Eden Restored Ch. 02

What's that old saying? "Silence is deafening"? I always thought it was just a poetic metaphor for social injustice or a clever way for a romantic partner to encourage a fight. But at that moment, I fully understood. My ears were ringing with everything and nothing while Lizzy stared into my eyes, my own looking straight through her at everything and nothing. I could feel the color drain from my face, smell the perspiration forming on the palms of my hands, and almost taste the remnants of stale air in my lungs from a time that no longer existed. My inner monologue was ball-gagged, a result of too many thoughts and implications colliding at once. All I could do was stare slack-jawed at nothing until Lizzy spoke again.

"I know this is a shock. Trust me," she said, leaning in closer to my face. "I dreamed of something like this, but everyone told me it was impossible." Her eyes dropped slightly, examining my nose, then my mouth. "They even threw me in jail for even suggesting this could happen. Crimes of Misinformation and Malfeasance, they said. But even then, I never stopped believing, hoping, praying." A delicate hand reached out, painted nails grazing the soft flesh of my cheek. "A man. A male. An extinct gender here in the thirty-third century. And out of all the places in the universe, you're here. With me. You returned... for me."

Her words finally cut through the fog in my brain like a lighthouse; a pink-topped, beautiful lighthouse. I'm... the only male that exists? How is that even possible? If that were true, the human species would have gone extinct a thousand years ago. I found the concentration to blink, my arid eyes grateful for the reprieve and causing Lizzy to withdraw her hand, the sudden lucidity briefly startling her.

"What you're saying is not possible," I said defiantly, shaking my head. "I need to speak with Dr. Ross, right now."

My body made an effort to stand up, but Lizzy's hands latched onto my thighs, forcing me back down to her bunk. "Please... please stay. I'll do anything. Just... don't go." In that moment, she was the most fragile and delicate I had seen her. Gone was the excitable young woman and in her stead was a girl begging me with pleading eyes. "Not yet. Please. Once everyone finds out..." She trails off, her eyes looking beside me at her bunk with a troubled expression. "I want to pretend that it's just you and me, at least for a little while. Can you do that?" She returned her gaze to mine, searching my face for any indication of an answer.

Despite myself, I found my head nodding in agreement. I need answers. I need information. But this beautiful girl is not only allowing me to spend time with her, she's begging me. A long time ago - a VERY long time ago - I would have sacrificed a choice few body parts just to have this. And she's desperate. How much of an asshole would I have to be to break this poor girl's heart? Answers will still be there in an hour or a day. "Okay. I'll stay."

Her entire body vibrated with excitement, hands clutched at her chest. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice wavering as she did so. Her eyes closed and opened in rapid succession, the time between them too long to be considered a blink. Each eye opening was precipitated by a subtle intake of air and increased pressure on my thigh from her fingers.

"What... what are you doing?" I inquired. I could smell something vaguely similar to bubble gum with every exhale, a heady undercurrent of grease punctuating the sweet scent.

She averted her eyes at my question, a shy smile forming on her lips. "I'm sorry. I must look like an idiot. I just keep thinking that all of this is a dream or a hallucination. Every time I blink or look away, I'm half-expecting you to disappear."

This is a first: I'm not the awkward opposite sex person for once. And the way she's looking at me, the nervousness; was this how girls viewed me whenever I would approach them? Was this how Jasmine saw me? I tried my best to give a genuine smile, the muscles in my face protesting the movement after years of atrophy even before being frozen. Go on, say something you idiot. She's vulnerable and unsure. Remember when you were like this and you would give anything for the other person to throw you a life preserver?

"Lizzy? I heard Dr. Ross call you Elizabeth back in the medical whatever-it-is. Is that your real name?" Okay, it's not as reassuring as I would have hoped, but at least it will get us talking about something other than gender extinction.

Her eyes dart back to mine. "Elizabeth Chambers, but everyone just calls me 'Lizzy' unless I'm in trouble or bothering someone. Which happens from time to time..." As she spoke, her teeth bit into her bottom lip on the right side, clearly still nervous and unsure of how to interact with me. I reached for her hand, unclasping it from my thigh and taking it in my hand. My head motioned to a spot on the bunk next to me as I gently pat the unyielding mattress with my free hand.

"Well then, Lizzy, why don't you sit with me? It feels weird having you kneeling like I'm royalty or something."

Her eyes widened ever so slightly at my request and her hand gripped mine. She slowly rose from the floor and took a seat next to me, adjusting her distance several times as if internally judging an appropriate gap between our bodies. When she was finally settled, she was at least two feet away, my arm outstretched with her firm grip still on my hand. I raised a questioning eyebrow as I spoke. "You know, you can sit closer. I'm not contagious or anything."

Before my sentence even finished, Lizzy had scooted against me, her thighs jammed against mine. "S-Sorry. I didn't know how close I should be, how close girls are supposed to sit to boys. Is this right?" Her expression was one of genuine concern, as if she was petrified of doing the wrong thing in my presence. My heart lurched at the close contact, her face now so close that her sweet scent seemed to envelope me. Holy shit, this is the closest I've ever been to a woman, besides my mom. And, unless this is some smutty online erotica, that doesn't count. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Yeah, this is right," I said, nodding emphatically. "Well, it's a little close for people that aren't familiar. But it's fine! I... like you being this close." I had to quickly qualify my statement when she began to move away. "So, uh, you probably have a billion questions for me." I let the statement-implied-question linger in the air, waiting for any feedback other than awe or trepidation.

Lizzy let out a giggle-sigh. "More than you know," she responded, dreamily. "But there's one thing I've wanted to know since the moment I learned how to read." She lifted her eyes to meet mine, the wetness from her tears making them sparkle even in the harsh lighting of her quarters. "What's it like to kiss someone?"

My eyebrows arched in surprise at her direct question. Out of everything that she could possibly want to know about the twenty-first century, playing tonsil hockey is the one thing more important above all else? I clear my throat while regaining my composure. "What do you mean? No one kisses anymore?"

Lizzy shrugged, a forlorn wrinkle creasing her brow. "Some women do, but most don't see any reason anymore. Outside of a few communities, everyone just lives platonically. The only reason I know anything about it is from my books." She made a sweeping gesture to her treasures adorning her walls. Her eyes lit up with pride. "I have kissing books. LOTS of kissing books."

Yeah, she does. And she's talking to the one guy in history who has less experience in this area than anyone alive. The only man alive is also the most inexperienced one. Boy, does she have bad luck. "Well, it's a little soft, and a little hard, and a little messy," I stated plainly, completely talking out of my ass.

Lizzy's eyes moved towards the floor, a furrow in her brow and a confused expression painting her face. "Oh. It sounds so much more... fun in books. I guess that's what they call 'artistic license'?" Her head lilted to the side as I silently kicked myself for being such an inexperienced geek that I couldn't even describe what a kiss should feel like. Then she turned to me with an embarrassed smile, her eyes searching mine for the answer to an unasked question. Her body leaned forward, her perky breasts now more visible through her cleavage. She licked her lips wantonly as she took a deep breath. "Can you... show me instead?"

Oh FUCK. She wants the kissless virgin to be her first kiss. This is beyond the blind leading the blind; it's some sick cosmic irony. I'll probably end up poking her eye out or some other clumsy shit. My mouth went dry in an instant. I felt a lump in my throat form with staggering urgency even as my stomach churned with unfamiliar excitement. I looked into Lizzy's eyes, seeing the same reverence for me she has had since discovering the truth. Wait a minute. This girl has absolutely nothing to compare me to. Even if I'm the worst in the universe, she won't know the difference! Maybe I can do this. I mean, she's absolutely adorable. I would be a fool to pass up this opportunity.

I threw on my most convincing confident smile and nodded my head. "S-Sure. I can do that." My voice was not nearly as assured as I assumed my expression to be. "Get ready to have your mind blown, baby." Smooth like sandpaper, dipshit. Oh my God, I am such a fucking dweeb. Maybe I deserved to stay frozen for all eternity. Hesitating only for a moment, I leaned towards Lizzy's expectant lips.

The scent of strawberry lip gloss danced through my sinuses as I drew closer to her. It was intoxicating. I had no idea how I got lucky enough to be alone with the possibly one person in existence that dressed like and knew about my generation, but I wasn't about to second guess it. Her eyes fluttered closed as her lips puckered; despite myself, an image flashed in my mind again.

Jasmine

The last time a woman had me in this position, she tried to kill me. Even though I knew - Maybe - that Lizzy didn't have any nefarious plans, I could feel my anxiety begin to build. And not just because my entire life had been building up to this point. I wonder if they still have therapists in this millennium? I'm pretty sure a near-murder experience would justify a visit. I mentally shook off my meandering thoughts and returned my attention to the task at hand. This is it. You're crossing the threshold. Just enjoy it.

My eyes closed just as my head tilted ever so slightly to the right and our lips met. They pressed together gently - then with increased pressure from hers - and an unfamiliar feeling churned deep within my abdomen. Requited affection? Finally? Our lips stayed locked together, an unrelenting stalemate challenging either of us to break this momentous "first". The taste of her lip gloss subtly danced across my palette as a small droplet of saliva broke from her pursed lips and joined my own.

Then I heard it: a soft, wanton moan emanating from her very core. It was as if her every desire, every dream and fantasy was coming to fruition in this one moment and her very soul was expressing gratitude. I'm... I'm doing it. I'm not fucking this up. And goddamn, it's amazing. Spurred on by my new confidence, my hand moved on its own as it reached upward and snaked behind her head. I palmed her lower neck in my hand, pulling her into our embrace further, and the moans from Lizzy became louder, forceful even. I half-expected her to return the favor and grip my head as well, but she refrained. Of course, this is even newer for her than it is for me. I at least had the luxury of experiencing intimacy vicariously in my life; this poor girl's conditioning had been limited to ink on paper, words without context and illustrations of foreign concepts.

I don't know where I got the courage to do what I did next. In fact, it most definitely wasn't courage. It was pure instinct. And what a glorious instinct it was, one born of hunger - to be accepted, to be desired, to be wanted. Both my lips worked in unison, slowly opening up and separating Lizzy's as well. A squeal shot forth from her throat, causing my eyes to lilt open. Her eyes were wide with surprise, both of them locked onto mine and her eyebrows raised in curiosity. But despite her shock, she made no effort to disengage from our embrace. Prepare to be boarded, princess.

I had no idea what I was doing, but that didn't stop me from extending my tongue and gently drag the tip across her bottom lip. Another moan, this time guttural and filled with yearning. I caught a glimpse of her eyes rolling back in her head as her lids eased closed once more, my tongue following through on its threat to invade her oral cavity. This time, her entire body reacted to the new sensation. Her mouth pressed deeply against mine, our teeth barely meeting, and her right arm circled around the back of my neck, pulling me closer. Our lips worked in perfect unison, neither one of us needing the other to coordinate our movements. Her tongue met mine just behind her teeth and I felt her sensual muscle begin to make small circles around my tip. Now it was my turn to moan, both of our blissful and eager sounds filling her compartment - a rhythmic duet that somehow sounded almost harmonious. Her other hand reached for my cheek, stroking it softly. She must have felt the light whiskers poking through my skin - not enough to be visible, but absolutely tactile - though she paid them no mind. Or, if she did, the sensation only stoked the flames of her present passion.

I wish I could have bottled that one perfect moment where two people - a hapless, virgin time traveler and a sweet, fanciful young woman - experienced true intimacy for the first time. It was positively intoxicating. I tasted her and she tasted me; we were sharing ourselves with each other physically, of course. But also - as I would find out - emotionally as well. I felt a wetness slide down my cheek to meet our joined mouths, followed by the faint flavor of salt. I'm crying. I'm having my first kiss with a beautiful woman and I'm actually crying. And... I don't care. The realization washed over me like a Caribbean tide. In that moment, it didn't matter that I was getting sappy or being hopelessly romantic. Or just being fucking grateful that I was in this time, in this place, with this person. No one was going to laugh at me. No one was going to tease me. No one was going to make me feel like less of a person. With Lizzy, I could just be... me.

Then another wet sensation joined the other side of my mouth, and the familiar salty flavor returned. This tear wasn't mine. My eyes carefully opened, cautious of breaking our spell. Through the blur of my own tears, I saw Lizzy's eyes locked onto mine as they unabashedly watered her crimson cheeks. The look in her eyes was nearly indescribable. I mean that; I don't know of a single word that would encapsulate the longing, the happiness, or the raw emotion I witnessed pouring forth from her cerulean orbs. I felt my own emotions reflected back at me, amplified a thousand-fold from wanting something that was - for her - deemed impossible by all rational knowledge. And I knew with absolute certainty: I was falling in love.

We stayed like that for an eternity, our mouths and tongues moving against each other, all the while our eyes never moving from the others. We never dared to even blink; whether for fear of breaking the enchantment between us or simply because we were lost in the other, it did not matter. The entire universe could have been collapsing on itself and we would have happily endured the crunch to keep this contact a single second longer. My free hand reached for her cheek in mimicry of her gesture, and wiped a tear from her cheek. She leaned into my touch as my tongue slowly withdrew, teasing the back of her teeth as I did so. Note to self: kissing is underrated. Our lips disengaged while our foreheads met, our eyes still locked and searching the other for any sign that what we just did was anything short of extraordinary.

"Wow," Lizzy whispered. "Wow. I... wow." Her limited vocabulary mirrored my own scattered thoughts, both of us looking beyond our irises and seemingly into the others very being. For the first time, I blinked. Not because I wanted to, mind you; the dissipating tears had left my eyes parched and I felt like my corneas may shrivel like a contact lens left on a rock in the Sahara. I cleared my throat.

"Yeah. Wow," I replied, attempting to force my mouth to form words. "That was beyond anything I thought it would be."

A sweet, genuine smile graced her lips while her thumb traced the texture of my bottom lip. "I know," she said, a small sigh escaping her mouth. "It's one thing to read about it over and over again. And again and again and again. But I didn't expect it to be so... powerful."

I giggled. Easy there. Bare your soul to this woman all you want, but don't do that goofy shit again. Chastising myself quietly, I subdued my grin a bit before speaking. "Tell me about it," I sighed, lost in her gaze.

Lizzy gave me a contemplative look before pulling her forehead away from mine. I tried my best not to show disappointment at the removal of contact. "Well, it was soft and sweet at the same time. And I felt my stomach doing somersaults when you opened your mouth and... and..." Her breathing became ragged as the memory flooded her senses, the words coming out more desperate and urgent as they went on. Whoops, I guess they don't use that saying much in this millennium. I pulled my hands back and carefully placed them over hers.

"It's a figure of speech, Lizzy. 'Tell me about it' just means... well, that I agree with you."

Her eyebrows shot up in embarrassment, freeing a hand from my touch and bringing it to her mouth. Her cheeks flushed as she averted her gaze. "Oh, I'm sorry. I've read it before, I just didn't know it meant that." Her manicured nails dug into her bottom lip when she looked back at me, eyes almost apologetic. Looking at her right then made me realize something: she was the most adorable fucking thing I had ever seen.

I chuckled softly, pulling her hand back down to join her other while softly tracing my thumb along the base of her palm. "You don't need to apologize. How were you to know that? Besides, you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. I have nothing to compare it to, but that was the most spectacular first kiss I could imagine."

Her eyes grew wide, cheeks flushing more than seemed possible. "Wait!!" she exclaimed. "That was your first kiss, too? You mean I got to be your first something?!" Lizzy's entire body began to bounce in place like a kid that was just told they were going to Chuck E. Cheese - the 80s version, not the craptastic chain frequented by grown men with stunted social growth. My expression faltered momentarily, concerned with revealing too much far too soon. You were a geek a thousand years ago. But this is your chance to reinvent yourself, you fool. Stop advertising that your romantic conquests were limited to adoration from afar.

My resolve only lasted a second, the joy in Lizzy's eyes grounding me back in the moment. I reached up to brush my hair back, a nervous habit I developed in the third grade. "Yeah, that was my first kiss," I confessed. "Not counting relatives that would follow a peck on the forehead with a brutal cheek-squeezing session. So... thank you for that." I forced myself to meet her gaze, fighting against every instinct I had to stare at the floor, ceiling, or anywhere besides her enraptured eyes.

"Can we... kiss some more?" she asked timidly. "I-I've been waiting for so long..." Lizzy's lip trembled at the admission, her fingers interlocking with mine as she leaned forward. Just as our lips made contact, a sharp pain took root in my stomach and I wrenched myself from the embrace. I collapsed to the floor, my fingers gripping the rough steel as I retched violently. "David!" Lizzy's voice echoed through my ears a little too muffled, too distant as I retched again - dark bile pooling into the seams of the steel plates. Through tear-soaked eyes, I lifted my head to cry for help. But then... darkness.

And then my eyes opened, a hazy fog surrounding me - conforming to me - across an endless landscape of pitch black. My eyes darted left and right in search of anything that would serve as a landmark. But there was nothing. It wasn't just the absence of light that made the darkness so all-encompassing: it was the lack of everything. No sounds. No smells. No sensation of touch. The latter was punctuated as I reached up to rub my shoulder and felt nothing where they should been something.

My head dropped downward, eyes watching with more curiosity than panic as my fingers rubbed together. Nothing. I can't feel them. I can't feel anything. Then I froze, my attention immediately brought to the small red stains on the palm of my hand. Dark red stains graced my flesh in erratic patterns, flaking at the crease in my lifeline. Is that... blood? My fingernail scratched at the stains, red flakes cascading off and floating down into the dark void below.

Is this a dream? Or maybe... If I could have felt my heart at that moment, I am certain it would have been jackhammering in my chest. Maybe everything else was a dream. Dr. Ross. Lizzy. The future. Maybe that was all some sort of hallucination. Maybe - oh GOD - maybe I'm still frozen and this is my brain short-circuiting as I die. The thought permeated into every other one I had, the word "die" stamped across random memories in big block letters:

My eighth birthday party, where kids from school would mock my mother's doting for the rest of my public school career: DIE.

My senior prom, where I huddled with my chess club buddies in a corner as we took turns drinking stolen rum out of a flask: DIE

Lying in my dorm room bed with my hand furiously moving beneath the comforter, my asshole dormmate bursting in, laughing and taking pictures of my horrified expression: DIE

Each memory played out before me, a projection onto the never ending darkness sprawled out before me. And where there should have been embarrassment, sadness, or rage clamoring to take root in my soul, there was nothing. No emotion. Just the knowledge that there should be those feelings. I flicked a stray crumb of dried blood from beneath a fingernail. This is worse. Worse than feeling. The emptiness, it feels like it's fucking devouring me.

From somewhere in the distance, a sound stirred me from introspection. At first it sounded like the whimper of a puppy, perhaps one that was injured or lost. But as the sound moved closer, it took on a desperate and pleading tone. And slowly the whimpering became clearer, crisper. Until I realized that the sound was a voice. A woman's voice. A recently familiar voice.

"David," the voice pleaded. "Help me. Please help me." I felt a thud in my chest, my heart clamoring back to life. Lizzy. That's Lizzy's voice. I snapped my head from side to side, urgently seeking any sign of her. Then I saw it. Lizzy, dressed in garters and a corset with her arms outstretched to me, fading in and out of the darkness. Her tone and expression held a dissonance with the warning content of her words. Even as her plea of "help" echoed through the void, her eyes were locked on to mine with a raw seductive desire.

"Lizzy!" I cried out. But no sound escaped my mouth. Over and over again I called out to her, my voice only heard within my thoughts. Her words were changing as the mantra washed over me, but they sounded foreign; not a different language, but as if my mind couldn't recognize the sounds pouring from her mouth.

I was running towards her blinking projection before I knew what was doing. It felt like I was charging at her in a full sprint, my view bobbing up and down while my feet thudded against nothing. But no matter how fast I ran, she never moved any closer. I was chasing the impossible and every step closer actually brought me one step further away. My pace slowed as she unceremoniously faded from view and her name feel from my lips silently when I collapsed to my knees.

My teeth clenched as I stared down at my hands, flakes of blood dissolving into rivers of crimson. The rivers turned into pools and cascaded between my fingers like waterfalls, splashing against the darkness and flowing beneath my feet. I tried to scream - a futile attempt at a surreal situation - but only the sound of blood-red liquid splashing could be heard. I tried to stand, but the thick liquid held me on my knees, slowly rising until I found myself flailing my arms against its current. My mouth snapped shut when the flood breached my face, my hands clawing upward to seek a rescue that would never come. And then -

My eyes shot open and I flew upward in Lizzy's bunk, hands clawing at my chest as I gasped mouthfuls of air.

"Oh!" Lizzy's surprised cry rang in my real ears. With my hand still clutched to my chest and breathing heavily, I looked around the room wide-eyed. Lizzy stood behind Dr. Ross, her teeth carving indentations into her fist as she clutched the doctor's arm. Dr. Ross stood over me, a small vial in her hand smelling of vapor rub and vinegar, her brow furrowed in unspoken concern. Her hand reached out to anchor my shoulder, the touch that of a concerned professional.

"How do you feel?" The doctor's question hung in the air as I gathered my thoughts, Lizzy's own bated breath the only other sound in her small quarters. I struggled against my own throat, my gasps slowing to shorter breaths while I held my hand out - a silent plea for patience. A plea which was honored. That's a first in my life. After a few more ragged breaths, I was able to clear my throat and find my voice once again.

"B-Better," I stammered. "My head's throbbing and my stomach feels like it's on a tilt-a-whirl, but it's not as bad as..." I paused mid-sentence, taking appraisal of both women who stared at me expectantly. "Wait, what happened? All I remember was this incredible pain in my stomach before throwing up and then it all went dark." Lizzy's eyes worried over my face as I spoke, while Dr. Ross nodded along with my words.

"That is not unexpected. You were frozen far longer than anyone on record. Typically, headaches and nausea accompany the rejuvenation for a few days. It would logically follow that your side effects will be more pronounced and persist for longer." The doctor's words were measured and precise, meant to underline her expertise and wisdom. But her eyes told a different story, one of concern for symptoms that have been hitherto unexplored. "This is exactly why I didn't you wandering around the ship without a medical presence. You are far too valuable and fragile to risk further complications. I wish you reconsider recovering in the medical bay."

"Look, I'll be fine. Like you said, we knew there would be complications. They are just more powerful, that's all. Nothing that a little relaxation and recuperation can't fix." I tried to flash a smile towards the concerned doctor, but I am fairly certain it resembled more of a wince. "Besides, Lizzy did the right thing: I had an episode and she got you. Problem solved, right?" I made an effort at a grin, but the room began to spin and I willingly collapsed backward against the bunk.

"David!" Lizzy's concerned yelp grew closer as I felt her hand interlock with mine. With some effort, I twisted my head to look up at her and gave a genuine, albeit weak, smile. Her lips mirrored my own, relief warring with lingering concern across her face. It wasn't until Dr. Ross' voice interrupted our shared moment that I recognized Lizzy's mistake. "... David? Why did she just call you David?"

Lizzy's eyes became a sea of white surrounding a modest pond of blue, her critical mistake dawning on her. We both shifted our heads to look up at Dr. Ross, whose own expression is a roadmap of confusion. With her brow furrowed, we watch as her dark eyes roam my features. And then it hit. The unflappable doctor's eyebrows arched, her eyes widening as she stared at me and her mouth soundlessly hanging open. One second turned to five, then to ten. I lost count by the time Dr. Ross finally spoke.

"... Fascinating," she breathed, a hint of wonder undercutting her clinical professionalism. "David, is it? I presume our little Lizzy here has already informed you that your mere existence on this ship is nothing short of extraordinary, correct? And that is why the two of you did not come forward with this information immediately? For fear that this ship's doctor, completely devoid of normal emotion, would poke and prod you relentlessly?"

Lizzy's teeth worried against her bottom lip when she spoke. "Something like that, yeah," she said sheepishly. "That... and you would have taken him away from me." She cast me a sidelong glance, an unspoken expression of concern for what would follow.

With the dizziness subsiding, I propped myself up on my elbows, looking directly at the doctor. "Dr. Ross-," I began, before being interrupted by her.

"Madison. Call me Madison. There's... no need for formalities here," she said, the hint of a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "And normally, Lizzy, you would be right in assuming my clinical curiosity and duty would outweigh any potential discomfort for my patients. But this is no normal circumstance." Her eyes traversed from Lizzy's face to mine, a hint of something besides medical interest undercutting her leer.

"Okay, then. Madison, it's not that I don't trust you. Hell, you're the only reason I'm sitting here right now. And trust me, I am grateful. But knowing what I must represent to everyone... you have to forgive me if I feel Lizzy's concerns were absolutely justified."

Madison's eyes narrowed at me, her expression hardening. "I am genuinely insulted. Do you really think I would risk hurting and alienating the only man in existence? I have my faults, David, but I am not some sort of mad scientist. The only thing that has changed with this revelation is just how valuable you are."

Lizzy's voice shattered the calm conversation. "You mean you're going to sell him?!"

For the first time since I met her, Madison laughed. It was a rich, full sound that marked the first real emotion I had seen from her. "Lizzy, sometimes your naivety is overwhelming." Madison's eyes roamed over my features, stopping to study my nose and jawline as she spoke. "I mean he holds a value beyond any measure of wealth. We cannot even begin to calculate his importance or the impact he will have on the future of humanity. And for that reason, I will make it my duty to make him as comfortable as possible." Her eyebrows rose as she directed her next comment directly to me. "Though I would request your assistance in performing some non-invasive tests. I am certain we would all like to avoid a recurrence of what happened earlier."

I nodded enthusiastically, the movement of my head causing my vision to blur momentarily. "I don't see a problem with that. The last thing I want is to pass out and drown in soup or something. Surviving frostbite, time, and death only to be taken out by a bowl of minestrone isn't exactly how I want my story to end."

Dr. Madison Ross tucked the small vial - smelling salts - into her lab coat as she folded her arms under her ample bosom. "Nor I. So tell me, what exactly were you doing when you vomited? Were you exerting yourself?"

I cast a glance to Lizzy, whose cheeks began glowing bright red. My lips pursed in silence, unsure if the truth would cause condemnation of the first woman who looked at me as if I mattered. Madison observed us silently, her patience seemingly immeasurable as she waited for one of us to crack first. And, in a surprising turn of events, it wasn't me. "We were kissing!" Lizzy blurted out, casting her eyes at the floor as she shouted her admission.

I expected a lot of reactions in that instant: yelling, cursing, maybe even Dr. Ross pulling Lizzy up by the arm and dragging her out of the room. After all, my value to this time and everyone in it was quite possibly immeasurable, by Dr. Ross' own admission. Any reaction to protect such a unique and rare asset would be completely warranted, even if it bordered on the extreme. But, as usual, my attenuation for interpersonal and social mores did not jive with the current situation.

I have never been good at reading the room.

Madison's stare shifted from Lizzy and then to me, then back again. An almost imperceptible twitch formed at the corner of her mouth, her brow furrowing as if there was a long-forgotten equation that she was attempting to remember. "Kissing?" The word sounded foreign and forced from her mouth. For a woman that seemingly had all the answers in every possible situation, the concept apparently was absolutely alien to her. "A... greeting? But both of you are already acquainted. What need is there for such an act? And furthermore, Lizzy, why do you look ashamed of this?"

My mind swam at her confusion. I was willing to believe a lot of things, but a future in which a kiss was only reserved for a friendly 'hello'? That stretched even my credulity. Even with no males around for a millennium, I was certain that some women still kissed -

Oh wow. With no males around, how many women became lesbians? I mean, there would of course be some anyways, but I wonder just how common it is?

- but the concept seemed to escape Dr. Ross completely. As I glanced towards Lizzy, her gaze rose to meet mine, the same bewildered expression on her face that I felt on my own. This is new. I'm not the only one that's baffled. Confusion loves company. With Madison's eyes still darting between us, arms crossed against her ample bosom, I opened my mouth to speak. But it was Lizzy, the energetic little whirlwind, who beat me to the punch.

"M-M-Madison?" she whispered, the older woman's given name clearly uncommon in her throat. "We weren't greeting each other, obviously. We were... you know..." Her voice faltered and trailed off, eyes looking up pleadingly at her superior; begging her for understanding before she was expected to finish.

The brow on Madison's forehead creased further, comprehension failing her while her words grew noticeably frustrated. Clearly she was not accustomed to being the last one to understand... well, anything. "What?" she demanded, her voice taking on a more authoritative and irritable tone. "Out with it. What am I failing to observe here?" Her frustration was increasing by the second, arms tightening around her cleavage - protectively? - and her tongue pressing against the insides of her cheeks.

Oh, she is getting pissed.

The doctor's demeanor only served to clam Lizzy up completely, her eyes returning to the floor while her teeth worried against her bottom lip. Normally, I would have found her reaction enduring and adorable, but the panic presented across her flushed cheeks drove me to respond for her. "Madison, we were kissing like people do when they want to be... intimate." Dr. Ross' brow remained creased, her eyes now searching mine for further explanation. I took a deep breath. "We were kissing because it felt good. Because people like it. Especially people in relationships. You have people in this time that pair up and share intimate moments together, right?" My words flowed out far faster than I had intended, but her judgmental glare was simply too intimidating.

It's difficult to determine how long the following silence lasted; definitely long enough for me to contemplate returning to a frozen slumber. But the silence did not crack first. That distinction was awarded to the eyes of one Dr. Madison Ross. The harsh glare of a woman perturbed slowly gave way to softening understanding. Followed by a dawn of recognition. Her lips parted, moisture forming between their soft surface, and a hesitant syllable escaped. "Oh." There we go, she gets it now. I was only partially correct. Her eyes widened then, very slight wrinkles crinkling at the corner of them.

"OH." Her voice was an octave higher now, and there was a noticeable waver undercutting the normal intellectual tone. Her eyes were positively locked onto mine, unblinking, unsteady tremors vibrating her pupils as they moved left to right. Okay, now she gets it. That took a while. Perhaps one day I will learn to stop jumping to conclusions; the doctor still had not reached her final, inevitable assessment.

And then it happened. Madison's eyelids fluttered, her gaze drifting to my lips while her tongue gently flicked outward to capture a string of saliva connecting her own. Her arms drifted downward, the swell of her breasts sagging gently with the removal of support, as her hands gripped into her sides gently - fingers pulling inward against the latex of her black bodysuit. The elder - she's older than me, right? Late twenties? - woman tilted her head downward, eyelids heavy and framing her pupils like a portrait of final, dawning comprehension.

"Ohhhhhhhh..." Madison's final response wavered in her throat, like the vowel had taken root somewhere deep inside, private, and traveled from her core through her entire body on the journey to her mouth. The message was clear: while she knew little of the concept empirically, it was something she had heard about in hushed tones throughout her life. She stared at me, studying the contours of my face not as a scientist or a doctor, but as something more primal and ancient than any profession: as a woman. And that curiosity, that biological imperative, had bubbled to the surface.

Lizzy's eyes steadily cascaded between the two of us - the doctor and the relic - before meekly asking what Dr. Ross dared not speak. "D-Do... you want to try it?" The question was heavy in the air, a palpable dissonance matching the composed exterior and the newly acquired desire visibly displayed on the doctor's face. Madison didn't respond, her eyes still roaming my every feature. Then, she blinked, her trance broken.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lizzy," she said matter-of-factly, though her tone stood in opposition to her words. "I just did not know... that you would be engaging in such... scandalous behavior. And with a subject of such vital research importance, no less." Her gaze methodically began to drink in the rest of my appearance, pupils dilating and contracting over my frame. "But your debauchery does pose an interesting quandary: just what makes this male different from us? My olfactory senses have noted that his presence elicits a physiological response, even from me." Her eyes snapped back to mine, demanding answers to questions that she couldn't materialize as of yet. "David, why is this? Are there other differences in males besides your scent and deeper vocalizations?"

You have no idea how many differences there are, Dr. Ross. Though I have a feeling that a few are going to blow your mind more than others.

"Well, I grow more hair on my body, for one. I can grow a beard on my face, for example." My response caused Lizy to gasp - great, I'm a roadside freakshow here - and Madison to nod in contemplation. "I also have... well, males typically have more muscle definition. But I'm not exactly Mr. Olympia over here." My attempt at a joke fell flat; considering most of my attempts at humor relied on cultural references, I knew it wouldn't be the last time. "I don't have breasts, as you can see," I added, pointing to my chest.

A sly smirk graced Madison's mouth, looking oddly right, revealing a playful side I would not have expected. "Neither does Lizzy," she quipped flatly. To my left, Lizzy's brow furrowed and eyes fired wide with embarrassment.

"Hey!" Lizzy's shocked voice went up an octave, a twinge of genuine hurt undercutting the outrage. Of course, Dr. Ross was teasing her. Lizzy's breasts looked perfectly fine to me, possibly more than a handful; it was difficult to accurately assess through her clothing. But compared to the doctor's sizable assets, they were like the difference between a basketball and a golf ball. I ignored the joke, unsure of the social cues in this time and not wanting to overreact to perhaps common banter between the two. Besides, I had a final bombshell to drop on the two women now listening intently.

"And... I have... a penis," I stated clinically, releasing a breath that I was unaware of holding. My head whipped between them both, waiting for a reaction to the gravity of my declaration. But none came. To my surprise, Dr. Ross just nodded; though I could tell that it was hollow. Oh wow. She has no idea what that is, but she's faking it. She doesn't want to appear ignorant. Then a deeper understanding flooded my mind. She doesn't want to appear ignorant... in front of me. Damn. The need to impress the opposite sex really is hard-wired.

Lizzy, on the other hand, held no such illusions. "What's a... penis?" Her question was framed with innocence, the word completely foreign on her tongue. But underneath that innocence was genuine curiosity, perhaps a desire to fill in the gaps her cherished books failed to disclose. Madison's eyes flitted to Lizzy, an unspoken "thank you" behind the studious pupils.

Okay, I'm the only male in practically forever. I get the novelty. But how could they not know about male anatomy? Lizzy, maybe, but Dr. Ross is a... doctor! A scientist! Surely in some tomb of knowledge there would be a historical reference to the biology of an extinct sex. This shit doesn't make any sense.

My head turned towards the petite, curious girl with pink hair. "Um, it's kind of difficult to explain. It's an... organ. And it's kind of long" - don't sell yourself short, bud, not now - "and it... damn, it's hard to explain. It kind of dangles." I was a good student. I really was, I promise. But in the spur of the moment and under pressure, the ability to accurately describe my anatomy to two women with zero frame of reference seemed like trying to explain pictures to a dead hare.

Dr. Ross nodded in faux understanding, turning to Lizzy as she tried to explain. "It's similar to an appendix, Lizzy. It's located next to the pancreas. You remember the anatomy lessons I taught you, correct?" Lizzy gave a very slight nod, the carefully constructed mask of knowledge on Madison's face successfully conveying practiced confidence.

Okay, I know I'm not John Holmes over here, but comparing my dick to a very small and useless organ is way out of line. There was a brief moment where I sat in stunned silence, absorbing what she had just said. She had swung for the fences with her logic and whiffed completely, unknowingly insulting whatever pride I may have had. A female had never actually seen mine before, but I was fairly certain it would not be considered useless. I was offended, plain and simple. That was my first reaction. My second reaction?

"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" I laughed, unable to contain the amusement at her offhanded attempt at saving face in front of her subordinate. The level of arrogance this woman had must be truly astounding. She had zero idea what I was referring to - with absolutely no frame of reference - and she still could not admit her ignorance. And, the most interesting part: she lied in front of the one person in the entire universe that could call her on it.

My laugh rang through Lizzy's quarters, a full throat cackle that echoed off of the cold, steel walls. Dr. Ross turned to me then, her expression one of surprise and embarrassment. That moment lasted all of two seconds. Her eyes narrowed at me while her lips pursed into a sneer; I didn't know what the policy on murder was in 3251, but it was clear that I could find out if I didn't read lightly. Lizzy looked at me as well, but with a quizzical nature.

I quickly choked back my reaction, my eyes shifting to the floor and around the room; any place but the woman who was burrowing into my skull with her pupils. "I, uh, didn't mean to do that, Madison. I'm sorry." There was no response. "I really am sorry. You just reminded me of a joke involving an appendix, a rabbi, and Raquel Welch. It was pretty funny." Another cultural reference. When am I going to learn? Again, no response. However, Madison's expression softened just a bit, her eyes silently appreciating my attempt to protect her pride in front of Lizzy. And it did seem to work: Lizzy was confused, but accepted my explanation as a reaction to myself rather than any specifics the doctor had mentioned. Bullet: dodged.

I cleared my throat, sheepishly returning my stare to Dr. Ross. "Anyway, that's not... entirely correct. You're thinking of the halibort-ACHOO!" I had planned on inventing some obscure part of the anatomy to move past our conflict, but - as hard as I tried - I could not come up with anything on the spot. Improv is not my strong suit, I guess. Add that to fishing, basketball, and understanding women. So I sneezed. It was a tactic I learned early on when proceeding down a path that was obviously leading me nowhere. It was highly effective, especially if I actually expelled spittle on to the person.

"Anyway," I continued, desperately hoping Lizzy would allow me to move swiftly past the subject. Judging from the intense inspection was giving me, I could tell her focus was solely on what I did have, rather than what I didn't. "The... penis isn't inside the body. It's outside, beneath my pelvis." In unison, both Madison's and Lizzy's eyebrows arched, their eyes dropping down to my crotch. They were staring intently at the idea, Lizzy's expression one of pure curiosity while Madison scrutinized it with scientific study.

"Fascinating," Madison responded, her hand rising to her chin, stroking it slowly. I would stroke my chin more if I had a beard. Not all of my thoughts are gems, I must admit. "So the organ resides outside of your body like an appendage, much like the mammary glands on females you referenced lacking earlier." Without lifting her gaze from my groin, she posed a question to me. A question that I should have seen coming a mile away. A question that, if I had really analyzed this line of inquiry from the beginning, could have been avoided if I had ever learned to shut the hell up. "May I examine it?"

Did time just stop? Or is it just my heart?

I froze. Of course. Of course she would be interested in examining my dick. This is a scientist with a vast expanse of knowledge rattling around in her brain, and this is possibly the one thing that she doesn't know about. That wasn't entirely the reason, though. I could tell by the glint behind her eyes that there was something much more primal to her interest; something that was beginning to override natural medical discovery.

She must know about sex, right? The ol' birds and the bees? Even without males, basic biology throughout nature is flush with examples of reproduction. As my face burned crimson, the curiosity in the back of my mind began to take root, asking a question that should have lingered there far before now. Wait. If there are no males... how do the females exist? Just because I had never experienced sex firsthand - heh, hand - did not mean I was completely obtuse to its purpose. Males had been essentially extinct for over one thousand years. Any women that were babies when that happened would have died off long ago. And how did every single male just up and vanish? Wouldn't that take far longer? If it happened all of a sudden, why were women able to survive? This shit is getting deep. In that moment, my own inquisitiveness may have begun to surpass that of the good doctor.

My brain snapped me back to the moment. I let out a gasping breath, one I didn't even know I was holding. Madison's eyes were still glued to my face, her question hanging in the air like an oppressive force. Her eyebrow arched impatiently and her foot beginning to tap a steady, halting rhythm against the steel floor. The sound of every tap rang through Lizzy's room, echoing off the walls and directly into my eardrums like an ever-loudening stopwatch.

She needs an answer. And I don't think she's going to accept "No, I'm shy" or "Stranger danger" as a response. Mechanically, my head swiveled towards Lizzy at a leisurely pace, a stark contrast to the panic rising in my chest. I would have looked directly at Medusa right then if it escaped the studious eye of Dr. Ross.

The young woman before me didn't have snakes for hair. And I certainly did not turn to stone. What she did have was an expression of glee that looked like she just found a golden ticket to a chocolate factory. She had no idea about the implications of Madison's request, nor could she have any concept of what a "penis" looked like or its purpose. Sure, the few romance novels she had collected probably made reference to manhood or hardness; but in lieu of practical experience or a basic understanding of male anatomy, I could only imagine what innocent and fanciful images those words conjured in her mind. If I had hoped for any support from her in opposition to dropping my pants, it died when I looked into her eyes. Her curiosity rivaled that of Dr. Ross, albeit for a much different reason.

"I don't really feel comfortable - " I began, but Dr. Ross was already prepared for that objection.

"David, I am a woman of science. And above that, a medical doctor," she stated plainly. "While I am unfamiliar with your unique anatomical features, I assure you that I am by far the most qualified person aboard this ship - and according to my peers, the most qualified in our population - to examine your body."

"And I want to see!" Lizzy exclaimed, making it perfectly clear to both of us that she would not be excluded.

Dr. Ross ignored her. "You are an anomaly in this time. If you were to become ill or injured, I would be the individual charged with treating you. In the interest of your own health, it would be illogical for me to not become proficient in treating you. But that requires complete disclosure; especially with features that differ from ours. So, please, allow me to examine your... penis." The word left her mouth hesitantly, as if committing the pronunciation to memory.

"And I need to see, too! In case it needs... something synthetic soldered to it if you hurt it," Lizzy added. I know she was reaching, desperate to be included, but her suggestion made me squeeze my legs together. That's just great. If it wasn't trying to shrink into my body from anxiety before, the thought of soldering something to it sure as hell did the trick. If this keeps up, it will end up exactly where Dr. Ross thought it was in the first place.

My eyelids closed in resignation. I wanted to argue, to refuse, to maintain some degree of privacy even in this insane situation. Especially in this situation. But I knew that Madison was right: at some point, she would need to become familiar with my biology. All of it. There could be any number of diseases and bacteria that my immune system had no idea how to combat, and the doctor was my only line of defense in those scenarios. I would eventually need to show her, no matter how many protests I lodged. And Lizzy... well, I liked her. She would have been at the top of my obsession list if she was at my old university. If things went as well as I hoped, she would be getting firsthand experience with Mr. Johnson anyway. So why put off the inevitable?

I begrudgingly stood up. "Fine. Let's get this over with." My hands clasped the brown leather belt around my waist, releasing the lever on the polished brass buckle and pulling the end free. Neither Dr. Ross nor Lizzy said a word; their actions spoke for them. Lizzy slide off the bed and dropped to her knees to my left, eyes intently focused on my groin with her hands clasped directly under her chin. If not for the situation, she would almost appear to be praying. Maybe she is.

As the button popped free on my khakis and my zipper was lowered, Dr. Ross made her own move. She took a large step toward me to close the gap between us and, bending at the knee, crouched directly in front of me. Directly. Her face was less than a foot from my crotch, attention hyper focused while my pants pooled to my feet. They both leaned forward at the mysterious bulge in my boxer briefs.

This is so fucking awkward.

I looked down at the two women before me. Should I say something? "Here we go?" "Hands off the merchandise?" "Watch your eye?" I opted to stay silent. Thumbing the waistband of my underwear, a resigned sigh parted my lips. No turning back now.

1...

2...

3...

I shoved my underwear down violently, an anxiety-fueled movement that made me stumble before steadying myself. Then I held my breath, eyes clamped shut in complete embarrassment and self-consciousness. And I waited.

I didn't need to wait for long. Lizzy exhaled; a long, exaggerated sound that filled the room, tinged with a half-moan, half-whine. That's on-brand for her. With eyes welded shut, I listened intently for any reaction from Dr. Ross. But aside from a few odd chirping noises that absolutely sounded like Lizzy, the room was silent. Is... is Madison speechless? Awed? Did she pass out? As the possibilities danced through my head, I shivered instinctively.

Is there a draft in here? Weird, it feels warm...

My eyes shot open. Lizzy was staring at my naked groin with complete fascination and wonder, rooted to the spot. But that wasn't what I was feeling. For once, her exuberance was eclipsed by the most unlikely of suspects: Dr. Madison Ross. To my horror, the doctor had brought her face within an inch of my flaccid member, wide eyes amplified by her wireframe glasses while she slowly moved her head from left to right. Her warm breath ghosted over my length and scrotum, the latter responding by slightly relaxing the death grip it had on the testicles within. Never in my life had a woman even seen my genitals, besides my mother; but that definitely wasn't something I wanted to imagine at that moment. Now there were two, both knockouts by anyone's standards, and one was practically kissing my penis.

I was still embarrassed, but for the first time in my life I felt a sense of pride about my cock. Pride and shame, two sides of the same coin resting on its edge. Look at both of them. They're absolutely enamored with me. Well, my dick. But still, that's part of me. This, right now, is history come to life in their eyes. My shoulders relaxed and my breath subtly lost the ragged edge that had permeated the last few minutes of apprehension. I wasn't exactly enjoying the experience of having my most intimate area analyzed meticulously by one woman while the other jubilantly observed. But I would hardly call it unpleasant. Especially not the feeling - oh God, it's so warm - of Madison's intense scrutiny.

"You misrepresented," Dr. Ross stated plainly, though her expression clearly conveyed overwhelming interest. "There appears to be two distinct appendages. Which one is the penis? And what of the other?" Ah, yes. Leave it to a guy to focus solely on the main event. How could I forget to mention the twins? Lizzy nodded in agreement, her body scooting closer as if my dick was magnetized.

"Yeah, sorry about that. My... the penis is in front. The things in the back are called testicles." Things? That's no way to refer to the boys, David.

Lizzy's brow creased and eyebrows narrowed, her body pivoting forward on her knees for a better look. "Testicles? But there's only one of them." Step right up class, don't be afraid. The professor's body is at your disposal.

"There are two distinct shapes contained in that epidural sack, Elizabeth," Dr. Ross explained, a glossy fingernail hovering just above the surface of Lefty. "Those are, presumably, the testicles. The surrounding tissue must act as a protective layer of some sort." She looked up at me. And my breath caught in my throat.

I had never really looked at Dr. Ross before. I had seen her, but I didn't look at her closely. Up until her thorough examination, she had been an authority figure that was... well, intimidating. With her rigid posture and clinical stare, it was incredibly easy to overlook the fact that she was a woman; even with a body that would put the Kardashians to shame. It spoke to her presence, her intellect, and her stance as an obviously respected member of the medical community - whatever that was now. But I'll be damned if she didn't take my breath away when our eyes met.

Madison looked up at me with an expression that begged for approval. The know-it-all doctor, the accomplished scientific scholar, and the resident authority on seemingly everything... was looking to me for validation. ME. The 3.96 GPA college student (that modern dance class was more difficult than it looked) from a thousand years in the past. I was smart, sure, but the woman crouching before me was most certainly my intellectual superior. And this tenured female wanted nothing more than for me to say that she was right, to confirm her assertion.

"R-Right, Dr. Ro... Madison," I stammered. Her eyes positively twinkled at my response, eyelashes batting back at me in some sort of instinctual acknowledgement of acceptance; and definitely something else. Something she probably didn't even realize she was doing, thinking, or feeling. Her features softened then, releasing tension that had been stored for our entire encounter - and possibly far longer - while her lips formed into a provocative pout. Full lips. Damp lips. Wanting lips, perfectly framed between her cleavage from my vantage point.

Jesus CHRIST. She's a sex bomb. I felt a twinge of guilt deep in my gut as I looked down at Madison, her black hair cascading across the dark bodysuit, blending together perfectly. Lizzy's been great to me. She's been an anchor for my sanity these last few hours and it's obvious she digs me. And I dig her. I shouldn't even be looking at another woman like this. But the reality of my hormones could not be ignored. I had two women - gorgeous women - quite literally studying my body on their knees in front of me. And the one that was breathing on my junk was now shooting me a look that screamed sex. Surely I would be forgiven for having a temporary wandering eye, right?

"AHHHHHH!" Lizzy's shriek pierced through the air, shattering the moment Madison and I shared. Our attention snapped to the young woman who had fallen backwards onto her butt, arm outstretched and pointing between my legs. "I-I-It moved!" she added, bugged out eyes bouncing between our faces and my groin.

UH-OH.

Dr. Ross rolled her eyes and shook her head, an incredulous look plastered on her face. "Elizabeth, really, you must not-" she began, but Lizzy was not about to be corrected.

"It did! I saw it! I was looking at David's penis and it started to get bigger! I swear, it was growing! Then it... it twitched!" Lizzy was still pointing directly at it, her finger jabbing the air accusingly as she spoke. There was genuine hurt behind the shock in her eyes, obviously feeling personally affronted at Dr. Ross for dismissing her offhand. "I was just about to tell you that it was growing when it... it jumped! Just look how much bigger it is!"

UH.

OH.

Dr. Ross turned back to my crotch and her eyes flashed with pure panic. She scrambled to her feet, grasping my arm. "David! You may be having an allergic reaction to something in our environment! We need to get you back to the Medbay immediately!" She tugged at me urgently, but I stayed rooted to my spot, sighing with resignation. How did I not see this coming? How did I not notice what was happening while I was eye-fucking Madison? I didn't intend for the anatomy lesson to go this far right now. But unless I want to be unnecessarily poked and prodded, it's time to come clean.

"We don't need to do that, Madison. It's... normal." Her grip on my arm loosened, taking a tentative step forward. Her eyes traced back down my body to my crotch, slowly crouching back down. Her face closed the gap, lips unconsciously parted, until she was even closer than before. I followed her movements down to my semi-engorged organ.

"This swelling and movement is normal?" Dr. Ross had returned to her intense scrutiny, hands hovering on either side of her head. "Is it related to its biological function in any way? Do you control the enlargement through voluntary means or does it occur autonomously?" Her right hand had moved precipitously close to my shaft, fingers dancing in the air with intellectual stimulation.

"It's perfectly normal. In fact, I would be worried if it didn't happen given the... circumstances." Oh boy, would I be worried. It would be time to start reading Sylvia Plath and adopt a cat. "I can kind of control it, but it mostly responds to stimulation. But the function is going to require a lot of expl-" Madison didn't allow me to finish the sentence. I knew the questions were going to come fast and furious now.

"So the reactions are mostly involuntary? What type of stimulation does it respond to?" Dr. Ross was in full-on scientist mode, her curiosity almost crossing over into giddiness.

"Well, to be honest, pretty much anything in my case. But mainly touch and... visual stimulation."

"Touch..." Madison mused, her head cocking slightly to the side. The hand that had been trembling with anticipation slowly moved toward my length. I took a deep breath, not daring to do or say anything that would interrupt her progress. This is it. Someone other than me is finally going to touch my dick. And it's an older, buxom bombshell. This wasn't on my bingo card but it fucking should have been.

Just when Madison's fingers were about to graze the tip, a small finger with a painted nail flew past hers and poked it roughly, causing it to swing out of reach. "Like this?" Lizzy interjected, now perched right next to the doctor. Madison swung her head violently toward her as the hand withdrew quickly.

"Lizzy!" Madison chastised, her glare cutting through the petite woman like an invisible blade. "I am a doctor examining my patient. If you cannot control your impulses, I will banish you from your quarters until my examination is complete. Do I make myself clear, young lady?" Her tone was firm; a little too firm. In the short time I had known both women, it was obvious that Dr. Ross took a parental role with Lizzy. But despite her guiding hand and frequent corrections, there was an undercurrent of genuine affection and camaraderie. So when I heard the venom in her voice directed at the sweet girl, I was taken aback.

As Lizzy recoiled from Madison's words, I held my hands up. "Whoa, whoa. Let's settle down here. She didn't hurt me. She's just curious." Lizzy looked up at me with big doe eyes, grateful for my interjection. Madison breathed out deeply.

"I apologize, Elizabeth," Dr. Ross conceded. "I should not have snapped at you. I do not understand why..." Her words trailed off as her dilated pupils relaxed. "Regardless, I am sorry. But you need to allow my examination to continue without interruption. You must understand the significance of what we are experiencing here. If you truly wish to be my protégé, as you have so often requested, then observe from a distance. Please."

Lizzy nodded. I could see the tension ebb from her rosy cheeks, though her eyes still searched Dr. Ross for something to explain the uncharacteristic outburst. I found myself doing the same. Where the hell did that come from? She doesn't seem like the type to lose her cool. I mean, she's taking this who 'only man in existence' deal in stride. Much more collected than Lizzy was. And something tells me Dr. Ross isn't prone to bouts of PMS. It almost seemed like she was being... possessive.

Madison turned her attention back to me. Well, to be more precise, she turned back to my dick. She didn't say a word as she reached forward, tentative fingers gently grazing the surface of my shaft. And, of course, it twitched again. Her eyes glinted at the reaction, pupils slightly dilating once again. And a very small smile took hold at the corner of her mouth. Oh, now this is getting interesting. She tilted her head upwards, eyes locking onto mine. That fucking look.

"It does not just respond to touch. Your penis... it feels pleasant when I touch it, does it not?" There was a victorious spark in her eyes, the kind that only comes from a highly intelligent woman solving a vexing puzzle. The coy smile grew before I could even respond.

"Y-Yes," I replied through shallow breaths. She didn't need my confirmation. Madison turned her attention back to my cock, her fingers tracing upwards on the sensitive skin. The examination had taken an unexpected turn and she was relishing her 'eureka' moment.

"What sensations provide the most pleasurable response? Light movements, devoid of pressure?" Her fingers followed her words, four of her fingers now sliding back and forth over the top. I could feel myself getting harder with every movement and I knew she was acknowledging the response. "Or something a bit firmer? Perhaps like this?" With that, her thumb wrapped around the underside of my cock, fingers closing over the top of my shaft and squeezing.

"Oh, fuck." Attention Mission Control: we have lift off. The second her hand closed around me completely, I hardened in her hand; rock hard and jutting straight outward towards her face. All six-and-a-half inches of me, and I never cheated on the measurement. Madison's corner smile had migrated to the rest of her closed lips. And she was positively beaming.

"The flexibility in your penis is truly extraordinary. It must harden in response to stimuli by increasing circulation to the surrounding tissue." Her hand gave an experimental stroke back towards the base, and an uncontrolled moan tore from my throat. "And it appears movement of the stimuli when fully engaged is highly effective." All I could do was nod repeatedly through labored breaths.

I glanced over to Lizzy. Her eyes were wide with fascination, a hand moving in circles on her thigh without thought. She doesn't even realize what's happening here. Neither does Madison, not completely. But I do. I'm being jacked off by a doctor with a porn star body while the cute girl next door is getting turned on. Fuck the past; the future is awesome! I had no idea just how much better my day was about to get.

"You mentioned it also reacted to visual stimulation. What type? Colors of a certain wavelength? Particular geometric patterns?" Madison's voice was a distant hum in my eardrums, one I had to struggle to make out through the sound of my own thudding heartbeat. Her questions were directed at me, but she spoke towards my engorged flesh.

"N-No, nothing like that," I rasped. "It's more... the subject matter. Like a person." That got Madison's attention. Her neck snapped up to meet my stare, a hopeful eyebrow arched behind the question she hadn't uttered yet.

"A person? Like... me?" I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes, pride swelling within them as she was lining up more pieces to this mystery by the second. But it wasn't just that. She didn't want to be right strictly to satisfy her own ego. She wanted me to validate her as visual stimulation... because she wanted to be the one to elicit this response from me. It was the same reason for her outburst at Lizzy: she wanted it to be her.

"Or me?" Lizzy's excited voice chimed in. She looked hopeful, quietly envious of the exclusive interaction between Madison and myself. Oh, sweetheart, you have no fucking idea. Madison doesn't either. But if this keeps up, both of you are about to find out.

I nodded. "YES!" The sensation of being stroked - by someone else, for once - caused the word to tear from my throat. "B-Both of you. But it's mainly looking at... parts of you." I just couldn't bring myself to say it. I wanted to, but standing in front of two women while naked from the waist down - while one was giving me a surprisingly expert handjob - had completely fried my ability to think rationally.

Madison's eyes wandered mine, searching for meaning in my vague response. They roamed downward, past my neck, and came to rest on my chest. They narrowed there as she stared. And then it happened. That coy smile slid back into place on her lips, now wet with saliva from a tongue that was sliding over them based purely on instinct. And, for the second time that day, Dr. Madison Ross surprised me.

She looked me right in the goddamn eyes as she sloughed off her white lab coat, changing hands on my cock momentarily to force the fabric over her arms. It pooled behind her in a heap, red letter stitching proclaiming "Dr. Ross, M. D." staring back at me. And from that moment, she never... broke... eye contact.

Her eyes bored directly into me, like she was wanted me to see that she completely understood what she was doing. Her free hand rose to the zipper that ran down the middle of her latex bodysuit. The one that adorned the precarious swell of her cleavage. MotherFUCKER. She knows what she's doing. And she wants to see the look on my face when she does it. She grasped the metal zipper between her practiced and precise digits. Her hand moved with the precision of a surgeon - and her chest pressed forward as an offering like a medieval whore - while it slid down her frame, coming to rest just below her naval. A buzzer sounded somewhere in the distance, but the three of us were far too distracted to notice.

With agonizing slowness, Madison gripped both sides of the black vinyl and spread them open. I don't need any more convincing: there's definitely a God. And his masterpiece has been laid bare right in front of me. Her breasts sprung free from the skintight bodysuit like two creamy moons rising from the jet-black night sky; and the comparison to celestial bodies is only a very mild exaggeration. They were gigantic, the sort of tits that would have been cast immediately in any adult film for the sheer novelty. I was no expert on sizes, usually relegating anything above a D-Cup to something unattainable for me; but I would be shocked if they were anything less than an 'F'. Despite their massive size, they stood proudly in front of her, seemingly defying the artificial gravity pulling against them. The flawless pale skin gave way to the dark-pinkish hue of the areolas, devoid of any blemish or bump on the perfect circles - like they were airbrushed on. All of that - the swell of the breasts from the cleavage, the mountains of flesh jutting outwards, the artistic transition from light to dark - led to the ultimate crescendo: clinically pink nipples that somehow exactly matched the color of Madison's lips. Take note, David. The search for the perfect boob is finally over.

Madison had slid the bodysuit free of her arms at some point and resumed stroking me while I had been eye-fucking her chest, now naked from the waist up. "This is what you wanted, right?" Her voice was heavy as she spoke, her hand moving in long, firm strokes on my shaft. I couldn't speak. I didn't have to. "What are these doing to you, David?" My name rolled off her tongue like she was savoring it in her mouth. "What am I doing to you?" All I could do is gasp through my breaths, growing harder in her hand with every stroke, every question. Is that buzzing in my head or do they hear it too?

"What about mine?!" Lizzy's voice cracked through the air, drawing attention from both of us. She shoved her black punk coat off of her small frame in one motion, practically tearing her tank top and bra off violently. Bras are still a thing. Interesting. She kneeled before me, arching her back to me like an offering. Perky, round breasts adorned her chest; slightly more than a handful, which looked generous on her body. Her bright pink nipples were surrounded by a halo of color, nearly indistinguishable from the rest of her breast. Her teeth bit into her bottom lip in embarrassment, but her face told a different story: she would not be outdone by the doctor. "I have them, too! What do they-"

"Elizabeth, do not interrupt!" Madison's voice was stern, but she did not further chastise Lizzy. It was obvious that she desperately wanted to return to our discussion. Her attention returned to me, eyes looking up into mine, pupils threatening to swallow irises. "You know what's happening, don't you David?" Her voice was growing urgent, breath halting. And something else was definitely changing. Where did her clinical demeanor go? She's talking like a normal person all of a sudden. "Tell me. What's happening... to me?"

"I... I... I..." There was no use. I couldn't get the words to leave my mouth, though my thoughts were growing more difficult to crystalize as well.

She persisted. "The reaction you have when seeing these..." Her upper arms squeezed inward, impossibly large breasts colliding together just below her rapidly moving hand. "Is it the same reaction I had when I saw... you?" The gravity of her words cut through the haze in my head like a blade. Wait, is she saying she's getting turned on? Her gaze was blazing now, her entire body shaking as she gripped me even tighter. "Tell me why. Why have I been feeling different ever since you were brought on board this ship? Why was I already walking here to seek you out when Lizzy called for my assistance?" Her free hand had worked it's way up her stomach, now glistening with sweat, and was sliding along the underside of her breast. "Why did I get angry when I saw Lizzy alone with you?"

She... was jealous. On some biological level, where men have never existed in her entire life, her body remembered. And was seeking me out. Holy shit. If I had not been rapidly approaching the mother of all orgasms, I would have marveled at the importance of this revelation. And I would have also - rightfully so - been gravely concern of the implications. Being lost in thought and sensation, I did not even notice Lizzy reaching towards where Madison was touching me. She loudly proclaimed, "You butted in on us! This isn't even an examination anymore! Let me make him feel good for a while!"

"BACK THE FUCK OFF!" Madison's voice wasn't a yell; it was a scream. Her pupils were completely blown out, eyes nearly popping out of their sockets amplified through her glasses. She shot daggers at Lizzy and caused her to recoil, but not nearly as timidly as before. Where did that come from? That sounded like a completely different person. And Lizzy... she's not really backing down. It almost seems like... whoa. Are they fighting over me? I would have relished in the moment, but Madison's attention was back to me, those same fired-up eyes now directed to mine.

"Why am I enjoying this as much as you are? Why is my body... why am I responding to you?" Her free hand had finally reached her nipple, and she was pinching it through gritted teeth. Out of the corner of my eye, Lizzy's perky breasts rose and fell rapidly, her fingers leaving red marks on her thighs as they traced upwards. Even my typically clueless and inexperienced brain understood exactly what was going on: they were both turned on beyond rational thought. Talk about an ego boost. But could someone stop that fucking buzzing?

Madison's body was vibrating uncontrollably at this point, her strokes now rapid and violent. And she was squeezing hard. "This is building to something, isn't it David? I can feel it. I know it." Her manic stare relayed her thoughts before she even spoke the next words. "DO IT. Whatever it is, I... want you... to... DO IT!"

I didn't need her permission, but her exuberant request pushed me over the edge. My release bubbled from deep inside my core, like I could feel it as it travelled every millimeter through my shaft. I came. No, that's not nearly enough to encompass the feeling that passed through my body in that moment. I exploded. The first hot jet fired forth like a guided missile locked onto its target: Madison's tits. It splattered against the upper swell of her breasts and skipped upwards to her collarbone, possibly the only matter in existence paler than her skin. Her hand froze around me, eyes losing their intensity to give way to shock, her mouth falling open in surprise. But still, they did not break their trance on mine. Wave after wave fired forth and landed with incredible accuracy, painting her globes with the evidence of my arousal. With a final shudder, my bare ass dropped back to the bunk, sitting down as the room began to spin again. Madison's grip on my cock held firm.

No one said a word. I could not form a cogent thought, and both Dr. Ross and Lizzy just stared in shock. Lizzy had scooted closer at some point, fishnet thighs pressing against the sticky vinyl of Madison's. With her mouth still agape, Madison's eyes slowly tilted downward to observe the gooey mess that now adorned her generous mammary glands. The hand that had been locked to her nipple moved to the closest glob, her fingers tracing through the mess. She brought her fingers towards her face, rolling the substance between her fingertips. Lizzy's hand moved near the doctor's breast tentatively, testing for any response from Madison.

That was when the world started to go black again. It started with spots in my vision, bits and pieces of the two topless women fading into darkness. Then someone shut off all the lights. At least, that was how it seemed to me. Nice going, doctor. You worried about me exerting myself and then just commanded me to give you the mother of all orgasms. Worth it. Just as I was prepared for the previous series of hallucinations, a single figure took form in the darkness directly in front of me.

I blinked. That was stupid, you're unconscious. The woman that stood in front of me - arms raised horizontally and gripping invisible objects on either side - was beautiful. Beyond beautiful. She looked like a goddess, and not just a literary one. Her bright, naturally red hair cascaded in curls down her neck and shoulders. Her face could have been chiseled out of alabaster, some Greek sculptor's representation of a deity, bright green eyes staring intently into my very soul. Her face was perfect in every conceivable way. And her perfection persisted downward.

Her breasts swelled generously beneath the golden bra-like top she wore, natural cleavage not needing any help from her garments. A white sheer cover-up draped across her torso and came to rest just below her taught stomach, her round naval beckoning to me between our gap. The golden bikini bottoms she wore stretched against her hips, giving way to legs that were a succulent combination of toned and soft, just begging to be caressed. The white sheer skirt she wore left nothing to the imagination, either. And the gold and green boots that stopped just below her knees only accented her pose.

I have one hell of an imagination. Why can't all of my blackouts be like this? I tried to will myself towards her, but my subconscious rejected my effort defiantly. Of course. Placing this goddess just out of reach is how I'm torturing myself. But then the darkness surrounding her slowly started to melt away. Bit by bit, my vision began to clear until... I was back. With Lizzy and Madison still kneeling before me. And the woman, the goddess... was still there, standing in Lizzy's doorway, hands resting against the frame.

"What is going on here?" The voice that poured from her lips was firm, but also melodic. It was like someone that had authority, but also the grace to win over anyone in a room. A voice that matched her appearance.

Both women's heads turned to look behind them abruptly.

"Bridgette..." Madison's voice was almost a whisper, tinged with worry.

"Captain!" Lizzy's voice, on the contrary, was pure shock.

Wait, what?

...

Captain?!