He leaves it alone.

Jeremy decided not to touch it. He didn't know what this thing was, but if it was important enough for Monica to leave work then he didn't want to mess with it.

A short while later he heard he front door close. He walked into the living room and saw Monica in foyer taking off her jacket. "Monica, what's wrong? Are you ok? Did I mess something up?"

She didn't even look at him. "Nothing's wrong and I'm ok. You may have messed something up, but it's not your fault." She walked toward her office, ignoring him.

What was wrong with her? It was like she was in shock. Jeremy was starting to really worry as he followed her. "Hey babe, what's going on? Talk to me. Why did you rush out in the middle of your first day?"

She was staring at the slate, tapping away. "It looks like you accidentally removed my emotions. That's ok, I'll put them back in a second. This conversation will be easier without them."

Jeremy wasn't following. Removed her emotions? She was acting like that thing controlled her or something. "What do you mean, I removed your emotions?"

She sighed and sat down. She began to explain in a monotone. "This is going to sound crazy. You'll have to bear with me for now. I can offer proof after I explain. The device you found is called an automanipulator. It was given to me a long time ago as a reward for a task I performed."

"This device can change virtually anything about me. It can alter my appearance, my personality, my beliefs, even my physical attributes. I know it sounds strange, but it's true. When you started fiddling with it, you set my maximum emotional level to zero. That means that I'm effectively emotionless."

She must be having a nervous breakdown or something. "Ok, Monica. I don't believe you, but I believe that you believe this. So let's just sit down and talk-" His sentence died in his throat as he watched her hair turn from blonde to black. "Is that- did you- what the fuck?"

She held out the slate, gesturing for him to take it. "I simply changed my hair color. I think our current relationship is beneficial and I trust you, so I'm allowing you take it and make modifications. Please do not do anything drastic or negative."

He took the slate from her. If what she said was true, he now held almost limitless power over her.