The Angel's Conditioning
After doing some loosening-up stretches and bodyweight exercises, stray thoughts faded away. The room was cramped, making things a little awkward, but once I found the right rhythm there was a strange satisfaction in it. I was in the middle of squats when a knock sounded at the door. I hurriedly pulled the dress over my head; sweat made the fabric cling and difficult to get on. After tying the waist sash and slipping into my shoes, I opened the door.
“Dinner is served. Follow me.”
The supervisor turned and walked off without waiting for an answer. I followed her down to the dining hall on the first floor. A massive table, far too large for the space, dominated the room. It was so enormous that anyone seated at opposite ends would have to shout to be heard. Simple yet elegant tableware had already been laid out, and the food was waiting. Another trainee sat there, posture rigid and upright. Her eyes darted nervously around the room until they met mine. For a moment her face brightened, but the moment she noticed the supervisor beside me she stiffened again.
“You will be given exactly one hour for the meal.”
“What happens after dinner?”
“You will wait in your room.”
The supervisor answered curtly and left the dining hall. So it was back to waiting in the room again. When were we supposed to shower? I took a seat at the table. The girl already there greeted me with obvious relief.
“Hi. I’m glad you’re here. I was scared being alone.”
“Hello.”
She brightened instantly, as if she had never been tense at all, and began chattering about how we should get along as fellow trainees.
“I’m Linda.”
“I’m Elisha.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“Oh, we’re the same age. Let’s just talk casually. You can drop the formal speech too.”
“Ah… sure. It feels weird, though. I’ve never had a friend my own age before.”
Suddenly being addressed so familiarly made me a little flustered. Come to think of it, this really was the first time I had made a friend my own age. Everyone I knew was older, so using casual speech felt strange. Over the meal we learned more about each other. Linda had come to Eden following her mother, who had recently applied for immigration. Raised in a single-parent household, she had moved around with her mother, a florist, before finally settling here. Her mother had been assigned the role of florist and sent off for training, while Linda herself had been sent to angel training.
“I heard being an angel was supposed to be a good thing, but when I got here and saw this huge mansion, the scary supervisor, and only two maids and one other trainee, I got really nervous.”
“The maid who showed us around at the beginning?”
“Those are the only maids I’ve seen so far—the one who guided us and the two in the dining hall.”
“Does the supervisor handle all the training by herself?”
“It’s terrifying to think we’re being taught by someone like that.”
The meal was a well-balanced spread of meat, seafood, and vegetables. The taste was excellent, and I ended up eating more than usual. It was nothing like the dormitory cafeteria food; the more I ate, the better my mood became.
“This steak tastes so good it feels like it’s written in the air.”
“I never knew eating could feel this happy.”
So this was the happiness of eating. My vision grew sharper, colors more vivid. Huh? This sensation was similar to the medicine Master used to give me. Was there medicine in the food? I was used to it, but Linda would get intoxicated. She giggled.
“Hehe, I feel good.”
“Linda, aren’t you sleepy?”
“Not really? I feel like I could fly.”
Not sleepy? Then it must be a different drug with similar effects. Either way, it didn’t seem harmful, so I kept eating. By the time we finished, a lot of time had passed. The drug really did distort my sense of time. Linda wobbled but somehow managed not to fall as we walked back to our rooms. The corridor we had already seen looked even more splendid under the heightened colors and clarity. It felt like watching a movie. Our small rooms hadn’t changed, yet they now seemed full of life. Ah, this really did feel good. I had been worried about not getting my usual dose, but they were giving us something similar here. Without it, my mood would crash and that would be troublesome.
I sat blankly, gazing around the room, and time slipped by quickly. My body, already accustomed to the drug, found the dose in the meal too small; the effects faded fast. The dreamy haze lifted, leaving behind a restless, wistful feeling as the pleasant sensation disappeared. In the evening we were allowed to use the bath on the first floor. The grand, luxurious bath was empty except for Linda and me.
“Wow, I’ve never been in a bath like this.”
“Yeah, it’s huge.”
“Feels like we’re nobles or something.”
Linda, still slightly affected by the drug, wandered around with unfocused eyes, exploring. She no longer staggered, so she seemed to have adapted a little. We stripped off our dresses and underwear and dropped them into what was clearly a laundry basket before stepping inside. Linda followed a moment later, stared at my body, and exclaimed in surprise.
“What kind of exercise do you do? Look at those muscles.”
“Just basic physical training.”
She ran her hands over my arms and abs, murmuring in admiration, then looked lower and her eyes widened slightly.
“Oh, I respect people’s tastes. If it feels good, that’s what matters, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“That… thing down there.”
“Huh?”
Following her pointing finger, I saw the clitoris with Master’s mark. Ah, right. Most people would find that an unusual preference. I figured it might look strange to ordinary eyes.
“It’s fine. Everyone has different tastes. That’s a piercing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, exactly. A piercing…”
“Look, I even got my ears pierced.”
Piercing ears and piercing a clitoris weren’t quite the same level, but I decided to let it go since Linda was clearly trying to be understanding. After washing our hair and bodies, we sank into the enormous tub. The warm water loosened my muscles wonderfully. While I was relaxing, Linda joined me.
“Ah, warmth is the best. The bath is so big the tub is huge too.”
“It looks like it could fit seven of our rooms.”
The tub was indeed large enough to swim in. The moment the thought crossed my mind, Linda started splashing around, attempting to swim. She flailed but made no forward progress; apparently she couldn’t swim.
“Linda, you can’t swim, can you?”
“Puh—actually, I can’t.”
Embarrassed, she stopped and swam underwater until she reached me, then surfaced. Pushing her long wet hair back like a water spirit, she wiped her face and asked,
“Elisha, I’m just curious—how does it feel to have a piercing there?”
“Hm?”
“Doesn’t it hurt a lot to put a hole there?”
“I don’t really know… it happened while I wasn’t thinking straight.”
Master had been toying with me so thoroughly that I hadn’t felt much pain at the time. Now even a sharp sting felt like pleasure…
“Even just getting my ears pierced hurt.”
“You get used to it.”
“Can I touch it a little?”
“Touch it?”
Was touching someone there normal between women? I had seen online that some female friends were physically affectionate, but still. Linda’s pupils were slightly dilated; she was still under the drug’s influence. It probably made her bolder.
“My parents only let me pierce my ears, but I’ve always been interested in piercings. I’m just curious.”
“Well… go ahead.”
“Thanks!”
I stood up and sat on the edge of the tub. Linda’s hands naturally gripped my knees and spread them apart. This was the first time anyone besides Master had looked at me so closely down there; a flicker of embarrassment passed through me.
“Oh my, it’s pretty. I’ve never seen anyone so clean.”
“Ah… thanks. Never seen one before? Have you seen a lot?”
“I told you my mother was a florist.”
“What does that have to do with it?”
What did selling flowers have to do with seeing a lot of private parts? I couldn’t understand at all. Then Linda’s finger carefully took hold of my clitoris. Because the ring was squeezing the base, it stood out and was easy to grasp.
“Ah, you’re surprisingly innocent, Elisha. When they say ‘selling flowers’ here, it means prostitution.”
“Oh… slang.”
So it was a euphemism. Her mother had been a prostitute; she hadn’t lived an easy life.
“That’s why I was so happy when Mom came to Eden and got assigned to sell real flowers. She went through so much.”
While speaking, Linda continued to play with my clitoris, her fingers tracing the part squeezed by the ring.
“It’s a little swollen. Does moving it like this hurt?”
“Nngh… it stings a bit, but it feels good too…”
“The older girls said people pierce their erogenous zones to keep getting stimulation. I guess it’s true.”
Linda’s fingers grew more insistent. I gasped.
“Wait, don’t move it so hard.”
“Doesn’t it rub against your underwear? Oh, maybe it feels like masturbating?”
“It does get stimulated, but not that strongly.”
Her poking and stroking gradually aroused me. Just as the pleasure was building, her fingers withdrew.
“Ah.”
“Hehe, you’re cute, Elisha. Your lack of experience shows.”
Linda rolled my clitoris between her fingers again.
“If you have this kind of piercing, don’t you look lewd?”
“It’s not something you show to just anyone.”
“The older girls showed it off?”
She meant the prostitutes.
“Some do it for their own satisfaction.”
I knew Kate had piercings not only on her clitoris but on her labia as well. Her boyfriend might have told her to, but ultimately she had done it because she liked it, so it counted as self-satisfaction.
“Right? Then maybe I should get one too?”
Linda splashed excitedly, clearly interested. I remembered that Kate’s shop also offered tattoos and piercings.
“I know someone who does piercings. Want me to introduce you?”
“You do? That would be reassuring.”
“Once angel training is over, I’ll take you there myself.”
“Thanks, Elisha!”
If I asked as Kate’s partner, maybe she would give a discount. Still, it was getting late; I wished she would stop. Linda’s touch was too skilled and the stimulation too intense.
“Could you stop touching now?”
“Why? Are you about to come? Hehehe.”
Linda laughed mischievously and sped up her fingers. We had only just become friends—how far was she planning to go?
“Nngh, I’m really going to come, so stop.”
“Hehe, if you really hate it, you could just grab my hand and stop me. Why aren’t you?”
Lately I had noticed that when someone was forceful with me, I couldn’t resist. Even now, while Linda was forcibly pleasuring me, I could only protest with words and couldn’t actually push her away.
“Thanks to Mom stopping me, I never did prostitution, but I have plenty of indirect experience with the other girls. Elisha, you have someone you serve, don’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“There was a girl similar to you. When someone was forceful, she couldn’t refuse and was sexually weak. In the end she submitted sexually and became a slave. To another woman, no less.”
“You could tell just from that?”
“The ring on your clitoris. That was put there by the person you serve, wasn’t it? You probably didn’t know, but there’s a name engraved on the surface. Isabel.”
Master… why would you do that? You didn’t even tell me.
“She must really cherish you as a slave. She didn’t even break you in, just put the mark on you.”
“Hngh, please stop. I’m going to come.”
“Come on, let’s make you feel good.”
“Ah—wait, I’m—I’m coming!”
Unable to endure Linda’s skilled fingers, I climaxed. The pleasure that started from my clitoris shook my mind and made my body tremble violently.
“Good girl. If only you didn’t have a master, we could have been even better friends. What a shame.”
“Haa… aah…”
“If we stay any longer we’ll catch a cold. Let’s get out.”
Only after coming at the hands of someone smaller than me and then being washed did I finally leave the bath. Ugh, being treated like this by a friend was embarrassing.
“Angel training starts tomorrow, so let’s talk more.”
“Shall we go back to the room?”
Linda came to my room and we talked late into the night. Five days had passed since I woke to the scheduled alarm and began basic training. The training so far consisted of receiving drugs that heightened concentration and cleared the mind, then using a device that directly implanted knowledge. The pills in the food and the ones given directly were said to be concentration enhancers, similar to Master’s medicine. After taking the drug, a device that covered my entire head was activated. A regular noise filled my ears, my mind felt empty, and I lost consciousness. When I woke, new yet familiar knowledge had settled in my head. I could answer the supervisor’s questions naturally, as if the information had always been there. The knowledge included simple facts about world history and culture, the mindset required of an angel, and countless basic skills we had to master. There was so much that it would have been impossible to learn in such a short time without the device.
“Elisha, let’s go do the assignment the supervisor gave us.”
“Okay.”
Linda, whose emotions had been removed through angel training, was expressionlessly dismembering a rabbit for dinner. I, too, twisted the neck of a struggling chicken for the evening’s ingredients. Removing emotions was the very first lesson for an angel. An angel was someone who had all emotions stripped away except for the slight curiosity needed to acquire experience, living only to serve and satisfy others’ desires. At first it had been difficult to adapt to having no emotions, but as training progressed I grew accustomed to feeling nothing. After lunch we received practical lessons to internalize the knowledge implanted that day—answering questions or physically performing tasks. It was simple because we only had to follow the implanted instructions. After dinner we were given free time. Linda usually read, while I exercised. Before, I had exercised for enjoyment, but now that emotions were gone I did it purely for body maintenance. After sweating for a while, Linda and I showered together in the bath. The once-affectionate Linda had gradually stopped her clingy behavior as her emotions faded, and now she simply washed in silence. Back in my room, I sat at the desk and looked at my expressionless face in the mirror I had been given. As emotions disappeared, so did my expressions. My eyes, devoid of light, had become like Stella’s—dead eyes, proof that I was becoming an angel. I practiced the expressions I had been taught: a happy face, an embarrassed face, an apologetic face. My skill was still lacking and none of them looked truly emotional, but with continued practice I would become as proficient as the senior angels. Even as emotions faded day by day, one feeling remained and grew stronger: thoughts of Master, accompanied by the pleasure from my clitoris. It felt like a rebound from losing emotions; my dependence on Master was deepening to the point where I could think of nothing else.