Edits - Ch 4.1.3.1.2

Chapter 4.1.3.1.2 - He makes the toddlers more mentally regressed as well.

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Not satisfied yet, Tim took out his phone with the intention of pushing their changes even further. Making them all younger would just lead to problems, he figured, such as losing the ability to use a phone. Instead, he thought that he might try adjusting their minds to better match their bodies. The whole situation had made him curious. Just how would former teens react to losing over a decade’s worth of intellectual and emotional development in addition to their physical development?

He checked their caption again:

This world history class is made up of mostly 2-year-old students with an even split between girls and boys. (Show more.)

Tim made a few rounds of specific edits, until he was sure the app would cause the mental changes that he wanted:

This skill recovery class is made up of mostly 2-year-old students with an even split between girls and boys. The students are all working to relearn what they knew before their minds and bodies regressed. (Show more.)

Eager to proceed, Tim nearly pressed save before he realized that he needed to exclude himself from the changes if he wanted to preserve his mind. He went to the awareness settings and made sure that the app was set to prevent mental changes to affect him. Satisfied that he would be safe, he saved the caption.

The progress bar rapidly filled up, much faster than when they had regressed physically. Only seconds later, his phone began to emit a high-pitched whine, indicating the end was near. Then, a flash of blinding light signaled that the change was complete.

When Tim's vision cleared, he put his phone away and looked around for signs of mental regression.

Immediately, he heard a boy beside him noisily sucking on his thumb. Glancing at the boy, Tim thought he recognized him as a former football player.

Tim checked his other side where he found a girl with her finger stuffed up her nose, picking away at it. He remembered her always being fashionably dressed, her make up impeccable. He could only imagine how mortified her older self would be if she saw her toddler self behaving this way.

“Okay, everyone,” said their teacher in a chipper tone of voice, which felt very appropriate for a room full of toddlers. “It's time for skills practice! Yay!”

A few of the toddlers cheered in response. Most of them just seemed uncertain or confused. 

“It's time to practice tying laces!”

The teacher handed out flat cardboard imitation shoes with lace holes punched through the cardboard and a shoe lace woven through the holes, the ends hanging loosely. Then, with deliberate slowness, she walked them through the process of looping and wrapping and pulling the shoelace into a knot. The toddlers did their best to follow along. Some struggled dutifully with their fine muscle control as they attempted to manipulate the laces, getting their stubby fingers tangled up in knots. Others became distracted by each other,  getting into play fights, swinging their cardboard shoes around like toys. A few just grew frustrated, throwing tantrums as they failed over and over again.

“Dis is dumb!” one shouted, flinging his practice shoe aside and crossing his arms.

“Why can't I do it?” another one muttered, tears forming in her eyes. “It used to be so easy. Why?”

Another girl was just sobbing, sitting there, the shoe hanging from her hand by the laces. A quick sniff revealed that she was in need of a new diaper, which was probably what had distracted her from practicing.

Tim tried to tie his practice shoe and found it to be more challenging than he might have expected. He had not forgotten how to do it, but his little fingers were both too weak and too clumsy to move the laces with any accuracy or speed. He only managed to tie an acceptable knot when he slowed down, taking almost half a minute to finish.

The teacher congratulated him, but he could tell from the expression on her face that she was deeply concerned by the almost complete failure of the rest of the class at this seemingly simple task.

“Maybe it was too soon to try this one,” she muttered to herself as she walked away to tend to some of the students having emotional breakdowns.

Having satisfied his teacher, Tim took a moment to appreciate the situation. He was generally amused but also a bit saddened by the ones around him that had been overcome by despair. It seemed that they were tortured by memories of who they had been in comparison to who they were now. Adulthood had been nearly in reach, now they were thrown back to being barely more than babies. Who wouldn't be depressed by that kind of loss?

The class ended in chaos when the bell finally rang and the students were sent out to another room which looked more like a daycare than a high school classroom. There, they were given healthy snacks before being laid down on mats for a short afternoon nap. Tim was surprised by how sleepy he felt when he rested his head on the mat. He dozed off quickly and soon began an odd dream.

What did Tim dream about as a toddler?

He dreamed about regressing into an infant.

He dreamed about shrinking tiny.

He dreamed about growing older but still being dressed as a toddler.

He dreamed about losing control of the app.