Brave New World Ch. 01

Roy took a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "I'm think I'm ready for this now. What does the rest of me look like?"

Reesh gave him a long, thoughtful look. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Roy swallowed, then nodded. "I have to know."

She slowly pulled the sheet aside, and Roy stared at what used to be his body. Most of him looked like the part of his chest that he had seen. What he was not prepared for was how emaciated he was. He was literally skin on bone. In places the skin was white, and it looked like it was ready to fall off. Where his belly wound had been, a new-looking patch of very pale skin covered his stomach. Tubes and wires were connected to the various parts of his body. But apart from the way it looked, at least everything seemed to be there.

"I know it looks bad," she said. "But I promise you that you will make a full recovery. Medical science has come quite a long way in the past four centuries. After all it pretty much had to, what with the war and all."

She pulled the sheet back over his body, something for which he was grateful. He felt dizzy and a little sick.

"So how did the war go?" he asked inanely, more to get his mind off the state of his body. "Who won?"

Reesh slowly shook her head, a sad look on her face. "Nobody did," she said.

"You mean..."

She nodded. "Yes. It went nuclear. Nobody won. Everybody lost. Today around one million individuals make up the entire human race, most of which living in habs like this one.

"In what?"

"Sorry," she said. "A hab. Short for habitat, which is short again for orbital habitat."

"Orbital? You mean... we're in space?"

She nodded. "Yes. This hab... This orbital habitat can support up to ten thousand people. Right now there's only a small fraction of that living here. We're orbiting Earth, at an altitude of about one and a half thousand miles."

Roy swallowed. "I suppose there's a good reason for that?" he asked.

She nodded again. "Yes. Most regions of Earth are not habitable right now, and the rest is mostly marginal. It's not as bad as it used to be, but things are still not good. But we manage to survive. Just about the only good thing that came out of all this was a boost in medical and environmental sciences. People were pretty much forced to come up with better ways to repair ruined human bodies and to construct artificial enclaves that could support human life indefinitely. Which, if you choose to look at it like that, eventually led to you being here and alive."

Roy sighed. "And so here we are..." he said bitterly. "I suppose I owe you guys big time for that."

Reesh smiled, but she looked a little embarrassed as well, Roy thought.

"Well..." she said. "Our reasons for reviving you were no entirely altruistic. You see, much of our knowledge about the world and human society before the war has been lost. We were hoping you could help us with some of that. Bluntly put, you represent a possible source of valuable data that we cannot obtain in any other way." She looked worried.

"You mean I have a choice about that?" Roy asked. He suddenly had visions of interrogation, supported by scientifically advanced but unpleasant means of persuasion.

Reesh nodded. "Yes, Roy. You do. If we wouldn't give you that choice, we wouldn't be any better than..." She bit her lip.

"No better than us... No better than me." His voice sounded bitter, even to himself.

Reesh looked embarrassed. She obviously hadn't wanted to say anything like that. But she had been thinking it, just as obviously.

Roy sighed. "It's alright," he said. "I suppose I can't blame you. We did wreck your world for you and left you to pick up the pieces, so I don't suppose you're very impressed with me at the moment."

He stared at the ceiling. Reesh said nothing.

"Just one thing, Reesh. If this is going to be a problem and I'm going to be blamed for everything that's happened while I was in coldsleep, then you can shove me back into that coffin right now and put it back where you found it."

"I would be lying if I said that nobody feels that way," she said. "There will be some people who will resent you for exactly this reason, regardless of whether you actually had anything to do with Nuke Day or not. We know that the base at which you were stationed was destroyed less than a week before Nuke Day, and that you were involved with little actual combat. But not everyone will appreciate that fact."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to deal with that," he said.

Reesh nodded. "To make things a little easier for you, this section of the hab is fairly well separated from the rest. There's only a skeleton crew running the hab at the moment, and of course the medical staff that has been working on you."

"And you are...?"

"On your medical team? Yes."

Well, he had pretty much expected that. However, now that his most urgent questions had taken a number and a seat, there was something else that needed answering first.

"So..." Roy began.

"So what?"

"So... why are you... naked?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She smiled. "The hab has a perfectly controlled climate. There is no need to wear clothing here, Roy. Of course there are occasions when one needs a protective suit, such as in engineering or in vacuum, but not here."

Roy slowly nodded. Obviously a lot of things had changed in the last four centuries. She seemed to read his mind.

"We feel comfortable with nudity, Roy. We have no social taboos against it. We have learned to value our bodies and to keep them healthy and beautiful, and we have developed a lot of medical technology to help us with that. We have managed to eliminate most common ailments, from bacterial and viral infections to the metabolic causes of obesity, cancer and even aging."

"Aging?" Roy asked. "You mean you live forever?"

She smiled. "No. We live about as long as a healthy person in your day and age would have, but without most of the physical symptoms of aging. So we often appear younger than we are. I'm sixty-seven, for example."

"No way." This gorgeous young woman with her beautiful firm breasts, her slender waist and not a wrinkle on her? Sixty-seven? Never.

"Oh, yes. You see, Roy, after Nuke Day we were pretty much forced to find cures for radiation sickness, cancer, leukemia and hereditary birth defects. As you can probably imagine. Which in turn led to many new insights in genetics, and aging is an aspect of that. Which is a good thing, because with Earths population so diminished it helps that we are fertile for much longer." She smiled. 'Necessity is still the mother of invention."

Roy just looked at her while he digested all this.

"We also have no sexual taboos," she continued. "Sex is one of our greatest pleasures. We try to enjoy it as fully as possible and as often as possible, and we share it freely. In fact, we have devoted quite a bit of research to improving our bodies sexually."

Roy raised his eyebrows. That sounded interesting. "Like what?" he asked.

"I'm almost tempted to let you find out for yourself." She smiled. "But that wouldn't be right. You may decide to remain a natural. Some people do that. But not many."

"A... natural?"

"Unmodified. Although that is a relative thing at best, of course. Sexual health is a byproduct of overall health, and vice versa. But most people prefer a few small sexual enhancements at least. Women usually like the ability to have orgasms more easily or even voluntarily, with or without sexual stimulation, and among men the capability to experience multiple orgasms and to be in full control of their erections is very popular. And there are many other enhancements as well."

Roy felt a bit dazed. This was a lot to take in all at once.

"So what about me?" he asked. "If you have eliminated common diseases... Can you do that for me as well?"

"Yes. In fact we already have, because frankly, we had no other option. In reviving you we needed to remove a lot of potential infection hazards from your body, and of course we had to rebuild your immune system essentially from scratch. You do not pose any infection hazard to any of us now, and you are no longer susceptible to the common bacterial and viral infections that you were used to."

"Well... I suppose that is... good news," he managed.

She looked at him and smiled. "Yes, it is. And there are many other good things to tell you about. But you're getting tired now, and I think you've absorbed all you can for the moment. So I think we should continue this conversation later. We have a lot to talk about, and we're going to have to take it one thing at a time. So what I'm going to do now is let you sleep for at least a day. Would you like to have an orgasm first?"

Roy could only stare at her.

"I suggest you let me give you one, Roy. Orgasms are good and healthy, and they will stimulate your body in all the right ways. Unless you'd rather not?"

Roy hesitated.

"My body...," he began.

"Is nothing you should be ashamed of, Roy," she said. "You will look better soon. But right now we just need to give your body what it needs, and I think some stimulation and a nice, healthy orgasm would be a good thing for you, both physically and mentally. I've seen your body when it was in much worse shape than this. So why don't you just close your eyes and let me do this?"

Roy took a deep breath, then nodded.

"Just relax...," she said, "Close your eyes and relax."

He did, and he felt her move the sheet aside.

"Actually, let me show you one of the enhancements I mentioned," she said. "Don't worry, this will only feel very good."

She took his cock in her hands and touched the head of him, caressing him with her fingertips. He felt how his cock began to swell in her hands. Then he felt her apply something to the head of him, a liquid that felt warm, smooth and slippery.

"This lubricant contains a chemical cue that activates certain nerve endings," she said. "Some very special nerve endings. It will make you feel good... Very good."

He felt himself grow harder as she gently rubbed the lube across the head of his cock and down along the shaft. And suddenly a wave of pleasure swept through him. It was as if all the pre-orgasmic sensations he had ever experienced in his entire life were suddenly combined. The sensation was unbelievable! He felt himself breathe faster as the wave of pleasure began to expand and slowly spread outward from his groin.

She caressed him with her fingertips, gently rubbing the swollen head of his hard cock. Then she gripped his cock with both hands and began to pump him, sliding up and down slowly along his slick shaft. Her fingertips brushed the crown of his head, which was slippery with the lube.

The pleasure rose, rose... and suddenly he came! It was as if a lightning bolt of pleasure hit him, and the current arced through him like a huge, roaring wave of intense sexual bliss, and he gasped with the strength of it. He felt himself ejaculate while she continued to pump him, prolonging his orgasm.

Finally the wave of pleasure ebbed, and he sighed. He felt exhausted, but better than he had in a long time. So that's what she'd meant when she talked about stimulating certain very special nerve endings...

Then the feeling of exhaustion began to dissipate, and he realized that she had not stopped her caresses. She continued to stroke the head of his cock, slick and wet and warm. And somehow he was still hard! She grasped the shaft of him more firmly now, and the delicious sensation returned and began to rise again.

He stayed hard. That had never happened to him before! She continued to pleasure him with her hands, her fingertips doing incredibly delicious things to the swollen head of his cock, which somehow felt like it was bigger than it had ever been. Slowly he felt himself grow more sensitive, and once again a warm, intensely pleasurable sensation infused his entire body.

It was as if his whole body had become like the head of his cock. He felt her hands gently stroking up and down his shaft, caressing the head of him with her fingertips, taking him inexorably toward another orgasm, and the sensation somehow seemed to reverberate through his entire body.

Soon the pleasure began to peak again. She seemed to sense it and lightened her touch, moved her hands more slowly, prolonging the sensation. It built and built, and he felt himself grow tense with arousal, as she brought him right to the edge. The feeling was incredible!

She slowed down even further, caressing the head of his cock ever so lightly with the tips of her fingers, sending sparks of pleasure through the super-sensitive tip, down the shaft and into his groin. As he hovered there, right at the verge of climax, the pleasure rose even higher, and yet she kept prolonging it...

Finally she clasped his cock more firmly. She wrapped the fingers of one hand around the head and gently but insistently rubbed him there, while pumping his shaft with the other, deliberately pushing him over the edge. Two strokes, three strokes, four strokes... That was all it took.

"Oh..." Roy gasped as started to cum. "Oh... Oh... Ohhh... Oooooaaahhhh!!"

This second orgasm was incredibly intense, and bright lights flashed behind his closed eyelids as the wave of sexual pleasure infused him and swept through him. He groaned deeply as he shot his cum into her waiting hands, his body shuddering as his pulsing cock pumped out its hot, white load.

When it was over he felt himself sink into a deep, dark space that somehow enveloped him, nurtured him, supported him, comforted him... She cleaned him up and put the sheet back over him, but Roy never noticed. He was deeply asleep.

* * *

It was difficult to tell time as there were no windows in the room, but it seemed to Roy that he spent about two weeks there, during which he steadily grew stronger. He slowly put on more weight. All the while the nanotech units inside him rebuilt his tissues, or so Reesh told him. The tubes and wires attached to his body had been disconnected. He ate light meals and drank strange tasting liquids that, according to Reesh, contained the raw materials needed by the nano's. He felt himself grow stronger, and before long he found himself sitting up, then standing up, and finally walking.

Meanwhile she answered all his questions. She told him as much about the world he now found himself in as he wanted to know, but still he could not escape the feeling that he didn't know anything. Each answer she gave him sparked more questions. He felt lost. Everything he remembered was gone, and it had been replaced with something he knew nothing about. Eventually he stopped asking her questions. He grew quiet and despondent, feeling sad and depressed.

"I think it's time for me to show you around," Reesh said eventually. "You're strong enough now, and you're starting to get cabin fever."

"Getting out of here would be good," Roy admitted.

"Then come," she said, smiling invitingly. She pushed a button on the wall and the door slid open.

His nudity made him uncomfortable. But Reesh, who had been naked before him all this time, and who obviously considered it a natural and pleasant condition, seemed completely oblivious to his discomfort. In the end Roy decided that, when in Rome, the thing to do was to grin and bear it. At least he no longer looked like something that had washed out of a flooded graveyard. His skin had an even and healthy color now, and there was enough flesh on his bones to make him look halfway decent again. Therefore he bravely (if rather self-consciously) stepped through the door, tastefully dressed in his birthday suit.

What was behind the door made him forget all about his nudity.

She had led him into a garden. He found himself standing in a beautiful landscape with grassy hills interspersed with trees and shrubs. The buzzing of insects mixed with the sound of a brook running somewhere close by. It looked very natural, even though it absolutely had to be artificial, Roy thought. That it was artificial left no doubt, because instead of a blue sky there was a black expanse above, filled with stars. But where did the light come from? With nothing but stars up there it should have been dark. Instead everything looked like it was bathing in bright, warm yellow sunlight. But try as he might, Roy could not detect any light source. This part of the hab was obviously covered with a transparent dome, but other than that Roy had no idea. From the size of the dome he could tell that it was huge, but wherever he looked his line of sight was broken by vegetation. The overall effect was pleasant, suggesting a lot of room while at the same time offering a cozy, protective sort of enclosure. Roy decided that he liked it.

Reesh walked ahead of him, and he admired her slender waist and the round, tight curve of her ass as she led him around a grassy knoll. Her beautiful, naked body looked right at home in the fairytale landscape, Roy thought. If she had been wearing some flowers in her hair it would have been perfect.

"This is part of the hydroponics system," she said. "It produces food and oxygen, and of course it's a lovely place to be in."

Roy had to agree. Watching the curve of her hips and her firm, high buttocks sway back and forth as she walked in front of him was definitely a good thing. Then she turned around and took his hand.

"There's someone I want you to meet," she told him. 'His name is Vard. He's on your medical team as well." She smiled. "I know you're feeling a bit self-conscious about your body. Try to relax. We have all seen you in much worse shape, and everyone here is used to nudity."

Roy swallowed. Her words did little to put him at ease, but on the other hand he realized that she was probably right. Wordlessly, he nodded.

Still holding his hand she led him around a row of bushes. Behind it was a beautiful pool. Brightly colored flowers grew along the edges, and a small waterfall splashed merrily into one of its corners. A man lounged comfortably in the water.

"Hi, Vard," Reesh said. "I'd like you to meet Roy Beaumont."

The man looked up and smiled. "Oh, hi, Roy," he said. "Good to see you're up and about. Just a moment."

Vard stood up and stepped out of the pool. He shook himself to get rid of most of the water. He gave Reesh a casual but warm hug, then turned to Roy and held out his hand. Roy shook it, secretly grateful for Vard's casual manner. He felt slightly intimidated. In Roy's day and age Vard could easily have been a male model or an exotic dancer. His body didn't bulge with muscles like a body builder, but instead it was finely chiseled, and a perfectly defined musculature rippled across his flat stomach as he moved. And the tool hanging down between his legs would have made any male pornstar green with envy. There was, however, something strange about Vard's handshake, something unfamiliar, as if he had had to study and practice it.

"Are you going to join me? Vard asked.

"I'd like to," Reesh said. "How about it, Roy?"

"Ehm... Sure," Roy said. This was all coming at him just a little fast, and he felt a little overwhelmed.

Vard stepped back into the pool, followed by Reesh. Roy hesitantly walked to the edge of the pool, then stepped into it. The water was warm, not at all what he expected. The bottom of the pool was covered with small, round pebbles. The bottom sloped quickly, so that after a few steps he found himself standing hip-deep in the water. The three of them sat down. Somehow the bottom of the pool felt very comfortable, and he felt himself beginning to relax.

"So how are you feeling, Roy?" Vard asked.

Roy hesitated. "Fine, I suppose..." he said, "Considering..."

"Considering the fact that you've lost everything you ever knew in your entire life, and that you now find yourself in a world in which nothing is familiar," Vard said calmly. "Not to mention that your recovery is still far from complete. I'm actually surprised to see you take it as well as you have been doing."