The Transgression Solutions

(Note; this story is a sequel to my earlier Restarted, parts one and two, and hence also belongs in the same series as Thanks for the Memories. You shouldn't need to have read any of them to understand it, but you might enjoy things most if you read stuff in order.)

*

Edgar's phone rang while he was having breakfast, sitting in the kitchen while still wearing just a short robe. He'd managed to find a ring tone which sounded close enough to the bells he remembered from his youth, and the sound jangled penetratingly across the apartment. He put his coffee down, found where he'd left the phone, and took the call.

Then he chatted to the caller for a few moments before putting the phone down with a thoughtful half-smile. He finished his cooling coffee, then shrugged and went to knock on Ann's bedroom door.

"Come in," she called, promptly enough that he guessed that she'd been woken by the phone. Indeed, he found her sitting up in bed with the bedside light on, the quilt pulled up to her chest. Her hair -- now more blonde than ash-blonde - was hanging free to her shoulders; she hadn't yet gathered it up into the practical bunch she favoured these days.

"That was our great-granddaughter," Edgar said.

"Oh, yes," Ann said with a thoughtful frown. "We've got one of those, haven't we?"

"We've got a couple of great-grandchildren, actually. This one's the oldest."

Ann pulled a comic face. "And what do we know about her?" she asked.

Edgar shrugged. "Her name's Charlotte, she's twenty, and she's a student. Studying psychology, I believe." He smiled wryly. "She came to see us in the hospital a couple of times, actually, when the family decided to visit in a group. That was while your mind was still a bit hazy, though. I'm not surprised that you don't remember her."

"Is she nice?" Ann asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She seemed fine to me." Edgar perched on the edge of the bed. "A bit unsure what to say to us, but then, all the family were like that."

"Still are."

"Quite. But now she says that she'll be in town today, with her boyfriend, and she wanted to see us. So I invited them to lunch. I hope that's okay with you."

"Fine, of course. Have we got enough food in?"

"I'll go out and get something," Edgar said with a shrug.

"You could get the shop to deliver, you know."

"I prefer to see what I'm buying." Edgar stood up. "Anyway, if that's all okay with you, I should get dressed."

"Actually..." Ann deliberately prolonged the word.

"What?"

"I could do with a brief fuck. If you wouldn't mind."

Edgar sighed, and gazed at her. "I really don't see why you want separate bedrooms," he said.

"I told you," Ann said, and threw the quilt aside, revealing that she had been sleeping naked, as usual. "That would be dishonest. We're not a couple, and I don't want to pretend otherwise. And it'd make it harder for either of us to bring anyone else back here."

"Okay," said Edgar, "I get the message."

"Oh, but you haven't got one of your painfully grateful divorcees in your room at the moment, have you?" Ann asked, actually sounding concerned at the possibility.

"No!" Edgar said quickly, unfastening the belt of his robe as if to emphasise the point.

"Good," said Ann with a smile, leaning forward as Edgar draped his robe over the back of a nearby chair, "so come here, please..."

Edgar took a half step toward the bed. He was still wearing a pair of boxer shorts, but now he put his hands to the waistband and dropped them to the floor. Ann squinted at what was revealed.

"Bother," she said, "I'm not having the effect I once did, am I?" Suddenly, she half-rolled toward Edgar and twisted to bring her face close to his groin. Then, she placed a series of small, soft kisses on his still-limp cock, tracing from the base toward the tip. "Mmm," she said as it swelled a little and twitched in response to the touch of her lips. "Ah, just a slight delay." Twisting down, she engulfed the first inch in her mouth, then briefly sucked, hard. Then she snatched her face away to breath, and smiled broadly. "That's good," she said, and lay back on the bed.

"Damn hormones," Edgar muttered.

"I'm sure that the doctors could find some way to wind them back a bit," said Ann, propping herself up on her elbows. "But would you really want them to?"

Edgar said nothing, but knelt between her thighs, and took his hardening erection in one hand. Looking down, he noticed that her experiments in pubic topiary had become even more ornate than before, but he just smiled slightly, and carefully guided his cock to the entrance to her cunt. Then, suddenly, he pushed all the way into her with a single thrust.

She gasped, then let out a cry of "Yes!" as she grabbed him with both hands, digging her nails into the sides of his buttocks. She held still for a moment as he pounded rapidly into her, remaining silent as he began to gasp, before suddenly bending one slim, muscular leg, and pushing deftly to throw Edgar onto his back with herself on top of him. Then, she raised herself so that she was sitting astride him, her knees either side of his waist, and began rotating her hips in small, steady motions, grinding her crotch against his. Making a quiet, happy moaning in her throat, she threw her head back with a distant smile, her eyes closed, and raised her arms high. This pulled her neat, pert breasts up, and Edgar reached up with both hands to fondle them.

"God, yes!" Ann said again, then moved her hips rapidly for a second before giving an orgasmic groan. Her eyes opened, and she lowered her arms, resting her hands on Edgar's shoulders. He met her pleased gaze, and his hips bucked convulsively. They both felt his cock pulse inside her, and he answered her groan with one of his own, and then relaxed.

For a moment, they were completely still, looking each other in the eyes. Then Ann raised herself off Edgar and almost leapt off the bed. Looking her up and down, Edgar saw a little of his semen trickling down her upper thigh.

"Thanks," she said. "Now, I need a shower. You can join me if you like, but don't forget you have got that shopping to do."

***

Charlotte and her boyfriend, who she introduced as Leslie, arrived at 12:30, and Ann settled them in as Edgar finished preparing lunch.

"Thanks for this," Charlotte said as Edgar appeared holding a serving-dish. "That smells really good, great-grand... oh, look, what do you want me to call you? 'Great-grandfather' is far too cumbersome."

"Edgar and Ann will be fine," said Ann, sitting down at the table herself. "It feels silly to go on about the ancestor thing, when we don't look it."

"God, yes," said Leslie, glancing from his hosts to Charlotte and back again. "It's hard to believe. You look about our age."

"A little bit older, I think," Ann said. "But we don't look much like Charlotte, do we?"

"No," agreed Leslie, looking thoughtfully at the wiry, pale-haired Ann and Edgar and then at Charlotte, whose face and figure were both rather fuller, not quite chubby, and whose hair was dark, and hung in soft curls to just below her shoulders. He himself was clearly about the same age, a little stocky, with unkempt hair and a short beard.

"It's not surprising, really," Charlotte said. "I mean, think about it -- you share half your genes with your kids, and a quarter with your grandchildren -- so I've only got one part in eight in common with either of you two. We're not very closely related -- exactly as close as cousins, strictly speaking."

"You don't even look that, I'm afraid," Leslie said.

"That's partly the Restart process," Edgar commented. "The doctors rebuild your body from scratch, and they're a bit minimal about it -- we both looked downright anorexic after they'd finished. Believe it or not, we've both filled out a bit these last few months."

"Yeah, I guess you have, a bit," Charlotte agreed.

"But they keep telling us to exercise, so our bodies rebuild properly," Ann said. "I still feel quite scrawny. But our faces are almost back how we used to be, I think. So Charlotte must have got a lot of her looks from the other side."

"Still," Edgar said, "there's something about her reminds me of something."

"I don't see it, I must admit," Leslie said, and Ann shook her head in agreement.

Edgar, meanwhile, was serving lunch. "Moroccan tagine," he said. "Do you know, I'm not sure that I ever tried this, in ninety years? Stupid. But now I've got my sense of taste back. I can do some catching up."

"Edgar's taken to cooking," Ann said. "So far as I can remember, it used to be impossible to get him to make a cup of coffee."

"Wow," said Charlotte with a smile. "But anyway, how are you two doing generally at the moment? I'm sorry not to have been in touch since..." she trailed off.

"That's okay," said Ann. "I know this whole thing was strange for the whole family. We're just pleased that you've visited today. And to answer your question, we're both fine. We're taking some home study courses -- getting the hang of the world again."

"I just think that it's lovely, you two both getting Restarted at the same time," Charlotte said. "I mean, you've got, well, your married life back again."

"Hah!" said Ann in an amused tone, while Edgar suddenly started studying his food closely.

"I'm sorry?" Charlotte said.

"Sorry," said Ann, "but I'm afraid it's not quite like that."

"How do you mean?" Charlotte asked.

"Restarting rebuilds your brain as well as your body," Ann explained. "And, well, I'd lost a lot before. We're really not the same people as we were, you know. I didn't know Edgar at all when I first saw him. I can only remember odd moments, even now. We aren't really back together -- not the way you mean."

"Oh,"said Charlotte, looking thoughtful. "But you're living here," she added, indicating the small apartment.

"Oh yes. That's convenient, especially as we are still legally married," Edgar said. "But we're really just good friends, I'm afraid."

"Mmm," said Ann. "Mind you, that is friends with benefits, as they say."

"What?" said Charlotte and Leslie together, looking startled.

"Oh dear, sorry," said Ann, laughing softly, "but Edgar isn't the only one catching up on things missed out on for ninety years, I'm afraid." She looked at the two visitors with a smile as Leslie frowned and Charlotte stared, then reached out and patted Charlotte's hand. "Yes, dear girl -- I'm afraid that your ancestors are having sex again. And not just with each other."

"Great-grandmother!" Charlotte gasped.

"I said to call me Ann," Ann said calmly. "But anyway... Look, I don't want to shock you, but as the subject has come up... What do you know about being Restarted?"

"A bit," said Charlotte. "I've been doing some reading. The rebuilt brains ... I'd read about that, but I didn't realise how much it might mean."

"And the new bodies?"

"Oh, yes. Oh..." Charlotte suddenly looked thoughtful. "Hormones, right?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear. What I -- what Edgar and I have been doing -- it's self-indulgent, I suppose. But it's fun, I must say."

"So you don't remember how you used to live and behave?" Leslie asked.

"A little," Ann said. "Edgar remembers a bit more. But for somebody with the urges of a healthy teenager, that way of thinking just seems silly."

"It sounds to me like you're reacting against it," Charlotte commented. "Getting all transgressive."

"Perhaps," said Ann. "Transgression. Yes, I suppose that's a good word. Maybe we'll get over it..."

"It does feel like we're growing up all over again," Edgar said.

"But you shouldn't be in a hurry to grow up," said Ann, looking towards him, "not even the second time around."

All four of them fell silent and simply ate for a moment. Then Leslie spoke. "So -- what parts of your, well, your first lives do you remember?" he asked.

"Bits and pieces," Edgar said.

"You must have grown up in the 1960s..." Leslie began.

"Twentieth Century Cultural History is Leslie's big subject," Charlotte interrupted. "Don't let him interrogate you. I've told him it'd be rude."

"I was just wondering," Leslie aid, "I mean, that was the time of the first big sexual revolution..."

"For some people," Ann said. "Not everywhere. No, we're having our first sexual revolution at the moment, I'm afraid."

Leslie and Charlotte fell silent, suddenly paying more attention to their food.

"Sorry," said Ann. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"It's okay," Charlotte said with a strained laugh. "Anyway, about granddad -- your son..."

The rest of the meal passed in casual chat, and eventually, after coffee, Charlotte and Leslie declared that they had to be leaving, but promised to call again. After she'd closed the door, Ann looked at Edgar with a soft smile.

"I like them," she said. "I just hope that we haven't shocked them too much."

"They're young," said Edgar with a laugh of his own. "I reckon they were just surprised. I just wish that I could work out who Charlotte reminds me of..."

***

It was two weeks and two days later, late in the morning, that Ann took a call, her phone emitting a soft burbling. She spent a few minutes in conversation, then signed off with a frown. After a moment's thought, she knocked on Edgar's door, and found him studying on his computer. She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

"You may have a small problem," she began.

***

An hour and a half later, Ann found Leslie sitting on a bench in the city park. She sat down next to him.

"So it's true then?" Leslie asked. "Charlotte and her ... and Edgar? They're having an affair?"

"Yes, it's true."

"God," Leslie said, "that's sick."

"A bit weird, maybe," Ann said, "but not sick. Probably not as sick as you think, anyway. Not if you know those two people."

But Leslie didn't seem to be listening to her. "We should go to the cops with this," he said, "get them arrested."

"You could," Ann replied, "but I really don't think that you should."

That caught his attention, and he looked directly at her. "Why not?" he snapped.

"Well, for a start, it'd be traumatic for the rest of our family. They're not handling the Restart thing very well, I admit, but they don't deserve to see relatives dragged through the courts while the press -- sorry, it's mostly the blogs these days, isn't it? -- go crazy. Actually, you'd probably suffer as badly as the family. Girlfriend left you for her great-grandfather? Do you want to be known for that?"

Leslie shrugged at that. Ann smiled wryly. "And then," she went on, "you can't be sure what the result would be. The law hasn't had to deal with the Restarted much yet, but as Charlotte said, they're only actually as close as cousins -- and a cousin isn't incest round here. The whole thing would get very drawn-out and messy, and I doubt that they'd be punished -- well, no more than the rest of us would be."

"Oh, very transgressive," Leslie sneered, and Ann shrugged. "So you're saying I should let it go?" he asked.

Ann didn't answer for a moment. "How did you guess, anyway?" she asked.

"Lots of little details," Leslie replied.

"Yes -- I have to remind myself about all the electronic trails we all leave these days," Ann said. "I've been caught out myself..."

"It started a couple of days after we met," Leslie went on.

"What, when she came to visit again? That was just to show us some photos, you know."

"They were in the family archives -- online," Leslie said. "Why did she have to go round in person?"

"She might have just been being friendly," Ann suggested. "But actually, no... It was funny. I came home to discover them sitting side by side on the sofa, looking at the pictures on our wall-screen. All perfectly innocent, but there was something odd in the atmosphere..."

***

"Oh, hello," Ann said to her great-granddaughter. "What brings you back here?"

"Charlotte found some family pictures," Edgar said. "You might find them interesting, actually." Ann perched on a chair as Charlotte used voice commands to riffle back through the photo collection.

"We neither of us ever went in for photography," Ann commented. "Seems a shame now."

"There are a fair number with you in here, though," Charlotte said, "family weddings and so forth." She pulled up a series of pictures to illustrate the point. "Mmm -- you look pretty good in that one," she said, as a stray image from a formal evening event in the 1970s appeared on the screen. "Classic sort of dress."

"I wish I remembered it," Ann agreed, but before she could say anything else, Edgar raised a hand. "Charlotte, just a second -- could you stand up a moment? Stand by the screen there?"

Charlotte looked puzzled, but obeyed, as Edgar directed her to stand in the same pose as the younger Ann in the picture. Then Ann gasped and laughed. "Heavens, yes," Ann said, "I see it now."

"What?" Charlotte demanded.

"It's probably just coincidence," Ann said carefully.

"Oh, surely," Edgar agreed, "not much genetics in that. But Charlotte -- you've got the exact same build and figure as Ann when she was your age."

"The first time around," Ann added, slightly pointedly.

***

Leslie looked sharply at Ann as she told the story. "She looks like you used to?" he asked.

"Her figure looks like mine used to."

"And do you think that's why he..." Leslie's voice trailed off.

Ann shrugged. "Maybe. Impossible to say, really. I think he used to like women to have bigger breasts than this --" she indicated her shape -- "but that was then. His tastes these days are broader. I don't think he's sleeping with her just because she reminds him of the old me."

"Huh!" Leslie grunted, then fell silent.

Ann looked at him, not unkindly. "Tell me," she said, "were you and Charlotte really serious?"

"Pardon?"

"Was she the one for you? Did you see the relationship lasting?"

Leslie took a deep breath. "Not really, I guess, no. We weren't just friends with benefits -- at least, I didn't think we were -- but we weren't talking long-term or anything. Not yet."

"Well," said Ann, "I'm really not very experienced in these things -- gosh, that sounds silly from a ninety-three-year-old woman, doesn't it? -- but it sounds to me like you need to put this behind you and move on. Put it down to experience. You had a girlfriend, but she found someone else -- so you should do the same. Get drunk if you like, I think that's traditional. But your life isn't over or anything."

"Easy for you to say," Leslie sighed. Then he looked at her. "How long have you known?" he demanded.

"So you can't leave it alone," Ann muttered. "But if you must know -- about a week, now. I didn't play detective or check the house cameras or anything. I just guessed the old-fashioned way."

***

Edgar was still dozing in bed when Ann knocked on his door. He blinked and called for her to come in, and then saw that she was wearing a light robe of her own.

"Good morning," she said, then "move over." He obeyed, and she flicked the corner of his bedclothes back, smiling when she saw that he had been sleeping naked. But she kept her robe on as she slipped in beside him, and then kissed him lightly on the forehead.

"Good morning," he said, then smiled as she slid a hand gently down his chest. Then she giggled and tapped the medical implant display on his left shoulder three times with a fingertip -- the bit of modern etiquette which they'd both learned, which caused the device to show that the prospective partner was in good health with an active contraceptive system (or not). "You're interested ... oh," he said, as her hand moved from there to his cock. She caressed him with a couple of fingertips as he grew hard.