Jon's mother became more like Thea with each step in the convenience store. Her hair shortened as her clothes began to reweave themselves. New thoughts entered her head as old ones went down the memory hole. Why am I here? she asked herself. In front of the milk section? I don't drink milk. Gotta go to the bar. She looked around at the other women in the store. All straight-looking. None of them could hold a candle to her Jo Mack. She hadn't even known Jo Mack even existed until a moment ago. And of course Jo had been Joe before then.
CTS retroactively changed reality as well as its victims. Miles away, Karyn now thought that Gladys and Lauren had always been Brew and Lou. If Jon's mother had always been a lesbian, what would happen to her children Jon, Zoe, and Mikey? Would they still be her children? Would they have a different father -- a sperm donor? Would they have different fathers? Or would they have been born into one or more different families, losing all genetic ties to her and perhaps even to each other?
Although Jon was not infected with CTS, he felt his body tingle as he held the phone. He was physically changing to fit the new reality, though his memories would remain intact. "Karyn, what's happening to me?"
