(Note; this story belongs in the same series -- and the same future world -- as my earlier
Restarted
,
parts one and two,
Thanks for the Memories, The Transgression Solutions,
and
Once Bitten, Live Twice.
You don't have to have read any of those to understand it, though.)
*
There was one other person in the clinic's exercise room when Stephen entered the place on his own for the first time -- a woman, already hard at work on one of the exercise bikes. He glanced at her for a moment, noting that she had the usual slim, rangy figure of one of the Restarted; however, dark hair was growing through the silver that marked those who had only just had their youth restored. Then he looked away and stepped over to one of the rowing machines. It sensed his medical implant as he sat in the saddle, and adjusted its settings to match his exercise programme. Taking a deep breath, he started the session.
The doctors had told him that he needed to work on endurance first, so he was set to spend some time on this machine, and he soon found his rhythm. It was all a little boring, but he discovered that he enjoyed the feeling of a body that could handle anything as strenuous as systematic exercise, and he began to lose himself in the process. He was vaguely aware that the woman was moving around the room, using several of the machines in turn, but he paid her no particular attention, However, after some minutes, he realised that she had stopped her own exercises and she was now standing a few feet from him, staring. He slowed to a relaxed pace, and glanced towards her.
"Hello?" he said.
"My God," she said. "Stephen? Is that you?"
He slowed to a halt and looked at her. "I'm sorry," he said. "Do I know you?"
"Stephen?" she repeated. "Did your memory go that badly?"
He stared back. Her face was almost gaunt, little fat yet returned since she had been Restarted, and his memories were dim, ageing having worn away his brain and the gaps now filled with blank space, but gradually he began to find something familiar about her. He gasped. "Sarah?" he asked, "Is that really you?"
She looked into his eyes. "Oh," was all she said, then "Oh, my."
"My God, Sarah," he said. "I'd have thought -- I mean, I'm about as young as they ever normally Restart, and you're ten years younger..."
"Your memory is that good, then," she said with a faint smile.
"What was it? Early onset Alzheimer's or something? I hear that they've taken some younger people with that."
She took a deep breath. "We need to talk," she said. "I'm sure that all this exercise can wait."
"I hadn't heard about you being ... I mean, I don't remember hearing about it. I know it's been a long time since the divorce..."
"Thirty years," she said, "more."
"Well, yes. But I was still in touch with some mutual friends. I remember that."
"Come on," she said, "let's get changed. This is a silly place to talk."
Stephen obediently climbed up from the machine,and headed back to the changing rooms, aware that he was being followed at a distance of a couple of paces. In the locker room, they extracted bags of clothes, and Stephen turned towards a showers -- only to find that he was still being followed.
"Hey," he said, "no need ... I mean ... look, you do
remember
that we're divorced, don't you?"
"I remember the divorce," she said, "but haven't you realised yet? We're Restarted. Everything can start over."
"Even so..."
"Oh, don't worry," she smiled, and Stephen thought that she looked almost
hungry.
"I'm not thinking anything serious. I just have this urge to stick close to you."
Stephen thought that he should argue more. But the cheerful warnings that the doctors had given him were correct; his Restarted body and brain had a lot in common with those of a teenager, impulsive and irresponsible. He didn't know what to expect next, but he simply stepped into the shower room. Then he began nervously to remove his shoes, shorts, and vest, only to see that his companion was hauling hers off with a kind of casual haste, tossing them into the washing box in the corner of the room and then staring at him with a mocking smile. Like her face, her breasts were still filling out, leaving them small and pert; although he was careful where he looked, he noted that her pubic hair was already dark, though thin.
He finished undressing, then stepped over to the shower itself and twisted the dial for a jet of warm water. She was there with him, brushing his naked body with her own, then applying soap to him as well as to herself. In a last show of self-control, he tried to keep his back to her as much as possible, but that just gave her a chance to massage his shoulders with soapy hands. Then came the moment when he had to turn more towards her, and in an instant she was pressing herself against him, those pert breasts against his chest, and kissing him hard.
She broke the kiss and grinned at him. "Fancy a fuck?" she asked.
He blinked. "Wow. You're more ... forthright than you used to be." His memories were dim, but he wasn't sure if he could ever remember Sarah saying "fuck" during their marriage if she could help it.
"Probably. It's good to be young again. Anyway, what about it?"
"I thought that you weren't thinking of anything serious," he reminded her.
"Who's being serious? Haven't you ever heard of casual sex?"
"Sarah..." he said.
"No," she said, "hush." She put a finger to his lips, then ran both hands down his sides. He moaned, suddenly aware that he had a huge erection. He had barely even masturbated since he had awoken from the Restart process, nervous that this youthful restored body might somehow be fragile, but now he realised that it was very definitely capable of sex.
She leaned back against the wall of the shower, spreading her legs as he did so, and he crouched between them. She took hold of his erection and guided it to her cunt.
"Come on," she murmured, "fuck me, Big Boy."
He impulsively thrust by straightening his legs, pushing deep inside her and lifting her up the wall. She gasped loudly, and he paused for a moment, but then she embraced him with arms and thighs, so that he was bearing her full weight. He was dimly pleased to notice that this was no problem.
"Oh," she moaned, then she gave a fierce hiss. "Yes! Don't stop, for God's sake. Come
on,
Big Boy!"
He found that he had no choice but to obey, even at the risk of battering her against the tiles of the wall. The silky grip of her cunt on his erection was sending irresistible pulses of lust through his whole body, and he could feel his balls tensing, almost throbbing. He fought to control himself; fortunately, she seemed to be as enthusiastic as himself, and her murmurs of encouragement were quickly turning to yelps of pleasure. Nonetheless, he quickly lost control, and with a last thrust and a groan, he poured himself into her. However, as he held her against the wall for one last long moment, she too gave a moan and then a soft gasp. Then she grasped his hair and kissed him hard. "Thassit, Big Boy," she mumbled.
He withdrew from her, moving unsteadily, and steadied himself with one hand on the shower controls. They were both breathing deeply, and she grabbed a soapy sponge and mopped between her legs, then held the sponge to her nose and inhaled the scent of his semen.
"Thanks," Stephen said.
"No trouble," she muttered.
Stephen leant against the wall, the shower jet still running over him, and suddenly laughed softly.
"What's funny?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing much," Stephen replied. "It's just that -- well, you never called me anything like 'Big Boy' before."
"No, I don't suppose I ever, ever did."
"What does
that
mean?"
"Stephen," she said, "I'm not Sarah."
"What?" he almost snapped. "What are you talking about?"
"Simple. I'm
not Sarah.
"
"Don't be silly," Stephen said, staring at her face. "You may be Restarted, but you're still the same person. And I remember what my wife looked like."
"I'm sure you do. But you always used to say that Sarah looked like me. I liked that. You made a compliment of it."
Stephen paused, still staring. "
Mrs Davies?
" he gasped.
The woman laughed at that as she rinsed the sponge out under the shower and then put it aside. "Please," she said. "No need to be so formal. You can call me Judy. Judith, if you
insist,
I suppose."
"You are her!"
"I said I am."