“Alright. Ready?” asked Ryan, swinging the wardrobe mirror around for Ethan to see. He pressed the button on his Chronivac, and Ethan felt the same familiar tingling. This time, however, the feeling was not on his skin, but felt like it was deeper – through to his bones. He felt a pulling on his arms, and a pushing on his muscles. His arms slowly grew longer, and thicker, and his hands widened slightly. Next the pushing feeling moved over his chest, and his frame widened with muscle. The odd stretching feeling moved down to his legs as they, too, became slightly thicker.
“Hey, this is cool,” said Ethan, as he felt his new biceps.
“It’s not done yet,” said Ryan, as Ethan suddenly felt a large pull downwards, as though his whole body had been covered in a great weight. His spine was reshaped to push his posture forward, and his legs shortened under the weight. Ethan was no longer looking in the mirror, as the weight seemed to pull down on his face. After a couple of seconds, the weight was lifted, but Ethan’s attention had been drawn to his feet, where the pulling sensation stretched and widened his feet and toes into a more glove-like shape.
Finally, all the sensations stopped, and Ethan’s jaw dropped when he looked at himself in the mirror. His face had lost any look of intelligence; his nose was flat and broad, and his brow was thick, forward and heavy-set. His jaw had widened, and his ears stuck out past his still mid-length hair.
“Ta-da!” said Ryan, at Ethan’s astonishment. “You’re now the missing link!”
“Jesus...” Ethan said under his breath as he put his hand to his new face. His features were still recognisable, but it was like looking at an Ethan from hundreds of thousands of years ago. He looked at the rest of himself. His whole frame had was widened and more muscled; he realised too that he had shrunk significantly with his new posture, even though he felt he was stood straight, with his long arms now brushing the floor with his hands. He only now noticed that the waist of his jeans had ripped completely from the transformation.
He turned to Ryan while he kept them held up in one hand. “Look at me – I’m like freakin’ Planet of the Apes!”
Ryan smirked at him. “I know, right? Now you just need the right clothing to finish it off...” he said, as he press another button on the Chronivac.
“Hang on, what do you...” Ethan started, before realising that his jeans had vanished beneath his fingers. He was left standing only in his underwear, which had also stretched to breaking point. They quickly began to warp into something made from hide. In seconds, it was finished, and Ethan was left wearing a wrapped rabbit pelt.
“Hey, I’m not wearing this – I’m practically naked!” Ethan said. Ryan just laughed. “You’ve got enough fur on you, monkey-man – I’m sure you’ll get used to it!”