Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 07:09:47 -0400 From: Eff Del Subject: Flights of Angels-Part 10 Flights of Angels-Chapter 10 By Eff Del Never be afraid of actively seeking the answer to a question. Knowledge is the quarry of the voracious mind. Our curiosity drives us to the pursuit and our human nature causes us to hunger for even more. There is often a bonus derived from this hunt. Often, while looking for specific material, we inadvertently stumble upon information along the way that we hadn't sought or thought of when we began the quest. It is through searching for answers, that our carnivorous intellect is fed as it stalks the rich savanna of information and the lush jungle of facts. I finished my drink and was absently running my index finger around the smooth rim of the fine Irish tumbler. Ruminating upon what I'd read so far I was considering how clever and gentle the NEST program worked around what might easily become disturbing and traumatic events in a boy's life. >From the very start, the children were taught to expect planned and prescribed changes in their lives. These changes were carefully scheduled to occur at key points in the child's development and the NEST provided readymade and often unexpected solutions. I was thinking; `How cleverly conceived... How kind and protective it was" and yet, I couldn't help feeling somehow that it felt too controlling: too methodical. Underneath it all, I suddenly recognized that it was simply brainwashing; pure and simple. In an almost blinding flash of realization, I understood that this seemingly benign system was actually a well-conceived, sinister process that began almost in infancy. It was a carefully laid out program slowly leading the boy into a condition of trust and security that would make the eventual sacrifice of his body and his innocence just a part of life; another level of change. A strange change perhaps, but certainly one they were conditioned to adapt to. With this revelation, I made myself another drink and resumed reading. *************************************************************************** Even though I was with Tip now and he kept telling me that everything was going to be OK, I was still real nervous as we walked into the Seniors Building. I'd never been in there before and I sure didn't know what to expect. Man was I surprised when we got into the big main hall and there were all the older members of my Tier; the guys that had left before me. I never thought I would ever see them again. I don't know where I thought they'd gone to; I guess I never really thought about it but I never expected they had been just across the campus all along. They knew I was coming and they were waiting for me in the hall. After we all hugged and laughed and told each other how glad we were to see each other again, Tip introduced me to each of the older kids. There sure were a lot of them! Tip told me not to worry that I'd learn all of their names in time. Right now, he wanted to get me settled in and get used to things. I found out over the next couple of days that while lots of things in the Seniors Building were different, some things were the same. We still did a lot of things in tiers only now, for a lot of things, some of the tiers got bunched together. Like for sports, we did everything as eights, nines and tens. The elevens and twelves did their sports together, the thirteens fourteens and fifteens were together and the sixteens, seventeens and eighteen did all of their stuff separate from the rest of us. I found out that it was the sixteens and seventeens that would come over to the Nursery Building to help with the sports there. That's why I never recognized any of them; they were all too old for me to remember. At the beginning of `Gathering in Knowledge'...what you call `school' or `class time', we'd start out in our tiers but the Proctors separated us after a while and pretty soon we were all learning things pretty much at our own speed and we studied stuff that interested us a lot more than we studied stuff that didn't interest us. Most of our day was spent `Gathering in Knowledge' and it was a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, every week the Proctors told us that there was certain things we all were required to learn but after that, we could concentrate on things that wanted to learn about. What that meant for us kids was the sooner we did the things we had to do, the sooner we could be spending our time on stuff we wanted to do. At first, I thought we were tricking the Proctors by doing this but one day when I told Tip what I thought he laughed at me and told me that that's exactly what the Proctors wanted us to do. He told me that there were some things that everybody had to or at least should know but that everybody also had things that they were interested in just for themselves. If you were interested in something but didn't know how to learn about it, that's when the Proctors really came in handy. They would take all the time you needed to help explain something and show you where to look to find out more about it. What's funny about that though, now that I think about it...whenever I came to the Proctors with a question, they usually just showed me how to find the answer for myself. Those guys never really answered a lot of questions. You know what's interesting about that though? Almost every time I was looking for an answer to something, I'd learn something else at the same time...and it was usually something I wasn't even thinking about before and that would get me to being interested in something else. Tip said this was how it was supposed to be and that's how a kid was supposed to learn. Tip said that the more a kid learned the smarter he got and the smarter he got, the more he helped the NEST. The most important thing he said, was making sure that every Nester was the best he could be because that's what made the NEST the best place. He said it was important to be a good Nester and good Nester's did what was best for the NEST because that was what was best for the Nesters. Pretty soon after that, I was hearing the same thing from other older kids and from the Proctors as well. I didn't think about that until about a year later when I was saying the same stuff to some of the new kids that came up from the Nursery. ***NOTE FROM DOCTOR SWAIM TO ERIC: I have put together a detailed appendix on the Educational Procedures of the Nestwell-Turnbridge Academy which I've edited and bound as a separate document. It makes for fascinating reading.*** That first day in the Seniors Building, I learned that we didn't sleep in our tiers like we did back in the Nursery. Tip told me that was for the Wee Ones and us big kids slept in what he called `Groups of like Interest'. I told him that I didn't understand and he said don't worry. All that mattered right now was that he was my Lead Senior and I was his Follow Boy and that made us have a `like interest' so we would sleep in the same dorm so he could keep an eye on me. I noticed that a lot of the kids from my old tier were sleeping in the same dorm as us and they were with their own Lead Seniors. It worked out pretty good because back in the old building the Lead Seniors would have all been in the same tier as each other so...it was almost like we were two tiers joined together in the same dorm only one tier was four years older than the other. It was good and it was very comfortable. From that very first night, I knew I was safe and that I was where I belonged. I liked it right away. One of the things that was different right away was they began teaching us about what it was like outside of the NEST. They told us that the NEST was our home and I laughed because I knew that and they also told us that the other Nesters were our brothers. I kinda knew that already too but they never stopped pointing that stuff out and telling us how important it was to remember. I couldn't ever figure out how they thought I could ever forget something that important. They explained that I was old enough now to know that I was an orphan. They told me that I had a mother and father once but they died when I was a baby and that I had no brothers or sisters and no other family but the NEST and my brothers; the other Nesters. We read stories and saw videos about families on the outside; normal families...we called them "Norman Families" and some seemed very nice and some seemed not so nice and some even seemed terrible. They showed us that there were kids...even whole bunches of kids that didn't have a regular place to live and didn't get enough to eat and things like that. The more I learned, the more I was glad that I was a Nester and not a Norman. Another thing; they began teaching was about our bodies. I guess in the Nursery, I never thought about my body or that different parts had names and stuff. I mean I knew about arms, legs hands and finger and stuff but...well I never even wondered what my nipples were or if they had a name and my cock...err, excuse me I mean penis...well in the nursery, if we talked about it at all, we called it a "noodle" but we didn't really pay much attention but now in with the big kids, we talked about our bodies a lot. We also talked about girls. There wasn't any girl Nesters. All Nesters were boys but...like we always knew about girls. Actually I don't know how we knew about girls...it's not like we ever see any except in pictures and movies and videos. They began teaching us about the difference between boy's bodies and girl's bodies and why they were different. As we got older and began to go out in groups on field trips like to the museums and the zoo and stuff, of course we began to see girls and women and sometimes we even got to talk to some but mostly, we didn't have anything to do with them except of course to learn about them. You know; it's funny...I was just thinking that I've spent more time around females since I came here with Eric than I have before in my whole life. Weird huh? The great thing about that first year in the Seniors Building was not just being with my friends again and being part of the fun when the other kids from my old tier moved up from the Nursery, the great thing was having Tip. I was never scared or even very nervous that whole first year because Tip was always with me and you know what? No matter what I did not matter if I screwed up or made a mistake, nothing was ever wrong as far as Tip was concerned. He was always telling me how good I did something and how proud he was of me and how my sometimes fuck ups...excuse me...sorry I meant `mistakes' weren't important and stuff like that. Tip was on the swim team and he made certain that I learned to swim right away. Back in the Nursery, we only had wading pools so I wasn't afraid of the water but Tip showed me how great it was and how great swimming was. I got to be pretty good at swimming but not as good as Tip. What I was really good at was soccer. One of the Proctors said that it's in the blood I was never sure what he meant by that except I think he meant that people are sometimes just talented at doing some things better than others. We had enough eights nines and tens to put together three full teams with substitutes and everything. I just took to it like I was doing it all of my life...well...actually in a way I WAS doing it all my life because we kinda played soccer back in the Nursery but not like we played it in the `Seniors'. Tip laughed one day and said it must be that my red hair was magic because even though he was four years older than me, I could out dribble and out strike him. That's about how I got my Nest Name...what you'd call a nickname. Guys had started calling me red instead of Jack. They'd say things like `give the ball to Red' and `let Red take that corner kick'...stuff like that and one afternoon, one of the very older boys: he must have been a sixteen or seventeen, said; "Don't call him `Red'...he's the king of the soccer fields just like William Rufus was the king of England...call him `King Rufus' boys!" Well pretty much none of us knew what he was talking about. That kid was very interested in history and he knew a lot of things. Even if nobody understood what he was telling us, I guess they all like the sound of what he said because the name stuck...oh, not the `king' part, nobody liked that, but they all liked `Rufus' and from that day on, almost nobody called me Jack anymore. That's kinda how all Nest Names happened I guess. Things were like that for the first year or so but then, when my old tier was turning nine, Tip and his tier were turning thirteen and suddenly, they were spending a lot of their time in another building because they were starting their `special training'. When it began I could tell Tip was a little nervous but he tried to never let on because he always wanted to be brave and strong for me. He didn't want me to be scared of anything see, and so, he couldn't let me see that he was scared or nervous about anything. We all knew a little about what the special training was. We knew that when a Nester was fifteen, he was old enough that he would go out on contracts. We weren't sure exactly what contracts were except that they meant a kid would leave the NEST campus with a strange grown-up who was call the Client. They told us that Clients were very important to the NEST...the most important thing actually and that it was the job of every NEST boy to make the Clients happy and to do whatever the clients asked us to do. `Course, we weren't sure what any of that meant except somehow we all knew that it meant doing `sex stuff' with the Client...we just didn't know what that was. Now see, we knew by now that sometimes our cocks...Ooops! Sorry again...I mean penis would get hard and most of us knew that it felt good to tough ourselves when that happened but there was one very strict rule for all Nesters; you NEVER touched yourself or another Nester for long and you NEVER jerked off before you began your special training when you were thirteen. They explained that they knew it was going to be hard for some of us to keep that rule but that was because we were going to learn to do wonderful things when we began our training and it would be terrible to spoil it for ourselves. It was hard for me and for most of my friends as we got older but we were Nesters and we followed the rules because...well...Nesters follow the rules see? See, we all knew about jerking off. We'd seen most of the older kids do it especially right after they'd started their special training. They'd discovered how great their cocks...uhm sorry again...PENIS could make them feel and they wanted to do it a lot...sortta like making up for lost time you know? I remember the second day after Tip had started his special training; we were sitting around in our dorm waiting for dinner time and he was smiling a lot and I asked him what are you smiling about? He said that he had been taught about jerking and that it was wonderful and just wait til I was old enough...I was gonna love it! Then he said; "Wanna see me jerk Jack?" and he began to giggle and he said "They say it's called `jacking off' ...wanna see me jack off Jack?" and he was laughing so hard that he fell off the bed but, I said yes, I did want to see and so he pulled down his shorts and let me watch while he jerked off. It looked like it made him so happy that I wished I was old enough to do it with him. For a lot of days after that, he's jerk off while I watched and he kept telling me not to break the rules...that I'll be glad that I waited for the training to begin. As that year passed, Tip and his tier mates spent more and more time in the building for special training and they told us younger kids less and less about what they were learning. All we knew for sure was that they were learning more and more about the `sex stuff' and that as time passed they were jerking off in the dorms less and less. It was very strange to us. Except for that though, life was pretty much the same. Tip was still my Lead Senior but more and more, he was letting me do things on my own with other kids about my age. He always made sure that we spent some time together every day just to talk over how things were going and so he could tell me how proud he was of me. I remember once I told him that I was proud of him because he was doing the special training and stuff and he just smiled and hugged me and said "thanks Rufus". I liked that a lot. I liked it when we spent time alone and he told me he was proud of me because I was always proud to be his follow boy. Things just kind of went on like that. I was on the Swim Team and the Soccer team and we kicked butt at every Norman School we played against it was a lot of fun. They called us the `Acadamaniacs' I guess because the real name of the NEST was the something- something ACADAMY. We didn't care, we just called it the NEST and we loved it because it made us so special. I was playin the violin in the NEST orchestra and the Proctor-Maestro told me that if I kept developing like I was doing, he was thinking about making me First Violin next season. Boy! I couldn't wait to tell Tip and was he ever proud of me. Tip never played a musical instrument...he said he never could get the hang of it but he sang...MAN, could he sing...better than any record you ever heard and he remembered so many songs. Every morning and every evening he would sing to all of us while we were taking our showers and echo in there made him sound like something GREAT. Another year passed by and Tip had another birthday. Tip pulled me aside and told me that he wouldn't be seeing me for a while. I guess I got a little nervous and I guess it showed because he said "It's all right Rufus it's just that we'll be staying in the Lesson House for a while because we're going to learn about Fucking"... Oh, hey, I hope it's alright for me to say `fucking' because that's what we called it...I think that's what everybody calls it right? The next time I saw him was a couple of weeks later and I asked him about it. He told me that he wasn't allowed to tell me much about it but that it hurt a bit but it was real important. He told me that they were teaching him that fucking is one of the things that Clients really like doing with NEST boys and that doing it good is one of the most important things a Nester can learn to do. He told me he was trying very hard to learn to do it really good. That next year, Tip told me that he had a lot he needed to teach me because I was turning twelve on my next birthday and that meant I would be old enough that I would be some new little kid's Lead Senior. I think I must of looked at him like he was crazy because he gave me one of his great smiles and says; "Rufus , I was only as old as you when I became your Lead Senior...now it's your turn to help out some little kid." I must have looked stupid or something because all I could say was; "Tip, I just got here! I'm not ready" and he said; "Sure you are Rufus. You'll do great and besides I'll be around if you need any help." I realized all of a sudden that Tip was turning fifteen and that meant he would be old enough to be going out on contracts now. I remember the first time he was sent out. It was free time and a bunch of us were hanging around the quad just talking when one of the Proctors came up and told Tip that he was to come with him to see Director Coleman. Everybody knew what that meant right away and I looked at Tip and for the first time ever, I could tell by his face that he was afraid but then he looked at me and right away he gave me a smile. That Tip...he wasn't ever going to let me know he was afraid of anything. He just reached over and squeezed my shoulder and followed the Proctor. Tip didn't come back for a week and when he did, they had in in a special part of the building where they kept the Nesters that had just returned from a contract. I found out later that these boys rested in nice private rooms and got checked over by the doctors and talked to some special Proctors about what their experience had been like. When I saw Tip and asked him about it he told me it wouldn't be right to really talk about it. I asked him if he's made his client happy and he gave me a funny look before he said; "Oh yeah. I made him happy allright." It was Tip who told me the news that I was going to be a Lead Senior. I wasn't going to turn twelve until August but a little kid was turning eight and I was the next in line. I know I must have seemed worried but Tip told me not to be. He told me I would be great and I was more than ready. "I'll be going out on contracts more and more Rufus" he told me "Your little Follow Boy is going to really need you...you're going to be a great Lead Senior". I remember waiting in the empty Proctor's Lounge over at the Nursery Building when Tadpole walked in with his big eyes wide and lookin' scared and cute at the same time. `Course, he wasn't `Tadpole' yet, he was Sean...Oh, I guess I didn't tell you that was his Nest Name that we gave him; `Tadpole'...but anyway, that morning we had breakfast together just like me and Tip had done that day and I walked him across the campus and into the Seniors Building. His birthday is in June so almost half of his old tier was already there and Boy were they glad to see him! Sean's kinda like a natural born leader you know? He's so good at so much stuff and he's so friendly and he cares so much about everything...its hard not to just like him a lot. Anyway, I recognized him from his Underpants Ceremony when he first came up from being a baby and I was happy he was going to be my Follow Boy. I got busy trying to be as good a Lead Senior for Sean as Tip was for me. I found out pretty soon that there's almost nothin' little Sean can't do and if he doesn't know how to do something...he learns it very fast. Like, the first time I put him into the swimming pool to teach him how to swim...it was like he was born in the water. He just laughed and wiggled away and pretty soon he was getting around before anybody could teach him anything. That's when he got his Nest Name. One of the guys said he was like a little tadpole and it just stuck from then on. You should have seen him on the Soccer Pitch! I've never seen anything like him...he was almost like a one man team! It wasn't long before they had the little guy trying out for every sport we did at the NEST. Being Sean's Lead Senior was the easiest job I ever did in my life and we got to be such good friends. Our beds were right next to each other's in the dorm and lots of nights we'd just lay awake talking and giggling long after all the other kids were sound asleep. I could have gone on like that forever but then almost all of a sudden, I turned thirteen and it was time for my training to begin. ************************************************************************************** I laid the manuscript down on my desk and leaned back into the soft embrace of the Scandinavian leather. I pursed my lips together and unconsciously let out a soft whistle. I rubbed the bridge of my nose briskly and shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts. Doc Swaim had promised me that this would prove to be fascinating reading and thus far he was right. Once again I realized my feeling regarding the NEST were shifting and it was becoming harder and harder to feel that I had comfortably solidified an opinion. I also realized that I was obviously about to start on the most potentially upsetting part of the narrative; Jack's training and subsequent experiences with clients. While I wasn't actually certain that I was ready to read it, I also knew that this was one of the prime reasons I'd brought the young red head home with me; to learn this aspect of NEST culture. I got up out of my chair and walked over to the credenza and dropped two ice cubes into my tumbler. Almost automatically, I filled it from the thin green bottle of Glen Livet and took a slow sip. I slowly paced across the room and walked out and down the wall until I came to the library. I wasn't at all certain why I had come down here until I looked at the carving in the stone mantle above the fireplace. It was my family motto; established so long ago by my great grandfather. "Noli Timere" it read..."Do not be Afraid". With a nod to tradition and perhaps to my father, my grandfather and my great grandfather, I softly ran my fingers across the incised lettering. Speaking either to myself, those three forbearers of mine...or perhaps actually to nobody, I softly muttered; "I am not afraid of anything. Let the chips fall where they may." I turned upon my heel abruptly and strode out of the library and down the hall to my study. Sitting once again at my desk, I took a long sip from my glass as I picked up the brown bound manuscript and began to read once again. (to be continued) Well... For Jack it would seem that childhood is ending! Next time, we'll be reading about how the NEST trained Jack (and all the other boys) in using their young bodies to please the paying clients. In the meantime, thanks for dropping me your notes of encouragement and suggestions. 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