Jeff bolted up the stairs and burst into his bathroom. He wasn't even thinking as he started pulling open drawers looking for a razor. He paused for a moment as his eyes met something strange in one of the drawers. Sitting there was an electric razor. Had that been there before? He picked it up, bouncing it in his palm a couple of times. Perhaps his brother had left it behind the last time he visited from college. He flicked the switch with his thumb and was greeted by the hum of the razor starting up. "Huh.. charged, too."
He shook his head and looked at his face in the mirror. Turning this way and that, getting a look at the growth across his face. Then, with a small shrug for himself, he set the razor against his face, starting at his cheeks and moving in slow circles. The hair slowly gave way, showing his skin underneath. He barely even noticed he was using the electric like an old pro, switching to the trimmer when he got to the sideburns without even thinking. All the while he was patting himself on the back as he thought how easy it was to shave. He even went down his neck a bit, shaving along the top right along where the collar of his shirt would be.
He smiled at his own reflection, his cheeks and jaw slightly darker from the freshly shaved, short stubble. His thick sideburns ending down slightly past his ears. He flicked off the razor, and set it aside, still admiring his reflection. It was just as he had hoped for, he could probably out do anyone else at the school for manliness, at least when it came to hair. Seniors included. He heard a pounding at the door, insistent.
"COMING!" He headed for the stairs, not even thinking of covering up. The thought having completely slipped his mind. He grabbed the door knob and yanked open the front door, just as he finally did think of it, but it was too late. Hairy him, just standing there in nothing but his boxers. His eyes fell on Chris, his best friend from school standing on the other side of the door. Shaggy blond hair mussed up as usual.
He expected him to freak out or something, but all Chris did was roll his eyes and shove his way into the house as usual. "Damn, dude. Can't you cover up? We don't all need to see that shag carpet you call a chest."
Nothing? He didn't even notice? In fact, he acted like it was normal. Jeff couldn't believe it, "What? Don't notice anything different?" He had trouble keeping the incredulity from his voice.
"Working out? People'd notice more if you cut that rug back a bit." Chris just laughed and started to head into Jeff's bedroom as usual. "You got the assignment from biology? I forgot it back at school."
Jeff shook his head, rushing in right after Chris to sit down at his computer, blocking the view of the Chronivac from his friend. "Sure.. right there." He nodded to the place where he had deposited his backpack, dumping out the books and papers he needed for his homework that evening. Chris dug around a bit, until he found it. He dropped his own backpack, yanking out his notebook and quickly jotted down what was written on the paper.
He heard the Chronivac ding behind him and winced, thinking it might draw Chris' attention, but he didn't even seem to register it, and just kept writing. "Thanks, man." Just as quickly as he burst into the room, Chris started to gather his stuff up.
"That's it?" Jeff was used to this sort of come and go with Chris. He lived nearby and was always walking past Jeff's house on his way to or from his job at the convenience store down the street.
"Yeah. Some of us gotta work." Chris teased. He knew very well Jeff's parents didn't want him getting a job that might distract him from school. Chris waved slightly as he headed for the door, "Don't bother, I'll let myself out."
Jeff watched his friend leave, a little bewildered that Chris didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. He turned towards his computer screen, noticing a new pop-up in the window. 'New Data Acquired - Chris Thorton'. Jeff's curiosity was quickly piqued, and he clicked on the pop-up. A new window appeared next to the one that contained his own data, this one with a completely different spread of numbers, and with Chris' name at the top in big bold letters.
He looked over at the device, shaking his head. He had no idea that it could scan people who just walked by. It was a little creepy in fact. He looked back at the screen and gazing over his friends stats noticed a few options at the bottom he had ignored before, under the heading 'Awareness'. User and Subject were checked off, but the option with World was not. Was that why Chris hadn't noticed anything strange, because the device was set not to let anyone but Jeff be aware of the change? The thought made Jeff laugh. That added a whole new level of fun to it that he hadn't thought of before. Maybe it was time to mess with Chris a little...