In a couple months, Denise would be eighteen, she'd age out of the system, and she couldn't wait for it. She didn't mind living with the people who took her in, as they were much better than her father, an alcoholic, abusive pervert who tried to touch her whenever he got drunk, and her mother, a woman who knew her father was bad news, but wouldn't leave him, mostly because she spent a lot of her time drifting through life in a haze of booze and drugs. She hadn't seen either them since she'd been taken out of the home at age ten, and for five years she bounced from one foster home to another, with a couple group homes thrown in for good measure, before she ended up with the Parkers.
She hadn't expected to stay long with them, as most places gave up on her after some time and dumped her onto the next foster family. But, after a year, and she'd adjusted, she discovered the Parkers rarely, if ever gave up on anyone, and it would take a great deal before they kicked a child out. No, the biggest issue she had was Jon, a boy of fifteen, who was rude, inept at everything he did, and whom their foster parents came up with excuses to explain away everything he did. He ruined her clothes by not washing them correctly, repeatedly, and Mrs Parker said he was still learning. He somehow exposed all her make-up to steam from the shower, and Mr Parker wondered if something was wrong with the bathroom fan. He made off-hand comments about girls and woman which were disparaging, and the Parkers sat him down to try to teach him why he shouldn't say such things. And none of it worked, as his behaviour was still boorish and at times reminded Denise of how her father acted.
Incident after incident, and she was convinced he'd never learn, as well as he was doing some of it on purpose. Wishing she had some way to teach him a lesson, she tried to ignore the latest insult, as he was hanging out with a scuzzbucket of guy named Billy, who, after coming over, asked her, "When are you going to let me have a go at your slash?" to which she responded by telling him to piss off.
Calling her a fuckin' whore, he and Jon disappeared somewhere, and Denise tried not to let this latest insult bother her. Heading for her room, she looked at the calendar, flipped to August, when she would turn eighteen, dropped it back so May was again showing, and thought, "My birthday cannot come soon enough," as she closed the day planner, deposited it one of the drawers of the piece of furniture which doubled both as a vanity and a desk, and took out the college stuff she'd been working on.
Not wanting to end up like her mom, Denise believed the best first step she could take to preventing this was a higher education. Having already filled out a number applications, she was still waiting to hear back from them, as she could then start applying for grants and scholarships the moment she learned if she'd been accepted, with the local college looking the most promising. Skimming through a catalogue sent to her, she was distracted when someone knocked on her bedroom door. Figuring it was either of her foster parents, hoping it wasn't Jon or Billy, she stood, tossed what she was reading on her bed, and went to answer the door.
Caught off guard when she saw it was Mrs Parker, who immediately handed her a package, she wondered who could be sending her anything. Thanking her foster mother, Denise closed the door and sat down on her bed. Pushing aside the thick campus catalogue, she peered at the thing she'd been handed, saw the return address was from place she'd never heard of, TransDem Labs, and working open the box and pulling out the packing materials, she discovered it contained a computer disk, a remote-looking thing, a USB cable, and a letter. Opening the letter, she snorted after reading it, re-read it, then muttered, "As if," all as she wondered if someone was having her on.
Without a second glance at the other items, she folded the letter back up and returned it to the box. Reaching over the side of her bed, she slid the box under her dresser, then, standing, she collected the stuff and exited her bedroom. Heading for the living room, where the Parkers had set up a computer in one corner of the room, Denise was dismayed to see Jon and Billy were using the TV to argue over a videogame. Trying to ignore them, she sat down in front of the computer, which Mr Parker sometimes used to work from home, whilst Mrs Parker used it for accounting and tax purposes, and after waking the computer up, she inserted the disk and plugged in the weird remote. Waiting for it to cycle through, she read the information which popped up, most of which was an end-user agreement and such stuff, as well as a readout which offered further details on what was already stated in the letter. Seeing there was option for scanning, she peered at the remote, thought it was meant to scan her, as well as do other functions, and toying with the idea of doing this, Denise picked up the emitter, aimed it at Jon and used it to scan him.
Immediately, information appeared on the screen. Scrolling through it, skipping some things, as they seemed rather intimate and none of her business, Denise wondered what it was she had been sent. Tapping and clicking, she brought up dialogue boxes, but didn't change anything about Jon at first. Wondering if she could use the Chronivac to teach Jon what Mr and Mrs Parker hadn't been able to in the four years he'd lived with them, she listened as Billy made some off-hand remark about fugly girls, then girls who were nerds, both comments which got a laugh from his friend, Denise gritted her teeth and resisted urge to tell them off. Thinking instead if the software did what it claimed she'd also teach Billy a lesson, she set to work.
Unsure what exactly she ought to do, Denise searched Jon's profile for a bit before stopped on his interests, his mindset, and other things along those lines. Manipulating the toggle options and drop-down menus, entering information into the dialogue boxes when they appeared, she set it so he had an understanding of everything a girl would have. Next, she shifted and worked it so, without provocation, he'd suddenly slip into a feminine frame of mind and start doing things a girl would normally do, including, but not limited to, talking about topics ranging from clothes to make-up to feminine products, such as tampons and pads, sitting to pee, even checking out guys. Feeling satisfied it was a start, she hit save, and instructed the programme to initiate the change.