It wasn't exactly as Matt or Zeke might have imagined it, but the agent representing the makers of the Chronivac explained that Zeke's solution definitely had merit. His employers dispatched him on a priority mission to rectify the "mistake" that had resulted in Bryan's alleged misuse of the Chronivac. He took possession of the vial of bull semen and promised to stay in touch with the two young men.
Two-hundred and eighty-two days later, both Zeke and Matt received text messages scheduling a time for a second meeting with the agent. They arrived at a farm outside of town where the agent had already arrived in a sleek black limousine. He stepped from the vehicle and walked toward the truck that had transported the unfortunate customer's brother and friend to the designated address.
Matt didn't waste time on a greeting. "I've sent texts and emails for the past nine months!"
"Yes, but I saw no point in responding until I had something tangible to report," the man said.
He walked away from them and approached a fence that surrounded the barn and an adjacent pasture. A cow stood outside the barn.
"Well, where's Bryan?" Zeke asked.
"It did work, didn't it?" Matt asked, suddenly fearful that their hopes had been for nothing.
"Of course," the man said as he watched in a detached manner as a new calf emerged from the barn on four wobbly legs to make its way toward the cow.
"Well, where is he?" Matt demanded.
The calf started nursing. Zeke watched, and as he did, it dawned on him that the calf was a Charolais, and a young bull, as well.
"What's going on?" Zeke asked suspiciously. "Is that Bryan?"
Matt gazed darted around the scene. "Where?"
"It is!" Zack fumed. "It's the calf!"
Matt turned and focused on the nursing calf, suckling enthusiastically at the cow's udder.
"It's only temporary, I assure you," the agent said. "We were limited in our options..."
"We have him back," the man said with a nearly imperceptible shrug.
"He's still a damn cow!" Matt shouted, alarming the cow and her calf.
"Well, a bull calf," the man corrected.
"I expected my brother back!"
"In due time," the agent said.
"OK, I get it," Zeke said. "You had to have Bryan get born again. Well, he's been born. Use the device on him."
"We could use the emergency restore," the man began in a tentative manner.
"Then use it," Matt and Zeke ordered in unison.
"But we would gain only a new-born human being," the agent explained.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but if you can be patient, we should be able to do a complete restoration in sixteen to eighteen months."
Zeke and Matt both cursed loudly.
"Otherwise, we could complete the restoration now, and you'd need to wait, oh, nineteen or twenty years to get your brother back."
As they discussed the situation, the young calf, hunger satisfied, listened to the conversation. The words were difficult. Bryan's return had been traumatic, and bovine instincts nearly controlled all. Yet...
Bryan was still present, although he felt like an afterthought in his own brain. He wandered over to the fence, trying to remember why the two young men looked familiar.