With dinner still bubbling in the slow cooker and Jess and Megan not expected home for another hour, Mike found himself pacing near the desk again, unable to get the Chronivac program out of his mind.
The idea had been growing in him since he first saw those profiles.
What if… they could just go back?
Back to before the stress, the bills, the parenting, the sleepless nights. Back to when it was just him and Isabelle—young, spontaneous, and crazy about each other. They had lost so much time to responsibility. What if they could reclaim it?
The idea was impulsive. Reckless. But the interface made it look so easy. He selected both profiles and made the changes: Age: 20. Health: Optimal. Energy levels: Enhanced. Passion Index: Increased.
There was a warning flash across the screen:
"This will overwrite current familial structure. Dependent relationships will be reset. Proceed?"
Mike hesitated. Then clicked Yes.
The screen shimmered, and the house seemed to ripple for a brief second—just enough to make the lightbulbs flicker.
Moments later, Isabelle—who had been in the kitchen stirring sauce—gasped sharply, staggering against the counter as a sudden rush of warmth and clarity swept through her body. Her joints loosened, her skin tingled, and her thoughts felt lighter, brighter—like the weight of the years had been scrubbed away in an instant.
She looked down at herself, seeing a youthful glow, smoother skin, tighter features. Her heart raced. Something profound had just happened.
Then she saw Mike step into the room. Also younger. Standing tall and full of energy, wearing a boyish grin.
“You feel it, don’t you?” he said excitedly. “I made us 20 again! Before kids, before stress, before—everything. Doesn’t it feel amazing?”
Isabelle blinked, dazed—but then her eyes widened. Her hands trembled slightly.
"Wait..." she said slowly, her voice catching. "Mike... what did you do?"
“I told you,” he said, coming closer. “I made us young again. We’ve got our lives back. No more aches, no more middle-aged sluggishness. Just us. Young. In love. Again.”
She stared at him. “But Jess. Megan. Where are they?”
Mike’s smile faltered slightly, and he waved a hand vaguely. “They’re... not here anymore. I mean, not yet. This version of us never had kids. But we can bring them back later, maybe even better than before. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just enjoy this for now.”
Isabelle’s stomach dropped.
Her mind reeled—not just from the sensation of being 20 again, but from the realization that her daughters... her life as she knew it... had been erased. If Jess never existed, then her original body—Jeff’s body—didn’t exist either. This new “Isabelle” wasn’t a mask or a role anymore. She was real now. A person without a past or a body to return to.
“I... I can’t go back, can I?” she whispered.
Mike didn’t understand at first. “Babe, it’s okay. We’re free now. We can travel, have fun—be who we were before all of this.”
But Isabelle shook her head, backing away. “No... Mike, you don’t get it. I’m not her anymore. If Jess is gone, there’s nothing to go back to.”
He paused, confused. “But... isn’t that a good thing?”
Isabelle clutched the counter, heart pounding. She looked at her hands—so young, so different—and realized she truly was someone else now. This wasn't just a role she’d been nudged into. She had become real in a way that erased who she once was.
“I didn’t ask for this,” she said, her voice barely audible.
Mike stepped forward. “But we can be happy—”
“I don’t even know who I am anymore.”