"What if 'modern' technology was 100 years more advanced than it is now?"
Both Karyn's and Jon's ARDs glowed green on their wrists and then the glow expanded to cover them and the whole room. It was so bright they had to close their eyes. Then the glow faded, and they could see again.
At first, it seemed like nothing had changed. Jon's room was still furnished exactly the way it was before. There were no mysterious gadgets lying around. No huge computer panels, no jetpacks lying discarded in a corner.
Jon said, "Okay, this is disappointing. I was hoping for something futuristic, space-aged, something, but this is all exactly the same... no wait. Where's my laptop computer? And my TV? Well, that's different... I wonder why they're not here in this reality?"
Karyn noticed something else. "Jon, your room is now spotless. I don't see a single speck of dust or dirt anywhere."
Jon looked around, and agreed. "You're right! Mom told me I needed to vacuum in here, and I'd been meaning to get around to it... but I don't need to anymore. This floor... hey, it's not just clean. This carpet is like new. And all those little dings on the wall, you remember we marked it up pretty good playing ball in here, those are gone too. It's like the room was just painted!"
Karyn was still noticing other small differences. "Your bed is now perfectly made. Not the usual sloppy job you do right before I come over."
Jon ruefully looked at the bed. "Yeah, it looks like Mom made it, I never do that well."
Jon looked himself over, and verified that he was wearing the same clothes he was before. He looked at Karyn and she too was dressed exactly the same as she had been. Then Karyn turned around and Jon spotted another change: Karyn was wearing makeup. "Karyn, you weren't wearing any makeup before, were you?"
Karyn looked puzzled, and then put her hand to her face. "No, and I'm still not wearing any."
Jon grabbed her and spun her around to face the mirror on his closet door. "Yes you are, look!"
Karyn gasped at her reflection. She was indeed wearing makeup. Not a lot, but even a little was more than she usually bothered with on a schoolday. She stepped closer to the mirror. "Wow, I really am. And that's a pretty good job too, like I had it professionally done. Very subtle. But I don't feel it on my face!" She looked at her fingers, and saw the makeup hadn't smeared on them. "Oh, and my nails are painted too!"
Karyn touched her chin, and then she touched her cheek, and then she was rubbing her eyelids and her lips. "It's not smearing at all! It's not on my hands, and it's all just staying put on my face! Okay, now that's cool. I wonder how I'm supposed to get it off, though."
Jon had an evil thought. "Maybe in this reality you had it tattooed on your face. I know how you usually can't be bothered to take the time with it."
Karyn paled at this suggestion "Oh no... that can't be right. I'd never want to get stuck with just this one look, would I? And how could they possibly tattoo mascara on my eyelashes?"
Jon let her off the hook. "Relax, I bet it just takes a special remover, and you probably have some in your purse." He gestured to where it was still sitting on the desk.
Karyn brightened at this. "Oh, I like the sound of that better. And I should see what's changed in there." She picked up her purse and started digging through it. "Ok, here's my wallet, and here's my hairbrush, and my hand-mirror. I have some handi-wipes, but no obvious remover, nor any cosmetics at all though. My iPhone is missing."
Jon checked his pockets. "My wallet's here, but my camera-phone's gone too!"
Karyn contemplated this carefully. "100 years of progress probably made them obsolete. And your TV and laptop too. I wonder what replaced them."
Jon pulled the curtains aside and looked out the window at their front yard and the street below. "All the cars look the same. Damn, I was hoping for flying cars. That's what they always promised us in the future."
Karyn slid open Jon's closet door and made the next major discovery. "Jon, look at this."
Jon turned around to see. Now here, this was different.
The right half of his closet looked like it always did, with his coat, jacket, and some of his nicer clothing neat on hangers. However, the other half was now filled by a large white boxy machine that fully extended from floor to ceiling. Jon's first impression was that it was a combination microwave-washer-dryer-copier-wardrobe. Its front had various openings and doors that looked to Jon like each belonged separately on those types of machines. The right side of the box had an opening that spanned the box's entire height, with what appeared to be a very narrow closet or wardrobe inside. There was a single empty hanger hanging from the tube inside at the top of this inner closet.
Jon looked closer, and realized his first impression of the giant box was at least somewhat correct: A label on the device proudly proclaimed that it was a Hitek® Personal Replomat(TM). "Well. that's something new. I wonder what it can do?"
