Alex was frantic at the moment. He went upstairs to get a snack and also clear his mind to think about the absurdity of the display monitor. He was just biding the time eating a sandwich until his sister D'erica abruptly appeared and asked him has he seen their mother and could she also go out with them. He did not think anything of it, in fact he could not even be bothered to entertain her in slightest since he was in his thoughts right now, so he ignored her as he usually does, but it did not turn out so well as usual this time. 
 
When Jessica left, the whole family was struck a little sad, but Julia staying and trying to establish an intimate relationship with her family to make amends left some ill feelings in D'erica's heart. With Jessica leaving, there was not anybody to feel in that void for her, so she was already feeling lonely. Also to make matters worse, her mother seemed to be devoting all her attention to Alex and what made her upset was that he was actually starting to hang out with their mother, but he would not spare any attention to her though. It was already bad enough with her grandmother stealing his attention, but now her mother too! She tried playing games on the ps4 and chatting online, but that still did not get rid of the lonely agravated  feelings in her heart. Also, her urgings as of lately have been more taxing to control as she started to have a few mild temper moments, which she has not been able to speak about with her psychiatrist because she has not been able to go there due to her being at her grandmother's house for the summer. Her brother's secretary Kayla would stop by every now and then during this summer to get to know how the family was getting on and discuss business. Kayla would always bring a few gifts for her and talk about how were things going on and girl talk since they had a 'few' things in common, but she has not stopped by for a visit in a while. D'erica thinks it might have to do with a talk that Alex and Kayla had one day, when she was not thinking and barged into Alex's room to force him to talk and spend time with her, while they were examining some papers which were scattered on his bed. D'erica apologized, but Alex did not say anything in return to her and just gestured for her to leave. When she left out, she heard Alex whisper her name. 
 
Anyway she has been feeling quite boldly this morning and without Jessica here anymore to act as a mother, sibling, and friend; she found herself being more proactive and daring trying to get her brother's attention. Like this morning at breakfast, she took Jessica's usual seat across from him while Jessica sat in hers. Alex was forced to look at her even if he did not want to and would unconsciously shudder whenever his eyes met her gaze which made her feel a strange delight of his discomfort. She also snatched some of the bags out of her brother's hands, which he was toting to Jessica's car. She watched as he stoodstill and gawked at her with foreign shock expressed on his face as she felt a stir in her leggings. She just giggled and skipped off after she stuck her tongue out at him. Now her brother was ignoring her again, so she cleared her throat a few times to get his attention, but to no avail for it did not work. She stomped her foot in irritation and raised her hand to grab his shoulder to force him to turn around to face her.
 
Alex dropped his sandwich in shock as he was turned around against his will and gazed up confusingly at his sister for her audacity for touching him. D'erica ignored his weird gaze and told him that she was trying to get his attention, then repeated her questions. He sat there gazing up dumbly at her and after a few seconds he turned back around to pick up his sandwich like she was not even there. She felt tinge of deep sadness and slight anger in her heart as she started to walk off to leave with tears forming in her eyes, then turned back and said,
 
"I just wanted to know where mother was and spend some time with you... I was feeling lonely and went to mother's room, but she was not there. I went out to the garden to ask grandma and she said that she was probably in your room or the bathroom. Then I went to the bathrooms, but she was not there either. I was going to your room, when I saw grandpa coming out of it, so I asked him if mother was in your room, but he said no. Anyway, I was still looking and saw you in here...I will just leave."
 
"Wait!" Alex said hurriedly. "You could not find her anywhere?"
 
D'erica was enthusiastic that her brother was finally speaking to her as she turned back around to shake her head gleefully no. 
 
Alex got up and said thank you and some other incoherent mumbles as he stood up and gave he a brief hug, then ran off. D'erica just stood there in shock for a while as she started to sport a bulge, then giggled as she sat down to finish his sandwich as she traced her bulge with an impish expression on her face and relished the taste of the sandwich in delight as she thought about her brother hugging her and his mouth previously being on the sandwich.
 
Alex had finally had put two and two together and was frantically running towards his lab. He could not believe his stupidity as he slapped his forehead exasperatedly a few times. As soon as he entered, his eyes darted around. He saw several of his trial food bites on the floor and shook his head in mock anger of his grandfather. He watched his steps as he approached the matter alteration device. 
 
Cool down successful, waiting to engage
 
He looked at the monitor and his mind shook! Waiting to engage! It should not have that display unless it is on standby mode! He got goosebumps as he started imagining what happened when his mother was in the lab. She must have touched one of the aluminum poles in curiosity. Now was not the time for wandering thoughts, he needed to adjust the parameters from mass reduction and figure out a way to reestablish her size. He could look for her after he set new parameters for the device, after all that came first.
 
Julia was confused, she thought for sure her son was here to help her, but all he did was noisily type away on some type of rectangular device and impatiently tap his foot. She gazed on and noticed the aluminum poles were no longer lit up and saw her son smiling in satisfaction. 
 
Alex wiped the sweat off of his forehead and picked up an aluminum pole and set each one into a different corner of the lab, then walked back to its original station to pick up the console. He prompted the algorithm for the new life vital scan he just developed to launch. After a few more minutes, several different images of his mother appeared on the monitor with numbers appearing alongside them. He let out a breath in relief, then pondered over the numbers.
 
6'3.5~ original
2-1cm~ fragmented reduction 
 
Fragmented reduction? Why is the reduction in that unit of measurement? He was sure he put feet and inches as the unit of measurement...whatever. He needed to first address the fragmented reduction because it meant he could not turn her back to her original size. He tried setting in the parameters for his mother's original height, but it did not work. The monitor responded that it basically contradicted his mother DNA helix. This was wrong. He thought he would be able to manually override with a new algorithm, but that was a negative. He pondered, but then saw something moving out of the corner of his eye.
 
Julia was gazing up, when she saw pictures of herself displayed on some huge monitor. She gazed up with shock, for one of the pictures showed her in a naked visage and she was sure her son complexion turned awfully rosy as he shook his head and went back to typing.
 
This cheeky kid!
 
She waited and waited for him to do something, but he just stood there looking lost. She felt like hope was about to leave again, so she started jumping up and down, then also running in circles to get his attention while his eyes were aimlessly wandering around. She was just about to give up until they fell on her.
 
Alex stood there shocked as he stared at his mother. He knew his invention worked, but it was different when seeing an actual physical representation of it. He got down on his hands and knees to get a better view, then noticed his mother was backing away from him. He tried to lay his hand down flat and wait for her to come aboard, but she just cautiously retreated. 
 
Julia watched Alex as he eased down to floor in front of her. She backed up continuously out of caution and fright. She watched as he laid down his hand in effort for her to climb it, but this situation was making her feel too uncomfortable. She knew he was her only hope she had and also knew her reaction struck him harshly for you could see tears forming in the rims of his eyes. 
 
Alex wiped his eyes as he stood back up. He gazed down at his mother and his shoulders started to droop. 
 
Does she think I am a monster? 
 
He shook his head to get rid of thoughts he was starting to think and prompted the growth sizes of his mother on the monitor. It seemed that she could grow from any odd height in inches from 6'5 to above. This was an inch and a half above her original height. He did not understand it, but whatever works, works. He did not like that discomfort from his mother he felt just now. 
 
Julia watched as her son typed and would randomly gaze at her every now and then. She saw a tear roll down his cheek onto the floor and felt bitter inside as she watched it splash onto the floor. She sighed and just waited to see what was going to happen when all of a sudden a bright light flooded her vision.