Get some rest (learn about the machine)

Max told his Aunt that he planned on getting some rest today, but he secretly planned on learning all he could about the strange 'what if' machine. Jessica reminded him that Ella would be over this evening for dinner at around 6pm, or whenever Lacy got back from work. She seemed determined to make the evening go off without a hitch, so Max appeased her by showing the reminder he put in his phone.

A few minutes later and Max was back up in his room, door locked, the strange machine on his desk. His heart pounded in his chest, excited and nervous at the same time. This thing honestly scared him a bit, but that's only because it was still mostly a mystery. He took a deep breath and cracked his knuckles.

Ok, time to find out how this thing really works.

The young man began to type out the phrase he devised while planning things out downstairs. 'What if I knew about how this machine really works?' Max rolled his chair back and watched as the typed characters began to glow and the familiar flash of light blinded him. When he opened his eyes, Max found himself laying on his bed, his room unnaturally darkened despite the sun shining outside his window. He tried to sit up, but suddenly felt a weight press down on his chest. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness Max was shocked to see a feminine figure perched on top of him.

Her glowing yellow eyes looking down on him were the first clue that she wasn't human. She also had two small horns rising from her head that split her long dark bangs. Poking out of her hair were a pair of pointy ears that reminded Max of the elven characters in his favorite video game, except that this one had red skin. Could she be... a demon? They both examined each other in silence for a few moments before the red woman spoke in a voice that was far cuter than Max expected.

"Of all the things you could do, I sure wasn't expecting this..." her tail flicked from side to side like she was an amused cat. She sat up and moved off of Max's chest and over to the edge of the bed, hanging her bare feet over the side. "So, Max what do you want to know about the machine?" Max's state of shock was surprisingly subsiding. The woman on his bed looked strange, especially with her striking red skin, but in her sports bra and gym shorts she kind of looked just like a cute girl. Max gulped and pulled himself up to a sitting position at the head of his bed before finally asking.

"So Ry, are you a demon or something?"

"Or something," she responded coyly. "You can call me Ryrynore, or just Ry I guess... and as you might have guessed, I'm the one who made the machine." Max's growing curiosity helped to overcome the last of his fears.

"So, how does it work?" Max asked. Ry's yellow eyes glowed a little brighter as she excitedly explained her creation.

"Well, you type a 'what if' question and the machine answers it by putting you in a reality where the statement is true or soon will be. While you're there the machine slowly gives you memories from that reality as you need them, so you don't get overwhelmed. Pretty neat right? Oh and while it's all powerful..." she scratched one of her short horns nervously, "there is a few things you should probably know."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, though he had a few ideas of what she could be talking about. The strange way that his questions were answered for one.

"Well, for one thing you can't directly undo the results of a previous question with another. "

"What do you mean can't directly undo?"

"Hmm, for example, if you asked 'what if I had huge tits' but then later they were killing your back and you asked 'what if I didn't have huge tits' it wouldn't work." The young man gave the demon girl a suspicious look. "What? Hey, everyone wants huge tits right? I thought it was a good example," she pouted. Max quickly changed the subject.

"What about my questions being uh... answered in a weird way." Ry turned to Max with a big grin on her face.

"Oh, well that just makes things more interesting for me of course!" Max gave her a worried look. Ry explained how she can't use the machine herself but gets enjoyment out of watching others use it. She also revealed that the reason for the darkened room, which Max didn't totally understand. The pair got to know each other a little better and soon Max's stomach was grumbling. The demon girl giggled at the sound.

"Well, I'll leave you for now, hopefully that answers all the questions you have for me. Oh, and do try to keep things interesting for me okay? Hmm, that gives me an idea..." With that Ry jumped off the edge of the bed and disappeared into the floor of Max's room. As soon as she did, the daylight returned to the room like nothing had happened. Max thought over things while he made his way to the kitchen for a quick lunch.

Well that was sure... interesting. I guess already coming to grips with having a reality altering device made the whole demon thing a bit easier to take. I had suspected something supernatural, but I truly never thought I'd meet the machine's creator! I'm not sure if this makes me more confident in asking the machine questions or not, especially if Ry is watching.