Reality Remote (Alternate Start)

Christopher Day's head swivelled sharply at the loud knock on his front door, the rest of his body following momentarily as the chair he sat on swung around. He thought for a moment, as he rose to his feet, trying to recall if he'd ordered anything recently.

He moved into the corridor of his small, one bedroom, city apartment, and darted towards the front door of his humble abode, still dredging through what he could remember of the last two weeks as the morning sun shone through the windows behind him. He soon came to the conclusion that it wasn't something he'd bought on the Internet, just as he reached for the door handle. Mentally, he prepared for a mind-numbing sales pitch printed on laminated paper, as he opened the door, only to find that whoever had knocked on the door had left, leaving behind what seemed to be a white shoebox.

Christopher stuck his head out beyond the doorway with a huff, looking around the rest of the floor for a few seconds, before reaching down, grasping the box, and picking it up, idly shutting his front door with a heel as he twisted in place to aim himself in the general direction of his room and computer.

Returning to where he started, the 21-year-old student looked into the full-body mirror that made up the outer face of his closet door. Reflected on the surface of the looking glass was himself, as tall, thin, brown-haired and average as ever. He gave himself a wink, a roguish smile (A surprisingly smooth and charismatic combo for such an average-looking guy), then he turned to the bed, dropping the box onto the duvet before he sat next to it.

"Okay then..... What's inside of you?"

Christopher muttered to himself as he pulled the lid off the box, rustling some of the paper inside as he did so. What immediately caught his eye was a closed letter, bearing his name in a familiarly smooth cursive script:

To Christopher Day

Hello there, my boy! I hope that this letter finds you in good cheer! It's been a while since we've seen each other, as I'm sure you'll recall? I am as hale and hearty as ever, despite my age.

A bright mind like yours, of course, should have already guessed that this is not one of my normal letters. Therefore, allow me to present to you: The Reality Remote!

Reading that, Christopher dug around the box, pulling out what seemed to be a Universal Remote, with a far higher amount of buttons on it than normal and a sizeable touch-screen.... For some reason. Chris decided to read on.

Enclosed with this letter are instructions on how to operate the Remote, and what the buttons do!

However! I left a surprise or two for you as well, so don't expect the instructions to have everything in them!

Have fun with the Remote!

Sincerely, Elijah Day

Chris shook his head, sighing in exasperation. 'Great, another one of that barmy old codger's inventions. Might as well humour the old man.'

Elijah, Christopher's grandfather, had been a prolific inventor in his day - at least that is what he had always said. The man was crazy, but had a kind heart and a soft spot for his grand kids. For the most part, his inventions fell apart, or erupted into multi-coloured flames, when used so it odd that he'd sent this new one to Chris in the post.

Christopher stared at the remote. It had been almost an hour since it had entered his apartment, and the sun had crept a little higher. The clocks had noted the progression of time too, all showing some variation of 10:30AM on their screens and faces.

He shook his head, brushing off his dazed state, before reaching for the remote. He then stopped for a moment, thinking about things for a short while, before crawling the remote and looking over the buttons.

"Hmm.... Let's see what we can do..."