Chapter Three - Part ThreeThe Final BattlegroundMeg understood that if the balloon went up, it would mean that they would be short necessary personnel. So her idea of creating medical staff from those already in the bunker carried a lot of weight. For Tosh, that meant that several ideas came to mind. Jen had always had an interest in the medical field with a primary being in psychology. And Bebe Hart despite her artistic bent was also keenly interested in science. So with the two of them, mind and body appeared to be taken care of.
With security in mind, Tosh knew that they needed to have plumbots form a key part of their defence strategy. Not only could they patrol the perimeter during the worst of the radiation; but they were essentially un-killable if not indestructible. Any potential opposition invasion force would be up against a group of plumbots that could potentially decimate large portions of their numbers while sustaining few casualties of their own.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkhlGe29ArI/X1vHeV7kNvI/AAAAAAAAi90/zL2Twq1VY5seph9aHOqWuO_iIKu_1gmvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-16.jpg
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Meg and Tosh usually ended up having their meetings after everyone was asleep since that was about the only quiet time that they could get during the course of the day. The day was filled with other activities of skilling up in the skills necessary in order to survive what was to follow. No-one knew just exactly what would happen. And they all fought down the worrisome thoughts that persisted. They could only do what they could and let the rest take care of itself.
Meg had plenty of ideas in her head that she gave voice to and Tosh listened to them, letting her speak...and offering little input, letting her freestyle think about the ideas and realizing that she thought the best on her feet and letting the ideas move through her mind.
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![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c54oQBpXPu8/X1vIvDtP-nI/AAAAAAAAi-I/N5bHPPShRtMhM2eLKMK0__Ok0dn-M4lvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-23.jpg<BR />Harm had achieved success with a plumbot and that success story was charging in the charging station downstairs. Artie was the prototype plumbot and had pretty much had every single trait chip that Harm had managed to invent installed in him. Competent Cleaner, AI Angler, Steel Chef, RoBotany...and well, Artie, evidently short for Artificial Intelligence, had an inherent fascination for the conjuring pot. So he spent a lot of his time hanging out making new gemstones for the group to get rich on and eventually had conjured a tiberium.<BR />https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WGuFhaZ5GEM/X1vJucprxRI/AAAAAAAAi-c/FzJpFirn6uwSEtv8nwzON2hoT7MSD9FswCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-24.jpg<BR />One of the key ideas that Meg came up with was the fact that they all needed to get younger. Since Jen had managed with the potion table to create a potion that manipulated genes to regain their youth, she suggested that they all drink Young-Again potions to go back to the very start of their Young Adulthood, that way they would have the stamina to effect the change on the environment as they needed post-apocalypse. Tosh thought that was a very good idea and told her so.<BR /><BR />"So...who do you think should try it?" Meg asked him.<BR />https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T-NQo61GTHg/X1vKbhzZBnI/AAAAAAAAi-o/ABEmPvT_T_s4g06FhbZBmH9OoQlW7d83QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-25.jpg)
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"You seem a bit worried about the whole idea of becoming younger...Tosh, what is it?" Tosh looked at her and she faced him square on...
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"I've always thought that there was no redo button in life, Meg..." Tosh told her, "It's always been a one-off, you don't get any second chances. Now with Jen finding this potion, we have multiple chances to get things right or get a redo over if we mess things up royally." He paused to look at her again, "I wonder just what that's going to do to our idea of caring about how we behave in the end."
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Meg looked at him with a knowing expression, "I see your point...but there is one thing that I've always wondered...I've always put my career ahead of everything. And I resigned myself to never having a family because my Navy career was of primary importance. Serving our country and the fact that I was getting older. As our body ages, we start having higher risk of birth defects and thus I had figured that I had tossed my ability to have a family out the window. Now I have that chance again. And I don't want to toss the idea of having a family out the window if I have that chance again." She raised an eyebrow with a meaningful look aimed in Tosh's direction.
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"...so...what do you say we take the Young Again potion together and see what it does?" Meg asked.
Tosh shrugged his shoulders and quipped, "Well...it couldn't hurt...I've always wanted to see if I could go back to running sixteen miles a day..." Meg snickered; she knew that Tosh hated running at the best of times.
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So, pulling out their Young-Again potions that were given to them by CMCYN Jennifer Coates, "Down the hatch..." Tosh said as he upended the potion and guzzled it, as did Meg. "I don't feel any different..." he stated just before the transformation hit him. It was a tingling sensation that started through every blood vessel in his body and down his entire body from the top of his head to the very extremities.
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As the transformation effects subsided, Meg leaned in close, her perfume tantalizing Tosh, making him very amenable to Meg's closeness. "I don't see any more crow's feet..." Meg murmured softly as she leaned in to inspect his face.
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"You look as beautiful as ever..." Tosh replied...looking at her with an expression of awe.
Meg gave him a grin, "Awww, you always say that to all the girls you meet." she teased him.
"Only one girl in mind this time around..." was his response.
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...and they leaned into each other's embrace as their lips met in a passionate kiss. "I..." Tosh stammered.
"You know how long I've been waiting for this..." Meg whispered softly.
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...then it was clothes tossed aside and ardent passion for the next two hours as the both of them took things to the next level and beyond.
And morning found them sitting in the love-seat in the common area of their bunker sitting enjoying each other's closeness in the wake of their amorous machinations.
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"That young again potion...um...really worked..." Tosh said off-handed, his mind on the memories that he and Meg had just created.
"It certainly did..." Meg returned playfully. "I never knew you had it in you..." she teased him gently.
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"Maybe...another round later?" she continued.
Tosh's silent nod of agreement caused the corners of Meg's lips to curl in a smile as she leaned in again for their lips to meet in a kiss.
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"Meg...you know I'm going to want more than just play-time." Tosh said meaningfully, "I'm at a stage where I don't want play...I want a meaningful relationship..." Tosh just barely restrained himself from saying age...they had just taken Young Again potions so age wasn't even a factor here.
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Meg felt a welling of emotion in her as she realized just what Tosh was saying to her. "...you mean...?" her statement had a questioning tone to it.
Tosh nodded.
"Because...that's what I want too..." Meg said softly and that was that. They both realized that they were willing to take the next step in a future that would mean a life together; whatever that life would hold.
