System Restore

"I nearly died, with you thinking I actually hated you." Sara croaked, doing her best not to burst into tears. "That's... One of my biggest regrets. I try and say it every day, at least once. Tell you that I love you. I never want you even doubting it. I'm just a stupid bitch for saying I hate you so easily."

"Don't call yourself a bitch." Rik said fiercely, and then frowned, "So this whole... Hugging thing? Is that a thing, now? You used to hate being touched. Personal bubble."

She snuggled into his side with a grin, "Depends. How long are you going to be this freaking comfortable? I mean, seriously. I kinda wish I was young enough to be able to ask for you to come to bed with me. And I am a bitch."

"I'm glad I'm a decent pillow." Rik smiled at her. "And you're not a bitch. Not at all. You are the most amazing girl in this world. I don't know of anyone else who could ever have done as much as you, and still be here asking for more. So... Goals?"

"Freaking wrench monkey." Sara clenched her jaw, "Fine. I don't wanna model. I can't even stand myself in the mirror, Rik. Maybe one day. But that's years off."

He smiled sheepishly, "Sorry. I'm... Work oriented. Always."

"That's it!" She lit up, "I wanna do something just for me. Something that has absolutely shit-all to do with recovery. Something like... Going to the movies. Or clothes shopping. Something that feels normal."

Rik nodded slowly, "That sounds good. Something you can achieve easily enough. Not sure I'm that comfortable with a distance after that glitch... So I'll give you a lift when you're ready. Go hang out at the hardware store with the rest of the apes."

"No." Sara pouted, "No, if you're going to hang around, we're not pretending that I'm completely independent. Instead... Well, this is going to sound... Odd. But... Wanna go on the ferris wheel, again?"

"What?" Rik's heartbeat in her ear sky rocketed.

She snuggled in tighter, "It's... The last time I can remember being actually happy. My twenty first. Not really when we were forced onto the ferris wheel together, but do you remember before it? I was mad at you for walking in on me."

"Are you talking about the bumper carts?" Rik asked cautiously, "You rammed me so much we got kicked off, which is when... They decided we needed to talk things out."

She smiled at the memory, closing her eyes. "Yeah. The carts... Did you really think it was because you hadn't remembered to buy me a present? You were a med-engineering student. I just figured you had no cash."

"I didn't forget."

Sara looked up at him curiously, "Really? What did you get me for my twenty first, then?"

"I still have it, actually." Rik hesitated, "I didn't know what to do with it after everything. So, if you give me a minute I'll grab it."

"No. Comfy."

Rik looked at her in confusion, "What exactly happened to you, Sara?"

"I burned from head to toe and didn't know if I was dying. Again." She said through gritted teeth, "So yeah, I want a fucking cuddle. Deal with it."

He put his arm around her waist and squeezed, "Okay. You win that one."

"So... Present? What was it? I'm still curious."

Rik shrugged, "Piece of jewellery."

"Appropriate." She nodded slowly, "So... Is that all I'm getting until you find it? 'Cos my imagination is going to keep hyping it up."

"Nothing huge. I was a penniless student, you're right." He chuckled, "Just a boring silver necklace. But then we had the fight... And we never really..."

"Like I said, I'm a bitch." Sara said sadly. "I hurt you. I hurt me. I hurt our... Our parents. It's what I do best, Rik. Push people away. It's what I've been trying to change since you saved me. Because you're amazing. Anybody else would have given up. You're amazing."

"Giving up was never an option." He shook his head.

She settled against him, "You should eat your pizza. I'm going to pretend to fall asleep here. Because I feel like I wanna sleep, but the thing will keep me awake. Regular sleep cycles and everything."

"You have override, again. Just tell it you want to nap." He squeezed her again, "I don't mind."

Sara closed her eyes and yawned, "Override. I wanna nap."

Everything immediately went black and silent.

% INTERRUPT IRQ.

---

% LOAD FFFF0h

% POST... SUCCESS.

% INTERRUPT 19.

%...bKUytC000hSTART.

% AWAkening. Self diagnostic complete. Dream cycle complete.

% Welcome back, SARA.

% You have 17 unread notifications, SARA.

She groaned, feeling tight, and sore, from head to toe. Maybe falling asleep in her brother's arms hadn't been such a great idea. It felt so much worse than she usually did.

% DAMAGE. Report to INFIRMARY immediately, SARA.

She rubbed at her eyes, sitting up and looking around in confusion. "Oh, shut it. I'm fine... Why am I in my bed?"

% DAMAGE. Alert ignored. CONFUSION detected. Assuming loss of function. Notifying SUPERVISOR, SARA.

She groaned, rubbing the side of her head, "Oh, great."

The door burst open a moment later, except she wasn't treated to Rik's chest for once. He was wearing an old t-shirt, with a hole near the hem on one side, and a pair of jeans that had more stains than fabric to them.

Sara noted that she had been stripped down to just her panties at some point when she'd been asleep. With her brother behind her, giving her his usual frantic once-over, her foggy head was able to put most of it together.

He'd tucked her into bed, but that meant reattaching her spine to the charging station. Which meant that her brother, that she'd firmly decided was the sexiest man she both knew and trusted, had her completely at his mercy and had stripped her completely naked.

That she knew he hadn't done anything didn't make it the least bit less exciting.

% Elevated Hormone Warning. Current levels of EXCITEMENT are not COMPATIBLE with current activity restrictions, SARA.

She let out a small giggle, "You going to build a patch for morning wood into this thing at some point, Rik?"

"Hmm? Eh... Just a minute." He sounded completely absorbed by her stiff muscles.

Sara considered his casual appearance and rethought through the decision she had made yesterday. On the one hand, Rik was sexy. He was quiet, strong and just as sarcastic as she could be. His intelligence was a given. Sara had met a lot of guys who thought they could be a combination of muscles and smarts, but Rik was a world-class wrench monkey. Smart and strong was his career.

On the other hand, he was her brother. She had no excuses for wanting him. No halfs, steps or estrangement. He was her big brother, with all the annoying and endearing traits that it brought along with it. If she tried to cross a line with him, then he might well put her into Okka's hands and run. She could lose him all over again. Or even worse, the engineer in him might just try and neuter her sexual feelings.

Which brought her to another consideration. He was her doctor. Conflict of interest or not, he was one of exactly two people in the world who knew enough to not just maintain her systems, but improve on them. Her body was nothing short of a medical miracle. An engineering marvel that the entire world had thought was a huge leap forward.

There was a shitload of reasons to keep her distance.

She had to be sure that this was something more than just her being sexually frustrated. Her brother couldn't just be another fuck, or she'd fuck every aspect of her life. Sara had to be beyond certain that what she wanted at the end of this was Rik telling her that he loved her.

% Elevated Hormone Warning. Current levels of EXCITEMENT are not COMPATIBLE with current activity restrictions, SARA.

Imagining him saying those three pretty words to her, as he leaned over her with sweat-matted hair made her shiver. Her skin prickled with goosebumps as a roaring furnace sprang to life between her legs. Thinking about the depths she could fall into, staring into his eyes with affection turned her dial up several notches.

"What the hell you doing?" Rik spoke, sounding like he had a tool in his mouth.

Sara flushed, "Eh... Do you really need me to say it? I'm... I... I don't hate you. I love you. But fuck you for making me say it. I'm reeeeaaaallllly horny, Rik."

"Ah. Right." He replied, as if he hadn't considered it.

She screwed up her face, "Do you ever listen to me, when you're back there? I already hinted at it."

"Thought it..." He took the something out of his mouth, "Sorry. I thought it was just a malfunction. I had a half-dozen alerts for hormones when you were out."

"Oh my god." She squeezed her eyes shut, "I had another wet dream? I... You didn't hear me admit that! Fuck. So embarrassed, right now."

"It's actually a good sign." He finished what he was doing and sat down next to her, "Trauma tends to either flare or suppress your sexual drive. Yours was practically dead. If it's coming back, and coming in strong, then it means you're healing well. Not a part of the glitch. You might even consider a date... Though, sex is probably off the table."

"Two things." Sara interrupted quickly, "Actually, three. First... My boobs are out. Get me a top before talking sexy times."

Rik flushed, but she noted triumphantly that he looked at them as he went to stand and help her cover up. Seemed like he might remember that he liked perving on them.

He tossed her a t-shirt and a bra. She ignored the underwear, pulling on the top and flicking out her hair whilst watching him for more reactions. The idiot only seemed confused why she hadn't put the bra on. That attempt at flirting was a miss.

"Secondly... What in the fuck do you mean sex is off the table?" She glared at him.

Rik rubbed the back of his neck, "Um... Not exactly off the table. More like... It's going to feel like you're a virgin, again. Sorry. I've been putting off this conversation. You... You actually lost it. So I grew you a new one. So... It's not going to feel amazing, first few times. And extra gentleness wouldn't go amiss."

"I didn't feel a hymen." Sara said hopefully, "So... Not completely new, right?"

"I chose to... This is exactly the conversation I didn't want." He said, not sitting down.

Sara narrowed her eyes, "You popped my cherry, didn't you? Before you gave it to me."

"I thought it'd be... Confusing."

"Yeah! I'm fucking confused whether I should feel grateful or fucking invaded that my own brother stole my second virginity!"

He stared at the floor.

Sara gave a small laugh, "Chill. I get it, wrench monkey. So... I got to be gentle with the thing. No fucking anyone's brains out. I'm basically a virgin again. First time probably won't be fun. But, unlike you said, I can still have sex. Right?"

"Right."

She took a deep breath, "Which, kinda leads me to my last question. I am... Moody. I need to deal. I am also terrified of shit going wrong, again. So... Have you got half an hour?"

"You haven't given up on that?" Rik cringed.

Sara shook her head, "No. And do you really blame me? I paralysed myself. It motherfucking hurt. I didn't know if I was dying or anything and then you said that wasn't even where it started!"

Her brother slumped to the ground and pulled out his phone, "Fine."

"Hey. Watching means watching." She swallowed, "I mean... What if my doctor missed something because he was watching cat vids?"

Rik looked up at her slowly, "This is a huge ask."

"I know." She looked down glumly, and pulled her legs in so she was sitting cross-legged and showing off her panties. "Honestly, I don't want to. I'm horny... But unless I make myself... I'm never going to masturbate again. That's where my head is it. I'm scared. You make things better."

He sighed, and spoke affectionately, "S'pose this is just one of those things. I have to be more of your engineer, right now. Forget we're related."

"Mmm." She nodded and took a deep breath, "So is that... A yes?"

Rik moved to the side of the bed and patted her hand. "That's a yes. I will watch you."

"Good." She tossed the t-shirt back off, and lay back onto the bed. She grabbed her phone from the bedside and started pulling up videos. Sara had expected a little awkwardness, but she was suddenly not sure if she was going to be able to do what she needed with his eyes on her.

She thumbed gently at one of her breasts, "So..."

"Pretend I'm not here."

"Already said - that'd scare me more." She shot back.

None of the frontpage was that interesting. Way too many stars getting stretched out by giant things. That was painful, not sexy. Sara blew at her fringe, "Mind giving me some inspiration? What's your forbidden category that is common but you avoid? Cute little Asian doc that you work with?"

"Uh..." Rik hunted for a reason not to answer her.

Sara smiled slowly, "Platinum Girl, porn? Promise I won't judge. Much."

"Sorta. Not really." He admitted, "Actually... You know fantasy and reality aren't the same, right? Huge difference between imagination and the real thing."

"Where do I click agree to your boring Terms and Conditions?" Sara rolled her eyes, "Get on with it."

"Family stuff. Mums. Daughters. Sisters." Rik said quietly.

Sara grinned, "Dude. You saw me fuck you in a wet dream. Fair to say, I can't judge you for that. So... Any favourite videos?"

"I send you a link, can we stop talking about this?"

She shrugged, "If it's hot."

% WAVE received.

% You have 18 unread notifications, SARA.

"Toss the video on my phone." She said with a goofy grin. Not only was she getting to play with herself in front of her sexy brother, it was going to be incest porn guaranteed to make him feel horny, too.

She flicked off the projection before the video started. She wanted to be able to see more than just her screen. She wanted to be able to see just how much of a reaction she was having on her brother.

The title was as generic as could be. "Messing with my sister."

However, for once, the video didn't jump straight into two people banging. It was point-of-view from the guy, which wasn't Sara's favourite. The sister was apparently bored, stuck at home because she was supposed to be studying for uni.

The brother was patient, as his sister kept coming back and teasing him. Stuff like asking why he didn't have a girlfriend, and why he wasn't on a date. That she didn't think he had friends or anyone willing to hang out with him.

% Elevated Hormone Warning. Current levels of EXCITEMENT are not COMPATIBLE with current activity restrictions, SARA.

"Override. Ignore, one hour." Rik said quickly as his watch chimed predictably.

% SUPERVISOR ACCESS request GRANTED.

The teasing eventually lead to him chasing her around the house, tickling her. Which ended with them cuddling on the couch.

Sara was already beginning to feel a little flushed in anticipation.

The sister jumped straight to asking him if he was a virgin. A serious question. Not like the writers were trying to make it in Hollywood. The brother said he wasn't, and then somehow the two got talking about what they found made them horny.

The little sister admitted she was into family stuff, and her brother started rubbing her through her tracksuit. Which she responded to by pulling his cock out and sucking it instantly.

Sara's hand moved from her tit to her nether region, "Not... Exactly Oscar-worthy... But you have good taste."

She rubbed her clit gently in circles, as she watched an actress pretend to blow her brother, whilst her own brother watched her. She didn't dare to turn her head, but she could see him in the screen's reflection.

His soft brown eyes weren't being pulled to the phone in her hands. To his credit she could see him looking at her analytically every now and then, but it wasn't there consistently. What was... Was a hunger that made her far wetter than the video was.

Sara found herself staring into that gaze as the couple moaned in the background. Her fingers moving faster and faster as she sank into that lustful gaze, wishing that she was staring back into those eyes as the burn for him coursed through her.

She wanted to throw aside the phone and see if she remembered how to make out with someone. She'd had to relearn how to walk. She wanted to relearn how to kiss with her brother's tongue inside her mouth. She wanted his bare chest against hers.

She wanted to sit in his lap, grinding down on him reacting to her as she gave him a kiss that made sex feel stale. A kiss that could tell him not just that she wanted his body, but that she adored everything about him.

Sara tossed the phone, and hoicked her panties back into place smoothly. She spun around to face Rik before he could adjust himself to hide the boner she was proudly responsible for. "Sorry. Not happening, today."

"Right." Rik replied hoarsely, but didn't stand. Probably couldn't, without showing off.

Sara smiled smoothly at him, "I wanna go out, now. Ferris wheel. Ooh! My present. You can give it to me where I screwed everything up. Make it feel symbolic, or whatever."

He nodded quietly.

"Rik." She said plainly, "Just 'cos you always see my boobs, and I just... Did that... Doesn't mean I'm getting changed in front of you. Shoo."

He gave a nervous smile, "Sure, just um... Give me a minute?"

"You've seen my pussy. Even took my cherry. Walk my wrench monkey's hard on, on and out of here." She said with a smirk.

"I already regret telling you that." Rik said, standing up awkwardly and going to shuffle away from her. Not before Sara's eyes went wide as she realised that the lump in his pants was thicker than she expected.

This was going to be fun.