Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2020 04:17:12 -0500 From: Sam Subject: Young Again - Chapter 15 Please support Nifty to keep this free service going. https://donate.nifty.org/donate.html This is my first attempt at writing a story. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Comments are welcome. sam@gamermail.net The following is fiction. Any resemblance to real people, places or events is coincidental. This is a romance story in many parts. If you are looking for a quickie, this isn't it. From Chapter 14 When Dennis left to go back home the next morning I had Marty sit down in the living room so we could talk. Marty is hiding something from me, and I'm gonna find out what. "Marty there is something going on. I heard the instructions you gave David last night. It doesn't take two grown men to protect one boy on Halloween. What are you hiding?" Marty looks at me then looks down. He doesn't want me to see his face or he doesn't want to look at mine. He contemplates for a bit before speaking. Young Again - Chapter 15 by Sam "It wasn't a random chance that assigned me to this case. I told you the truth on that first day. I am an FBI agent and I was assigned to be your guardian. I am being paid by the government to watch over you. And I will protect you. But..." He stopped talking and seemed to be thinking of how to go on. I kept quiet and let him continue at his own pace. "The reason I was assigned to your case is because the little boy whose body you are in, was my nephew Caleb" He starts to tear up. I'm dumbfounded. I know that the body I'm in had to have an original owner with it's own family, I just wasn't given any information about it and the file was sealed so I wouldn't be able to get at it anyway, so I put it to the back of my mind. But now, here in front of me, is the Uncle of that boy. I'm not sure what to say. Everything I think of rings hollow. I wonder how he feels, being with me every day. Watching me use the body of his nephew to have fun with Dennis. Knowing even though he is looking at Caleb, that Caleb is not here anymore and I am. Marty in my silence continues. "On that first day when you opened the door and I saw Caleb, my heart ached. I was told before I came over that they checked all the log files and they concluded that none of Caleb's concousnes would be there. For all intents and purposes, Caleb was dead. But when I talked to you that day, I was still hoping that some of Caleb was there, but I saw you didn't recognize me, and while you seemed nice and a good guy, you were not Caleb. I struggled through trying to keep you calm because the doctors said you might freak out at the news. I was really at a loss when you asked what you should call me. At first I thought Uncle. But then I figured if you called me Uncle Marty using Caleb's voice I would break down myself and that would make you ask questions I wasn't allowed to answer. I chose dad because Caleb never called me that, so it wouldn't affect me as much. I hope you can forgive me for keeping this from you but I was told not to tell you on day one, and only after you settled in, if you asked." I asked about Caleb's parents. "They were heartbroken at the news when it happened. When they learned I got the job of guardian of the person in Caleb's body, they told me even though they couldn't have Caleb back, to keep you alive and let them know of your milestones so they can at least watch their boy grow up." "Is that why you take pictures of me every now and then?" "Yes, I send them the pictures so they can see how happy you are. In fact you can read the reply they sent from when I sent them the picture of you in your costume" The text read "Classic Caleb, wearing a girl costume." "They are also happy you found Dennis. We always knew Caleb was gay. He told us he dreamed of one day finding the boy of his dreams and being together with him forever. It is so wonderful that his dreams are coming true." He went on softly. "Sam, what happened was a freak accident that nobody saw coming. But we are happy that you are the one that got put in Caleb's body, instead of someone else that wouldn't have followed his dreams. You are a good man, and now, you are a good young man." "Do you miss Caleb? Is it hard watching me knowing I'm not him?" "I do miss him. I regret working last Christmas and not being with them. I would have been there had I known it would be his last. But no it isn't hard watching after you. I know you aren't Caleb, but every time you do a Caleb thing it makes me smile thinking a little of him still survives and will live on. I want to protect you, not just because you are in Caleb's body, but because you are a good and kind person that deserves it. I will care and protect you for as long as you need it." I'm starting to tear up. Thinking of this poor young boy who got caught in a freak accident and is now no more. He had dreams of what he wanted, and now I'm allowed to follow them. But it should be him that is following them instead of me. His parents have to watch their son's body from a distance be happy and know that it really isn't their son anymore. Never able to interact because it would raise questions and the secrets could be revealed. I'm lost. I want to know so much. How did this body get to my house in the middle of the night when I already left work? Where is my old body? How did they know I was the one that got put in Caleb? I pose these questions to Marty and he says he knows most of the answers, but also there is some speculation the doctors had to do to fill in the gaps. He tells me the tale of that night. (This is what Marty told me. I am putting it in my voice to make it easier to understand. When I say "I" or "me" I am referring to myself either in my old body or in Caleb's body.) On that Friday night, Caleb was brought in and put in the exam chair and hooked up to the machines to start his weekly tests. They have been trying to slowly put knowledge into his head to see if making kids go to school for 13 years of their life could be done away with and have children gain all that knowledge through machines in only 1 year. I was pulling cable in the same building and one of the rooms was right next door to the exam room. I wasn't aware of anything happening over there as it was top secret and I wasn't told. Apparently 20 minutes into the test everything went haywire. Alarms were going off all over the place and the doctors were scrambling to find out what was happening. Somehow during the confusion Caleb disappeared. Once it was found out Caleb was missing the whole building was searched. That's when they found my body lying on the floor of that room. They had security pull the camera footage and it showed Caleb leave the exam room and walk to the employee break room. There he grabbed a lunch bag and headed to the parking lot. He got into a car and drove off. The doctors started to pull the machine logs to find out what happened. They showed a very large energy spike and a lot of data got pumped into Caleb's brain. At first they couldn't figure out where all the data came from as the program they were using only had a little data on the drive. Security said they couldn't get the tag number from the car that Caleb drove off in. Since I was lying dead in the next room they used the cameras to see when I came in to see what car I drove in. It was the same car. They figured Caleb drove to my house but didn't know why he would. Studying all the data the doctors speculated that my entire consciousness was the large sum of data that was recorded and guessed that I might be sharing Caleb's body and not know it and just went home on autopilot. They petitioned HR for my home address and while they waited for an answer kept looking at the logs. Eventually the logs told a very different story. It showed not only the large amount of data going in to Caleb, but also before that a large amount came out. They tried to trace where it went but hit a dead end. As far as they could tell it was gone. Once they found this out they alerted the FBI because this situation meant that Caleb wasn't Caleb and so his parents were no longer his parents. They found mine were already deceased so they needed to get me someone to watch over me and also keep my financials stable while I was no longer able to work. Since Marty was Caleb's uncle he volunteered to act as my guardian. He was briefed on the incident and given the required documents needed to do the job and my address and sent to make contact. Then he showed up at my door. I asked Marty about me coming home that night. I was me when I went to bed. I remember being me. "The doctors figure it was just your brain telling you it was you due to an overload during the transfer. You were really Caleb but your brain wouldn't accept it and made you think it was still your old body." "So when I removed my clothes for bed I was actually removing Caleb's clothes? If so, where were they, there weren't any kids clothes in the house." "Caleb was naked. In order to put all the leads on his body he was naked and wearing a paper hospital gown. But the CCTV shows that when he was outside going to your car the wind picked up and blew the gown off of him. When you removed your clothes, you were removing nothing." I thank Marty for letting me know and head to my room. This is a bit much to deal with, I need time. Sunday morning I come out of my room and tell Marty I'm sorry I took his nephew from him. Marty says it was an accident and not my fault. I ask if there is anything I can do for him or Caleb's parents. He tells me to keep living my life like I have been as it is exactly how Caleb would have and that is the best way to honor him. I sat down to breakfast, well, it's lunch now, I slept really late. All the information Marty gave me yesterday made my sleep disturbed. I look out the dining room window towards Dennis' house and see him outside shooting baskets into the basketball hoop in their driveway. After lunch I stay at the table and continue to watch him until he finally goes back inside. When I get up Marty is smiling at me. "Just like Caleb" he says. To be continued...