Sally. She's back to fix things.

Sally is standing in the doorway, and she's a mess. Her eyes are red, and though she clearly made an effort to wipe away her tear-streaked makeup, she must not have had a mirror and her cheeks look like a whiteboard that's been cleaned with a filthy rag, splotched and speckled with the remains of her makeup.

"Chase?" She begins uncertainly. She's holding her arms close to her stomach.

You rise up to your feet and take a tentative step towards her before stopping yourself. "Uh... Sally, look, I'm— I'm sorry, I spoke without thinking and I should have tried to be more tactful, and I hurt your feelings and—"

"Chase," Sally cuts you off, and your mouth snaps shut. "It's alright. I'm... I'm not glad it happened, but I'm glad you told me. I don't think it was your fault."

"But it was!" you protest. "I never should have used the Juicer for something so— so stupid! It's my fault you got hurt like this!"

"It was an accident," she says softly, stepping into the room. "You had a bright new toy in your hands and you wanted to have fun with it. You didn't realize how dangerous it was. You wouldn't be Chase if you'd stopped to carefully consider every implication of having turned Pearl pink."

You open your mouth to say something, but before you can she cuts you off again. "And you also wouldn't be Chase if you didn't flagellate yourself whenever something goes wrong around you. Anyone else would have screwed something up with that machine, even Yu. I know I would have too. You just happened to be the one who pushed the butons."

She shakes her head and steps up to you, placing a gentle hand on your arm. "It doesn't matter how it happened, or why," she says. "What matters is what we do about it now. How we fix it."

You close your eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Well, I guess we use the machine. But Sally, I don't... I don't know that it's a good idea for me to use the machine anymore. I mean, I only used it twice and I still... I fucked it up."

"So I'll use it," Sally says simply. "You'll tell me how it works and I'll figure out the rest."

Despite your apprehension, you return to the Juicer Max and begin walking Sally through the control scheme. "Every drink's a mix of 'flavors', stuff like 'girly' or 'bimbo'. Bimbo's what Pearl got, and it turned her pink because Aesthetic was turned on. For your drink though, I flicked all of the Potency levers on and set Purity to 100%, so it changed... Well, everything. And because it's set to 'retroactive', it was made so that it was always that way for everyone who wasn't 'alert', so everyone except me, the server. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, I think so," Sally says, and you can see the gears turning in her head. "You already know how the machine works, but I should also have a go, if only to know it definitely is magic. I could start with a small test, maybe just 'girly' with 5% purity? And restrict the potency to only Stylistic? And that way I can see if my clothes change into something cuter."

It definitely sounds like a much better idea than your approach of going to 100% all the time every time, so you walk her through the process of adjusting the various settings.

--TYPE--
GIRL

--Alert--
Server - ON
Drinker - OFF
Witness - OFF
Public - OFF

--Scope--
Normalcy - OFF
Memory - OFF
Local - OFF
Global - OFF
Retroaction - ON

--Potency--
Aesthetic - OFF
Stylistic - ON
Interests - OFF
Lifestyle - OFF
Personality - OFF
Motivation - OFF
Mental - OFF
Physical - OFF
Sexuoerotic - OFF

Purity: 05%

"And so now what?" Sally asks.

"Well, first you should probably flick the 'Witness' Alert on," you caution, pointing to the relevant row of switches. "Then you can press the 'pour' button."

Sally flicks one of the Alert switches and presses pour, and a very pale liquid, practically transparent, pours into a can. The engraver flashes out, and a moment later Sally pulls out a can of Girl Juice Xtra Lite Zero.

Sally holds the can gingerly, as though it were a bomb. "And now I just... drink it?"

"Right," you say. "And then you'll have confirmation that it's the real deal."

Sally starts pacing restlessly up and down the room, can held close to her chest. Finally she stops and pops the tab open, but she hesitates before drinking.

"You know, Chase, I was thinking... In this reality, Sullivan never existed. The only person who knows I was originally born a boy is you." She hesitates and looks up at you hopefully. "So what if... What if it stayed that way? Could you live with that?"

You frown uncertainly. "I... I don't know, Sally. Sullivan was... is special to me. He's like a brother. I don't know that I could pretend he never existed in the first place."

Sally nods, unsurprised. "That's fine, I expected as much. I know you don't remember me, Chase, so I just wanted you to know... I love you, Chase, I always have. Even after you told me it wasn't real. And no matter what happens, I will always love you. I'm sorry."

Something's wrong. She's being too serious for a can of 5% girly aesthetic. You glance over at the Juicer Max and the bottom drops out of your stomach as you read the display.

--TYPE--
GIRL

--Alert--
Server - OFF
Drinker - OFF
Witness - OFF
Public - OFF

Instead of turning Witness on, Sally turned Server off! If she were to drink the can now...

"Sally, wait!" You shout as you rush towards her.

She smiles sadly at you and downs the can in one long gulp.