Chapter 85: 84. Rejuvenated

"Two minutes to go," I said after glancing at the little control panel again.

I couldn't help feeling a mix of nervous excitement as I stood next to Rebecca. I was positive she felt the same. By her own admission Mel was one of the few friends she had in the whole sector, the only person outside of the Demeter's crew who really knew her.

And while we both knew he'd emerge from Jenny's capsule in perfect physical health, neither of us knew what his mental state would be. Though one thing that probably worked in his favour was he'd had a lot of time to prepare for this. Where Rebecca and Sarah basically had to make a life-or-death decision at the spur of the moment, Mel had twenty days to think it over and make plans.

While we waited for the capsule to open I found myself wondering what our guest would look like. We had no idea what to expect, since that was something that couldn't really be decided until after he was in the pod with Jenny.

Another thing we hadn't discussed with Mel before-hand was pronouns. I was still thinking of him as Mel and with he/him pronouns for now, but I knew we'd have to ask about that after the process was finished. We already knew what name he'd picked, but it felt like everyone had mutually agreed not to use it until after the process was completed.

Eventually I glanced at the controls again then commented, "Thirty seconds."

"Thanks," Rebecca replied quietly. "I hope he's going to be ok. I know Jenny will have talked him through everything, maybe even helped him like she did me. But it still took me time to adjust, even after she figured it out."

"We'll be here for him," I told her in a reassuring voice. "You, me, Sarah, Jenny. We're all here to help."

She nodded, "Right. Thanks."

A moment later she forced a smile and tried to joke, "If he comes out of that thing with animal ears and a tail we might have to loan him some of your clothes. These coveralls aren't exactly tail-friendly..."

She indicated the bundle she had in her arms. It was another set of grey coveralls and black slip-on shoes, just like she'd prepared for Sarah and myself after our trips through the pod.

I smiled, "That's fine Rebecca."

The counter finally hit zero, and a second or two later the pod unsealed. The door lifted up then rotated back out of the way, and the two of us got our first look at Tamsin Lancaster.

There were no animal ears or tail, so the single biggest surprise to me was the height. Mel had been just over six feet tall, but at a glance I'd estimate Tamsin to be about the same size as me. I knew that would be a big adjustment all on its own, going from maybe six-foot-one down to five-foot-two.

Tamsin's complexion was fair without looking pale or sickly. Their hair was black, and it was in a short bob cut. The style matched their diminutive body though. Their face was rounded and definitely qualified as cute, especially the small nose and the naturally-pouting pink lips.

The over-all body shape was more on the soft and curvy side of things rather than muscular or athletic. Not overweight, but definitely not skinny or thin. The hips were wide, what I could see told me the behind was rounded, and the chest was just the right size for the rest of the body, not too big, not too small.

I couldn't help feeling like Tamsin was the polar opposite of Mel. He'd been tall and skinny, with sharp angular features. Tamsin was short soft and cute. I was left with the impression of a small cute pixieish girl.

Both Rebecca and I were staring quietly when Tamsin's eyes fluttered open. They were a dark deep blue, which looked quite attractive with the fair skin and jet black hair.

"Welcome back," the boss said. "How are you feeling?"

The former shipyard owner gulped and sat up, then looked down at themself with wide eyes.

"Holy crap," they gasped quietly, in a cute high-pitched voice that perfectly matched the rest of their new looks. Their cheeks took on a bright pink tone as they continue to stare down at their new self.

Rebecca held out the clothes and suggested, "You might want to get dressed? Sorry it'll probably be a bit big on you, but it'll do for now."

"Thank you," Tamsin said as they accepted the outfit. Their cheeks were even brighter as they quickly got into the coveralls then pulled on the shoes.

As expected the clothes were much too big, the sleeves kept slipping down over their smaller hands and the pants were bunched up over their feet.

When they were done dressing Tamsin stood up, then looked up at Rebecca and grimaced "Woah... This feels stranger than I expected."

"If you're anything like me it'll take a few days to get used to the new perspective," I commented. Then I asked, "Sorry to do this so soon after you're out but is it ok if we use your new name now? And what pronouns would you like us to use for you?"

The small ravenette looked to me and grimaced again when realizing we stood eye to eye now. They took a deep breath and nodded, "Right. I've already had this conversation with Jenny, she spent the last half hour talking with me before I woke up."

Our passenger closed their eyes and took another deep breath or two, it looked like they were trying to force themself to stay calm and not get too freaked out.

Then they opened their eyes and looked at me and Rebecca and stated, "My name is Tamsin Lancaster, and I'm... I'm an eighteen year old girl. My pronouns are she/her."

Tamsin paused and grimaced, "Wow it feels strange saying that stuff."

After another deep breath she continued, "I'm the daughter of Mel Lancaster, owner of the Freeborn Shipyard on Rolandan-2. My mother was a mechanic on board a light freighter, but she stopped flying to raise me. I grew up with her on Ecclestone's World. Now that I'm... Now that I'm eighteen my mom signed on with another ship, and I'm going to Rolandan-2 to hopefully meet my dad before it's too late."

Rebecca was the first to respond after that little speech. She gave her old friend a warm smile and stated, "Hello Tamsin, it's nice to meet you. Welcome aboard the MV Demeter. Let's head up to the main deck where we can get a little more comfortable, then we can talk some more."

I added, "We all had dinner a couple hours ago, but I can make you something if you're hungry."

The three of us headed back to the lift in engineering, and as we rode the platform up to the main deck I noticed Tamsin was sort of bouncing on her toes. It reminded me of little kids with too much energy, being fidgety or having trouble keeping still.

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Rebecca noticed as well, and Tamsin blushed when she realized the two of us were staring at her.

"Sorry," she cringed slightly as we reached the main deck. "It's amazing though? It feels like just an hour ago I was so weak and my body felt so tired, now it's like I'm full of energy. I feel like I could run back and forth the length of the ship a dozen times without getting tired."

I grinned, "No need to apologize. I'm glad you're feeling better."

Rebecca nodded, "Same. I'm sure it's going to be a big adjustment, but added energy is just one of the benefits..."

The boss's voice trailed off, and I had a feeling she was remembering a certain conversation she had with Sarah and Jenny and myself. The topic of extra energy was only one of the things that came up at the time, and from the look on her face I was positive she'd just realized what other related effects Tamsin was going to experience sooner or later.

No-one else was around as the three of us stopped at the mess. I knew Sarah was in our cabin, and Jenny's android body was in her cabin. I wasn't sure if she'd be joining us, or if she needed or wanted some time to rest after working with our passenger.

Rebecca got herself a glass of the hard stuff, while Tamsin opted for soda and I just had some water. Then we all sat in the lounge since that was more comfortable than the chairs at the dining table.

As we all got settled the boss had a gulp of her drink, then addressed her friend. "There's a few things I'm curious about, Tamsin. You don't have to answer any of this, tell me it's none of my business or just ignore me if you want."

"Ok Rebecca," she replied. "What did you want to know?"

After another gulp of whiskey the boss asked, "Did you pick that? Or did you let Jenny pick something for you?"

Tamsin blushed and had a gulp of her soda before answering, "I had something in mind already, Jenny found the body file she had that was closest to what I'd imagined. She used some software to modify it to get it even closer to what I wanted..."

She finally shrugged, "So I guess the answer to your question is I picked this. This is as close as she could get to the body I had in mind."

I stayed quiet but I couldn't help being surprised. I figured it was a positive thing though, that she'd had something specific in mind. I also thought it was positive in that it meant she'd spent some time thinking about this, she'd taken it seriously, and she wasn't just going with whatever shape was most similar to her old self.

Meanwhile Rebecca asked, "The other thing I'm wondering is if Jenny helped you adjust to this? Or if she discussed that with you?"

Tamsin's blush stayed in place as she nodded, "Jenny and I talked for about a half hour before-hand. She told me she could help with the adjustment, and I accepted her offer."

"Do you know how she helped exactly?" I asked. "You don't need to answer that either if it's too personal."

She shook her head, "It's ok, I don't mind."

There was a brief pause while she had another gulp of soda, then she admitted "Some of the happiest times of my life were when I was younger, working on ships in the yard for my dad. That's why I spend so much time in the work bays instead of behind a desk, I'd rather be working on ships than dealing with paperwork. Jenny helped me by making that connection, this will let me get back to doing the sort of thing I love."

She added, "Even if I inherit the yard, technically I'm only eighteen now. Nobody will accept me as the boss. But I can leave Helen as the CEO, she can run the place while I work as a mechanic again. Even if I have to start as a junior mechanic, it's a chance to do what I enjoy most."

Rebecca asked, "And Jenny tied that to accepting this as your new body?"

"Yeah," Tamsin nodded. "I'm not entirely sure how she did it, she offered to explain but I figured I didn't need to know. She said it would help get me past the first big hurdles."

The boss had another sip of her drink then said "Ok Tamsin, sorry for prying. If there's anything I can do, if you have any questions or concerns, or you just want to talk about things, I'm here for you."

"Me too," I added. "I'm sure all of us would be happy to help."

Tamsin gave us both a slightly anxious-looking smile, "Thank you. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions, but for now I'm still a bit overwhelmed and maybe a bit numb."

I smiled, "I think we're calling that the 'holy shit this is real' phase. It can last a few hours, or maybe up to a few days."

"Good name for it," she grimaced.

Rebecca drained the last of her whiskey then got to her feet. "If you don't mind, I'm going to turn in for the night. I know you just woke up but it's pretty late for the rest of us."

I nodded, "I should get some rest as well. I can stay up a while longer though if you want the company?"

"That's ok," Tamsin replied. "I'm not tired yet but I'll probably try to rest soon."

I got up too and added, "If anything comes up and you need help, don't be shy about asking."

She smiled, "Thanks Amanda."

Rebecca and I bid each other a good night, then said the same to Tamsin. We both headed forward, then she disappeared into her cabin while I went into mine. It only took a moment to get out of my clothes, then I slipped into bed with Sarah.