Shannon sighed. The doorbell rang for what seemed like the fifteenth time.
He closed his book and set it down. He was wondering who had ordered something. As far as he was aware neither
he nor his parents or siblings were expecting any packages. Even if it was for someone else, it would be
interesting to see what it was.
"A package for a Mr. Shannon Smith..." the postal worker trailed off, looking up to Shannon and back down at
the package. "This can't be right," he continued. "This package is for a 'Mister' but Shannon is a girl's
name."
The actual Shannon, of course, was slightly offended. Yeah, his name was traditionally female, and he was a
bit feminine (Okay, maybe a bit more feminine than he would care to admit) but he was still a guy.
"Give it to me. That's my name, and yes, I am in fact male." Shannon huffed. Grabbing the package out of the
postal worker's hands. He quickly signed his name, trying as hard as he could to make his signature look
masculine, before slamming the door behind him.
He set the package down on the table. This was really strange. He hadn't ordered anything, but the package
quite clearly had his name on it. Silently pondering the enigma, he turned to the kitchen and grabbed a knife.
He then slipped the knife under the cardboard and slit the tape holding it closed. He opened it and shifted
the packaging peanuts around before pulling out the mysterious item contained therein.
"Chronivac?" Shannon questioned to no one in particular. "What is that?"
Noticing the CD attached to the strange device, he grabbed it. He slid the CD into his laptop, and after
running it through a virus scan that declared it safe, decided to install it. He went to get a cup of coffee
while it installed.
While Shannon was adding sugar to his coffee, the door rang again.
"Hey man! What's up?" Shannon's friend James said when Shannon opened the door.
"The ceiling, you dumbass." Shannon greeted in return. He had been expecting James for a few hours now, their
plans for the day involving... not much, actually. Shannon's parents where off on some vacation, leaving him
alone for the first time. He was 16 years old, old enough to take care of the house on his own. "Come in and
take a seat. I'm making some coffee in the kitchen, I'll be right back." He said before slipping back into the
kitchen.
"Sure thing!" James replied, parking himself next to Shannon's laptop. He noticed the Chronivac homescreen
sitting open.
"Chronivac? Is that some kind of new game? I'm sure he won't mind if I take a quick peak." James mused to
himself before clicking the "Start" button. The program brought up a list of names, including Shannon's and
his own.
"These must be profiles. But why would one of them be named after me?" James mused idly to himself before
clicking on a name. He decided to try...