Our multi-generational space habitat, the Starship Cooperation, has been cruising through space for quite some time now. Although we are free of a planet rotating around a sun, we still measure our time the same way as our ancestors, minus the leap years. There are twenty-four hours a day and three-hundred-sixty-five days per year. That makes this year our fourth century in space.

“Aiiiieeee!” I shriek as I’m suddenly startled by several loud bangs, and my vision is dazzled by multiple flashes of light. For a moment I’m so dazed I almost forget where I am, before my vision and hearing return to normal and I stare, slack-jawed at the scene in front of me.

“Happy birthday!” Jamie squeaks, giving me a tight hug before leading me into the crowded main room of Charlotte’s house, where I’m greeted by yet more hugs, more bangs from party poppers (which cover my hair in streamers) and more flashes from the partygoers’ phones.

Cutting Edge - Part 2
By Barbara Lynn Terry

Chapter 1 - Catherine learns about the 21st century.

As the night wore on, and Carl and Dan were fast asleep, the spirit of Catherine Stevens explored the body of Daniel Baker. The boys never heard the evil sounding laughter as Catherine continued her exploration.

The night went fast and the boys were awakened by the sunlight streaming through the windows of the bedroom. Carl Spencer was the first one to open his eyes.

“Hey, Dan, are you getting up?”

From what happened in the studio, it is clear that acting like a child causes further regression. While Ryan cannot avoid being treated as a six-year old girl, he attempts to curb the more destructive childish behaviour, but this means playing along with his developing role in the Patterson household. While this might be easy in a controlled environment, the first day of school looms and with it, the greatest and most important battle against the serum.

Excerpt:
Like a dog, I immediately perked up at the words ‘good girl’. Deep down inside, beneath the layers of what remained of my fractured masculinity, something stirred. A great lumbering beast, with twin pigtails and a bouncy, happy smile, heard those words and devoured them, but it was a morsel, and the beast wanted a never-ending feast. It was too late by the time I realized the happy smile was plastered on my face.

I was being attacked on all sides- the desire for praise and to receive that praise by helping, circumventing my usual defences. Greg and Eve never really praised me for anything. I mean they wouldn’t have thanked me for something completely mundane or said I was a good girl, not if they wanted to continue breathing normally. Mrs. Feinstein wasn’t one to heap praise either, but when she did, I reacted similarly. It was obvious, however, that since I arrived in Twin Falls, and I was really being treated like a child, I was regressing. The same thing had happened in the studio even before Ashley’s memory wipe

Alexa Chapter 9: Thanksgiving Fun?