Handling Mother

The sun rose the next morning high above the town of Fairview, down below life had gone on except for one person. Pulling himself out of bed Jack made his way to the window for some fresh air, and contemplated his next course of action as he stood there shirtless. He then paused as he looked out over the quiet neighborhood, taking in the sights and sounds around him that he had forgotten and pushed away the past two weeks. He looked over to see Mrs. Anderson gardening, or Mrs. Okada racing off to work, or all the other goings on of the neighborhood. Taking in a deep breath, Jack let his mind clear as he stepped back from the window and turned to leave his room.

Making his way into the hallway, Jack then jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen where he soon found his mother. Jack ignored her as he began to make himself a bowl of cereal and took a seat at the counter. His mother on the other hand did want to speak to him as she began by asking "Jack, can we talk?"

Jack looked up at his mom with a tired face before responding "yes mom".

Amanda took a long sigh before saying "explain it to me Jack" as she placed her hands on the counter.

This caught Jack without words as he almost choked on his cereal before asking "explain what mom?"

His mother breathed before yelling out "Explain to me what has been happening these past weeks!... goddammit Jack, you know what the fuck I am talking about!". She the stepped closer to him before letting out another sigh and yelling "All these fucking changes!, you don't talk to me, you did something to Olivia, and look at you self... you shirtless while we talk!".

Jack sat there still eating his cereal as he listened to his mother replay the events of the past two weeks from her perspective. And she was right, Jack had changed, but he had also not, because deep down he still cared for his mother and how he acted. But as his mother went on his mind returned to the machine and he decided he needed to fix his mistake for his sake, and his mothers.

Getting up from his seat Jack let out a soft sigh before saying "I will explain". His mother stopped and froze in place to the sound of his voice, so he quickly responded by saying "Do you remember that box in the attic mom?"

"What box Jack?" his mother then softly replied.

"On my birthday you told me there was a box in the attic, I found it, and there was a note from dad" Jack quickly explained.

Amanda's mind was now racing as she began to reflect on what her son just said, and she began to stutter out "The box... the box... what about the box?"

"Dad left me his work, and so I finished it, and that's what has caused all this change" Jack said as he slowly walked around the counter and over to her.

"Your dad's work... Jack, your father..." she started to say before being cut off by the grip of jack's hand on her wrist.

Looking deep into her eyes Jack says with an authoritative voice, "I want to show you it". He then started to lead his mother out of the kitchen, into the yard, and then into the shed where he kept the machine. Letting go of her once they got there Jack lifted up his arm in a showy manner before saying "This is the machine".

Amanda was left speechless as she stared at the machine sitting before her in the shed. She was firstly in pure awe of what her son had built, and the fact that he could, but she also became concerned at what the machine did. Amanda then took a large breath before asking "Jack what does it do?" Jack then began to explain that he found his fathers journal and that in it were records and notes about nano-bots that could be used to alter someone's body and mind. He continued to explain that he began developing the machine and eventually used it on himself.

Amanda was now left stunned at what her son was showing her and telling her. Part of her wanted to just see it as all a dream, a funny gimmick that Jack had made up. But standing in front of her was her son, but at the same time it was not, this was a man with toned muscles and a large bulge in his crotch, so there must be some truth to his remarks. While she stood there in confusion Jack started to ask "Why don't I show you it works mom".

Amanda quickly looked him in the eyes before asking "Is it safe?"

Jack let out a soft laugh before commenting "I am alive, am I not".

They then both stood there silently while Amanda breathed heavily before Jack asked "why don't we change something easy mom, like your hair".

Amanda's eyes darted to him and then back to the machine before nodding her head in agreement and walking over to the machine. Jack started to quickly type in the command before turning around and opening the doo for his mother.

"If you just step inside" he calmly said, gesturing to the door.

Amanda slowly entered the chamber and once inside Jack quickly shut the door and started the machine. She was startled as the machine whirled alive around her, quickly she felt a slight prick in the back of her neck, but it quickly faded. Soon the machine slowed down and eventually powered off and she stepped out of the booth. Amanda then stepped over to the mirror which Jack had setup in the shed and looked as her hair had become raven black instead of natural blond. She was left speechless again at what had just happened and with the fact that the machine worked, recent events became much more real. She quickly turned to face her son before asking "What do you plan to-do now?"

Jack gave her a puzzled look before saying "I don't know, I just hope you are not mad".

Amanda stepped over to Jack and placed her hand on his shoulder before saying "As a mother I am both proud of you and upset". Jack looked up at her and before he could say anything Amanda then said "how about we change my hair back first".

Jack then spent the next several hours talking about the machine and everything with his mom. He learned that the company his dad worked for was still operating in Fairview but was far from where it had been when his dad was around. They also discussed his work at the repair shop as well as his mothers office work during the week. This led the conversation to shift onto the topic of his relationship with Olivia, and eventually what he did to Olivia and himself. The conversation became far more personal from that point forward and they eventually dropped the topic for later.

Jack then asked his mother whether she would allow to move the machine somewhere into the house. After thinking about it his mom said that he could move the machine into his dad's old study, another place in the house he had been forbidden to go into. The study was on the main floor of the house and had a private bathroom to go with it. After their conversation wrapped up Jack began the process of disassembling the machine and moving it into the house, and then reassembling it in his dad's old study. Jack spent the better part of his night making sure the machine was in working order before falling asleep within his dad's old study like his father used to do.