Katie liked her time as an adult. She liked being big and having power over her brother. He'd always been bigger than her but during her time as an adult the tables were turned. Now that her mother was again thinking like a 6 year old, Katie had the possibility of taking advantage of her...or so she hoped.
"Did that crazy doctor use that thing on you again????" Stevie asked.
"Uh huh... but it's Ok... I'm still mommy!" Genni replied hopefully.
"But we can trade if ya want!" Katie said cutting into the conversation.
"Heyyyyy!" Stevie shouted silencing Katie.
Genni headed to the sandbox to play with Mark. Katie and Stevie began arguing.
"You're mixin' her up!" he told Katie "Quit tryin' to trade!"
"I can trade if I want to!" Katie replied as she stuck out her tongue "and then ~I'll~ be the grownup and you'll have to do what I say!"
"Nuh huh! I won't hafta cuz you ain't gonna be big again!" Stevie argued.
"Are too!" Katie replied.
"Are not!" Stevie shot back.
"Are too!" "Are not!" "Are too!" "Are not!" "Are too!" "Are not!" "Are too!" "Are not!" ..... The argument raged on.
Meanwhile Mark wasn't happy about being joined by a girl.
"Whatcha doin, Marky?" Genni asked him.
"Ummmmmm Playin" he replied.
"Can I play too?" she asked as she stepped into his sandbox and sat down.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh You're a girl. Girls can't play army!" he protested as he put some of the toy soldiers in makeshift foxholes he had dug with his fingers.
"We can so!" she countered without explaining.
"Nuh uh...." he said as he shook his head and pulled his soldiers closer.
"But.... I wanna play tooo...." Genni said as she started to sniffle.
"Ummmmmm nuh uh.... you can't" Mark told her.
This exchange caught Stevie and Katie's attention.
"See???? Daddy's not right either! He's makin' mommy cry!" Stevie explained.
"Ummmmm Genni... don't cry..... we can trade and make it all better... You're just too big but if you were a kid I bet he'd play you!" Katie said to her mentally regressed mother.
"Quit it, Katie! Don't do that! You're mixin' her up I tell ya!" Stevie argued as he went to retrieve his mother from the sandbox.
"C'mon, mommy.... you don't wanna trade with Katie." he told her.
"But....*sniff* I wanna play too! *sniff* He doesn't like me!" she said as her bawling intensified.
"Forget that. It's the doctor's fault. We need to figure out a way outta here! You said you and me would think of a plan!" he said.
"Ummmm Ok... *sniff*.... maybe you can beat 'em up???" she replied.
"They're bigger than me. That crazy ol doctor's got that thing too. We need to get that! That's what mixin' everybody up!" Stevie explained.
"Ok.... you do it... ok???" she answered.
"But how?" Stevie asked.
"I dunno...." Genni replied.
"Ummmmmmmm what are you two talking about?" Katie asked.
"None of your business!" Stevie snapped.
"Well... it is so my business. This place is getting boring! I wanna trade and mommy does too, doncha?" Katie replied.
"I don't care.... do you wanna trade?" an unconfident Genni asked not wanting to make Katie mad.
"Yeah... I can be the grownup and do the mommy stuff and you can go to school with Stevie and ride the bus and stuff like that!" Katie offered.
"Can I play???" Genni asked hopefully "And I like school!"
"Sure!" Katie answered excitedly.
"Katie! No!" Stevie growled.
"It's ok....If Katie wants to then I do too. 'Sides... I like school so I can just be your little sister" Genni reasoned wanting to accomodate Katie's wishes and the thought of being a kid again suddenly sounding pretty good to her rather than the pressures of late.
"Mommy! What about daddy??" Stevie asked.
"Ummmmmm he looks ok..." she said as they caught a glance of him pretending to drive his tank over some toy soldiers lying in their foxholes.
"But... we gotta stick to the plan... when we get one... you can't be little!" Stevie complained.
"Ummmmmm don't yell *sniff* at me...." she replied.
"Katie!!!! This is your fault. You can't trade... it's not right! Shut up!" Stevie ordered his sister.
"Can't make me" she replied.
Can too!" he countered.
"Can't" she replied.
Can too!" he countered.
"Can't!" "Can too!" "Can't!" "Can too!" "Can't!" "Can too!".......
This argument caught Miss Holmes attention. ----------------------------
Inside: Dr. Meincalre was on the cell phone.
"Yes.... she most certainly IS the secretary. My invention DOES have that kind of power and if anyone makes a move on me or this area then more people will feel the affects! I have a list of things that I will require. Are you ready to listen?..." ....
"No, she IS the same person. Listen to me! I just made her younger! She's 38... I pulled up her file... I knew she'd be alone in her office. That's why I chose her for the first demonstration. Now she's 17! It's the same person!"
"My demands are..." ......
"Huh??? Excuse me??? No it is not impossible. Can I give you my demands now???"....
"Please... Ok...Are you in the office still?"...
"Ok then.... talk to her.." ........
"I don't care.. ask her anything!"
The Dr punched some keys on the computer. And listened to the conversation now in the background on the phone.
Heard in the background "Ok, Miss... I'm supposed to talk to you. Tell me again what happened...". Girl's voice "Listen... I don't know how this happened. I was setting at my desk and the next thing I know you guys busted in here and start asking me where I'm at. I'm telling you.... It's me! And you guys....ummmmm are like.....uhhhh all....like spazzin' and stuff and I'm, like, what!!!??? And you guys are, like, accusing me of not being me. I'm, like, so ME! So you guys are, like, sayin' "you're a kid!??" but I didn't know it, ya know? But it's cool! I mean... I'm, like, kinda a hottie! Wait'll my daughter, like, sees me!"
The Dr heard the man pick up the phone and heard him grumble about "no time for this....".
"What do you mean you don't have time for this??? I just regressed her personality to match her body! Can't you tell?? Is this what our taxes get us for investigators???".....
"No... first she just LOOKED like a kid... NOW she thinks like one too! This is crazy! Watch this!".........
Back in the government office the men watched as the teenaged secretary began to age. Her youth washed away. The glow left her skin. Her hair thinned and greyed. Lines and veins appeared on her body. "Hey, like, .....what's happening? Stop it.....I'm getting..... ya know.... like, ancient.....No..." tears streamed down her face as she slumped over. She spoke with teenage slang but in a halting gravelly voice of an old woman. The men were slack-jawed! The man went back to the phone. As he did the secretary began to grow younger. He watched as a teenager replaced the elderly woman who had been there only moments before.
"NOW, do you see??? Can I get to my demands?"
The man told explained to him that he would indeed listen.
"Dr Meinclare, I'm sorry to disturb you but the kids are growing restless and...." Miss Holmes tried to say as the clan followed in argument.
"Ummmmm listen to me" The Dr said into the phone as he held his index finger up indicating to give him a moment ......."What?"...."Hostages? Ummmm... Yes... Sort of.... they are I guess.... Why not? But don't get any funny ideas. Everything here is redundant. I control the satellites I need. I have an independant power source here. I have radar. If I see planes or rockets headed here then I will use my device and no one will be able to reverse it if this place is destroyed. I have ALL the answers! I'm a genius as you can no doubt tell...."
The 'kids' grumbling grew worse. Miss Holmes couldn't keep them quiet.
"Ummmmmm listen.... I'm going to have to call you back with the demands. Something's come up here" he said as he slammed down the phone.
"Can't you see I'm busy!!!!!!!?????" he barked.
"I'm sorry, Dr... I tried!" Miss Holmes replied.
"Well.. it's almost done now anyway... so what is it?"
"We wanna leave! Fix everything so we can leave!" Stevie told him.
"Yeah" Mark said "Leave! I gotta potty!"
"Me and mommy wanna trade places" Katie whined.
"Marky won't play with me!" Gennie said.
It was obvious to Dr Meinclare that the 'kids' were growing restless! "Ok.... Miss Holmes... you take the girls and I'll take the boys.... I don't have time for this at all! Mark the ummmmm bathroom is this way... you are potty trained aren't you?" The Dr asked as he led the boys away.
Dr Meinclare stayed outside the bathroom while he waited on Mark and Stevie. Fortunately, Mark was able to tend to himself.
"Daddy, we gotta think of something to get everybody back to normal!" Stevie whispered to his mentally regressed father.
"But we just kids!?" Mark replied "He got that thing!"
"Ya.... but we gotta do something. And you're still big ya know! We gotta come up with a good plan!" Stevie said.
"Ummmmm you beat him up or somethin'?" Mark replied.
"Nah.. I'm too little but maybe you can!" Stevie told Mark.
"I dunno... He get mad!??" Mark decided.
"So??? Do you wanna stay stuck like this?" Stevie asked his confused father.
"Little ain't bad" Mark told him.
"But you're NOT little!!! Not really... you just act like it!" Stevie explained. "Don't you wanna go back to work and do grownup stuff?"
"I guess.... but big boy stuff not fun!" Mark protested "sides... I'm 'fraid."
"But you're bigger than him. You could take him if you tried!" Stevie said.
"Ya think so?" Mark asked.
"HEY! What's taking so long in there?" The doctor asked as he banged on the door "Let's go!"
"We ain't got much time! I'll help. You're strong and I'm fast so if we both get him we can win! As soon as we get out the door you punch him! OK?" Stevie told his father.
"Ummmmmm OK... I hit hard!" Mark declared buoyed by Stevie's confidence.
--------------------
Meanwhile...... Miss Holmes watched over the girls while Dr Meinclare had taken the boys away.
"Miss Holmes.... make mommy trade with me so I can be big!" Katie whined. "I don't like bein' the littlest. 'sides I can wear all mommy's clothes and everything!"
"Ahhh I don't know, hon, the Dr has plans and things. Maybe your mommy doesn't want to trade?" Miss Holmes said to Katie.
Katie tugged on her oversized dress that she still wore. She carried the high heels that she had only just barely mastered before being returned to a 6 year old. "I like being the grownup and mommy liked being the little girl, didn'tcha?" Katie asked in a tone implying the answer she wanted.
Genni, unsure of her surroundings and still thinking like a 6 year old herself couldn't muster the courage to say 'no'. She didn't want to make anyone mad and she wasn't sure but that she didn't want to trade anyway. Katie sure made it sound like a good idea. "I guess tradin' would be fun" she said as she bashfully put her finger in her mouth and looked away.
"Seeeeeee?" Katie whined.
-------------
At this point almost everyone's roles had been tested and reversed. Only Stevie had managed to escape the Dr's device. Katie had grown to like the quick taste of power that being grown up had afforded her and was ready for more. Mark and Genni had slowly become comfortable thinking like children with no responsibility and lost in their newfound innocence. The alternative looked scary to them. Their adult memories and responsibilities were clouded and locked away more and more by their regressed personalities. Things that they could at least remember earlier were now distant memories barely available to them. It had been a long day. All were growing restless.
--------------
Stevie pushed open the bathroom door and Mark followed behind.
"Finally" Dr Meinclare declared upon their exit. Before he could say more Mark took a swing at him. Stevie grabbed for the device. The Dr was taken by surprise. The punch caught him in the shoulder and was powerful. Unfortunately, the regressed Mark's fighting ability wasn't very good. None of the self-defense training he had previously was available to him. He fought like a little kid. No real fighting.... more kicking and hair pulling than anything. Stevie wasn't much better. Still, the swiftness of the attack and surprise had still given Mark and Stevie an advantage. Stevie bit the doctor's wrist trying to get him to let loose of the device. Mark pulled at his hair. Soon, all three had their hand's on the device.
'CLICK'
-------------
Miss Holmes heard the commotion and waited nervously. After some silence the door opened and all in the room looked at the trio. Mark and Stevie were now physically 3 year olds. Stevie was in shock! Mark didn't seem to be bothered too much. It felt 'right' to him.
"What happened?" Miss Holmes asked.
"Ahhhh the boys thought they could outsmart me! Must've been doing some planning. They gave it a galiant effort. Took me by surprise! Nothing I couldn't handle, though we had quite a battle for control of the device. Never really considered Mark's strength would be intact like that. I don't think I lost any years did I?" The doctor said to Miss Holmes.
"No... you look the same." she told him.
"Good.... well... I don't think their plans will be quite so fruitful next time. What do you think boys?" Dr Meinclare asked.
"You bad! You made me wittle!" Stevie said as he tried to get his tongue to work.
"Dr.? Can I tell ya somethin?" Katie asked.
"Yes... surely..go ahead" he said.
"nuh huh... it's a secret. I gotta whisper it" she replied.
He frowned and knelt closer so that she could talk in his ear. His eyebrows raised as she talked. "What a good idea! But you have to promise me that you'll do that!?"
"I will... I promise, I promise!!!!" She said.
"Sooooooo Genni.... Katie says you don't care to trade?" He said as he aimed his device at Genni.
Stevie heard the exchange but in his regressed state and the shock he felt he never complained or tried to talk her out of it.
"Uh huh...if she wants...." Genni said.
'CLICK'
Genni began youthening. Her 28 year old body grew more youthful by the second. Through her early twenties and into her teens she went. Her T-shirt seemed to grow. Rather than fitting rather revealingly as it had on her 28 year old body it now looked more and more like a dress. As Genni rocketed back through her teens and into childhood the floor looked as if it was rising to meet her. From high school senior to jr high schoolgirl to elementary school and down to kindergarten. And then down to preschool. And before the Dr could stop it she was down to a 3 year old. The T-shirt pooled around her toes.
"Ooops... still had it set from before. Sorry." The Dr said. 'CLICK'
Genni began to grow until she reached 6 years of age. When it finished she quickly examined her hands and ran them thru her hair. She was 6 years old and it felt right. She still knew that she was supposed to be the mommy but that seemed so far away. Now she was a barefoot little girl. A 6 year old who was looking like the day's events had left her ready for bed.
The Dr turned to Katie "And now for the rest of our deal" 'CLICK'
Katie began to grow. Quickly jumping through childhood and toward teendom. She began to fill out the sundress that she wore. She shot up through her teens and into her 20's. Her curves filled the dress perfectly as she aged. From looking like a college girl to looking like a young lady of 28 it only took a few moments. She stepped into the high heels and spun around.
"I'm a grownup!" she exclaimed happily and then her expression changed. She grabbed Genni's arm "Ok.... this time we're not trading back! I'm the grownup now and you're the little girl! No more talk of being mommy or doing what YOU say! If you even think about being mommy again you'll be in BIGGGGGGG trouble! You understand?"
Genni look frightened and shook her head indicating that she understood. Then Katie turned to the boys "OK... You can see I'm the grownup so you gotta listen to me! I'm big and you're all little! I'll be the mommy! You're both gonna be my little boys and Genni's gonna be your sister! No backtalk! If you don't wanna get in trouble you'll mind me!"
Stevie wanted to complain but it was pointless. Katie looked SOOOO big and grownup to him! He actually feared her. Mark felt the same way.
Mark yawned. He was also getting very tired.
"Is little Marky ready for bed?" Katie asked.
"uh huh" he said as he yawned again.
"Yes... I think it is time for the children to get some sleep" Dr Meinclare told Miss Holmes and Katie "Katie....don't forget our deal!"
"OK" she said as she teetered off with the children in tow.
-------------------------
Dr Meinclare picked up the cell phone and dialed out. "Sorry about that problem. I'm gonna have to sleep on my demands. It's been a LONG day. Just so you know.... those soldiers and agents you have posted around the compound.... I expected you'd find my location easy enough. But as I said... you can't act on my location or else you destroy the device. And before your move I can regress or age THE WORLD! Anyway... those agents and soldiers??? "......
"They're about to get 10 years younger. In the morning they'll get 10 years younger again if they are still there. I'm going to train a satellite around this compound later. Anyone in the area will be regressed. You should check with the leader of your group. I'm sure he'll want to know what to do about 'the children'. Until tomorrow. Goodnight."
The Dr keyed in some cooridinates and then the computer went to work. The men and women that had been stationed around his compound suddenly felt tingles. A buzz of conversation began to break the silence. It grew in volume as they realized what was happening.
The man in charge received a phone call from the agent that the Dr had spoken with. Doing as asked he called out for the personnel records of those on duty to be brought into his tent. A 10 year old girl appeared trying to hold up her uniform. "What happened to me, sir?" she said. Other sobs of children could be heard. There was also some shouts from some rather happy 30 and 40 year olds. The colonel himself took a look in the mirror only to see that his hair was again black and his pot belly was in seeming retreat!
He quickly ordered that all personnel 27 years old and younger be round up and taken to a makeshift daycare center at a nearby school. He then got back on the phone "What the hell is going on out here???!"