at the computer screen, seeing the timer had at last engaged, Lucy cradled Jennifer and gently rocked her until the timer was at about ten seconds. Easing the girl back down onto the chair, hoping she wouldn't start crying, as Lucy didn't know how she'd explain why there was now a bawling infant, she breathed a sigh of relief when the timer ended and Jennifer started to progress forward in age.
The change forward as quick as it had been backwards, and feeling just as weird, Jennifer shifted in place the moment she regained the ability to sit up. When she had the ability to form complete sentences, the first thing she asked was, "Why am I naked from the waist down," before looking at Lucy and inquiring in a sheepish tone, "I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?"
"No," Lucy replied as she decided to keep it to herself how she'd held Jennifer.
Glad to hear this, Jennifer reached for her skirt-short, then stopped. Feeling as if something was missing, she tried to work out what, and after a moment, she grinned. Grabbing the article of clothing she'd lost, she proclaimed, "It worked," as she realised there was nothing of Jeff and everything about her was Jennifer Grace, and pulling on the clothes she'd kicked off, elated to be wholly the girl she now was and not to have some part of her be a lingering residue of someone she'd been before, she stood.
She was happy to hear this, though, for a split second, she was conflicted, as what she heard meant, if she did have a brother at one time, they were now truly gone. But then the moment passed and Lucy decided she didn't care and was instead thrilled her friend had discovered a way to purge Jeff from her existence. Watching as her friend closed her profile, she was about to ask something, but was distracted by a knock on the door. The two giving each other a knowing look which stated this was something they'd keep between themselves, Lucy headed across the room, and after making sure Jennifer was re-dressed, she pulled open the door.