The Chronivac has a few features which are constantly running, one being the target detection, to identify potential targets for modification, another being its recovery process which analyzes transformations to ensure the highest quality has been achieved.
The device has had a hardware malfunction which is not so easy for it to rectify through software, or even to identify. The device restarted itself again but upon powering up identified Jeff's parents, as well as Jeff and his sister, They had returned from their trip to the store.
While the family was unloading the groceries (none but Jeff realized he and his sister were the wrong ages) the Chronivac was busy running benchmarks on a piece of lint it found in the room, a planned security feature.
By the time the family had gotten the groceries in, the Chronivac had gotten through its benchmarks and was cycling through its repair routine. The lint was left slightly sentient, below the consciousness of a worm, which should not happen, but it was happy with its existence. After going through the repair routine and not being powered down by the impatient user... it removed sentience from the lint which was painless as it had no nerve endings. May it rest in peace.
Finding no errors after completing its benchmark the second time it went through its log and identified a number of errors but only had record of Jeff's initial transformation and his attempt to revert back. Memory errors, such a pain. The program connected to the emitter and identified the targets within range. Then it began attempting to fix the situation by doubling Jeff's age and halving his sister's.
The true nature of the problem wasn't the execution of the commands, it was target bleed. Unintended subjects getting caught up in transformations. The initial inverted command was software related and was fixed by the completed restore feature, the additional was a software glitch caused purely by, well, the users impulse control issues...
The last command the device recalled was to undo the age halving and doubling of Jeff and his sister. it queued up the commands and began working. The family was in the kitchen putting the groceries away when it started.
Jeff was amazed that his parents weren't commenting on his or his sisters age changes but were discussing college class schedules. Oddly enough, Jaime was answering them without hesitation. This gave Jeff ample opportunity to mentally check out and ponder his options on trying to fix the situation. Maybe there is a website he could go to? Soup goes in the cabinet. Or a program he could run? Fresh fruit goes in the fridge. Something seemed out of place but he put it out of his mind, the whole situation was strange to be honest. Maybe just uninstalling and reinstalling the program would fix it? Pasta, that goes in the other cabinet. Maybe his computer has a virus and that's messing things up? The PC didn't seem to be acting strangely though and we do have an antivirus program.
"Have you decided if you will go for your master's degree?" Jeff's mom was apparently grilling Jaime.
Pasta sauce, that goes next to the pasta. Maybe the antivirus wasn't updated? Latent malware? Jeff should definitely check the internet first, see if there is a patch from the developers first.
"Jeff."
Jeff turned around pulled out of his trance. "I was asking, Have you decided if you will go for your master's degree or not? You have taken a year off of school and credits are only good for so long."
"Whaaaa?" Jeff noticed his voice was deep, deeper than usual. He looked at his sister, back to her 10 year old self. His momentary relief was short lived as the hardware error struck again. After properly processing the misguided corrections to Jeff and Jaime, it began processing similar changes to all other targets in range, his parents. Jeff's mom suddenly started maturing incredibly, going from mid thirties into early seventies, Jeff's dad went from late thirties down to 8, one of Jeff's previous transformations.
Jeff was piecing together that it processed his aging request but didn't know why it was messing with his parents. He felt a pulse and the house suddenly seemed to change, there was now a walker in the corner for his mom and toys on the floor both boys and girls. The phone started ringing. Jeff felt something move in his pants. In shock he smacked his pocket not realizing it suddenly had contents. Reaching in he found the car keys and a cell phone.
"Well Jeffrey dear, have you made a decision?" his mom asked, sounding eerily like a grandmother.
"Not yet mom, give me a minute, I'll be back."
"And you really should be working on making me some grand-kids! I haven't got forever you know!", she threw in as Jeff exited the room. Hearing that felt wrong on a number of levels but Jeff had more important things to worry about like maintaining this life while he figures out how to fix everything. Suddenly Jeff was the man of the house but had no knowledge of how to actually maintain the house.
The phone was still ringing. "Jeffrey, aren't you going to get that?" his mother's shrill voice only added to his sense of panic and urgency. He was freaking out and couldn't seem to get 5 seconds of peace to try to get a handle on things.
"Just let the answering machine get it. Ill check it when I'm done in the bathroom."
Jeff ducked into the bathroom for privacy and a moment to clear his head. "What happened?" He looked in the mirror and saw a handsome man in his mid twenties sporting a stubble beard, unruly hair, and worried eyes. Shocked, some of the pieces where starting to come together. His deeper voice, the comments about college and grandchildren, him having the car keys, he was old enough to start thinking about a family. Apparently he was the primary driver of the family since his dad wasn't old enough to have a license and his mom was a little old to drive at night or long distances...
Jeff pulled out his wallet and confirmed his suspicions, looking at his id he was 24. He had an expired student id, work id, a credit card, debit card, and $260 in cash. From his moms comment, he had apparently been working this last year instead of going to school, and if his next step was a masters degree, that must mean he has a bachelors degree... in something...
If only he could access the knowledge of this reality, he could fit in and maybe fix this somehow...
Stepping out of the bathroom his mother screeched, "They left a message for you, it sounded like they said Tandem Lavatories, they said it was urgent. Why didn't they just call your cell? What are they? A port-a-pottie company?"
"I don't know Mom."
"Well why don't you listen to the message and call them back, they said it was urgent." His mother seemed to be taking on the insistent, nosey, question every move you make persona that some grandmothers have. It was really, quite enraging.
Jeff could either address the message and shut up his mom, go to the Chronivac to see what it did (which was pretty clear), or to see about modifying his perception of this reality and maybe get a degree to help him figure this out.