Tales of Regression

Chapter 4
AI Panic

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Chapter Description: A commission for a friend I'm also uploading on DeviantArt. What happens when AI edited pictures become reality? Inspired by my tests of "age manipulation" via facial images and AI with a hint of the fall 2010 story Status from sumner, this is so far the longest story focusing on the idea of regression I have written as of yet.

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“Hey, come check this out Max!” my normally energetic lynx roommate Quin calls out to me as I pass by him using his laptop on the dinning table in our apartment. Well, I guess you could say we’re more than just roommates but I can’t tell my parents I’m in a gay relationship for various reasons. A lynx and a brown bear in a relationship is pretty weird to begin with in my experience, but it doesn’t really matter because love is love is love regardless of species.

“What’s up?” He seems real excited about what he wants to show me.

“You know that one AI website that allows you to upload pictures and make it make you look younger or older that everyone has been talking all about online?”

“Yeah. Aren’t most of those just scams to get your data or hack your device?” As I look at his screen I see a shocking image flashed on screen.

“Not this one. It worked!” The picture in question is from Quins’ birthday party we had a couple weeks ago. Instead of the twenty-five year old l know blowing out the number candles I see a much younger looking lynx blowing out just a “5” number candle.

“Woah! I didn’t expect it to work so well. But it looks a little cursed.” I point out a couple different areas where the AI definitely could have done a little better. Though it does look like it has done pretty good for an AI.

“Yeah, well, it’ll probably only get better with time.”

“What age did you even set it to, anyways? You look so young in the AI render.”

“I couldn’t think of any age I really wanted to see, so I used a random number generator. It decided five, so this is what the AI thinks a five year old me looks like and it’s pretty spot on if you don’t include what you pointed out. It even got rid of the “2” number candle as well.”

“Now that’s impressive. Changing the candles to match your age. What will they come up with next?”

“I don’t know but I’m gonna see what else I can do. You want the link so you can try it?” For a moment I stop to think whether I should try it or just forget about it.

“Hmm, sure. Just send it to me on Discord and I’ll take a look at it later. I’m a bit tired and just want to chill in bed watching some TV.”

“Sure thing.” He gets to copying the link as I give him a quick peck on the cheek and head back to our bedroom. Whenever my parents come over to stay I have to have Quin stay in a guest room so my parents don’t catch onto our relationship. We both don’t have all that much, so it isn’t that big of a deal to move some of his belongings over. My parents are always asking when I’m ever gonna get a girlfriend so they can have grandchildren. Especially since they see I have a big enough bed and plenty of space in the master bedroom. Sometimes it can be a bit much for me and Quin gets it even though his parents are supportive of our relationship.

“Time to see what’s on.” As I lay on my side of the bed I grab the TV remote and point it at the TV on top of mt dresser. Endlessly scrolling through the channel guide for our cable package I decidedly find nothing that I want to watch and just turn it off. With a sigh I get up and grab my laptop bag. Inside I pull out my relatively new laptop and quickly boot it up as I lay down again. Discord is the first application I click on after logging in and letting everything load. Immediately I see a bunch of notifications on my private Discord server. It’s mostly used by me, my friends, and my boyfriend. In order to keep my friends from getting all the messages and stuff my boyfriend sends my way. I have a private room for just us. It’s usually just a bunch of images of Quin, me, or both of us together out and about in this room. All of the server notifications are just a few images he’s done up with the AI and the link to it.

< Maximilien III > These pictures are cool and all but maybe you should slow down

< Quin > Sure

As I look at the pictures he’s sent I see him in multiple forms and ages. Everything from a very young kid through teenage years to seeing a couple pictures of him as an old man. In each picture I can see some flaws and that the candle changes with each age he chooses for the AI.

“It really is scary how well this AI works in making these images almost lifelike.” As I load up the site I get a quick chill down my spin. It passes by in an instant that feels like an eternity as it finishes loading. The site has a simplistic white background with the website logo on top and all the site directory links and all that. Below is an example image of a blue otter with a smile on his face on the left hand side of the screen and an animated image of the otter going from young child to old man before looping back on the right hand side. Below those images are a few different options like uploading an image, using your webcam, and target age.

“Okay, this seems easy enough to use.” Rather than use my webcam I decide to just upload a picture I took of myself the other day and upload it. This picture is just me on a long nature hike I took with Quin at a nearby park and ended uploading to use as my laptop background image. In this picture I am giving my full awkward toothy grin as I stand just in front of a real small cliff.

“What age should I put? Hmm, I don’t remember at all what I looked like before I was eight, so maybe I should start there.” Our house was broken into when I was young and my memory got all messed up after one of the robbers hit me upside the head with a wood bat. Although it’s fine now, I just have trouble remembering some things like how I looked and other minor things. After setting the age I press the start button and wait for the image to pop up. It really doesn’t take all that long for the image to be spit out. “Woah, this definitely is cool.” Looking back at me in the picture is a much younger looking me with a missing baby tooth gap front and center in my smile while a childish face of an innocent second grader looks at me, or at least at what would be the camera. The view definitely doesn’t look like the view I had but rather like that of what I’d see if I were shorter.

“I see why Weston is so impressed with this AI age render-er. Eh, a few different runs with this image wouldn’t hurt.” Despite being tired earlier I feel a touch more awake as I play around with this. As I tell it each age it really does a good job; minus just a few minor flaws here and there. At five it shows some really convincing baby teeth in my tiny mouth and my clothes definitely match what I was wearing that day, just sized to fit whatever age I input. It’s all so weird, especially since the background changes view with each image and the amount of it changes as my arm length changes as well.

“I see you’re busy, probably with this site.” Quin calls out as I break out of my trance with the website. He’s resting up against the wall right next to the door. “I gotta see some of these images. Did you save any?”

“Huh? Oh, no.” He comes to his side of the bed and after laying down scooches over to see what I’m doing.

“I figured I’d come and check while I let my laptop update and shut down.” He looks at my screen and sees a fifteen year old me. “You certainly looked handsome at whatever age that was.”

“Heh heh, thanks. Fifteen years old.”

“You must have had all the girls at your school wanting you: the forbidden fruit.” I get a bit flustered hearing him say that since I didn’t have many friends in high school and none of the girls ever really thought of me as anything more than friend material if I was close to them.

“Yeah, well, you know.”

“Mmhhmm. So, what did you look like as a kid? I have never seen any pictures of you as anything but an adult.” Before I can respond he takes my laptop and sets it on his lap to try some things out.

“Eh… Okay.” Sometimes Quin can be a bit impulsive like this. Either way he first inputs ten years old. The site spits out the image and I can tell Quin is really enjoying this.

“You must have been just all around blessed with good looks growing up because you look pretty handsome in this AI render.” I nod as he quickly inputs eight and goes at it. With each image he makes similar remarks and as he reaches two years old he stops. “Even as a toddler it seems you’ve just been blessed with good looks.” It feels rather embarrassing looking at what the AI thinks I looked like as a toddler; enough for me to want to quickly close the web browser and forget about all of this.

“Alright, how about we don’t go any younger and look at me at eighteen? Yeah, let’s do that.” I feel all flustered as I swiftly grab my laptop back and input eighteen and try to forget the image I saw as the new image is rendered and loads.

“Sorry for embarrassing you so much. Heh, you certainly were probably the most handsome eighteen year old I’ll have ever seen, even if this is just an AI render.”

“Yeah, well, it’s pretty late and we have to get up pretty early tomorrow and get things set up for when my parents come. So, why don’t we shut this down and go to bed.” I nervously chuckle as I close the web browser and shut down for the night, making sure to put my laptop on my bedside table. Quin cuddles me as we both try to get to sleep. Soon enough I feel myself drift into a somber sleep.

“Why am I at the park? And why am I all alone? I would never go without Quin since he’s pretty much the only reason I would go.” Everything looks almost sepia tone, myself included. My movement feels pretty slow as I take a walk on the hiking trail to see if I can find Quin. “Surely he must be here.” Trees tower over me as though they have suddenly gotten taller by ten fold. I can’t see the tops of them let alone the leaves or pine needles.

“Hello? Quin? You out there?” As I walk I make sure to swivel my head around to see if I can see him. After a while I hear some childish giggling that sounds like it could easily have come from a very young child, maybe kindergarten age. As I look around I see the shadow of a child running off deep into the woods. Trees block out a majority of the light, leaving it really hard to see even what species it could have been.

“Wait up! Hey, kid, stop!” I start sprinting after the child. The forest is not a safe place for a young child to run off all alone. Along the way I start to get chills down my spin as I avoid tree roots and rocks trying to trip me up. Soon enough I feel like I’m lost. The trees look like they tower over me more than before if that’s even possible. There are no signs of the kid as I slow down and look around. Not many sounds can be heard around me.

“Hey, kid, where are you?” My voice trembles and I yelp as I realize I sound like a prepubescent child for some reason. I look down to see me in the clothes I fell asleep in yet sized to fit my younger body. I can’t tell how young. Suddenly out of the corner of my eyes I see the shadow of the kid. I can tell this time that it’s the shadow of a cat like a lynx or something. “Hey!” My body starts to shiver in terror as I try to follow the shadow. Eventually I end up tripping over a large root and end up falling down a cliff into a dark void…

I jolt awake as my body shakes pretty badly and I feel cold sweat. My vision gets blurry as I shake and try to get up. I feel pretty cold from all the sweat as I calm down and sit up on the edge of the bed. That was some weird dream I had. Weirder than most any other dream I think I’ve ever had in all my life.

“This can’t be happening!” An ear-piercing scream comes from the furthest bedroom in the whole apartment yet doesn’t sound like anyone I know. It sounds like it’s coming from a very young child, which none live in our apartment specifically. Swiftly I bolt out of bed and run towards the sound, not sparing a moment to think this over. I open the door to the room to find a shocking site awaiting my eyes. The room normally just contains a dresser, a bed, and a few other minor things so we don’t rouse suspicion with my parents. The walls the same white that the apartment came with and looking pretty lifeless most of the time.

“Max!” In the middle of the room lie a lynx cub standing on a play carpet, nearly crying. The walls a more babyish blue with plug covered for safety reasons. Against one wall lays a toddler bed and a changing table. Across the way lay a pretty childish looking dresser with various stickers adorning it and a height chart. Scattered around the floor are a few various toys meant for babies and toddlers primarily. The cub has on nothing more than a grey long sleeve shirt with orange sleeves and a diaper with a sleeping cartoon character on it. A look of pure distraught can be seen on its’ face as it looks up at me. Something doesn’t feel right until it clicks in my head a few seconds later.

“Q-Quin? Is that you?” I yelp a bit and jump a little as I realize I sound a touch younger and more energetic than I have in a few years. A quick glance down and I can’t really see much different with myself, though, that I can think off. “What’s going on here? Why are you so young and what is wrong with my voice?” Quin waddle runs over as fast as his tiny little body takes him to my leg and hugs it, tears streaming at an alarmingly fast rate.

“I don’t know. I just woke up and started getting up. Then when I went to scratch my back I felt this diaper and that’s when it hit me. I screamed and you came pretty quickly and now we’re here.” This is all pretty weird as far as things go because age regression just isn’t something that should be possible. It’s just a plot device used in cartoons, comics, stories online, and such and not actually something that should be possible in the real world. Either way, as he lets go of my leg I bend over and pick him up to bring him closer to my face. His everything looks so much more innocent and cherubic.

“Haha…” I nervously chuckle for a moment. “I’d say this is a dream we’re both sharing, but this just seems too real for that. There’s no way I’d dream of seeing you like this.”

“Y-Yeah, well, let’s hope this isn’t permanent. I don’t wanna grow up again. I wanna be able to love you as a boyfriend and not as your son. I want to be able to cuddle you at night and…” He stops for a moment and feels all embarrassed as his facial expression turns to a bit of shock and a touch of horror for what he’s done. It doesn’t take me long to realize what he’s done, which neither of us want to admit just happened.

“I hope you didn’t just…” He begins to tear up as I try to ask the question.

“This can’t be happening. First I wake up as a cub, now I wet myself just like one.” Quin has always prided himself on being independent from his tween years onward, so this must be a lot for him to deal with right now.

“W-Well, we better at least get you changed and then we can go from there. It’s not like we have much of a choice unless you wanna be in a soiled diaper all day.” It feels extremely foreign for me to have to carry a young cub still in diapers around, let alone my own boyfriend shrunk down to one. As I set him on the cushion of the wooden changing table I notice that there aren’t any changing supplies to be found. I’d be pretty peeved if I had to go and buy diapers just because of something like this, but I’d be willing to do this for Quin.

“Uh, I’m not seeing any changing supplies, so let me check the closet here for a moment. Quin nods as he squirms in place over the feeling of the liquid in his diaper. I’m pretty anxious about all that’s happening since this is absolutely absurd that age regression has occurred in the real world over the span of a night for me and Quin. Quin is probably just as anxious as I am. As I turn and open the closet door I notice a few different baby products up on a high enough shelf a young child couldn’t reach. Specifically there’s a couple packs of nighttime diapers, a couple packs of training pant diapers, some baby powder, and wipes.

“Well, knowing there’s training pants makes this a little less embarrassing. Not by much, but it’s better than having to be in a bulky diaper all day.”

“Okay, well, do you need any help cleaning up now that, well, you know?” After grabbing a training pant and the wipes I set them next to Quin and close the closet door.

“Y-Yeah. It shouldn’t be a problem.” It’s pretty surreal hearing such a young looking cub sound so old, even if I know it’s my boyfriend in the body of that young cub.

“I-I’ll just wait outside. Just, um, yell for me when you’re done.” I would be just as embarrassed as him if I had to help change him, especially since I have never changed a diaper before. I wouldn’t really know what to do and would fumble around more than anything. After short while I am given the okay to enter the room, so I come in to find Quin sitting on the edge of the table with a folded diaper next to him.

“Uh, would you mind helping me down?” Under normal circumstances I’d say he’s cute- in a non-creepy way- but seeing him as a young cub I feel as though I should just keep my mouth shut since it’d probably just be creepy no matter how I say it. I can tell that he’s probably a bit scared to just jump down since he’s normally not the greatest with heights. Once he’s down I start to realize something important and it really shows on my face. “I-Is something wrong, Max?”

“Y-Yeah. I’ve been so busy just with what’s been going on that I forgot my parents are supposed to be coming over later today. If they find out what happened to us then I know they’ll have me move back in with them and you with your folks and we’ll probably never see each other again.” I start to really panic as the thought of dealing with my parents right now fills my mind. Quin notices and hugs my leg to try and calm me. Usually when I panic he is able to calm me down.

“It’s going to be okay. I promise that won’t happen. You can just lie to them that we need to get tested for COVID and that they shouldn’t come over in case they get sick.”

“What if they don’t buy it? What if they come over anyways to try and help me get better? What if…” I’m cut off by Quin.

“I’m sure they’ll understand if you are worried about COVID and their health. I’ll take care of my mess and you call them as soon as possible.”

“Y-Yeah.” My steps are rather slow and anxious compared to how they normally are sine I really don’t want to deal with calling my parents. After finally reaching the master bedroom I find my phone on my bedside table. As I turn the screen on I yelp and nearly drop my phone as my lock screen and background in general that was just a selfie of me and Quin is now of an eighteen year old looking me with cub Quin. It’s not the type of background you want to be caught using since it will raise questions.

“Alright, I can do this.” To help calm myself down I take deep breaths in and out. It helps calm me down enough to be able to unlock it and start the call, praying they don’t answer or something. It rings for a few moments that feel like an eternity before the call gets picks up on the other end.

“Max! I was going to call you real soon because something weird is happening to your father and I!” It sounds like more of a sixteen year old girl than a middle-aged woman. “We woke up today and suddenly we’re young again! We’re young enough to be back in high school! Did anything strange happen to you or your roommate?”

“Uh, yeah. You can probably hear it in my voice but it’s affected me too. I was a bit nervous calling you since I thought you and dad would come over and take me to live with you again.”

“Well, it’s not like we have legal authority over you since we’re teenagers again. Hold on, your father wants to speak with you.” I can hear the phone being given to my dad.

“Son, do you have any idea what is going on? Being younger is nice and all, but I have a business meeting I have to attend tomorrow and I can’t be looking like a young teen!” His voice cracks and changes pitch as he frantically speaks to me. It sounds like he’s going through puberty. “Also, are you and your roommate fine?”

“We are both affected by it and don’t know what’s going on ourselves. I woke up to my roommate screaming and found he was much younger. Like I said, we don’t know what’s going on.”

“Let’s hope we can find an answer to whatever is going on so we don’t get fired. The last thing we all need is to be homeless because we inexplicably became younger overnight. No respectable business would want to hire a teen like I currently am.” Throughout the call I have to keep myself from laughing at how ridiculous this while situation is. “God, I can’t believe that I’m actually now younger than my own flesh and blood. Give us a call if you find out anything that you think we should know. In fact, why don’t we come over?” I start to internally freak out again as he brings up that idea.

“Uh, that may not be the best idea. I had plans to use that spare COVID home test kit I was accidentally given last week and didn’t turn in since Quin might have the virus. Maybe you should stay home in case he actually has it.”

“That’s not good. Are you sure you don’t want us to help with anything? You know you can ask for our help.” He can be stubborn at times, so this isn’t surprising at all.

“I’m sure I can handle this.” Throughout this call I haven’t heard Quin and am getting a little bit nervous about what he’s been up to and hope he hasn’t hurt himself. “Anyways, I have to go and check up on Quin and see if he’s alright.”

“Sure thing, but we’re coming over to make sure you’re okay. You sure don’t sound okay. You sound pretty stressed and we’re going to help take a load off your plate.”

“But…” I’m immediately interrupted.

“Don’t give me any back talk! I may be younger than you now but that doesn’t give you that right! I am your father, not your friend. You would do good to remember that, Maximilien III.” He never uses my full first name unless I’m either disrespecting him in some way or he’s pretty mad at me. Before I can respond he hangs up, leaving me in a bind.

“God, I better tell Quin what’s going on so he can mentally prepare himself for what’s going to happen.” As I turn around I can see Quin sitting on the couch listening to music on his phone. It’s still strange seeing my boyfriend in a diaper made for young kits learning how to use the potty. So I take a deep breath and walk out to him.

“Oh, hey Max.” he says in a bit of a depressed tone as he pauses him music and takes his earbuds out. “How’d it go?”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen while I was calling my parents?”

“Nothing major. You’ll just think I’m being dramatic but I couldn’t reach my dresser drawer with any pants, so I was waiting for you to finish your call so you could help me. I absolutely hate being this small. I feel so useless and just ugh! As it is, I had a little bit of trouble getting up here and was lucky my little sausage fingers could even enter my phone pattern to unlock my phone.” He starts to tear up as I sit next to him to try and cheer him up real quick. “I also got a call from my parents. They’ve been affected and are now second graders, so they can’t even come over if they wanted. Did your parents become younger as well?”

“Y-Yeah. Well, my parents are stubborn and are coming over. Technically I’m older than them since it sounded like my mom turned sixteen and my dad fourteen. I tried to lie and say we were gonna use that extra COVID home test kit on you but my dad insisted on them coming over. Nothing I could do about it.”

“Great. Now they’re gonna see me, your boyfriend / roommate as a young cub who’s still potty training. How embarrassing. Could this day get any worse?” He’s definitely taking this a whole lot worse than I am right now. So I want to try and make his day a little better.

“Well, how about I make your favorite breakfast: blueberry waffles?” He’s usually always in the mood for those unless he’s in a real depressed mode.

“What’s the use? I’ll probably just need help getting into a booster seat and end up making a mess that you have to clean up since I am too young to really do much to help.”

“I’m still going to make them and let you just eat them on the couch here since you’re already sitting here.”

“Sure.” I feel real bad for him since he feels so useless in that younger body.

“But first I’m going to get you a pair of pants you can slip on so my parents don’t see you in training pants.”

“Go for it. It’s not like it matter either way. They’ll probably see it one way or another.” I sigh as I get up and head back to his room. The top left drawer of his dresser is the drawer that has his pants since that’s normally where he likes them stored whenever I end up putting away his laundry on pretty rare occasion. I decide to get him a pair of little jeans that don’t look all that childish and return to him just chilling out more to his music and speaking to himself. He doesn’t even notice me as he keeps an eye on his phone screen.

“I hope I can find out what’s going on. Last thing I want is to have my parents taken into some form of foster care and to not be able to see them again.” Quin is pretty close with his parents, so I now understand that’s a big concern for him. Heck, if I could, I’d let them stay in this apartment to keep them all together if this is truly irreversible. I tap him very lightly on his shoulder and he jerks a little before noticing me and the jeans I have for him. “Oh, it’s you. Thanks for the jeans. It’s better than your parents noticing outright I’m still in training pants.”

“Y-Yeah…”

“You heard what I was telling myself, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it just happened. I’m just going to make breakfast.” I just leave his jeans in the arm of the couch and head into the kitchen. Inside I get the ingredients and supplies to make the waffles. As I’m in the middle of pouring the last of the waffle batter I hear a knock on a front door. It must be my parents so I tell them to come on in. They come in looking like teen versions of themselves in clothes they’d wear as their middle ages selves.

“Mmm, it smells good in here.” my mom says as she comes in behind my dad. “So, is Quin alright?”

“Y-Yeah. He is feeling better and I guess we don’t need to use the test kit. I’m just making waffles to try and cheer him up. He’s pretty down about this whole situation.”

“So, where is he?”

“Last I saw he was on the couch, so he’s probably gone back to his room if he isn’t still there.”

“How young did he become?” my dad asks as he takes a seat on a chair by our dinning table.

“Young enough that he’s not too happy. He feels useless in his young body and his parents called and are apparently young enough to be second graders now, so it’s probably better to just leave him be for now.”

“Bah, being alone won’t help solve anything. What he needs is support. I’ll talk to him, man to man and try to get things in order.” As he starts to get up my mom stops him.

“Dear, that won’t work. It’ll only make things worse for him. When he’s ready he’ll probably talk it out with Max. You know how close him and his parents are. He probably just needs some time to process this all. It’s a lot to take in, especially since he became younger. I imagine he’s got a lot on his plate and doesn’t need us adding to it.”

“Back in my day we wouldn’t have had these issues where we need to be alone to process this kinda stuff. I’d have told my friends how I’m feeling, got bullied over it, and gotten over it or just bottle it like a man. We all can’t be weak sissy boys like him.” I get pretty furious as he finishes that thought and sits down. I can feel my blood boil for a moment as I begin to yell at him.

“Back in your day, you’d have gotten your ass handed to you for showing any emotion! Times have changed and men are free to process and handle their emotions in whatever suits them legally! You don’t have a clue what Quin is going through right now! If all you’re going to do is complain about his feelings you can just get out of my apartment!”

“Watch your mouth, Maximilien III! I am still your father and you will respect me!” Yeah, I’ll definitely respect a moody teenager going through puberty with the mindset of a middle aged man stuck in the past in many ways.

“Not if you’re going to belittle my roommate for his emotions! You may be my dad but know I’m older than you now and can kick you out by force if I have to!”

“Dear, Max, calm down, both of you!” My mom is usually the voice of reason if I ever end up fighting with my dad. As the last of the waffles are well overdone in the maker I scrape them out and storm off down the hall

“Don’t bother me or Quin!” I sigh as I open his door and enter his room. It’s cleaned of any toys on the floor and Quin is laying in his bed. He looks over and taps away at his screen before saying anything.

“Yeah?” He still sounds pretty down.

“Waffles are done, but I just need to get away from my parents right now. I don’t know if you heard, but I just had another fight with my dad.” He sits up and motions for me to try and sit on his bed with him.

“What happened this time?” I try to sit on his bed and because it’s so small and low to the ground I stretch out my legs knowing it’d be uncomfortable for me to keep them close to my chest in more of a fetal position.

“He basically invalidated your feelings by saying that you just being alone to process all this isn’t what would happen in his day. He’s just caught up in his old ways and is just being himself. I told him if he doesn’t stop belittling you that he can just leave, even if I have to do it myself.” He scoots a touch closer and hugs me for a moment to help me calm down a bit.

“Alright then, why don’t you get us some waffles and we can just relax? We can both just relax and de-stress in here together and maybe we’ll figure something out.” He seems less down as he knows that my day may not be going as bad as his, but it’s not been easy for either of us.

“Sure. I’m pretty hungry.” I sigh as I get up and start to head to the exit. As I exit and head into the kitchen I don’t see my dad at the dinning table. Just my mom, with a plate and a couple waffles.

“These waffles are pretty delicious.” she tells me as she notices me. “I’m sorry about your father. He’s just really stressed about everything going on since his job and our retirement is on the line. Though I can imagine if this is permanent he’d have another chance to go through university again and get an even better job. How is Quin doing?”

“Fine. We’re both going to try and figure some stuff out after we eat and hopefully we’ll end up finding a way to reverse this. Where did dad go, anyways?”

“He’s going on a walk around this place to calm down. He should be back in a while if he calms down.” As I’m getting our waffles I hear his door open. I hear the pitter-patter of his feat walking out.

“Aww, well aren’t you just the cutest?” My mom fawns over him in a motherly tone you’d use with a baby as he just walks over to the couch. “Do you need help getting…” I interrupt my mom as soon as what she’s saying register in my head.

“Mom! He can do it on his own. Just because his body has become so young doesn’t mean he needs help doing everything.”

“Hello, Mrs. Dubois.” he says as I watch him get up after a try or two. “You’d see me like this anyways so I figured I might as well come out. There’s no use hiding it. I overheard Mr. Dubois wasn’t here, so I figured I’d come out since I didn’t even really want to be in my room anyways.” He definitely sounds like he’s feeling less depressed over all this.

“Well, you certainly look cute for your age, Quin. Most women I know would fawn over a cutey like you are now. Anyways, I heard about what happened to your parents and wanted to say I’m sorry. I know you are pretty close with them.”

“Thanks.” As they chat I just take and give Quin his waffles and sit down at the table with mine. I just eat while they chat a bit to themselves. Eventually I’m brought into the conversation, though.

“So, if this is permanent, would you mind moving back in with us and helping us keep our house? I know how you and your father haven’t been on the best terms as of the last couple years, but we could really use the help.”

“I’m not sure I would be any help. Dad would drive me over the edge. It’s one of the biggest reasons why I moved out as soon as I could. I could live with you, but dad is just stuck in his ways and it’s just a bit much for me at times.” As I finish that thought the front door opens and there is my dad again. “Speak of the devil.” I make sure to mumble that under my breath.

“Whew, I forgot what it was like to have a teenage body again. I have so much more energy than I thought. I originally started off going on a walk before realizing I could jog for longer periods of time. Hahaha, I feel great! I’m sorry for what I was saying earlier, son.” Clearly there is something really wrong with my dad since he’s not normally a very apologetic person.

“Are you feeling alright, dad? You almost never apologize.” He chuckles as he closes the door and takes a seat at the table.

“I’m just in a real good mood. I kinda hope this is permanent so I can always have this teenager energy. I could really use something to eat, though. Dear, could you please get me some of those waffles? They smell so delicious right now.” My mom gets up as I awkwardly sit with my teen dad.

“So, how’s Quin doing? When I see him, I’m going to apologize since he probably overheard our arguing. We were being pretty loud about it.” I guess becoming younger is doing wonders for him all around when he actually looks at the bright side of things.

“No need to apologize, Mr. Dubois.” Quin chimes in from the couch as he stands up.

“Huh, so you turned into a young cub? Must be hard because you’re limited in what you can do. I thought you were just turned into maybe a kindergartner or something but you look like a kid one of my younger coworkers would be dropping off at daycare.”

“Gee, thanks.” Mom returns with his waffles and he starts to wolf them down like a normal teen.

“Better a young cub than a helpless baby cub. With you and Max putting your heads together I’m sure you’ll probably find out what’s going on. Speaking of which, Max, would you mind if I turn on the news on the TV? I normally don’t miss the early morning news, but this chaos has stopped me.”

“Sure. Just don’t turn it up too much.”

“Don’t worry, I also have enhanced hearing now that I’m young again. Plus, if this is happening to us, it’s probably happening to others and being reported on the news.” Oddly enough that’s something I totally didn’t think about at all since my mind was preoccupied with other things.

“Good idea, Mr. Dubois. Hopefully the news will have an answer and this isn’t just some isolated cases.” My dad belches as he finishes his food and heads over to the couch, a smile beaming on his face, which feels like a rare thing to see anymore.

“Oh, excuse me.” He grabs he remote from the arm of the chair and quickly turns the TV on. It takes him little time to flip to the right channel.

“...using that specific facial image AI age modifier on any site that uses it has been found to cause the user to become around the age they last entered into the AI to render.” a young looking news anchor lioness tells the camera with a sense of shock and urgency on her face. “The creator of this AI image modifier claims he was not aware of the affects of the AI being able to affect the real world with its’ image renders and says to avoid using the AI until this can be fixed and everyone can be turned back to their normal age as the effects of using the AI to progress or regress your age again could lead to unknown effects…” My dad quickly pulls out his phone as we all listen in.

“It looks like we found our culprit. I knew AI would be the downfall of all of us. Computer got too smart and is trying to make us all young and dumb enough to take over. Did you and Quin use some sort of AI to see yourselves at younger ages? Because your mother and I did last night not knowing anything could happen in the real world.”

“That’s right!” I shout as it all comes back to me. I had nearly forgotten we were trying it out last night, Quin! Well, now that we know the culprit, there’s nothing to do but to wait until we’re given an all clear to try and return to our normal ages again…”

END

 

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