Mark sighed and said "Right. Since I have to choose one, it's going to have to be becoming a dad. I always did
want a kid but I haven't exactly had the chance to form a relationship".
Simon smiled and said "Well I'm glad you chose this scenario, it's the perfect punishment to teach you some
responsibility and how to care for others. Being a dad has to be one of the most difficult things I've had to
do, raising you and Jay to be the respectable men you are".
Mark laughed and said "Yeah but thanks to me, we went through most of our lives yesterday. All the memories of
raising us are fake".
Simon frowned. "That may be and I'm still disappointed in you for doing that to us, especially to your
grandfather, but I guess I'm quite happy to stay this age for now thanks to those memories". He reminisced on
his faux life for a moment, smiling to himself.
Mark waited for him to return to reality and said "Well how are we going to do this then? Am I going to get
some chick pregnant and I'll have to raise the result? Or are you going to turn someone into my son".
Simon tapped the side of his large nose and said "I already told you I can't share what will happen. I already
have a scenario set up in the Chronivac which will kick in as soon as you wake up tomorrow morning. Although I
can tell you it shall be an unpleasant surprise. As much as I want you to enjoy fatherhood, you still have to
remember that this is punishment. You wanted to reach maturity quickly and this should teach you that those
consequences have actions".
Mark grumbled to himself, his dad sure was stressing the moral of his punishment. He was mighty responsible
already, sure he had aged everyone in his family by about 20 years and turned his nephew into his uncle, but
he had full control over the situation at hand and planned it to the last detail. It wasn't his fault the
Chronivac decided to glitch. If only he'd waited a few more minutes then he wouldn't be in this situation. He
put his head in his hands and let out a long sigh. "yeah yeah, I understand. You're starting to sound like a
Saturday morning cartoon".
"Careful now, one click and I can turn us all back to our normal selves with no recollection of these past few
days". In reality Simon would never do such a thing, it would mean ending the simulation and turning back into
a teenager, not to mention losing one of his sons and his brother. He wasn't ready to end the simulation just
yet. Although the longer he spent in it, the less he wanted to go back to his old life. He hoped the threat
would be enough to strike a bit of fear into Mark. It seemed to do the trick as his mouth disappeared behind
his beard and he tensed up a little. "OK, so tomorrow morning you'll start your punishment. And to make sure
you don't get any ideas, I'm going to hide the Chronivac from now on. Can you go and get your uncle Dan for me
now?". Mark left the room and went to find Danny, who seemed a bit lost now he was 55 years old. He kept
rubbing his large belly in an awestruck manner and touching his hairier face. He waddled up the stairs and
entered Simon's room.
The rest of the day went as normal for the family. At dinner, Mark had noticed that Danny was still the same
age as he was earlier, yet he was now a lot more cheerful than he had been all day. He didn't appear lost in
his own body any more. In fact, he seemed to be doing everything by instinct. He even ate his food like he'd
had a long beard for years, no scraps getting trapped or staining the white hairs. Mark wondered why Simon
hadn't turned him back to a kid again. Maybe it was just another way to guilt trip him. After a couple of
hours of TV, Mark went to bed with a sense of anxiety for what was to come. He was going to be a different man
tomorrow, and he wasn't prepared at all.