Max watched Jeff out of the corner of his eye. The boy sat quietly on the carpeted floor, legs crossed, fingers pulling gently at the threads of a loose seam on his shorts. His eyes wandered the room—not with the critical eye of an older sibling, but with a quiet, almost awed curiosity. He didn’t look angry anymore. He didn’t even look confused.
Just… small.
Max glanced down at the Chronivac app. The changes were subtle, but working perfectly. The dialed-down confidence. The behavioral tweaks. The slight erosion of memory. It was all taking hold—slowly, gently—but with deep, lasting impact.
He tapped “Enhance Behavior Sync” and confirmed.
The app responded:
Behavioral Profile Updating… Please Wait.
Jeff blinked once, then twice, like someone waking from a half-formed dream. His body shifted, and so did something else—something deeper.
His shoulders sagged, not from defeat, but from relaxation. The tension that had gripped him since the transformation started was dissolving. His arms dropped to his sides, and he stopped picking at his clothes.
He looked up at Max with soft eyes.
“Hey… um…” Jeff’s voice was lighter, higher, and carried a different tone now—gentler, unsure. “Do you think… maybe I could borrow one of your comics? I know I always said they were dumb but… they’re not that bad.”
Max shrugged, playing it cool. “Sure. Check the stack by the desk.”
Jeff smiled—actually smiled—and crawled over to the stack, flipping through them like a younger sibling hoping to be included in something cooler than he was used to.
Max tapped one more adjustment:
Posture Adjustment – slight
Speech Simplification – mild
Motor Skill Calibration – age-appropriate coordination
Jeff’s hands fumbled a bit with the comic pages. He tilted his head as he looked at the artwork, mumbling the word bubbles aloud quietly under his breath. The way a child reads when he thinks no one is watching.
Max leaned back, watching him with detached amusement. Jeff didn’t even realize how naturally he was falling into the new role.
The app chimed again:
Subject Jeff – Updated Behavioral State
• Obedience: Elevated
• Self-Confidence: Low
• Emotional Dependency: High
• Attachment to Max: Forming
• Resistance Response: Dormant
Max stood and walked toward the door.
“I’m gonna grab something from the kitchen,” he said. “You stay here, okay?”
Jeff looked up and nodded quickly. “Okay!”
Max hesitated at the door. He didn’t need to say anything else. He didn’t need to give a reason or ask for Jeff’s permission. That alone told him how deep the transformation had sunk.
He left the room, but paused just outside, listening.
Inside, Jeff hummed to himself. A quiet, wandering melody. He turned a page and let out a soft, amused laugh.
Max opened the app again as he walked down the hallway.
There were more options he hadn’t touched yet. Personality presets. Bonding patterns. Even relationship restructuring.
But there was no rush.
Jeff wouldn’t be trying to undo anything now.
He didn’t want to anymore.