It was late in the day when the trouble began at the Samwell Water Refinement facility. Most of the staff was tired or heading out for the day, and the only one on site who might have been able to tell something was going awry, Dr. Terry Brant, was in a negligent mood. He was one of the more capable and intelligent technicians, but being intelligent did not equate to being mature. Mr. Brant was keen to spend his night in his office screwing his secretary Ms. Marsh.
What Mr. Brant did not see even as his tightly muscled body pumped his hips into the buxom figure of his secretary was that something was beginning to leak into the water supply of the affluent town of Linden Heights that the refinement facility served.
"Marsh...Marsh, I think something's---" He murmured outloud, trying to ascertain if there was something he should be worried about. But he was interrupted by the feeling of her lips on him. On his most intimate piece. He gasped, "Ohh! Feeling...up for doing that today...!" Even at 42, he was still astonished by how good that felt.
"You don't worry your pretty little ass, Terry. I am sure it can be taken care of tomorrow!" Marsh said as she put her mouth off of him for a moment, and then went back to what she was doing.
A bright red fluid began at a trickle down into the water supply, leaking from a strange and ruptured deepground area, and then filtering into the water supply. Without the mechanisms of the plant active, it would be easy for the substance to make its way into the affluent township's water supply.
It was a deep dwelling supply of an unusual fluid that very readily mixed with water and other substances, and which had an astonishing capability in its simple, undiluted form. It could revert biological matter to an earlier state, reversing cellular entropy and aging. To put it simply, the fountain of youth was breached and now began leaking into the town's water supply. But due to the factors of dilution and mixture, it would not be so strong or capable in suddenly reversing the aging process.
The result would be a slow and eventually noticeable tread backward in age, for anyone who was fortunate or misfortunate enough to drink the water. To some it would be a blessing, to others it would be a curse, but for the town that would be receiving these dubious gifts, nothing would ever be the same again.
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The Bronson House.
Eli Bronson was checking his work suit and tie before heading in the next morning for work. Eli was a tall man of about six foot three inches tall, a stocky and less than active build, and fading short cut blond hair combed to hide the sad decline of his hairline. He always wore these suits to make sure he didn't look too fat. Which was slowly beginning to fail as a strategy.
His wife was out helping the kids get ready for school, and Eli grumbled a little bit when he saw how much of a gut he was sporting. He used to be in such good shape when he was in high school and college... hell, even in middle school, he had always been the up and coming athlete. But now? Now he was a family man. A father. And he just didn't have the time with one teenager (18 year old son Mike) and a 7 year old (Melissa) to workout and enjoy himself as much as he used to.
And his wife Sue... he could tell was more used to the athletic and strong Eli, as opposed to how he was now. Even though she appreciated the help that he put in for the kids, Eli knew that before long he'd either need to shape up or see the marriage get a bit rocky. Already there'd been some...arguments. Mostly about how active Sue was as opposed to him.
As Eli finished getting dressed and headed downstairs, he saw his son Mike filling up the water bottles for school.
Another reminder thus of how far Eli had fallen. His son Mike was a strong, powerfully built linebacker on the high school varsity team, standing a little under his father's height, but it was obvious he'd probably be outgrowing his dad vertically as well as horizontally. "Hey dad," Mike said, "I'll be out with Trish tonight. I'll make sure to be back in."
"Course you will. Thanks for the notice." Mike was a great kid with a great attitude, but it was obvious that Mike was quickly asserting himself, and Eli admitted as wrong as it probably was to feel jealous of his son... he did. Eli went ahead and got some water, noting a peculiar zing in the water this morning. He shook his head.
As Eli watched his son get everything packed and then headed out for school, Eli wondered what he could even do now. Sure he could try and live a more active life, but that was gonna be a lot of work. And his schedule was pretty full as it was already. He wanted to improve, but he just didn't know how to get the time for that.
There was always Terry Brant, an old friend of his from high school. Terry was always there alongside him, but now look at Eli and look at Terry... well, you'd see two different ways of growing into your forties. Maybe he could try hitting the gym some time with Terry and see how that went. Couldn't hurt!
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Xavier Watts packed his second backpack with empty balloons to be filled with water, planning out his day that morning. The fact was school at Ford Central High was nothing if not a slog due to a combination of factors. That bully Mike Bronson playing off what he did as just teasing and "having a good time", and the gym teacher Mr. Brody doting blatantly on Mike due to his star of the high school thing. Meanwhile Xavier was treated like an outsider for the fact he didn't much care for the iron grip the football team had on the school.
They were the one thing the school was known for out of town. That was the refrain. But Xavier refused to accept it.
Now he was planning the only way he knew for dealing with these things - revenge. He had never been particularly in favor of just going along and not making trouble. Sure he'd always been a bit of a class clown, and sure he was in favor of a little bit of artistic redecoration of places with a less than respectful air to it, but SURELY that was nothing so bad.
Xavier with his dyed blue hair, thin and lean build suited for running, and trench coat over tight jeans and a loud heavy metal shirt was very much the teachers' least favorite most of the time. He was...admittedly probably a little too much trouble. He already had a bit of a plan for this morning to get his day started. He was going to rig Mr. Brody's chair with a water balloon, and if he could, drench Mr. Football Hero as well with a trick at the entrance to the locker room, considering Mikey was usually the first one in.
He'd set up a way to do this to minimalize the people who might see his pranks and outright eliminate the chance of the teacher spotting him. Fuckin' A, he was brilliant.
Xavier then remembered his girlfriend and felt his tight jeans get a little tighter. Yeah, prank the douchebros at the school and then make out with his girlfriend Sasha. He'd met her at a heavy metal concert, and they'd hit it off right away. The two had been together ever since. Xavier got a very light drink of water from the tap, musing he felt pretty good this morning, and then headed out to go get everything ready for his tricks and pranks.
Yet even he had little idea what was going to be going on today...