It was a beautiful morning. Maybe it was already a little warm, today would be a hot summer day. The sun greeted Cleo and Jeff. Cleo was still a little frustrated, but Jeff seemed more excited than ever. His contagious euphoria helped to lift Cleo's spirits a little.
"Isn't it a great day?" asked Jeff as he started to stretch his muscles.
"I don't know," Cleo replied, still a little sleepy but ready for the day. After two weeks, it was no longer necessary to instruct her on every exercise, so Cleo just started doing her own stretches. "I feel like today is going to be extra hot," she added.
"I feel like today is going to be a great day. Maybe our breakthrough," he beamed, positively thrilled.
"What makes you so confident? I feel like this is just another day you'll trying to kill me."
Jeff was not sure if he should tell her about the device, but she would ask questions sooner or later, so being honest might be the best option. Maybe he could leave out some details.
"You see, I have this special device. I don't know much about it, but it looks like it's connected on a quantum level and can change things. I programmed it to make the training more efficient," he told her as he changed his pose.
Cleo didn't know what to say. She wasn't stupid, but she wasn't a scientist either. Maybe this was just another idea of him to motivate her and help her to go beyond her own limits, so she decided to play along. "Sounds great! Then let's not waste time and prove that your device works."
***
After their morning routine, they briefly discussed the day's training plan. 15 miles running, 1 mile swimming and then they would see how far she could go on the bike...
"Ready?" he asked her as he checked his water bottles and shoelaces.
"Sure, let's go!"
Jeff quickly went to his gym bag where he kept the Chronivac. He really didn't want to carry the device during their run, so he "confirmed" his settings and activated the evolution process. He then joined Cleo, and they set off at a brisk jog to leave Cleo's property.
***
Cleo was ready to start her jog, but Jeff looked like he had forgotten something in his bag. He jogged to the bag and did something. A little annoyed, Cleo called after him, "Are you ready? Don't ask me if I'm ready if you're not." But Jeff seemed to ignore her. She had just finished her sentence when a sudden dizzy spell hit her. She shook her head. Fortunately, the strange feeling was gone as soon as she noticed it.
***
The two set off into the Australian outback at a slow but steady pace. Jeff soon began to feel the stress in his lungs and legs as they completed the first mile. The sun was high in the sky and sweat was dripping from his face. He turned his head to the left and saw Cleo unimpressed beside him. There wasn't even a hint of sweat on her brow, her breathing seemed calm and even the heat didn't seem to bother her. He glanced at his watch and confirmed that this was their normal running speed. But today was no normal day. So he pressed some buttons on his smartwatch to increase her target pace by 20% and accelerated to reach the new speed. He grinned miscellaneously.
***
Something was different today. Cleo felt great. The intense jogging didn't bother her. It was more like a nice walk on a pleasant spring morning than a run on a hot summer day. She knew she was running faster than the last couple of days, but her body almost enjoyed it. Maybe there was some truth to the strange things Jeff had tried to explain earlier. She felt her leg muscles tighten with each step. It felt natural and yet somehow strange. As if the muscles in her calves and thighs contracted with each step but never relaxed.
Even after Jeff accelerated, Cleo had no trouble keeping up with him. She could feel her muscles responding to the increased stress, but neither her legs nor her breathing were really challenged. She felt better than ever, more alive. By the time they reached the second mile, Cleo was bursting with energy. She knew she could do more. Better. Faster. Feeling strong and confident, she began to pick up her pace, ignoring Jeff, who was visibly struggling to keep up with her.
And the more she pushed herself, the better she felt. The easier it went. With each step, her legs stretched, growing thicker and denser with powerful muscles. When she reached the third mile, Cleo finally increased her speed to a full sprint. Jeff could no longer keep up with her and shouted something after her, but she was too excited to listen or slow down. She just kept going faster and faster. She sprinted almost another 2 miles, slowing down only to let Jeff catch up. It took him over 10 minutes to catch her.
***
Jeff was a bit confused when Cleo started to run faster, leaving him completely behind. He tried to stop her, but she didn't listen and soon she was out of his sight. He also tried to run faster, but he knew he was already at his maximum limit. A few minutes later, breathing heavily and with thick streams of sweat dripping from his forehead, he finally spotted her in the distance. Half a minute later he finally made it to her place. She was examining her legs, and Jeff soon realized why. Her former stick-thin legs had been replaced by strong, athletic legs with thick thigh muscles. They were not as big as a bodybuilder's, but they were visibly toned. Even Cleo seemed to notice the changes as she moved her hands up and down her legs.
"They feel so hard," she said with her calm voice.
Jeff was still trying to catch his breath and just stammered between breaths, "What...uff...happened...uff?"
"Honestly? I don't know. But I don't care. I feel ineradicable," Cleo replied, running her hands up and down her hard leg muscles.
A cold shiver ran down Jeff's spine as he slowly processed what he saw. Somehow the Chronivac had transformed Cleo from an unathletic woman to a professional athlete in less than an hour. Something must be wrong. Panic began to set in as he realized he had set the duration to a full week... If 1 hour could cause such a drastic change, he could not imagine what a full week would do to her.
His mind raced for a solution. But the best idea would be to return home and check on the device.
"Um, Cleo, I think we should go home. Something seems wrong," he tried shyly to convince her.
"Wrong? Nothing is wrong. I feel wonderful."
"But it shouldn't be this fast."
"Why not? Afraid of losing the upper hand?" she joked.
"Cleo! This could be dangerous. Your body might not be able to handle all this stress and strain," he said worriedly.
"I think this body can handle anything," she replied, standing straight and moving her arms into a double biceps pose. Jeff stared, half alarmed, half excited, as he watched Cleo flex her muscles. Her once non-existent biceps rose to small but defined bulges. Her tank top seemed to be glued to her chest. Her midriff was exposed and her stomach showed small hints of abs. Had she grown taller? he wondered. Overall, he had to admit that she looked damn sexy.
"I have to go back. Will you come with me?" he said, after summoning all his willpower and resisting her tempting demonstration of beauty and power.