The Mists of Time

Chapter 4
With One Down

Chapter Description: Down to 9 contestants, another challenge on the way!

“Welcome back to The Mists of Time.” The host beckoned. “Last week, we had our first Baby Shower. Michael’s team had decided that they had heard enough talking from Alec, and left him babbling.” The camera cut into the nursery, with one of the 9 cribs that surrounded the room now occupied. The crib was now labeled with the updated birth certificate from the conclusions of the previous episode. “Alec, 4 Months, Born 2023.” The infant was much calmer than the last time we had seen him. The same eyes that the adult had, were now huge and glassy, innocently gazing out into space.

“The process begins anew this week. There will be complications, but 7 days from now, only eight of those cribs will be empty. Until there is only one adult remaining.” The host was building excitement for this week. “Cliff is still yet to play the Amulet of Lazarus, and we have a challenge to see what team is going to be at the shower this week, coming up on this episode of The Mists of Time”

The intro sequences began.

As the intro sequence concludes, the camera is at Stacey’s camp. Cliff is lounging in the sand, staring out towards the horizon over the breaking waves. Chelsea and Julie were chatting away at a makeshift picnic table, drinking coffee and tea. Jason was working out, as was expected. The reduced nutrition from the simple foods available to them made the fitness enthusiast work even harder to maintain his muscle mass. The two women could be seen glancing in his direction, Chelsea with her years of advanced medical education could certainly run intellectual circles around the jock, but his physique apparently made up for his educational shortcomings.

Stacey emerged from her tent, and got the conversation going amongst the team about the upcoming challenge for today.

“Alright, we have a new week, and we have to protect our immunity.” She stated monotone, still waking up. Cliff snapped out of his relaxation and made his way over, and Jason concluded his workout.

Chelsea responded. “Yup, and we saw the havoc that having to care for baby Jessica wracked on the other team.” She tied her brown hair back in a ponytail as she spoke. “As long as I’m fine though, we shouldn’t have any trouble with one of you guys ending up like that.”

Cliff jumped in. “Well listen, if we all do our jobs out there, none of us will need to be babysat.”

“I could probably entertain, but I’m not good at changing diapers!” Julie contributed. Jason sat quietly and nodded, seemingly with nothing particular to contribute to the conversation.

Stacey wrapped up the impromptu meeting. “Regardless, if we can win today, we can but up 5 to 3 by the end of the week, and be in control of this whole game.”

The camera then cut over to Michael’s camp. Every time we had seen the camp in the morning previously, Michael was out before dawn to meditate and face center himself, but as the sun rose there was nobody stirring at the camp. Outside of the tent that was previously shared between Jessica and Alec was a folded up portable crib, Jessica now able to sleep without the containment of the device. The waves lapping against the shore and the birds chirping in the forest were also audible for this first time in a week. The sounds of nature, previously drowned out by the natural sounds of Jessica’s infantile cries.

Eventually the silence was broken by the sound of shuffling inside one of the tents and the sound of a zipper. Michael was still the first to emerge, but he had apparently caught up on some much needed sleep. He performed some breathing exercises quickly and was now more energized than he had been in several weeks. James and Nina emerged not long after Michael had, and began hushed conversations among the three, not wanted to wake up Jessica prematurely. Somewhere in the back of their minds they must have still imagined that the cries of a baby would emerge from the tent if they were too loud, but in reality would just emerge an irritable 23 year old.

Regardless of the noise, the social media influencer emerged soon regardless, her normal age having been restored to her at the conclusion of the previous Baby Shower. The team didn’t talk much after the Baby Shower, all three adults exhausted from the lack of sleep and the emotional exhaustion of condemning Alec to grow up all over again. 

Nina spoke to the confessional. “I saw her come out of that tent a full grown woman, same as she was when I met her. But when I look in her eyes I can still only see that little girl I spent the week with, for better or worse. I’m just not sure you can treat someone the same after you’ve changed their diapers for a week.”

Jessica emerged from the tent like nothing had changed. In her mind, the week that had passed felt near instantaneous aside from a few stray memories her toddler brain managed to carry back into adulthood. Vague impressions made up some of them, and more specific events that were still mentally being passed through the perspective of a toddler, since that was the only way she saw them.

She walked out onto the beach where the other three were congregated.

“Look who’s walking!” James exclaimed. 

“Very funny.” The woman responded.

He continued. “And she’s talking too! It felt just like yesterday she was in your arms, Nina.” Nina smirked in response, stifling any greater reaction to not draw any ire from the grown-up Jessica. Michael certainly heard the conversation but recused himself from any involvement in it.

Jessica responded with fire. “The reason I was a baby for the week, was because of you guys. I volunteered for it, but it’s your guys fault that you were dealing with diapers all week. I would like to see any of you have the courage to volunteer for that. I’m sure it will be just as funny when you’re the one getting changed and sleeping in that crib all week.”

There was an awkward silence. 

Michael gently broke the silence will his calm interjection. “Alright, they’ll be calling us for the challenge this week at any minute. Let cooler heads prevail so we don’t bring this with us.”

The camera showed the normal activity at both camps, then the telltale alarm blared and both teams began to report for the challenge, walking towards the contest grounds.

The camera showed 8 pillars above a pool of water, each with a bucket tied to a string and a long tube situated along the pole holding up a small flat platform. The tubes were rather narrow, but very long. The team members began to congregate, as the host beckoned them all together.

“Welcome to this week’s challenge. This will determine which team has immunity for the week, and which team will be holding a Baby Shower.” There was a dramatic beat that passed, along with a sound effect. “Since one team has 5 members, and the other has 4, one of team Stacey will have to stand to the side for this challenge. To be clear, there is no risk to this player of any age changes, they will simply not participate.”

The challenge was yet to be explained, but the platforms on top of the poles seemed rather small, so Stacey’s team held a quick huddle to determine who would not be participating in this challenge.

Stacey stated the team’s decision. “We have decided to let Jason stand aside for this challenge.”

“Why Jason?” The host prodded.

“Well, he is the largest member of the team, and those platforms on those poles seem rather small for him, so we thought it would be more effective if the 4 slighter members of the team were the participants.”

“Alright, Jason please step to the side of your team.” Jason walked to an area a few yards away from his team members.

“I will explain the challenge of this week.” The host began his spiel. “The members of each team will be perched atop each of these poles. They will use the bucket and rope attached to the platform, to gather water from down below. They will then pour that water into the cylinder next to the platform. The team with the most collective water at the conclusion of 10 minutes will win the challenge, and safety for this week.”

The explanation had seemed simple enough. 

“But.” The host added. “The water below is not normal water. If any contestant falls off the platform they will soon discover this. If someone falls off the platform, AND, their team loses, they will stay that way for the duration of the week.”

The camera panned across the faces. The gimmick was certainly more understood, and the serious demeanor of all the faces conveyed that. Like usual, winning was everything.

There was a cut. “While our contestants get ready for this challenge, we’ll take a break and be right back after these messages.”

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Tonight on ARBC News, is suicide a thing of the past? Regression is becoming a popular alternative to those who are looking for a way out. We take you to a clinic and explore the journey of a woman who is looking for a hard reset in her life.

We caught up with Linda, a prospective patient at one of these new clinics a few weeks ago. Linda is 32 and has been in a few long term relationships, but nothing has caught on with her the way she’s wanted it to. She’s frustrated with her job, a reasonably well paying position at a bank, but unfulfilling.

We cut to an interview with a dark haired woman. “I have had bad luck with men. My job isn’t bringing me anywhere. It pays me well enough to cover these exploratory trips to the rejuvenation clinics, but I can’t go back there.”

The host asks, “You’ve decided that this is the best course of action for you?”

“I believe I have. I look at the little girl in the old polaroids my parents keep, and she looks so happy. I’ve been beaten down and think this is a way for me to truly break away from this life.”

We talked to some of the doctors at the clinic to get their perspective on what they’re providing their clients.

“Every person that comes in here is dissatisfied with the way their life has gone.” The doctor explained. “Before we had this technology, people didn’t see peaceful ways out of their current lifestyle. Now, they can have their wishes fulfilled, and their families can have peace of mind.”

The camera returned to the interview with the woman.

“And you have a date scheduled for the procedure?” The interviewer asked.

“Yes, my ‘rebirth’ should be about a week from now.” Linda responded, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder casually.

“How young will you week to be after the visit?”

“Infant. I want to go back as far as they can safely take me. They’ve told me I’ll end up likely around 4 months old.” She said, her smile beaming.

“And who will take care of you?”

“My younger sister Rachel and her husband will be my new parents, my actual parents are much too old to be taking care of a child as young as I will be. I’m going to have two older siblings, at the moment they’re my niece and nephew.”

The camera cut to an interview with Rachel and her husband.

“How do you feel about the prospect of re-raising your sister as your daughter?”

“I’m happy that my sister will finally be able to have peace. She’ll certainly be doted on, my 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter can’t wait to have a new baby sibling, even if it means losing their beloved aunt Linda. Linda is 4 years older than me, so I don’t know much about what kind of baby she’ll be except from what my mother told me. We’re ready for anything though.”

“How are you preparing for it?”

“Well, we held a baby shower, so that got us a lot of supplies for Linda, as well as retrieving our children’s crib, highchair, and changing table, that Linda ironically helped us pick out in the first place. She’s also helped us pick out some baby clothes and supplies for herself while she’s still an adult.”

We caught up with Rachel and Linda 2 months later.

The camera showed a 6 month old infant giggling and squirming in a pink crib. It was Linda, her wish having been granted. A shock of dark hair on her head made it clear that this diaper clad infant was the woman we interviewed a few months ago. A picture-in-picture comparing the adult that was interviewed and the infant were unmistakably the same. Her existential anxieties now seemed soothed, whereas before she had to attend emotional and involved therapy meetings, now she could find all the peace she needed with a plastic pacifier in her mouth.

“We couldn’t be happier with how things have gone.” Rachel said in our recent visit. “We were all there for the procedure, my parents and other two kids were there to observe, Linda made it clear that she wouldn’t be embarrassed by this.” Rachel had her former sister, now daughter, sitting on her lap. “They had her lay down on this table that could be closed around her. She clearly didn’t have any second thoughts, she seemed relieved to be escaping from her adult troubles.”

From outside observation, Linda was no different from any other baby. The process had obviously restored her brain as it was when it was 6 months old as well. She was a blank slate. The formerly seemingly intelligent woman had forgotten how to use the bathroom, walk, or talk. She was no longer concerned with metaphorically putting her foot in her mouth, as she was overjoyed with literally putting her foot in her mouth.

“Bringing her home in my arms was quite the experience. I had brought two babies home before, but there was quite a lead up to those. This time, I left with a sister and came back with a baby daughter.”

The infant was lying flat on her back, staring up at various cartoon characters hanging from a curved bar above her head, these strange shapes and colors now far beyond her comprehension. Her chubby little legs kicked randomly and the elastic of her diaper poked out from the sides of the onesie.

“My kids accepted the change from niece and nephew to big brother and sister amazingly well.”

The camera cut to Linda being laid on a changing table.

“My daughter is still a bit too young, but we let my son help get her changed. After all, she changed him a few years ago so it’s only fair that he can change her a few times.” The sister concluded, baby in arms, “After all of our discussions before this, I think that if adult Linda could’ve seen where this would’ve ended, she would be overjoyed. I truly believe that this is exactly what she wanted.”

The newscaster returned.

“If you would like this same treatment, this is becoming a procedure that any rejuvenation clinic near you can easily accomplish. Just call and inquire about a permanent treatment and they would be happy to help.”

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The camera returned to the beach, and the challenge. Four team members were upon one of the balancing poles and four stood opposite them. Jason was situated on the sidelines watching from safety. Michael, Jessica, Nina, and James were situated along 4 continuous poles. Across from them were Chelsea, Cliff, Julie, and Stacey. The poles were just barely big enough for each of the competitors. Falling off these pole was going to be a serious risk, especially while trying to elevate the heavy weight of the water in the buckets. Each one was shuffling in place every so often, trying to find and comfortable and safe spot for their feet, which seemed to not exist.

The orchestral music swelled, the whistle that signaled the beginning of the challenge was blown. Varying strategies were immediately  employed. Michael and Jessica both appeared to take it as slow as possible, appearing like they wanted to get a good sense of the weight of the bucket before they rushed into it. James seemed to rush right into it, and his bucket managed to gain some elevation quite quickly. The other side seemed to be progressing marginally quicker on average. Julie seemed to be straining the hardest of the other team.

James got his bucket up and carefully poured it in, followed by Julie of the other team getting hers up a few moments after James. The rest of the other contestants had all poured their buckets soon after and began the second lift, the first process having been around a minute.

Since James was the first to finish his bucket he was also the first to get more. Julie attempted to begin again just as quickly, but there was a snag. She filled it with water, but the bucket felt heavier to her fatigued muscles, and it scraped across the side of the wooden pole. The force she had put into the pull worked against her, and the woman was in midair, gravity dragging her towards the water. Her high pitches scream overtook the sounds of the strains of the other contestants. There was a large splash.

The black haired woman quickly came up from the water, spitting some of it out and began to attempt to get closer to the exit, hoping to escape her fate that was promised. The other contestants continued the game, but slowing down to rubberneck at the events unfolding in the water.

At first Julie made good progress, but her physique slimmed, her clothes became slightly looser, and her form began to break down. She sound looked like a young high schooler or old middle schooler, the oversized clothes dragged behind her like a water parachute, impeding her speed towards shore. The refraction of the water made it harder to see the pace of her de-aging, but beneath the surface it was continuing. Julie was soon 10 years old, her body no longer resembling an adult in any way. Her hand over hand free style soon became a dog paddle, and her small body was no longer capable of covering the same distances. It was obvious to the spectators that she wasn’t going to make it out in time.

Now Julie couldn’t have been more than five, she wasn’t a large person to begin with, but now she was quickly approaching the size of a toddler. Swimmers with special suits on jumped in to retrieve Julie, but only once the process had run its course.

The host made clear. “The process will never make anyone younger than 6 months old, unless specifically configured to.” Julie was safe from un-birth at least.

By the time the host was done alleviating any concerns, Julie was certainly a toddler, baby fat clouding her cheeks as she was bouncing around in the water. Her shorts had been left behind previously, when she was still capable of making forward progress, and now she was small enough to slip through the neck hole of her shirt quite easily. The process, was approaching her end, her limbs became even smaller, and chubbier. A very high pitched cry emerged from the child. A few more moments passed, and Julie was unmistakably no more than an infant now, bottoming out at 6 months as the host had promised

In the process of her shrinking the memory of learning to swim had disappeared from her mind, and her infantile instincts took over where her adult intention had left her. The baby floated and rotated her head, her chubby baby face emerged above the waterline. Although she no longer remembered how to propel herself in this liquid, she instinctually avoided drowning.

The swimmers retrieved the infant from the water, swaddled in her own oversized shirt to maintain her decency, and was whisked away presumably to get the same treatment that Jessica had during the previous challenge. 

While this was unfolding in the water below, the challenge continued. Though the pace was slowed due to the curious looks and distraction, the water continued to be hoisted up and poured in. The pace of Stacey’s team was obviously now considerably slower, being down a whole teammate. This unbalance allowed Michael’s team to gain a slight lead on them. Jason looked on nervously from the sideline. Cliff seemed to inspect the amount of water his other two team members were collecting quite closely.

The process continued, slowing with each repetition. The lactic acid building up in the arms of the competitors was making it difficult to progress with the same fervor they began with. The situation wasn’t helped by the precarious balancing situation and the increasing tensity following what happened to Julie.

The process continued, the sweat beading on the contestants heads. Their strain becoming even more audible as a cacophony of grunts and strains overtook the splashing and pouring of the buckets.

James was hoisting his bucket up the pole, struggling to move as fast as he did a few minutes ago, but trying all the same.

In his haste, the rope slid through his palms rapidly, the weight of the water overtaking the grip strength of his well-worn palms. Reflexively, he grabbed onto the rapidly sliding rope as hard as he could in an effort to retain his current progress, knowing every foot of verticality was hard fought for. His hands re-secured a tight grip around the rope. It turned out to be in vain as the downwards momentum of the bucket had already picked up a considerable amount of energy. Instead of stopping the bucket, the bucket took James with it.

James toppled off of the pedestal, performing and inadvertent front flip because of the weight dragging him down. The splash was considerably larger than Julies.

The man popped up from the water as quickly as physically possible. His team looked down in shock but didn’t have much time to waste, and return to their activity. 

“F***!” Shouted the man with some of his final opportunity to speak. It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds but it seems like he already was being shrunk by the water. He began his panic fueled swim to the shoreline in much the same way as Julie. His freestyle form was very good at first, hand over hand, and kicking strongly. He made up some good distance in those few seconds, but his large muscly arms seemed to be deflating. His kicking feet moved forward but his shoulders stayed in the same spot, his body becoming shorter and no longer able to produce the same force as he used to.

The 8th grade James continued his effort but his returns continued to rapidly diminish. His clothes were so large previously to accommodate his massive frame that before he even hit single digits his shirt was completely impeding his ability to save himself.

By the time he hit 3rd grade it was clear that James learned to swim in middle school, and the divers quickly went to save the boy. The water entering his mouth only heightened the speed of his changes.

The divers got out to him very quickly and got a hold of his arm as he appeared to be in Pre-K, with tears streaming down his face.

They initially tried to pull him in but the young child seemed focused on thrashing around, so they instead focused on keeping his head above water until he was an infant.

Soon enough, the thrashing arms shrank until they were capable of producing no more than a splash, and the boys crying turned to an infants wail. The divers now had to contribute almost no effort to stop James from splashing around and floated the baby boy gently on his back towards the exit.

The diver then picked the naked infant up from the water and cradled him against her chest, the high pitched wails continued all the same. The baby was taken back to the same place that Julie was.

The camera returned to the contest at hand. It was back to 3 on 3. The mistake that James made had clearly informed the contestants strategy, any buckets dropped at this point were clearly allowed to drop, as the potential risk was not worth saving the bucket.

The long pipes continued to fill, the now clearly risk averse contestants making their actions as slow and deliberate as possible. No water storage was much more than halfway full, as the contestants were losing the strength to do it safely and the will to push themselves. Jessica was panting with exhaustion, her day to day influencer lifestyle and the previous week of being a baby had left her ill prepared for such a physically rigorous challenge.

James was certainly the physically strongest coming into this contest with Jason sidelined, and that ended poorly for him, so the contestants didn’t see much of a reason behind putting all their remaining strength into the buckets.

Suddenly, the time whistle was blown, the challenge was over.

“Alright, remaining team members, we’ll get you down from there and weigh the final water totals.”

There was a transition and the 4 members of Stacey’s team and the 3 members of Michael’s team were standing there. 

“Before we determine who won the challenge, let’s reintroduce Julie and James to their teams.”

Two people emerged holding one infant each. The small asian child was clearly Julie, with her tiny dark black baby hair covering her head. James was slightly larger than Julie but not by much. He was as bald as the day he was born, which by estimates looked to be about 6 months ago. 

The two babies were both wearing diapers featuring popular children’s characters.

Jessica talked to the confessional. “The first time I saw someone turned into a baby was during the competition, so it was hard to take in. Then it happened twice and I just really had to ignore it.” She paused and giggled a bit. “But in hindsight, it was very cute.” Then in a hushed tone she added “and I’m glad it wasn’t me this time.”

Julie has more time to adjust to her stature, so she was more composed. They had clearly only got James to stop wailing quite recently, his small face still beet red and moist from the tears.

“So now it’s time to see which team will be sending someone to the nursery.” The eight water filled pipes were placed, 4 on each side, to be weighed  against each other.

The first two pipes were poured in, they had similar amounts and the scale tipped slightly towards Stacey’s team. That side became slightly excited.

They poured the next two in each side, this returned the scale to even, and then proceeded a little towards Michael’s side.

The third set went in, and tilted a little towards Stacey’s team, but was at the end a dead heat between the two teams. It would come down to the last sets of pipes.

They were both poured in. These had significantly less water than the other six that were poured. It was the water that the two babies present were responsible for.

James pipe poured out some water. Then they poured in Julie’s contribution.

The scale was tipped in favor of Michaels’ team. They had won the challenge.

Jessica let out a high pitched cheer and Michael raised both of his fists into the air in relief. Nina let out an exhale of relief.

The relief on that side was matched by the disappointment in Stacey’s team. Stacey herself buried her face into her hands and let out an exasperated sigh, Jason was visibly disappointed, and Chelsea seemed more frustrated than anything. Cliff on the other hand did not seem excessively bothered by the result.

“Congratulations to Michael’s team! They are immune from the Baby Shower for the week” The host exclaimed. “We will take James and return him to his normal age.” The infant was taken back into the area that they had emerged from prior.

“Stacey’s team, Julie will remain this age for the duration of the week.” The assistant handed the infant to Chelsea, who was standing closest. Chelsea held the infant against her waist, supporting her under her diaper. She wasn’t happy that her best friend so far on the show was a baby, but she was prepared for this.

“In a few days time you will return here for the Baby Shower, where one of you will go to our nursery and be eliminated from the competition. I will see you-” The host was interrupted by Cliff.

“Uh, actually I have a totem I would like to play.” He produced a carved wooden object. “I would like to activate the Amulet of Lazarus.”

Everyone on both teams was taken aback, no one was sure what the implications of this were. The camera panned around to show an array of shocked and surprised faces.

“Ok!” The host exclaimed. “The Amulet of Lazarus allows you to select a contestant on either team and reduce them to any age you would like until the conclusion of the next Baby Shower.” The host inquired, “Where did you happen to find this valuable artifact?”

“Gathering supplies in the Jungle. I haven’t told a soul about it. Sorry team.”

Michael’s team was visibly concerned, what was supposed to be their week off from parenting could be a sleepless nightmare. Speaking in a confessional, Nina talked through her thought process. “My first thought was that it was going to be one of us, since we were obviously the opposing team. But then I thought about it for a few seconds…”

Cliff without hesitation then listed exactly what he wanted.

“Chelsea, 8 Months.” He said.

“What!” Shouted the brunette woman holding the baby, who seemed surprised by the sudden loud outburst.

Stacey was speechless and Jason seemed to be about as sure of what was going on as Julie was.

“Cliff has made his decision.” The host stated.

“Why would you do this?” Chelsea said, holding back her emotions, wiping away small tears with her off hand.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Cliff retorted. He calmly strolled over and took the small child from the shellshocked Chelsea’s arms.

He added quietly to her as he took the baby from her arms. “Look on the bright side, you’ll be immune from it being made permanent for this week, so I’d just tell you to enjoy it.”

“I’m a nurse for children, I finally had a chance to show…” She was led off to the misting station in clear sight on the other contestants.

Cliff used his free hand to hand the statuette to the host, happily bouncing Julie while he did it, everything going according to plan. The two team members that weren’t small children, or on their way to being one, were taken aback in two completely different ways. Jason still seemed confused, and Stacey’s shock was now proceeding into fury.

“Jason.” She said through gritted teeth. “He took out my alliance for this week, he’s coming for me.” She paused. “I need you to help me turn this around on him.”

Jason wasn’t entirely following, but just eeked out an unsure, “Ok.”

Michael’s team was watching this all unfold, and after the relief of Cliff’s betrayal wore off Jessica began to covertly smile, obviously eating this intra-teammate drama up.

Chelsea was fighting it by her movement, intentionally or not. She was still an adult for the moment, but her unsure walk was more of a toddle than any way a sober adult would walk. The nurse was being supported by the nursery assistants who would insure that she was safe through the process. You could see a diaper poking out of one of their pockets, ready to deal with the result of the process.

She was in position under the misting device. As the assistants got out of the way to let the process begin, you could see the woman’s legs shaking. Tears were streaming down her face at a faster pace, but her fear still was not audible. After the assistants were clear, the high pitch hissing of the nozzles began.

Chelsea was 28, and slightly heavy set. The water came from all sides, but hit the ends of her brunette hair first, condensing into droplets, and making her hair moist and matted down. At 28, she had a few years to go down before anything major changed in her appearance. The first change that was visible was her frame becoming slighter. Her height was the same, but the sides and waist of her outfit became looser.

The woman’s tears were now hidden behind the droplets of water from the mist. Her hands felt the baggy moist area of her clothes that now drooped down, it was unclear if she was happy to see it gone or terrified at the process unfolding on her body.

Her face lost the stress lines from being a nurse, and regained the energetic qualities of a college student in their early 20s. Her hair was hanging straight down and soaked through, the volume of it either being removed by the water or trip backwards in time.

If the departure of the premature aging from the stress of being a nurse was welcome, the next steps certainly were not. The hard lines of the college girls face began to round out, becoming more childlike. She still was not any shorter, but now her appearance was that of a mere high school girl.

The girl now started to become shorter, by small amounts at first. Her cheeks and jawline still continued to become even softer, her eyes seemed to get bigger, but it was simply the rest of her face getting smaller.

The changes really came in when she hit puberty. She lost her height quite quickly here, seemingly going from being 16 to 11 in a matter of seconds. Dropping from being 5 and a half feet, to being 4 and a half feet tall, and her chest went completely flat. Her hair got shorter in the same ratio, being about as long relative to her body as it was at the start.

Her years of medical school now long in front of her, she looked far more like one of her patients than a nurse. Her soaked pants legs folded like an accordion which completely enveloped her shoes, and the ends of her shoulders a good distance away from the sleeves of her shirt now. She was in elementary school now, no more than eight years old. Her baby teeth were now back in her mouth, much smaller than her adult ones.

The process continued, and her five year old frame was now a fraction of the size of where she began. Before it began her head was a few feet away from the top sprayers, but now this small child could not touch the top bar no matter how hard she tried. All of her adolescence was long gone from her, she looked lost, scared, and wet. She was a Pre-K student, and would barely pass the waist of her fellow contestants, Julie notwithstanding. She had completely slipped through the neck hole in her shirt, her lower half still obscured by the height of her former clothes.

Her once dreaded childish features melted away, revealing a toddler. Even though it was damp, the girls hair became lighter and more blonde, losing the pigment. Her legs were shaking before because of nervousness, now they were shaking because they lacked the motor skills to keep her top half upright. Out of apparent nervousness Chelsea put her hand in her mouth.

She looked completely innocent, probably only around 18 months old. If they hadn’t shown the process, it would be tough believing that this blonde toddler was the same nurse that was comforting a baby mere moments ago.

The mist was turned off, but she had a little further to go still. Her now tiny legs were unable to support her with nothing to hold onto, and she plopped down the few inches she had remaining onto her butt.

As the process began to stop, her toddler features were replaced with baby features. The only clues left of her past was her eye color. Her big round eyes radiated innocence and accentuated her small amount of beach blonde hair that remained on her head. She was still capable of sitting up herself, something Julie was still a few months away from. She didn’t cry for some reason. She scanned around and looked at the people she once held an eye-line with as if they were the Statue of Liberty. Chelsea’s curious eyes darted around the environment taking in each and every piece of stimulus available to the infant.

As the two assistants approached her now, Chelsea extended her arms up and made a gripping motion, while babbling nonsense. One of the assistants obliged and lifted the child up. She was toweled off of the remaining age changing water, and laid down on a table. There, she had a diaper laid under her, and the tabs secured around the front of her waist.

This whole process went by quickly, and Stacey was still steaming about having her two allies reduced to completely dependent infants for the week. Cliff was happy, everything having gone to plan so far apparently, with his first triumph by chance ending up in his arms at the very moment and his second strategic triumph laying on the table just having had a diaper affixed around her waist.

We see Cliff in a confessional.

“Ever since I saw those 3 gather up, I knew something had to be done. This idea was rustling in my head ever since I found that idol, but Julie falling into the water was the perfect time to spring my plan.” He continued, “Now it’s just down to me getting Jason on my side so that the biggest threat to my control of this team ends up in the nursery.”

Baby Chelsea was placed into the arms of Stacey by the rejuvenation team. The girls diaper crinkled as the disgruntled woman adjusted her now less than useful ally against the side of her torso. The yellow-haired baby was less disturbed by the whole process than any of the other babies over the course of the competition, in contrast to her reaction immediately prior to her reduction.

The team of five only had three voting members left, while the team of four managed to maintain all of their ages and avoid the baby shower at the same time.

While Chelsea was having years taken off, James was in the back having his years put back on. Not long after Chelsea was handed back over to her team, James emerged from the back with the crew member who was holding him not long ago. He had his previous clothes back on which were still damp, likely from having the youthening water washed out, to avoid de-aging once more.

James rejoined his team standing shoulder to shoulder. Jessica was smirking and lightly elbowed James in the ribs. James didn’t have to turn his head and let out an exasperated “Yeah, yeah…” under his breath.

“Well, with that, both teams can now return back to their camps.” The host chimed in, once Chelsea was successfully handed over to her team. “Team Stacey, we’ll see you back here in a few days to see who gets sent to the nursery, and who can stay in competition for the million.”

The teams leave, the four adults in one direction and the three adults with 2 babies silently in the other.

We follow Michael and his team back to their camp. There was a quiet energy about them, not wanting to rub victory in the other teams face, but also wanting to revel in their first-time triumph, as well as the enjoyment of a week without babysitting. It wasn’t until they returned to their camp well out of earshot of the challenge grounds that they let a little bit loose.

Nina was the first to break the silence with her celebration. She let out a “Woo!”, in equal measures out of relief and excitement. The rest of the team exhibited similar signs of relief, Jessica quickly sat down and laid flat on her back, sighing. Letting her long blonde hair sprawl into the sand, not caring about all the sand particles like she would’ve a few short weeks ago. Michael also plopped onto the sand, his legs splayed out in front of him, uncharacteristically smiling.

James sauntered into camp last, he was certainly happy, but not as jubilant as the rest of his team, and seemed to not be nearly as exhausted as they were either. He joined the group sitting by the extinguished campfire in the sunshine.

“Sweet Baby James!” Jessica mockingly prodded at the man, herself having been a baby as recently as last night. James smirked a little, out of social courtesy rather than genuine amusement at his own expense.

“I’m not sure he seemed so sweet.” Nina joined in. “I think we dodged a bullet, if we had to deal with him as a baby all week, we’d probably get no sleep at all. With Jessica we at least got a few hours.”

Jessica spoke up again. “I don’t know Nina, even though he wouldn’t stop crying he was a real cutie! He was so small too!”

James had enough prodding at his expense. “Alright!” He stated loudly. “Jessica, I’m pretty sure your crib is just behind that tent over there, and your diapers aren’t too far away either.” He continued his rebuttal with increasing enthusiasm. “I screwed up but I was only a baby for a few minutes, we had to deal with you for a whole week!”

She became a little more serious. “It may have been for a week, but I seem to remember that I was a baby because you guys lost, not because I fell off of a pole!”

Michael interjected. “Guys, we just won.” The bickering fell silent. “We can argue all we want but we came out on top this week, none of us are being eliminated.” He paused again. “But when we do lose again, we can’t hold whatever happens against each other. You are going to change diapers. You are going to have your diaper changed. The best case scenario at the end of this competition is one of us is an adult at the end. Three or, more likely, four of us are going to end up in the same spot Alec did, so Accept it now, and you won’t have to deal with it later.”

The jubilant spirit had died down a bit because of Michael’s pragmatism. There was a calm quiet that fell over the team.

“But-” Michael started again.

“No one is changing diapers this week!”

The team smiled and cheered.

The cameras then cut to the strange and unhappy family that was Stacey’s team. There was one of the babies in the sand, Stacey, staring blankly and mindlessly but interested in something.

We then see the tense discussion between Cliff and Stacey.

“How could you do this!” Stacey yelled at the man. 

In a more calm tone Cliff replied. “Now, it’s nothing personal Stacey. You had those two in the palm of your hand, and were gunning for me if I weren’t careful. 3 v 1 seemed a little unfair to me, so it’s even now.”

“But now you’re trying to come for me? We never did anything to you!”

Cliff responds, “When your team has total control of eliminations, someone’s gotta try to break it up!”

The two continued arguing, we see Jason holding the 5 month old Julie in his lap, as well as watching Chelsea but partially listening to the animated conversation. The babies attention spans were shorter even than Jason’s, and Chelsea ignored the complicated noises and grunts that she didn’t know and started pounding her pudgy small fists into the sand, moving it around and seeing what happened.

The only baby clothing they could obtain were diapers, so that is all Chelsea and Julie were going to be able to wear for the week. Chelsea soon grew bored of her sand, so she rolled over onto her hands and knees to try and crawl a bit. The former nurse strained to push off with her now almost total lack of muscles, but she eventually worked up enough strength and pushed hard enough to end up on all fours, her large diaper on one end and her similarly large head on the other.

The straining of her muscles caused other involuntary actions that she no longer had any control over, and she felt a new sensation that she seemed to dislike. Baby Chelsea then gave up on the crawling and laid on her stomach, and began to loudly bawl.

Chelsea’s interjection seemed to put a hold on their conversation.

“Look’s like your little alliance member needs some help over there.” Cliff suggested.

Stacey sighed loudly in frustration, at Cliff rather than Chelsea, and went over to collect the red faced baby. She picked her up and immediately felt the girl’s diaper.

“Wow, she s*** herself.” Stacey said curtly in Cliff’s direction. “Julie may have done it to herself” Stacey said, gesturing at the little girl in Jason’s lap. “But you’re responsible for doing this to Chelsea.” The blonde baby did not let up on the tears and crying.

“I can handle it.” Cliff said. He retrieved the baby from her. “Don’t even have the common decency to change your allies’ diaper when she needs it.” He added, walking away with Chelsea.

While Cliff was distracted changing a diaper, Stacey walked over to Jason to try and sway his vote.

She sat next to him, and grabbed his attention in a tone not much stronger than a whisper. “Jason.” 

He shifted his gaze away from Julie on his lap to Stacey. 

“You need to work with me to eliminate Cliff.” 

“Why’s that?” Jason inquired. 

“You saw what he did to Chelsea back there. How can we trust him? He hurt the team as a whole, including you, just to shore up his own position at the upcoming baby shower.”

Jason thought for a moment. “Well weren’t you just using Julie and Chelsea to your advantage too?”

“I was just trying to keep us safe. There is safety in numbers here.” She gestured to herself and Jason. “Two.” She said, like she was talking to one of her baby teammates rather than a full grown adult. “One.” Now she gestured in the general direction where Cliff took Chelsea.

Jason looked off in the distance for a moment. “Huh. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Well I don’t think there’s much to think about, personally.” Stacey retorted. “But, I’ll leave you to it.” She got up. “Just remember, two… and one.”

Before too long, Cliff returned with Chelsea clad in a newly changed diaper. “It seems like little miss Chelsea here has taken to being young again quite quickly! What she left in her underwear there wasn’t too pretty, but she’s still as cute as a button!” He joked in a paternal tone, seemingly oblivious to his own scheming that left her this way.

Jason was taking the time to mill some thoughts over while still holding Julie in his lap. He sat still for some time, likely contemplating who to side with. He then realized that at some point the fabric against his thigh had become warm and heavier. Julie didn’t seem too bothered by it though, so he just continued thinking.

The camera cut to the host as dusk fell onto the beach challenge area.

“Both sides of the island are having very different nights it seems!” He shouted as the camera craned close to him. “Michael’s team is free from baby duty this week, while team Stacey is pulling double duty!” He paused. “What remains to be seen is who is going to the nursery this week? Will it be Stacey?” The camera cut to her back at camp for a few moments. “or Cliff?” A clip of Cliff changing Chelsea’s diaper was shown. “It seems like it’s all coming down to Jason.” We see Jason deep in thought. “We’ll find out next time on The Mists of Time!”