Daniel cracked open his door. He saw Abigail was at the kitchen counter, pouring herself what looked to be a cup of hot tea. Greg was flopped onto the couch, relaxing from work, his small, college gut barely noticeable under his work shirt.
Greg leaned back over the couch to get a view of Abigail, his short brown hair ruffled by the movement.. "Seriously, he's not so bad once you get to know him. He mostly stays locked in his room working on his research, anyway." He grinned. "Hey, if you really want to get on his good side, try asking him about his thesis project. He could go on for hours."
Abigail frowned as she stirred her tea. "No, thanks. I'm good."
Daniel flipped back a couple pages in the book, looking to see what the Scribe had previously written. Some entries were short, simple changes, like what he had done to the girl on the train. Others where long, multi-paragraph narratives, completely rewriting people's lives. Some of the changes were horrifying, while others were almost heart warming. One man had been transformed into a homeless bum, doomed to wander the streets and beg for money, only to spend it on booze and drugs. An old woman was given a second chance at life by being regressed to a little girl and written into a married couple's life as their daughter. Another man had been turned into a dog. The possibilities were endless.
Daniel looked back at Greg, still lounging on the couch. Daniel needed to properly field test this thing on an outside subject. If his research was correct, any changes made by the book went, for the most part, unnoticed by anyone else. Though, it was said that those with a keen eye for the unusual were able to see past the false perceptions authored by the Scribe. That must have been why Daniel was able to see through the Scribe's alterations.
He held the pen over a blank page, poised to begin writing. He liked Greg. He was always willing to put up with his nonsense and supported him in what must seem like a ludicrous effort to research the Scribe. Daniel tried to think of a small, beneficial change that would help his roommate.
Abigail sat on the couch next to Greg, carefully placing her steaming cup of tea on the coffee table. "So, how was work?"
Greg rolled his eyes. "Same as always. I swear, my manager is such a moron. He has no idea what's going on under his nose."
Abigail chuckled. "Then why don't you quit?"
"Because then I wouldn't have a job, which would mean I couldn't buy food, which would mean I'd starve. Seriously, I know that place like the back of my hand. If I were manager for just one day I could fix half the crap that guy's messed up."
Daniel smirked. He had found his change for Greg. He put the pen to the paper. He wrote, "Greg is the manager at his place of work."
He glanced back up at his roommate, waiting for the changes to take effect. He didn't have to wait long. First, his work shirt, a red polo, seemed to shimmer. It's red fibers began to change in texture and lighten in color, from red, to pink, to white. A seam formed down the front of his shirt, as small, white plastic circles popped up parallel to it. Daniel realized Greg's red polo had turned into a white, short sleeved, button-up shirt. His collar fluttered as a red necktie spat out from around his neck. His khaki shorts then dramatically darkened into black slacks.
Daniel thought for a moment the change was over, that the only visual effect was his uniform getting an upgrade. But it wasn't over. He noticed changes to Greg's face. He was a young-looking man of about 20, but his features seemed to be loosing their youthfulness. His brow became for pronounced as his eyes seemed to sink in a little, gaining dark circles around them. His small, college belly began to quickly expand, rounding out the shape of his shirt and spilling into his lap. His face became round and chubby as his neck sagged into a second chin. Even his thighs expanded with adipose as his rear end took up more of the couch. A well-trimmed beard sprouted up along his jaw and his hairline seemed to retract several inches. He now looked to be an overweight man in his mid- to late-thirties.
Greg shrugged and scratched at his beard. "I dunno, Abby. I get the feeling that none of the guys at work respect me. I mean, they're nice to my face, but I've heard the stuff they say about me. They think I'm a moron."
Abigail put a consoling hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't get down on yourself, Greg. Hey, you're going to college and you're going to get your degree. You'll see."
Greg sighed. "Yeah, but look at me. I'm almost 40. What am I going to do with a degree?"
Daniel glanced from what he'd written back up to his roommate. This wasn't what he'd meant to do at all! I thought for a horrible moment he'd made Greg and his manager switch bodies. But a closer look at the new Greg told him that his friend was still in his own body, only it was older and heftier. Then why had he changed so much? He hadn't told the book to change anything other than his job.
Though, now that Daniel thought about it, he also hadn't told it not to change anything else, either. Looking back at the Scribe's previous writings, they looked simple, yet were deceptively intricate. Perhaps that was the reason why the Scribe wrote as he did, to get exactly the result he wanted. Perhaps, the implement even had a mind of its own.
"Hey, Daniel."
Daniel looked up and saw that the now older Greg was looking at him through his slightly open door.
Greg grinned. "You don't have to hide, man. Come on out. Get social for once in your life."
Daniel grimaced. He would prefer to analyze the implement some more. Though, when he thought about it, now was an excellent opportunity to further explore Greg's changes and learn what he could about how the Scribe's implement worked.