Chapter 37: 37. Discomfited

"Sorry for being a pest boss," Sarah said as she munched on a bite of her breakfast, "But I realized later last night, you never actually answered most of my questions."

My girlfriend quickly added, "You answered the big one obviously, and I get that there was a lot to cover last night. And I know it was a delicate subject, for both you and Jenny."

The four of us were back at the table in the mess, enjoying some pancakes and bacon.

Piper looked thoughtful as she had a sip of her coffee, but she didn't seem to be in any hurry to respond just yet. Our captain was in another of her casual outfits this morning, and it seemed like they were getting more 'casual' the more we got to know her. Today she was in a pair of small tight black shorts, and an equally tight green crop-top.

Sarah wasn't any better, she'd only bothered with panties and a t-shirt. I almost wondered if the captain and engineer were in some sort of unspoken contest to see how much skin they could expose while still technically being clothed.

Meanwhile I was in leggings and an oversized top again, but none of us had bothered with shoes this morning. And Jenny appeared fully clothed in the same outfit as always.

After a quiet minute or two Piper finally said, "You'll have to remind me what the questions were."

"I wanted to compare notes about what it's been like for you after going through the Re/Gen process," Sarah explained as she scooped up another forkful of pancake. "I wanted to know if you experienced any notable side-effects from being suddenly younger again. I basically lost forty years, and now we know you lost thirty-five I think? So we might have similar experiences there. And finally, I'd like to know what subsequent Re/Gens were like. That is, if there's side-effects from the renewed youth does that keep happening? Or any other aspects of the process? Or do you get used to it after the first one?"

Our captain looked thoughtful again as she chewed on some bacon. She washed it down with a gulp of coffee, then glanced Jenny and finally myself. After another few seconds she addressed our AI crew-mate, "Maybe we should start with a baseline. Ignoring the fact that the three of us all had unusual circumstances, you're the expert on this subject Jenny. You should know how this works right? At least in terms of the age question, and repeated trips through your healing pod."

"Very well," the AI nodded. "According to my programming and protocols, the Re/Gen was meant to be a way of maintaining the ship's crew at their physical peak. Body intake scans were performed when an individual reached the age of eighteen. There were probably occasions where scans were done earlier, such as medical emergencies or other special situations. But typically the scans which were saved and used were done shortly after an individual's eighteenth birthday."

The three of us continued eating our breakfast while Jenny went on, "I don't know about civilian practices, but for individuals serving on my former ship their scans were augmented, special software upgraded them with genetic modifications to enhance strength, endurance, healing, disease resistance, and so on. The protocols I was operating under basically suggested that each crew member should use the Re/Gen capsule every two to three years as a form of preventative maintenance, to keep themselves operating at peak efficiency. And of course should anyone suffer a serious injury they'd make use of my services immediately."

"So your former ship had a crew of thirty-seven, but nobody looked older than twenty or twenty-one?" I asked. "Thirty-seven people on board, all aged between eighteen and twenty-one."

Jenny nodded, "That's correct. Of course their actual ages varied widely, the youngest was about twenty while the oldest was in her sixties."

Sarah asked, "Then you can probably answer my question about the age difference? Did the older members of the crew have any side-effects from being in much younger bodies?"

"The situation wasn't quite the same," the AI responded with a slight grimace. "You experienced that as a sudden change, I believe in the case of my crew they'd been following the standard protocol all along, so none of them ever experienced an aged body?"

She added, "Having said that, one of the benefits of remaining in peak physical condition is increased energy and endurance. And endurance is one of those characteristics further enhanced by the genetic modifications. So it's not surprising if you are feeling an overabundance of energy Sarah, compared to what you you were used to in your original body."

Piper looked at Sarah and asked, "Does that answer your question?"

My girlfriend nodded slowly, "I suppose it answered one of them. I definitely feel more energetic than I did before. You probably noticed that too boss? And Amanda?"

I frowned, "I suppose so? I attributed it to the euphoria of being in a body that actually fit. In my original form I was dealing with dysphoria and low-level depression, so I always felt a bit listless."

The captain added, "In my case the depression and dysphoria came afterwards. I can't say I remember any kind of energy boost from that first trip through the pod. Thinking back, I'd say it was probably my third or fourth time through it when I noticed any kind of change like that? That's when Jenny was trying to fix my head. I suppose when the negative stuff was finally suppressed, that's when I could start noticing the positive effects."

Jenny looked guilty again, and the four of us were quiet for another couple minutes as we focused on breakfast.

After eating her last piece of bacon Sarah asked, "Ok so moving on to the next topic... It's not really a question I guess, but maybe we could compare notes? Like about adapting to a new body."

Piper frowned as she had another gulp of her coffee. Then she shrugged, "I don't think there's going to be any valid way to compare, for any of us."

She set down her mug as she elaborated, "I didn't adapt at all without Jenny's help, then it took a few tries to get it right. And when she figured it out, it still took me... I guess it was thirty or forty days as things gradually settled into place? It wasn't overnight anyways. Once she helped me get past that big mental hurdle, the rest was on me just getting used to things. For Amanda I get the impression she adapted immediately? Like this whole thing was what you wanted from the start, right?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I guess my 'adapting' was in terms of just getting used to how happy this makes me. And maybe a bit of getting used to my ears being in a different place, and having a tail? But even that was positive."

Piper looked to Sarah and commented, "I have no idea what to make of your experience. You're not trans, you didn't want this, but you seem to be coping with it? I originally assumed Jenny used what she learned from working with me to help you right from the start, but she didn't do that."

The engineer blushed and started playing with a lock of her long blonde hair as she stared down at the table.

After a few moments she shrugged, "Like I told Amanda last night, being a man was never a big part of how I saw myself. Engineer, sailor, officer, crew-mate, those were words I'd use to describe myself. And they mostly still work now right? Maybe not officer since we're not doing rank anymore, but I'm still an engineer, sailor, and crew-mate."

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She added, "This body had advantages right from the start, like the youth and flexibility, smaller size, increased strength. Those things can all help me be a better engineer."

Her blush grew brighter as she looked at the hair twisted around her fingers, "And turns out I like having long hair? I never would have figured that out if I'd stayed a guy."

I suggested, "So all three of us went through the same process, but we all went on very different journeys, and we had very different experiences. I'm trans, I was a girl from the start, and Jenny gave me a body that matched how I already felt. Piper, you were a guy through-and-through, and unfortunately saving your life took that from you. So it was a long struggle for you, but you ultimately chose to accept this as the new you, with Jenny's help. Sarah... I'd almost say you're gender-neutral? When your body was masc you accepted that and saw yourself as a guy. Then circumstances forced you into a femme body, but since gender isn't a critical part of your identity you just accepted it and now you see yourself as a girl."

Both Piper and Sarah looked thoughtful, but my girlfriend spoke up first.

"That about sums it up for me I guess?" she said with another shrug. "Like I said, I didn't seek this out or ask for it. But now that I'm here and I'm used to it I don't want to go back. I'm Sarah now, and I'm comfortable and happy like this."

The captain asked, "So you've fully adapted to that already, and without any help from Jenny?"

"She definitely helped," Sarah responded. "But not the way she helped you. We had some good conversations up front, and that helped me frame things and put them in perspective. And yeah, I'd say I'm fully adapted? I think I've been fine with this for at least the last ten days, maybe more. It was just the first few where there were some minor things I had to get used to."

Piper nodded, "Then like I said, there's really no comparison between the three of us. Amanda nailed it when she said we all ended up in the same place even though we all got here through very different means."

Our cute engineer nodded slowly then finished her coffee. I started clearing the table, and Sarah got up to help.

As we were both tidying up the captain asked, "So was that it for your questions? Have we answered everything you were curious about?"

"I was wondering about repeated uses of the Re/Gen process," Sarah replied. "Like I guess I'm wondering if you get used to the extra energy, if you get used to the feeling of being so young again? You're what, in your eighties now right? And you've got the body of a twenty-year-old?"

Piper had a sip of her coffee then shrugged, "Do you get used to it? Yes and no. I haven't lost that youthful energy, but I suppose it doesn't feel like a surprise anymore. So I'm used to it, but I'm still aware of it."

"I guess that makes sense," Sarah said as she thought it over.

The captain drained the last of her coffee then asked, "Anything else?"

Sarah nodded, "Actually there was one other thing... Though maybe it ties in with the youth and extra energy?"

"What is it?" Piper asked.

"I've noticed um," our engineer hesitated as both the captain and AI watched her expectantly. And when I realized what she had in mind I felt my cheeks colour, and I busied myself with the cleaning up.

After a second or two Sarah seemed to decide to just come right out with it, "Around the same time I felt fully adapted to this, I noticed my libido got a lot more active. And it's pretty much stayed there ever since. I'm wondering if that's common, if it's another side-effect of having a new young body?"

Jenny looked a little awkward, while Piper seemed to be suppressing a smile. The captain looked back and forth between me and Sarah then asked, "Going by the way Amanda's blushing, I'm assuming she's been feeling that way too? Or is it because she's been helping you manage this problem?"

I blushed a little brighter, but Sarah kept a straight face. "I don't actually know if Amanda's experienced it."

Sarah didn't even address Piper's other question, but the little smirk on the captain's face suggested she'd already guessed that part.

There were a couple seconds of awkward silence before Jenny finally spoke up, and like Sarah the AI kept a straight face and level voice.

"As you suspected Sarah, it is a side-effect of your new body. You have the extra energy, enhanced endurance and renewed health. A byproduct of all those differences is your new body is producing a lot more hormones at this age than your original would have been as a mature adult. And finally, many of those hormones are new to you."

"Thanks for clearing that up Jenny. Glad to know it's not just me," Sarah responded. Her expression shifted to a grin as she looked to our captain and asked "So does that mean you experienced this too boss?"

Piper still had a smile on her face, like she obviously found this part of the conversation amusing. She nodded in response, "Yep. It wasn't right away, it probably didn't happen until I began to adapt to my situation. Once I started to accept that this body was the new me, once the depression and dysphoria faded and I noticed the increased energy? That's when I also noticed the sort of symptoms you're asking about Sarah."

"How long till it went back to normal?" our engineer asked.

The captain smirked again, "I'll let you know when it happens."