Mark and the Machine

Chapter 4

Part 4

Jade looked through the menus of the device. Could this really work?

She looked out the open window, and saw a neighborhood girl playing with her dolls, while her mom tended to a garden. There was only one way to find out.

"Mommy, come and play with me!" the girl said.

"Mommy is busy now," the woman said sternly, and went back to watering her plants.

Jade pointed the device at the woman, and experimentally pressed the Mental Button. A menu with "Debug Mode" flashed at the top, and asked exactly what mental change she would like to make. A bunch of options were on screen and she felt overwhelmed. She just clicked one at random, "Mental Age (Responsibility)", and clicked down. The display counted down, "33, 32, 31..." Jade watched the numbers go down, and realized this must mean age. She took her finger off the down button when it reached "10", and it wasn't long before the woman seemed to grow bored of watering the plants.

"I'm going inside," the woman said. "I'm going to water the plants later."

"Wait, mom," the little girl begged. "Since you're not busy with gardening anymore, why don't you play with me?"

"I already told you, I can't play with you!" it was a lie. The woman just wasn't feeling particularly inclined to do her parental responsibilities anymore. That sounded so boring!

Jade looked on curiously. Had the device really made a grown woman as irresponsible as a 10 year old? Or was it just a coincidence? She needed to do another experiment.

Jade selected "Mental Age (Interests)" and pressed down until the button said "6" the same age she guessed the girl was.

"Actually, dolls sound like a lot of fun, right now!" the woman said, turning around a few feet from the door. "Let's play."

The girl was surprised. Her mommy never wanted to play dollies!

The woman was soon getting super into their imaginary tea party, and at a certain point she started lisping. Jade had used the "Mental Age (Speech)" function, and it had worked like a charm. There was no doubt in Jade's mind anymore that this was the real thing. The little girl giggled, and the woman realized something strange must be happening.

"Wait a thecond!" the woman said. "Thomething weird ith happening to me! I think thomething ith wrong."

"No, mommy, this is so much fun!" the girl said, clapping.

Jade searched around, and found an option for "Awareness." Would this work?

Sure enough, the woman stopped worrying, and went back to playing with her daughter not realizing how strange she looked and sounded.

Satisfied that she had learned the device inside and out, Jade reversed her changes and the woman looked around confused, picked herself up and went back to gardening. Her daughter was dancing around and singing about magic being in the air.

Jade turned her attention back to her real target.

She looked at Mark studying in the other room. He glanced up at her, and she could tell that he was plotting when he could stop studying and do something else, probably trying to get back all the things she had confiscated. That wouldn't do at all! She needed Mark to focus on his studies.

He was just too easily distracted, she decided. Mark had gotten good grades growing up, but now he comes home with an F. What would his grandparents think if they heard of such mediocrity from their grandson!? No, that wouldn't do at all. She needed to return Mark back to the time when he was good student somehow.

She clicked through several menus, and pointed the device at him. The word "Debug Mode" was again flashing at the top, and she was able to find an option that said "Mental Age (Libido)" under one of the submenus. She knew that Mark had a girlfriend, Wendy, and she suspected that he was getting a little too distracted by her. So she clicked down on the button.

Mark felt his head go a bit fuzzy as he was looking down at the page. Just outside his room, Jade saw the display say, "17, 16, 15, 14, 13..." She let it keep going until it said "7." Now Mark would have the libido of a 7-year old. That would keep him focused on his studies.

She also wanted Mark to be more obedient and pliant. She didn't think it was good if he continued to plot to get everything she confiscated back, especially this little device. So she searched through the menus again, and found one labelled "Mental Age (Confidence)" and gave him the confidence level he had at 12. That should make him more likely to do what she said.

Jade also wanted to make sure Mark didn't know about the device anymore. She didn't know where he had found it. She found an option to create custom settings, and typed in, "Mental Age (Knowledge of Age Device)" the device looked like it was loading for a long time, but it finally finished, and she pointed it at Mark and pressed down until it said 0. Now, no matter when he had found out about the device, he would be none the wiser.

Her final action was to turn "Awareness" off. Now he wouldn't notice anything strange about his new condition.

Jade was satisfied when she saw Mark shaking his head to clear it, and doing his homework. Now, nothing would stop her son from getting the good grades she knew he was capable of.

The first test of Jade's new changes came when there was a knock at the door.

"Hello, Wendy!" Jade said brightly to Mark's girlfriend who was standing outside. Jade couldn't help but feel that Wendy seemed a little old for a high schooler - but she figured the girl just must be blessed with incredible genes or something. Most *adult* women would kill for curves like this 17 year old had.

"Hi, uh... Who are you?" Wendy said. She looked in confusion at Jade. Wendy had been expecting Mark's mom, but instead an Asian woman was standing outside.

"Ha, ha, very funny!" Jade said. "As if you don't recognize Mark's mom."

Wendy blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I... must have been distracted today."

"Well, no worries," Jade said. "I'm afraid Mark can't hang out with you, he's grounded and he's studying hard because he failed a class last semester."

"Oh," Wendy said. "Would it be alright if I try studying with him? We study all the time during school."

Jade narrowed her gaze at Wendy. If they studied all the time, it was no wonder that Mark was failing a class! Any hot-blooded young boy would be unable to focus around a knock-out like her. But then she smiled, it didn't matter now! Mark had the libido of a 7-year old, there was no risk if the two of them studied together anymore!

"Go right on ahead," Jade said. "But only study, you understand!"

"Of course," Wendy said, though she didn't do a good job of hiding her true intentions.

Wendy skipped up to Mark's room, and closed the door behind her as soon as she got there.

"Hi Mark!" Wendy said, hugging her boyfriend. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

Mark could feel his girlfriend's breasts pressing against his back, and he was completely indifferent to it. He felt nothing.

"Oh, hi Wendy" he said, sounding a little bored. "What's up?"

Wendy let him go, and looked down at him in surprise. "Is that all you have to say to me?" she asked in surprise. "You're not even going to give me a kiss?"

"Um, I guess I could kiss you," he said, getting up and giving her a quick peck on the cheek, before sitting back down and picking up his pencil. "Did you come here to study?"

Wendy's eyes widened. Just last week, Mark had taken her virginity, they had shared a special moment together. She had felt more in love with him than ever before, and hadn't stopped thinking about him. But now... it was like he was completely indifferent to her.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Wendy said, trying to hide her growing displeasure. "What are you studying?"

Mark showed her the worksheet he was working on. "Calculus."

Wendy frowned. "I've, uh, never taken Calculus before." Her words weren't quite true, though she didn't know it. She still only had her 15 year old mind, since Mark had never restored her missing years, and she didn't remember acing Caclulus last semester. It had been an easy class for a quick study like her.

Mark looked at her strangely. He remembered her taking calculus before, but he didn't say anything. He figured his girlfriend was just making an excuse or something.

"Well, why don't we study together?" he said.

"O-okay," Wendy said. She still couldn't figure out what had come over him. Even when they had studied together before, they had always had chemistry with one another and they always managed to sneak a little bit of make out time together. But now... nothing. He didn't even seem interested in looking at the skimpy clothing she had put on just for him!

Mark handed some paper to Wendy, and tried to explain calculus to her, but she was missing a year of foundational knowledge, and was having trouble following his explanations. She kept having to ask him to backtrack, and explain an underlying concept she was now missing. It made her feel strangely stupid and useless. She had always been a good student - pushing herself in accademics, and getting good grades. But now as a mental 15-year old trying to learn material meant for a 17 or 18 year old, she was feeling dumber and dumber by the minute, and her confidence in herself was slipping.

First, Mark wasn't paying attention to her at all, he wasn't flirting like always used to, and now she was realizing she was too dumb for school! Her young and fragile emotional state made all of this too much for her. She started crying after two hours of studying with Mark.

He looked over her with concern.

"What's wrong, Wendy?" he said, genuine compassion in his voice. He may not be sexually attracted to her anymore, but he did still care about his girlfriend.

"Nothing is going right today!" she said. "I'm too dumb for calculus, and you haven't even noticed the outfit I'm wearing."

Mark was surprised. Where was this coming from? He forced himself to look at her outfit. Her cleavage was practically spilling out of her tight top and he could see her flat, toned stomach and belly button peeking underneath. Below, she had on on a mini skirt. When she moved, it seemed like any moment one would see her underwear. What was he supposed to compliment her on, he wondered?

"Uh, your outfit looks good today, Wendy," he said. "I really like the, uh, color? And you shouldn't worry about calculus, I'm struggling with it too."

Wendy stopped sobbing for a moment, but her sobbing returned with more force when she heard what he said. She had wanted her boyfriend to comfort her, but instead he had made it worse! She knew that he was only being polite about her outfit, and didn't actually feel any lust when he looked at her. Was this what happened when guys slept with girls? Had she made a mistake in losing her virginity to him?

"You really don't love me anymore, do you?" she said.

"I love you," Mark said. "Of course I love you! I love hanging out with you, and studying with you."

"But what about..." Wendy looked down, feeling a little embarrassed. "I mean, isn't there anything else you like about me?" She tried to bounce a little in place, so that her large breasts jiggled.

Mark wasn't even a little tempted by her breasts, he ignored the bounce while he tried to think of how to answer her question. "Um... I mean, you're one of my favorite people, Wendy. You know that - I've always loved your personality!"

Wendy's heart fell. No, she had to know.

She wiped her tears, got up, and sat down on Mark's lap, straddling him on his chair. Her body was right in his face, all he had to do was look and he'd see the most glorious cleavage, but Wendy could see that he only looked a little uncomfortable and confused.

"Wendy, what are you-"

Wendy cut him off, kissing him on the mouth, her tongue probing his lips. He gave a kiss back, but it was from memory, rote - there was no passion behind it at all. Wendy couldn't believe this, but it was true! Mark seemed to be feeling nothing in this compromising position with his lover's thighs wrapped around his. She could feel how flaccid his cock was through his pants. Her desperation growing, she grabbed Mark's hands, and moved them to her breasts.

"Come on, Mark, fuck me!" she said. "You fucked me last week, right? Doesn't this make you hard?"

Mark shook his head, pulling his hands off of her breasts. "No, Wendy. You're hurting me a bit, can you please get off of me?"

Wendy could barely keep things together. She needed to know her boyfriend still cared.

She started unbuttoning his pants, and slid down to her floor. She looked at his flaccid cock, she just had to wake it up.

"Wendy, stop it. I've to got study, and besides, my mom-"

Wendy's tongue started moved up and down his flaccid cock. She had never giving anyone a blowjob, but this had to work, right?

But Mark stayed soft.

He pushed her away.

"Stop messing around, Wendy," Mark said. "I've got to study."

Wendy was sure now. Mark had absolutely zero interest in her. Her face went cold, and she straightened herself up, and left the room without another word.

Mark shook his head. He could tell Wendy was upset, but he couldn't figure out why. Was it something he said?

Oh, well. Girls just got that way sometimes, he supposed. Back to studying.

* * *

Jade smiled when she saw Wendy walk off in a huff. Nothing was going to distract her little boy from his studies. He was going to be the perfect student, if she had anything to say about it.

That night, Jade was surprised when her husband didn't come home. She wanted to call him, but she figured he was probably just doing some late work or hanging with his buddies, and would be back when she woke up in the morning. But that didn't happen.

Jade woke up alone. She decided to call John, just to see what was up.

A woman answered the call. Jade could hear a man moaning in the background.

"Hello? John's a little busy right now, what do you want me to tell him?"

Jade heard a man saying, "Fuck, Lizzy you're so good at that!" before she hung up, unsure of what else to do.

The voice - it was unmistakably the voice of her husband. And the noises couldn't be confused with anything else. He was sleeping with another woman.

Jade was furious.

She was going to make both of them pay.

She tried to calm her breathing, as she typed. "Good morning, John. Why don't you come back today, and bring that girl with you?"

Then she put down her phone, and thought about all the things she could do with the device when they got here.

When she heard the front door open, she was ready.

"Hey, Jade," John said. "Lizzy and I were just at our place, what's up? You didn't say much in text."

Jade couldn't understand how he could be so brazen.

She was about to point the device at Lizzy and have her revenge when Mark came down the stairs.

"Oh, hi dad, hi mom!" Mark said to John and Lizzy. Then he looked back at Jade, and his eyes scrunched up. Wasn't *Jade* his mom? But no... he could distinctly remember the young girl being his mom, though she looked a lot younger than usual. Right... Lizzy was his step-mom, and there wasn't anything weird about that, right? The "Awareness" feature was making him accept the new line of thought without any trouble.

Lizzy giggled. "Hi, Mark! How've you been?"

"Oh, pretty good, though it's been tough studying so much. Mom really wants me not to fail next semester."

"Oh did you fail a class?" Lizzy asked. "I did that all the time in college, don't worry, it'll all work out." She kissed John, and smiled.

John's eyes widened. "Lizzy, what's happening to your hair?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Before everyone's eyes, Lizzy's hair was starting to turn gray. But that wasn't all, wrinkles were forming all over her face and it looked like her skin was getting looser and losing the glow of youth it once had. Her breasts started to sag, and her bare legs started to get veiny and slightly swollen.

"What's happening?" Lizzy asked, her youthful voice now sounding old and ragged.

"91, 92, 93, 94," Jade said aloud. "I think that's about the right age for you, don't you?"

Lizzy wasn't the young woman she had once been. She was now old enough to be Mark's great grandmother. She had a stoop to her posture, and she was like an old shrivelled raisin. Her mind had always declined quite a bit.

"Eh, what's that you said?" Elizabeth said. "Speak up! And who are you all anyways?"

Mark and John were amazed at what they had just seen.

Jade smirked, then said more loudly. "I think 94 is about the right age, don't you?"

"Why, what a coincidence, I'm 94," Elizabeth said. "Now where are my dentures?" Her teeth were all gone in her mouth, and when she spoke bits of spittle flew everywhere.

"Well, do you still love her?" Jade asked. "I bet you two are soulmates, just like we were John? But you love her for her personality, right, not just because she's a younger model?"

John's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "You did this? Stop it, turn her back."

"Why?" Jade said. "I'm sure you two are going to be very happy together."

"Jade, I thought you understood about Lizzy?"

"Understood! I'll never understand why men can be such pigs. We have a kid, John! Didn't you think about that before getting with a girl like that?" Jade's voice was cracking, and it took all her effort not to cry.

"Turn Lizzy back, and we can have a conversation like adults," John said.

"Adults!" Jade laughed, almost cackled. "Adult? You think you've been behaving like an adult? You've been behaving like a child, John, and I think it'd be better if you were one. At least you won't be breaking anyone's hearts that way."

John felt his clothes loose, and found after a few seconds that he was looking up at Jade. But it didn't stop, his eyesight got blocked by his shirt, and soon he was crawling out of his clothes.

He tried to speak, tried to reason with Jade, but all that came out of his mouth were gurgles. His vocal cords weren't developed enough to speak anymore.

"Mom, what are you doing!" Mark said. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Mark, don't worry about this. Everything is completely normal." Jade pointed the device at Elizabeth and John, and clicked "Global Aware."

Mark suddenly realized everything was completely normal. Why had he felt like Jade had been doing something strange recently?

"Mark, why don't you go up to your room, I'm going to take care of your great grandma and little brother," Jade said.

Mark wanted to argue with his mom, but he only had the confidence of a 12 year old, so he folded quickly and ran up to do his work. He could hear Jade talking downstairs, but he couldn't make out exactly what she was saying.

* * *

One Year Later

Mark did great in school the next year. He didn't have any distractions at all, although babysitting his little brother was occasionally a bit much. It was also sad to see how much great grandma Elizabeth had declined recently - conversations just seemed to go in a loop with her, but she was 95 after all.

He had been disappointed when Wendy had broken up with him, and was surprised when she started sleeping around with other students. She also seemed to take school a lot less seriously than before - she used to be a teacher's pet, but it was like she had hit a wall academically, and had burned up her will to care. He wasn't surprised when the rumors started going around that she was going to have to repeat her senior year, but he did feel bad when he heard she had decided to drop out rather than face that humiliation. He didn't know where she was now, but bathroom grafitti in the men's room at school claimed that she had become a stripper at a local club.

Mark had gotten accepted to a great state school, and his mother Jade had never been more proud. She took him out to a celebratory dinner, and told him she had a gift to give him, and that he had more than earned it at this point.

She had pulled a strange device out of her pocket, and pointed it at him.

Mark's eyes widened as feelings, emotions and memories had come flooding back to him. He realized Jade had reversed all the changes she had made to him with the device *he* had made. He realized Jade wasn't his mom at all!

Jade smiled at him, and slid the device back to him. His heart fell. How was he ever going to clean up all of this mess?