Maggie stared at the screen with her own altered DNA displayed on it. She had spent the last several months working with others’ genetic material, making changes here and there, with no sign of any side effects or harm.
Bryan had slowly sprouted from 5 foot 10 to an even six feet over the course of many weeks. Along the way, she experimented with different variations in his DNA, changing his skin tone through adjusting melanin levels, including turning it off completely, effectively turning him into an albino for several days. This transformation disturbed Carolyn the most as the lack of pigmentation also left him with pinkish eyes. She was thankful when he was returned to normal.
Carolyn, for her part, even gave into temptation and allowed Maggie to make small tweaks to her appearance, although she wasn’t as eager to experiment with her DNA as Bryan always was. A sunless summer tan was now a near instant reality and didn’t come in a tube or a spray can. The most ambitious she got was when she allowed Maggie to give her a light teal hair color. The sensation of new follicles pushing out of her scalp and skin rapidly was simultaneously disturbing and pleasant. She was surprised when the length of her anime inspired locks reached the small of her back, a good six inches longer than her normal cut. She was even more surprised when Bryan discovered later that evening that the carpet matched the drapes.
Maggie stared again at her DNA, then glanced at the bottle of Fat Tire on her desk. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily. It was one thing to play with others genetic code, but to alter her own scared her a little bit.
The changes were small. She had added half a year to her age, with the idea that she would slowly age herself over several months to make it less noticeable the same way Bryan made his height taller. She made other modifications to her skin to eliminate the half a dozen small dark moles on her face and body that made her feel less pretty than other girls. And she edited her DNA to give herself C cup breasts as she grew older. Her genetic code, along with her mother’s physique, clued her in that she wouldn’t be as well endowed as other women, but at the same time, she didn’t want it to be her only defining quality.
She clicked the button on the screen and the genetic ‘printer’ began to whirl up at a high speed. A few seconds later the lid opened and she placed the dropper on the surface of the dark liquid inside. It sucked the entire pool up inside. She hovered the dropper end over the top of the bottle of beer and, with another sigh, emptied it into the golden liquid below, where it clouded for a moment before dispersing into the rest of the bottle.
She picked the bottle up awkwardly by the neck, holding it as if it was a dangerous item, which to her it was since it was proven to kill brain cells. She would just have to trust that it wouldn’t kill the wrong brain cells.
She put her lips to the bottle and tipped it up much too quickly — sending a torrent of bitter tasting alcohol hitting her sensitive tongue and flooding her throat. She simultaneously gagged and coughed hard at the same time.
This sent a stream of burning foam rushing up her nasal cavities. White foamy bubbles poured out of her nose and mouth. She coughed again, much more loudly this time, choking on the beer.
Carolyn called up to her, “Hey Maggie, are you okay up there?”
Maggie spit some of the liquid out into the trash can by her desk. Her nostrils burned, sending tears streaming down her face. She coughed again.
Carolyn opened the door to see Maggie hunched over the trash can coughing up her lungs. She rushed over and patted her firmly on the back several times, and thought back to her lifeguard training in high school, trying desperately to recall how to do the Heimlich maneuver if she was choking. “Try and take a breath…” she comforted as Maggie was finally able to gain control over her breathing. She rubbed her back gently. “You okay now?”
Maggie looked up at her, mascara from the tears running a bit and nodded. “I think I am able to breathe again.” she said, with the familiar smell of Fat Tire coming off her breath.
Carolyn spotted the bottle on the edge of the desk. “Oh, Maggie… You can’t be drinking.” She grabbed the bottle by the neck, “You’ll get both of us kicked out.”
Maggie wiped her eyes and nodded. “I am sorry. I just wanted to… um…”
Carolyn rubbed her back again in a motherly fashion, “I know, you wanted to fit in.” Maggie nodded again. “You do fit in. And when you’re of age, we’ll throw the biggest kegger ever for you, I promise. In the meantime, I’m gonna go throw this one away. But when you’re 21, your first beer is on me. Deal?”
“Okay. Deal.” Maggie said as Carolyn left her room, closing the door behind her. Maggie grabbed her box of Kleenex and started clearing her nose.
“Is she okay up there?” Bryan asked as he wiggled his fingers into blue rubber gloves.
“Yeah, she’s good. Caught her with this.” she said holding up the bottle.
“What can I say? She’s got good taste.” he joked as he lifted a mostly full 5 gallon bucket up onto the counter top.
Carolyn laughed. “Well it’s definitely better than your Banana Bread Brew at the Tom Hanksgiving Feast last semester.” she shuddered “That was seriously gross.”
Bryan poured a package of yeast into the bucket. “Totally playing it safe this time. I did add a couple of orange rinds and half a cup of juice for a citrusy taste, but otherwise, nothing too daring.”
“Good. Maybe this one will redeem you?” she joked as she tipped the bottle to pour out the contents into the sink.
Bryan grabbed it from her. “What are you doing? Wasting a good Fat Tire like that? That’s criminal.”
“I mean Maggie drank out of the bottle already.”
“So? I’ll just mix it in.” he said, turning the bottle to pour into the bucket.
“Alright… don’t blame me if you give everyone cooties. Besides won’t that ruin the mix?”
Bryan poured the beer in anyway and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll take full responsibility if there’s a cooties outbreak on Game Night.” He tossed the empty bottle into the blue recycling bin. “Three pointer! Now hand me the lid to the bucket. It’s Fermentin’ Time!”
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