The Right Way to Do It

It had taken them a long time to get to this point. Two years of research, followed by five more for testing, it seemed an eternity for both Professor MacLean “Mac” Cosgrove and Dr. Jarod Michealson. The five years consisted of the hit-and-run construction of the entire lab, piece by piece. They had met in college in a physics class and discovered they had pretty much the same idea. Time, itself, could be controlled.

It was many hours theorizing the hypothesis, even longer to flesh it out, but both Mac and Jarod knew it had to do with magnetics. Within a year, the two of them had put together a crude magnetic machine. When it was first tested, nearly half the college’s lights flickered. The first attempt DID prove the two’s theory: change the speed and polarity of the magnetic field and Time can be either fast-forwarded or reversed. The rose and stem they used quickly became a seed, only to soon wither to near death, before being returned to its true age and form.

With that successful test, the unit became bigger and bigger, until it ended with the final version in the lab, with a large shatterproof glass booth and two large magnets, one above and one below the crystal cylinder and were strong enough to create the magnetic fields to alter anything within the booth. The control panel on a large platform, much like something out the old television series the “Time Tunnel.”

Many tweaks and adjustments were made by Mac and Jarod themselves. They wanted to make sure that they were right and everything went according to their theories and plans. The two men were constantly checking the other’s equations and setups. Deep in their minds and hearts, Mac and Jarod KNEW this was going to work. Months, and months of testing proved they were right.

The final results were when an old dog was brought in from the kennel and put into the booth. Within a few minutes, that same dog was transformed into a small puppy. From previous test subjects, Mac and Jarod agreed that the now-young dog still maintained his adult mind and emotions. It moved around much like an old dog when it first came out of the booth. After a few minutes, the puppy began to scamper around, and it even relieved itself on an old file cabinet.

There was much to celebrate, which Mac and Jarod did into the night, along with their staff. It was then that Mac began to notice something about Jarod. It was the first time mac saw Jarod as a threat to the project. Jarod had been the one who took so long with the equations and testing. Mac understood “safety” measures, and agreed with most of them. But now it was time for the next step, a human subject, but Jarod would not allow something that drastic this soon, no matter how successful the machine worked. Mac was tired of playing it safe now that their theory was proven right, time and again.

Mac was no fool to realize the potential of the machine, either. He knew the power the two of them held with this contraption. The money that could be made was unfathomable. The richest in the world would pay, and pay handsomely, for their chance to be young again. There may even be a few out there who fantasize about being older. That could bring in a tidy sum, as well. Mac had been seeing the cash flow for months, if not years, now. He also knew the Jarod was the one to see the benefits for the entire world and would want to share it with those who needed the aid of the machine. Mac was becoming infuriated with the way Jarod was trying to take their discovery and not make a profit on it. They had known each other for years, as they worked on this idea.

Jarod had seen many of Mac’s faults and would try to show him the better way to do things. Mac would deal with his friend’s condescending way of reflection and the “shared dream” for all. Mac could not deal with it any longer. If he was going to have things his way, Jarod had to be out of the picture.

It was almost too easy the way Mac came up with the plan. He told Jarod to meet him at the lab after the party. They had to discuss a few things, and he wanted to get it out of the way. Mac prided himself on being a fast thinker... in more ways than science. He got back to the lab, long before Jarod would be there and have everything set. He got rid of the security guards by giving them the night off. He also got the security cameras offline, as well as getting the computer logs preset with bogus information. Finally, he went into one of the locked cabinets and took out one of the new guns he and Jarod had worked on for the government. It was a laser-trained pistol, with pinpoint accuracy. Mac was hoping his plan would work without using the gun in any way. Besides, his plan was much more appropriate.

As Jarod arrived back at the lab, Mac pressed the security door’s button to allow Jarod in. It was the last time, Mac hoped, Jarod would be coming to the lab for a long time.

“So what is it you want to talk about Mac?” Jarod asked. “You have any new ideas for the project?”

Mac looked at his friend, who he did like for a time. Nowadays, Jarod was more like a broken record of a preacher. “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately, my friend. This IS an important project, but we seem to be looking at it from two different angles. Yes, you’re right in that this can benefit many in the world. But I still can’t figure out why you can see the profit we can make from this, as well.”

Jarod looked virtually crushed. All their hard work, all the hours they put in, and this is what it came down to... “Money?” he said disconcertingly. “This is all you see with this machine? We can do so much with this, but we have to take our time with it. We can’t rush this. It’s too important to mess it up now.”

“You’re right about that, Jarod,” Mac said to him grimly. “That’s why I’m going the next step... HUMAN testing.”

Jarod just looked at him, dumbfounded. He knew what that meant as he saw Mac’s steely eyes stare at his directly. Mac reached for the laser pistol and held it. The beam from the gun was aimed right at Jarod’s heart. “Now, you’re going to strip out of your clothes and walk into the booth... NOW!”

Jarod knew he had no chance against the gun. He had to think of something, and he had to make sure it would not ruin the project. He stared at Mac, who was a bit thinner than himself. Jarod had always found time to keep himself in shape, with weightlifting, swimming and racquetball. Jarod was a fine specimen of a man, as Mac discovered while Jarod removed his clothes.

Jarod removed his tie first, undoing the knot and slipping from under his shirt’s collar. He then removed his shoes and socks. Jarod had size 13 feet, with a somewhat high arch on both. As Jarod began to unbutton his shirt, a swarth of hair from his chest became more exposed. Jarod was a hairy man, due to his father’s genes. It’s also where he gained his musculature, as well. He had a large muscular chest, covered with hair. Not enough to make him like a gorilla, but enough to have someone grab hold of in the heat of passion.

Jarod reached down and unzipped his slacks. He slowly took them off, showing his well-muscled legs he had worked on since middle school. Jarod was down to his square-cut briefs, which were grey and marked with a sign of nervousness... he had a small amount of pre-cum that oozed onto them when he heard what was going to happen to him.

Mac was impressed with the sight of his friend nearly nude. It just added to his pleasure of what was about to happen to Jarod. “I told you to lose all of your clothing, Jarod. You know they won’t be affected by the effects of the machine,” Mac droned into the lab’s cavernous, but soundproof area.

Jarod complied and stepped out of his briefs. Revealing his manhood of 9 inches impressed Mac. “You seem to be quite gifted with the physical attributes, my friend,” he said snidely. “That’ll change...soon enough. Now... into the booth!”

Jarod walked up to the booth and heard the “click,” marking the door was open. He walked inside. “Mac, why are you doing this? It makes no sense at all.”

“It makes perfect sense, Jarod,” Mac replied as he started to warm up the machine. “You ALWAYS made it clear that you were never going to apply this to anything to help us personally, even after all the time and effort we put into it. I realized several years ago how much we had missed. We may have been something special together, but that can only go so far. Now, it’s time I had some fun in my life. This is just for starters.”

Mac looked down at the control center and saw the computers line up with everything about Jarod’s physical form: height, weight, measurements, and, most importantly, age. The computers listed Jarod’s age at 35 years, 3 months and 12 days. Mac looked up as he heard the slight humming of both magnets starting to work their magic.

“I thought long and hard on how I was going to do this to you, Jarod,” Mac said with a smile. “I thought maybe if I propelled you forward, you couldn’t do much to me.” With that, Mac turned the dial that control the direction of the magnetic fields to the right, advancing time. “Let’s just see if I was right...”

It wasn’t long before Jarod started to see and feel the effects of the machine. Mac was enjoying the view, as well. Slight lines appeared around Jarod’s eyes and mouth as grey began to steadily appear at the temples of Jarod’s dark brown hair. As the time reading reached 45, Jarod’s hair was now salt and peppered and his muscles were beginning to sag. The machine continued to age Jarod to 55, and his body was showing it. His abs were becoming more of a pot belly. His muscles began to lose more definition as they aged. His chest hair was becoming greyer and was thinning out as was the hair on his head as his body became 65. Wrinkles became more pronounced as Jarod reached 75, both on his face and the rest of his body. Within moments, he had become 85. His muscles were shriveling on his exposing bony frame. His pot belly now thinned as he became nearly hairless on his chest and head. When the machine slowed down, all that was left was a withered old man of 95. Barely able to stand, Jarod mumbled, “You won’t get away with this!”

Mac looked at the now-aged Jarod and said, “I thought about that, my friend. There the very likelihood that someone would believe that an old gnarled man like you might be that once vibrant scientist. So I decided not to leave you this way.” Completing his sentence, Mac turned the dial the other way, to the left... reversing the magnetic fields.

Jarod’s body began to fill out again, 85... his muscles returning, as well as his chest hair and hair on his head... 65... the pot belly returned and disappeared within a minute... 45... his hair darkened, and the lines faded away...35. Jarod thought it was soon to be over. He’d be let out of the booth and all would be forgotten. But Mac was just standing there at the control desk., smiling. A warm feeling came over Jarod as he realized it was not over for him yet.

As he knew what was happening to him, Jarod felt his muscles expand slightly as they regained youth with his body turning 30. His hair on his chest and head darkened more as he was in the perfect time physically. It only lasted a few moments, for Jarod and Mac saw his muscles deflate as they youthened to 25. A few hairs on his chest began to sink back into Jarod’s skin on his dwindling torso. He lost more muscle to youth as he approached 20, as well as watching the hairs on his chest increased in numbers that return into his young body.

As he regained his youth, Jarod lost more of the hard-earned muscles and hair. He was in puberty again... only in reverse. Jarod’s body was shrinking from his adult 6 foot 4 inch frame. He was becoming gangly now as he reached 16. What little chest hair was left faded back into the skin of the boy Jarod was becoming. His muscles deflated as he shrank more. He was still showing one definitely sign of a teen. He had a hard on that felt like it was going to pop. But it was getting smaller, as well. Going from the 9 inches to 6 in no time at all, Jarod was nearly a foot shorter and losing what muscle he had fast as he hit 13. His cock was losing age, as well. His balls were starting to return up into his body as he lost the last signs of puberty and began his return trip to childhood.

When his body was 8 years old, Jarod was a tawny-headed little boy, who squealed, “You can’t do this to me!” It was the first time he realized he WAS a child, physically. He continued his downward spiral from child to toddler, started to lose his balance as baby fat became more prevalent on his once-perfect abs of an adult.

It was then when Jarod heard the humming slowing down on the magnets. Mac had decided to stop before he rejuvenated Jarod to non-existence. When the machine slowed to a halt, the computers measured a baby boy of 1 year old. As Mac walked up to the booth and set the door to click open with a remote, Jarod looked up at him. Jarod didn’t cry or have a tantrum. He just looked up at Mac, in complete disbelief. Mac couldn’t believe that the little boy in front of him was his partner in the machine that was just tested. Where the muscular, hairy man was now sat a blond-headed, hazel-eyed baby boy.

“I know you understand what’s happened to you, Jarod. I was hoping that you were right about not losing your memory or emotions. You seem to be in good control of them... so far. You see, I thought about aging you to an old man, but I knew there was the possibilities of someone discovering what happened to you. With you in this young form, you may have your adult memories and emotions, but I seriously doubt you have the ability to speak. At least, not at the present age you are now. Now, with you out of the way, I can do all that I want to with this machine. The future is mine now!”

Jarod was comprehending all that was being said. He also knew that he would get through this... one way or another.

END

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