Max bumped into Jacob Llewellyn, a 10-year-old boy with striking blue short hair, blue eyes, and fair skin with a swap age machine in his hand not Max hand Jacobs Hand dressed head to toe in blue, steadies himself after bumping into a much older teen. The teen, Max Henry, is 16, with wild orange hair, green eyes, and a nervous glance over his shoulder. Max’s orange clothes seem almost to glow under the supermarket lighting, but it’s the tension in his posture that catches Jacob’s eye. "Sorry! Are you okay? You look like you’re hiding from someone,""Yeah, I just—can we move? Please? Someone might see me,"
Jacob
fidgets, glancing around anxiously, as Max crouches beside him. The blue-haired boy’s curiosity is piqued by the device that Jacob clutches—a curious handheld machine with blinking lights and a silvery finish. "That’s a cool gadget. What does it do?""It’s… complicated. It swaps a person’s age and eye color with whoever you point it at. But I’m in trouble. People are chasing me because I took it back—they lied to me, said it blew up, but I built it, and I want it safe Max considers the risk as Jacob explains further. Max is desperate—if he’s caught, who knows what will happen. Jacob realizes the only way out might be testing the machine, even if it means swapping their ages and eye colors. "I just need to test it. If it works, you’ll look like a 10-year-old boy with blue eyes, and I’ll be 16 with green eyes. But Jacob you’ll be in danger because you might get sent to Earth by mistake if you’re seen as a a 16 year old boy with green eyes and I have a license to drive here, but Jacob I’m the only one willing to help. Do you accept or not?""I don’t know… but if we don’t do this, those people will catch us anyway,"
Jacob squeezes the trigger. A flash of blue and green light envelops them both. Jacob feels a rush—his limbs lengthen, his viewpoint shifts, and his eyes tingle as they change color. Across from him, Max shrinks, his eyes turning an oceanic blue. "Whoa… I feel weird. Taller. Stronger. But… your eyes, Max, they’re blue now!""And you have green eyes! I hope it worked—I hope we can get out safely now,"
Max, now looking like a 10-year-old, hides behind Jacob, who appears as a confident 16-year-old. Jacob grabs Max’s hand, weaving through the maze of shelves, their colors a blur as they duck past startled shoppers. "Follow me! I know a shortcut through the loading bay. Trust me—we can lose them,""I trust you, Jacob. Just don’t let go!"
Jacob, now able to drive as a 16-year-old, leads Max to a car. Their swapped ages and eye colors are the perfect disguise, and the agents rush past, fooled by their appearances. The two boys share a breathless laugh as Jacob starts the engine. "Let’s get this machine somewhere safe, Max. And maybe find a way to switch back before breakfast tomorrow,""Deal. Thanks, Jacob. You really are the only one willing to help,"
