As the light cleared, Audrey's eyes went wide. Mike was no longer sitting next to Josh, but standing. And his expression had changed from laughter to frustration. But that wasn't all that had changed. His jeans and black hoodie were gone, he was now wearing tight black yoga pants and a pink tank-top. Just like Audrey was wearing. His black hair, formerly buzzed short, was now piled into a long messy bun. Just like Audrey's. He even had an identical manicure - his fingers and toes coated in pale pink polish.
"...Mike?" Audrey said, gawking at him.
"Oh yeah," Josh said, seemingly unfazed. "Have you seen him? He texted me saying he might stop by." He seemed oblivious to the fact that his best friend was already standing right next to him. And before Audrey could think of something to say, Mike spoke instead.
"Well honey you can tell him to stay home. I've already told you, you need to take care of your chores! And besides, don't you have homework?" Mike's tone had changed completely. It was his voice, but he was talking exactly like Audrey would.
"Aw mom, come on!" Josh whined to Mike. Then he looked at his real mom. "It's just some dirty dishes. I'll clean it up later!"
"No, not later. Now!" Mike said sternly. "We're going to start dinner and if you're not cleaning up in five minutes I'm throwing that video game in the trash!" Mike looked at Audrey and shook his head, giving a look of shared frustration. He then walked past her and towards the kitchen. Audrey remembered her remote, and looked down at it.
"Non-Physiological Life Clone complete," the display read. "Subject Awareness: 0% Select Targets for Peripheral Awareness"
Audrey couldn't believe what she was seeing. Had the remote actually done what it said? There was no denying what had happened to Mike.
"Oh, jeez, are you going to watch me while you make dinner?" Josh asked, seemingly at ease with the fact that his "mother" could be in two places at once. Well, it wasn't much of a punishment if he didn't realize what was happening. She looked over the "awareness" controls and leveled the remote at Josh. The remote vibrated in her hand and Josh leapt up with a look of horror.
"Oh my god! Mom, what did you do to Mike!?"
Audrey smiled. "Well, someone had to help out around here!"
"Change him back. Now!" He came towards her, looking at the remote but not quite sure yet how she was doing this.
"Ah ah!" She said, pointing it at him. "This thing can do a lot more than what it did to Mike. You'd better do what we tell you. Besides, I always thought Mike was a bad influence on you."
"Come on, Mom. This is crazy!"
"Take it easy, honey. All you have to do is finish your chores, then I'll think about changing Mike back. But I do think your friend should stay for dinner!"
Josh sighed, still in shock, and got started cleaning up his room. Audrey smiled as she left to help Mike get dinner ready, clutching the remote tightly. Maybe I should hide this thing for a bit, until after dinner, she thought to herself.
