Mark was ready to leave the Chronivac alone, when he came up with an idea. What if only one member of the
family was getting older? How would that affect their relationships and lives? He opened the time acceleration
mode again and switched to the advanced options. Sure enough, you could choose to change the flow of time for
individual people. Should he choose himself? Although he'd like to see how he'd look when he reached Simon's
age, maybe he'd do that another time. He wanted to be an observer for once. He can't make Bryan or Simon older
as they were both already so old. The sudden appearance of his nephew Danny did seem to mix things up a bit.
Maybe he should see the boy become middle aged throughout the day. But wouldn't Jay notice that his son
suddenly became their brother? Although Mark had adjusted his awareness of the situation for Jay, he was still
pretty suspicious of the changes Mark had made, which had thrown a spanner in their brotherly relationship.
Mark thought about it and realised this could present an interesting situation. What if he made both Danny and
Jay age throughout the day? Mark thought it would be surreal to have his twin become his older brother, then
his uncle. Likewise, his nephew would become his cousin. It all sounded so fairytale and fictional and yet he
could make that happen. Maybe Jay would make a better uncle than a twin, and he'd never had a cousin before.
Or maybe he did before he joined the family. He was finding it harder to remember his previous life, but
that's was in his past now. Why worry about it? He clicked on Jay and Danny's names and thought about how old
to make them. If he stuck to the previous format of one hour equalling a year, Danny would be 36 and Jay would
be 64. He didn't want Jay to become too old, but he wanted Danny to become even older. After some quick maths,
he'd adjusted their individual time acceleration at Jay aging 20 years a day (or 1 year every 72 minutes) and
Danny aging at 30 years a day (or 1 year every 48 minutes). Just before clicking agree, he'd decided with a
twinge of regret to change Jay's awareness to the same as Bryan's, which is to say he wouldn't be aware at
all. He was getting too suspicious in the day and he wouldn't want to anger him more once he became an old
man. However he also changed Danny's awareness to the point Jay's was previously, wondering how an "outsider"
would react to knowing something was up with his life, without previously knowing what the Chronivac did. With
a bit of hesitation, he clicked accept and the Chronivac did its work, the wave-like energy bursting forth,
though Mark didn't feel anything this time. He turned the Chronivac off and went back to his room, briefly
bumping into his father on the way. Luckily the bathroom was opposite Simon's room so he didn't rouse
suspicion. They exchanged goodnights and went to bed.
Jay woke up early that morning with a headache. Maybe he should cut down on his drinking now he was in his
40s. It sounded so weird to him. In his 40s. His younger brother was 40 so he couldn't deny he was getting
old. He got out of bed, the springs squeaking loudly as they were released from his bulk, and made his way to
the bathroom. He stared at his face in the mirror, seeing a 45 year old man. He hadn't aged well, his face
round and saggy, bags appearing under his eyes. His trimmed beard was almost completely colorless now, not
even attempting to hide his second chin, and what was left of his hair was steadily turning grey as well. His
eyes looked tired between the weathered creases surrounding them. He shook his big hairy belly and it jiggled
about. Was this what having a mid life crisis was like? His son had already graduated from high school and was
working with him, his brother and father in the auto-repair shop. It only felt like yesterday that he was in
his 20s. He sighed and got in the shower to clean up.
Meanwhile Danny had woken from his own slumber, scratching his stubbly cheeks. He froze suddenly, since when
did he have to shave? He was only a kid. But no, he wasn't. He was almost 20 now, and he'd inherited his dad's
high testosterone levels. He'd been shaving since he was 14 near enough. He must of been remembering a dream
of his, and yet his whole body didn't feel right. Standing up, he wobbled a bit on his large feet, now the
tallest man in the family. His height gave him a better spread for his weight so he didn't look as large as
his relatives at this age. In fact, he was in a healthy shape. Not as healthy as his uncle, but he tried to
keep up. He itched his chest which was covered with hair that many men his age would be envious of and went to
the bathroom, finding his dad was already in there. They really needed more than one in the house seeing how
there were 5 men sharing it, but they couldn't afford a new one. It wasn't long before his dad had finished
and let him in, squeezing past back to his own room. Danny frowned, his dad looked different somehow but he
couldn't quite place it. Maybe he'd lost weight? No, he'd probably gained some. He was about the same size as
his great grandfather was back when he was younger based on the pictures he'd seen. Danny entered the bathroom
and got to shaving his face, leaving a wide strip along the bottom of his face hairy as he was trying to grow
it out, which wasn't a hard feat given his genetics. He fiddled with his hair, which had steadily receded by a
couple of inches. It wasn't too noticeable if he combed his hair forward, yet it was obvious he'd follow the
rest of his family. He wanted to shave his head like his uncle Mark, but his dad had told him it was a coward
move and to embrace his hairline like the rest of his family. Maybe in a few years he'd have the courage to
shave it. He sighed and got in the shower to clean up.
Mark had woken up, still as a 40 year old and looked out of his bedroom door. He saw Jay leave the bathroom,
looking older than ever, while a young hairy man went in. He remembered what he did last night and said good
morning to his brother, who smiled at him, but it was a sad smile. He wondered what was wrong until he saw
Simon in his doorway looking confused. Mark went over to him and said "Hey dad, what's up? You look like
you've seen a ghost".
Simon looked at his son and said "Oh sorry, I was just thinking about how grown up Danny is now, already
growing his first beard. It's a weird goatee, but it suits him". Mark smiled and went down to make beakfast
while Simon went back to his room. He had seen what Mark had seen, his eldest son leaving the bathroom so his
grandson could enter. But Jay was 45 and he was 60 which meant he was only 15 when Jay came into the world. He
was so young, but it didn't feel right. His grandson was looking older as well. He couldn't place why
everything felt so wrong. Maybe the Chronivac was malfunctioning, he hadn't even checked on the device since
starting this simulation. It felt so long ago now. He couldn't even believe he was 60, his face was lined with
age and his eyes were dim with age, now needing glasses to see close up. He'd stopped shaving his head
recently because he was afraid of cutting himself now his hands were a bit shaky. Plus Bryan was now 80. 80
years old! He didn't even seem to remember anything of their previous life at all, which could be due to his
advanced age. He always joked about how close he was to the grave but it wasn't that funny. He had to retire
from the shop after getting arthritis in his joints, and he lost all his teeth to gingivitis. The man needed a
hearing aid and was practically blind now, even with his glasses. He couldn't even walk about without his
cane. The only bright side was he'd lost a lot of weight recently, yet that was only due to getting ill and
losing his appetite. It almost killed the man. Simon was having to spend more time at home looking after his
father than working in the shop. He was glad that his grandson was old enough to work there now so they
weren't so overstretched. He let out a deep sigh, wondering how his life came to this. He glanced over to the
Chronivac. Maybe it was time to do something.