Then, unexpectedly, as Isaac rushed to pull Michelle away from the computer, his arm bumped the mouse. The pointer slid across the screen and clicked on a confirmation prompt neither of them had noticed earlier:
“Apply Changes and Reset Awareness?”
[Yes] had just been clicked.
A brief flash pulsed from the screen—and just like that, their expressions softened, confusion melting away.
Michelle stepped back from the computer, blinking. "Huh, must’ve left the calendar open," she muttered casually, not thinking much of the program. She tucked a strand of her shoulder-length auburn hair behind one ear and glanced around. “I should finish reviewing those files for tomorrow’s presentation.”
Isaac, still standing in the doorway with a laundry basket under one arm, smiled warmly. “Dinner's almost ready. I thought I’d do a quick sweep and then get the table set.”
It was as if nothing unusual had happened. To them, Michelle had always been the career-driven, confident businesswoman. Isaac, the attentive and athletic stay-at-home dad, wouldn’t dream of anything different. Their memories, their identities, and their day-to-day roles all aligned with the newly rewritten reality.
As the roast simmered in the kitchen and the late afternoon sun painted golden streaks across the living room floor, the house settled into an eerily normal quiet—blissfully unaware that things had ever been different.
The only clue that anything had changed at all?
The Chronivac program, now minimized at the bottom corner of the screen, quietly waited... still open.