Mark and the Machine

Chapter 2

Part 2

Mark frowned at the familiar sound of his parents arguing behind the doors. This shouldn't be happening! He had regressed them back to 35, when everything had been perfect between them! Before his dad cheated on his mom, before all the bitterness and resentment! And yet, his ears were not lying.

Mark decided to go in the back door instead. He could hear snatches of the argument, which seemed to have devolved to the point of bringing up things they had said earlier in the conversation.

"No, I never said it like that," Mark's dad said. "You're misrepresenting what I said."

"Oh? How am I supposed to interpret it when you say something like that!"

Mark crept up to his room, and stewed in a number of thoughts. He had always assumed that his parents marriage had only turned sour later on, but had he just not noticed them arguing when he was younger? Or perhaps he had willfully forgotten, trying to salvage an idyllic childhood. Either way, he knew he needed to do something. He waited for the sounds of the argument to die down, and after hearing some doors slamming, Mark decided to adjust his parents once more. He just needed to put them earlier. Back to when their love was still strong.

He went downstairs, and found his mom watching TV and clearly not paying attention to it.

"Hi, mom," Mark ventured timidly.

"What do you want?" she snapped, before noticing her tone and trying again. "I'm sorry. *Work* has been really stressful lately, but I shouldn't take that out on you. What's up?"

"Well, I, uh, I just wanted to know if everything was okay between you and dad?" Mark said.

His mom looked guilty. "Did you hear us just now?"

Mark nodded.

She sighed. "We worked so hard to keep you from seeing us like this. But I guess the cat is out of the bag."

"How long have you two been like this?" Mark asked. "Was there ever a time you two worked together? When you were happy?"

His mom looked thoughtful. "We *are* happy Mark. We just don't always see eye to eye on everything, that's all."

"Okay, but when would you say things were happiest between you two?"

His mom frowned. "Our relationship has had its up and downs, Mark. Like every relationship. I don't think it's good to dwell on one time, and elevate it above all of the others. We're stuck here, today, with all of the history between us. It's not like we can just press a button and go back to a happier time."

Mark shifted uneasily. "But what if you could? If you could relive one day, what would it be?"

She smiled wistfully. "Honestly, our first date. Your father was so charming that day - he swept me off my feet."

"And what day was that?" Mark asked.

His mom said a date, and Mark pulled out the device and regressed her mentally and physically to that day.

Lizzy blinked and looked around in confusion. Where on Earth was she? She could see that this was somebody's house, but it didn't look familiar.

"Where am I?" She wondered allowed.

"Don't you remember?" Mark said. "You're about to go on a date with John. I'm his little brother, he'll be right down."

Date? Lizzy wasn't really the type for dates. One night stands, booty calls, hook ups? Yes, please. But dates? She frowned. She was still young, still in college, and she wasn't ready to settle down yet! She certainly didn't want to be weighed down by a long-term boyfriend when she still hadn't enjoyed all the fun she wanted to!

Lizzy also couldn't ignore the fact that her clothes were pretty lame. She looked like someone's mom! How was she going to pick up boys like this?

But after a few moments, Mark walked out with a nervous looking young man with absolutely no sense of style - he was dressed as much like a old fuddy duddy as she was!

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," Mark said. "Feel free to use the cars in the garage, the keys are over there."

Lizzy had to admit that the guy was pretty cute, but he didn't seem to be her usual type. He was way too nice and timid to be someone she'd consider banging. Plus, he was shorter than she was, and he was wearing thick glasses.

"Hello, my name is John," the young man said. "It's so great to meet you!"

"Are you the one I'm supposedly going on a date with tonight?" Lizzy asked.

"I'm a little surprised about that one myself," John admitted.

What Mark didn't know is that his mother and father had always toned down the story of their meeting. Elizabeth had been out on the prowl at one of her usual night clubs, looking for someone to give her a nice dicking, when she had run into a sweet, nerdy guy who seemed very out of place. He wasn't her usual type at all - but the two of them had gotten talking and she had slowly fallen for him. They fucked, and Elizabeth had been sure that it was his first time, but she had continued a friends-with-benefits relationship with him, that slowly evolved into something more serious.

Tonight, none of the elements of crazy random happenstance were there. Instead of serendipitously running into one another at just the right point in the night, they were just being forced to interact by a strange boy neither of them recognized. They were both completely sober, and the mood just wasn't right.

"Well, do you want to go somewhere a bit more fun?" Lizzy asked.

John nodded timidly, and soon he drove the two of them to a night club he knew in town.

They tried talking, but John was too nervous without social lubrication, and Lizzy ended up thanking him for the drinks he bought her and started mingling with other people at the club. John sighed watching his date dancing with another guy. Wasn't this supposed to be his night?

A few hours later, Lizzy came back to the table. John had given up trying to talk to her and was just sitting there quietly, drinking his beer.

"Have you really just been sitting here watching me all night?" she asked.

"Uh, not all night!" John said.

Lizzy frowned. He was a little bit creepy, wasn't he? She didn't think a shy little thing like him would ever muster up the courage to do anything really bad, but he did seem like someone she would want to avoid.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I won't be needing a ride back. I've hit it off with a really nice guy, and we're going back to his place."

John watched Lizzy walk back to the group she had been dancing with, and was flustered when he saw a muscley guy grabbing her arm and taking her away. He didn't know why, but he felt really drawn to the girl, but he knew that he'd never stand a chance with someone like her. God she was hot.

She left the club, and a girl sat down next to John. Her make up was smeared, and it looked like she had been crying.

"Are you okay?" John asked.

"No," she sobbed. "My date stood me up!"

"Mine too," John said. "Sort of. She just left with another guy."

"Oh, wow, that's fucked up!" she giggled. "I'm sorry to hear that."

John bought the girl a drink, and two of them got talking.

* * *

It was 1 AM when Mark heard someone opening the front door downstairs and stumbling into the house. He could hear muffled giggling, and whispering.

Success! Mark had recreated his parent's magical night.

He heard them shuffle off to the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind them.

Mark tried not to hear things through the wall, but they were definitely thin, so he heard his parents fucking all night. Mark put on some music and tried not to think about what was happening the next room over. When he had finished listening to his favorite album, he pulled out his headphones and listened. The noises of love making had stopped.

Mark walked over to the master bedroom, and opened the door a crack. It was dark inside, but he could just make out the silhouettes of two people. Mark pointed the device at his sleeping mother and father, and aged them physically and mentally back up.

When he mentally progressed them, the device asked if it wanted to extrapolate alternate memories based on the events experienced while regressed. Mark had thought of everything when making this thing, and he was sure this little idyllic reminder would leave a strong impression on the couple. He said yes to both, and went back to sleep.

The next morning at breakfast, Mark was surprised.

"Uh, dad, who is this?" he asked, looking at the woman making breakfast.

The woman smiled at Mark. She looked to be about his mom's age, but her face was unmistakably Asian.

"Very funny," the woman said. "Pretending you've forgotten your own mother!"

Mark took a step back. No way. Had his dad somehow gone home with a different woman? Where was his mom. His *real* mom!

"Uh, dad, when did you and, uh, mom meet again?" Mark asked.

"Why don't you tell it Jasmine?" his dad said, smacking her on the ass. "You always tell it better."

"Oh, okay. I'll try. I had just been stood up on a date, and your father was the perfect gentleman! He bought me a drink, provided me a shoulder to cry on, and well, one thing led to another and eventually we had you!"

Mark's eyes widened in surprise. His dad *had* gone home with someone other than mom!

Fuck.

"Dad, do you know whatever happened to the girl you had a date with that night?" Mark said.

"No, I never met her again," his dad said. "I'll have to thank her though, if not for her, I never would have met Jasmine."

The couple embraced, and Mark felt the same feeling that he had whenever he watched his dad hugging the homewrecker Elizabeth. Sure, this time it was actually Mark's fault, but it didn't hurt any less.

"Uh, I've got to go, dad," Mark said. "I'm going to the mall with some friends."

"Okay, let us know if you go anywhere else!" Jasmine said.

Mark nodded numbly, and walked back to his car. He drove to the club, and tried to get inside. It was completely closed during the day.

He knocked at windows, and eventually a man came out.

"What are ya doing, kid?"

"Um, I'm looking for my, uh, sister. She came here yesterday, and I haven't seen her since last night! My, uh, my parents are worried sick."

"Look, kid, tell the police if you're worried. But I can't help you."

"Please, can you let me see the security cameras? I just want to see who she left with."

The man refused, but Mark pulled out 50 dollars - the money he had from his job as a sign waver, and gave it to the man, who reluctantly accepted the bribe.

"Alright, come on in back."

The security camera footage was low resolution, but Mark was able to pick out his parents coming in. He fast forwarded, watching his mom flirt with a number of guys before leaving with one.

"Do you know who that is?" Mark asked.

"Oh, shit he's a regular. If your sister went home with him, she'll be fine, but she might walk funny for a few days," the man said letting out a dark chuckle.

"Can you please tell me where he lives?"

The man sighed, but gave Mark an address. Soon Mark was off.

* * *

Lizzy woke up feeling celestial. This guy had shared a pill of some kind with her, and they had fucked through the cosmos together. She looked over at her latest one night stand. He was pretty cute, and she was pretty sure she was going to make him a regular booty call. Fuck, his dick had rocked her world.

There was a knock at the door. Lizzy wasn't really decent, but she pulled on her man's shirt, which seemed to cover enough, and answered the door.

"Oh thank goodness!" Mark said. "I'm sorry for all of this."

"Who-, wait a second you're that guy's brother aren't you?"

"Yeah," Mark confirmed. "Something like that."

"Well, I'm afraid things won't be going anywhere with him from here on out," Lizzy said. "Now, good bye."

She tried to shut the door, but Mark had lodged his foot between it and the frame to prevent that.

"I'm sure you'll feel different when you're older," Mark said, pointing the device at his mom, and pressing up on the physical and mental buttons.

It quickly became clear something was wrong. The device started sparking, and it alternated between an error code and an age for his mom about nine months older than before.

"Oh, fuck," Lizzy said. "I don't feel so good!"

Mark's eyes widened as he saw that her belly had ballooned up under the oversized shirt she was wearing.

The device sparked again, and the display went dead. Meanwhile, a puddle of water had started to form under Lizzy's feet.

"Your water broke!" Marks said.

Lizzy's head was swimming. She felt a ghostly haze of memory trying to rise up in her head, but a sudden jolt through her brain seemed to banish the memories, and leave her feeling very light headed and confused. There was a buzzing going through her mind, and she was trying to figure out why the boy in front of her looked so familiar. Then she fainted dead away.

* * *

Lizzy woke up in the hospital.

"You're very lucky your brother brought you here so fast," the nurses said. "Your body was in a state of intense shock, and it was pretty touch and go there for a moment."

Lizzy looked around in confusion. She saw a strange boy - her brother? (That's what the nurse had said.) And, crying in the nurses arms-

"Your little one is perfectly healthy," the nurse said, smiling.

Lizzy's eyes widened. That little baby, there in the nurse's arms. It was... hers?

"I don't want it," Lizzy said. "I'm not ready for a kid."

"Well, we can try to get adoption papers going. Is that what you want?" the nurses asked.

Mark didn't know what to do. It had been a stressful seven hours in the hospital, and he hadn't known what to do. He had fixed the device, and was pretty sure it was working, but he didn't know how much longer he needed to wait. He now had a new brother! Well, a half-brother.

He felt guilty about this - it wasn't right that his mom was doing this. But maybe this was for the best - a very unfortunate loose end, after an ill-advised piece of tech. He would see to it that the kid had a good life.

After Lizzy signed the baby away, and exited the hospital with Mark. She looked at him.

"My head feels so funny right now. Its felt this way, ever since I've woken up. I feel like I'm dreaming almost - but this is real."

Mark shook his head. "No, it is just a dream, soon you're going to forget all about this."

He pointed the device at Lizzy, and pressed up up on the physical adjustment and mental adjustment buttons again. He clicked "no" on the Extrapolate Memories option when it came up.

She started getting older, little by little. Her breasts filled out, and became perkier. He could also tell her mind was changing - her posture changed. She stood a little taller, curved her back a little more. Then suddenly the device seemed to freeze. It became unresponsive.

The display now said, "22" and no button presses could make it say anything else. His mom had indeed matured a bit more, but not by much.

He had only managed to make her a few years older - taking her from college aged to just after college. At this point, she and his dad would have been moving into their first house-

Lizzy blinked and looked around. "Oh, hi Mark, what's up?"

"Oh, thank god. You at least remember me!" Mark said. It didn't make perfect sense - but the device was malfunctioning, and he was happy that he had jumped at least that hurdle. "Don't worry, mom. I screwed up really bad, but I'm going to fix everything soon."

Lizzy giggled. "I can't believe you called me 'mom' - your father was sure you'd never warm up to me!"

Mark looked at his mom in horror. "Mom, just what do you think our relationship is?"

"Well, you're my stepson of course!" she said, twirling her hair absentmindedly.