Chapter 6: Holiday Revelations

December 11th, 1986 - January 5th, 1987

The next day, Joey and Brad had a basketball game, and my dad surprised us when he came with the twins to watch it.

During the game, it was easy for me to get caught up in the struggle between the two teams, especially when the twins were into it as well. My dad and Suzi were used to feeling the twins’ excitement at games, but with the three of us together, we usually had to sit apart to prevent our combined empathic abilities from causing everyone else around us to go nuts when something ... upsetting happened.

After the game, we were celebrating their win at a local ice cream place. Joey’s parents had to take Suzi home while Brad didn’t join us as he was having his own celebration with Tracy in the back of his car. So it was just my dad, the twins, Joey and me.

After getting our ice cream and sitting down, my dad said, “Joey, I know you can’t work during the school week, but what do you think about the two of you working alternating weekends?”

Joey asked, “Doing what?”

“Programming. That’s what we’d tell your parents anyways. We wouldn’t mention it was people you were programming instead of machines.”

Joey grinned and said, “People? To do what?”

“From time to time, we have to add staff that haven’t been through the program. Due to recent expansions, I have more people to process than I can handle in a reasonable time. Even after their initial induction, I usually spend several weeks tuning them before giving them full access. With you boys helping me, we could do it a lot faster than I could alone.”

I asked, “How many people?”

“That depends on how far down the chain we want to go. At a minimum, seventeen. At maximum a couple of hundred, though I doubt we’ll bother going that far. You have to have some turnover otherwise people get suspicious. Are you interested?”

Joey asked, “Heck, yes, I’m interested. This will be a paying job?”

“Of course, it will. The standard rate is around $300 an hour...”

Joey gasped, “$300 an hour?!”

My dad continued, “Obviously, you won’t be able to take all that home. Your parents wouldn’t understand the value of the work, and we don’t want to offend your father’s pride. We’ll set up an offshore account for you for anything you don’t want your parents to know about. That’s how people like us handle most transactions anyways. The money will be available to you once you turn eighteen.”

Joey wet his lips in excitement and asked, “When can I start?”

My dad said, “This weekend, if your parents are okay with it. For appearances, we could send a computer home with you on Sunday and have Tim copy some programming knowledge into your head.”

Joey asked, “Is there something on the computer I could work on during the week?”

My dad said, “Let’s not complicate things. If we run out of people to work on and you want to do some programming, I’m sure I can find something for you to do. The computer is just so you can appear capable of doing the work.”

Joey thought about it a moment before saying, “I’m not sure my dad would believe Tim and I suddenly had computer programming skills. But they both would buy into something Tim and I could do together for money, even if it’s manual labor.”

I said, “The tricky thing will be thinking of something we could do that your dad wouldn’t be interested in himself. Like working on an engine would be out.”

Joey asked, “What about assembling office furniture? My dad hates that kind of work.”

My dad considered it for a moment, but then said, “That would work for a couple of weekends, but not long term.”

I asked, “How long term would this work be?”

My dad said, “Potentially very long term. I don’t like using Carol and Veronica for this type of work as I need them to conserve their energies for their own work. In the past, I’ve hired outside help to do the basics for me, and that’s the basic rate I’m quoting. I prefer doing the fine details myself simply for security reasons. But I won’t have that problem if you boys do it.”

Joey said, “The computer programming is a good idea for the long term, just not for the short term. Let me talk to my dad about us taking programming classes together somewhere. For now, I can just say I’m doing the office furniture assembly and other grunt work until I’m able to do the programming believably.”

My dad asked, “Would they allow you to accept a computer as a loaner to get you going?”

Joey said, “If it’s a crappy used one, probably. Was this your idea or Tim’s?”

I said, “It wasn’t mine. I had no idea.”

My dad said, “I’ve been thinking about this since the day we met, though it was Tim I was thinking of back then. I only now got permission from Tim’s mother to ask, and she made it contingent on both of you doing it together.”

Joey looked at me and asked, “What do you say, partner?”

I grinned and said, “I’m in. But we need to ask our boss if she’s okay with it.”

As my dad refrained from showing his frustration, Joey asked, “You don’t really think she’d object, do you?”

I shrugged and said, “Probably not. Hang on. Let me see if she’s busy.”

After the peeing incident, Suzi and I had worked out a non-startling way to let her know I wanted to talk. Once I found her mind, I made her hear a ring like a phone ring only more like distant chimes instead of a bell.

We had had a lot of fun deciding on the sound to use during our first hour class one day. Well, I had the fun. I had to keep making her forget we were doing it and then trying out a new sound to make sure it didn’t startle her. The air horn got me a hard whack on the back of my head, but it had been worth watching her jump in the air like that.

<Yes, Timmy?>

<My dad’s offering me and Joey a telepathic programming job. Sort of like the ring slaves without the rings. It’ll be on alternating weekends. Do you have any objections?>

Suzi took a moment before sending back, <I don’t think so. But what are you going to tell his parents?>

As I gave Joey and my dad the thumbs up, I sent, <We’re still working that out. Do you want to join the conversation?>

Suzi sent, <No, that’s okay. You two can tell me tomorrow at school. Thank you for asking though.>

<Why wouldn’t we ask you? You’re our girlfriend, and that makes you our first boss.>

<Ha, ha. Love you, Timmy.>

<Love you.>

After we finished our ice creams, we went over to Joey’s and had a talk with his parents. From the way Joey’s mom acted, my mom must have given her the heads up about it without any details. We didn’t mention anything about the computer programming yet. We were going to send a few nonfunctioning PCs home with Joey on Sunday, claiming they were sitting out by the garbage. Joey was sure his dad could get at least one of them working. Joey could then ask about finding a programming course they could take together.

The plan was to spend the next two Saturday mornings with the dance girls, then after basketball practice, Joey and I would head to Marlfield to work. We’d also work the weekend after New Year’s and the weekend of my birthday which happened to be a three day weekend for Martin Luther King’s birthday.

We stupidly told Brad and John our cover story instead of the truth, not thinking they’d be interested in joining us. I had to make a quick call to my dad before school, and the only answer he gave me was, “I’ll look into it, but you probably should tell them the truth first.”

So we did that in first hour along with Suzi.

Brad said, <Man, why did you lie to us? After your ring slaves, what’s the big deal?>

Joey thought, <You’re right. We’re sorry.>

Suzi thought, <Bradley, for their own security, they can’t always tell you everything.>

John thought, <But you knew?>

I sent, <Of course she knew. We wouldn’t do something like this without asking her.>

Joey asked, <Are you guys still interested even if Tim and I aren’t going to be with you the whole time? We could still goof off together Saturday night at the mansion.>

I said, <We could also go to the company’s rec building that night. It sound’s awesome.>

The Marlfield mansion’s gym wasn’t much more than what I had at mine. But the employee’s rec center was a different matter. This was a complete athletics center in a separate building off the property. There were handball, racquetball, volleyball, badminton, squash, and basketball courts, a weight room, a yoga/dance room, a lap pool, a recreation pool, a kiddie pool, and a running track. All of this was indoors.

The rec center was used by all my father’s employees, not just those living at the mansion. Children were allowed, and they had childcare services and frequently held birthday parties there. The facility was only six years old but was already being expanded.

Brad asked, <How are we going to have enough time? Basketball practice isn’t over until one and it takes nearly two hours to get there.>

I sent, <I’ll be swapping the JV and freshmen team’s practice times. Basketball practice will be over by eleven. We’ll have lunch on the way. Besides, the programming we’re talking about doing takes a lot energy. Joey and I will probably only get about four hours in before our heads start to hurt.>

Joey said, <But we could go longer if we had them in the links.>

I sent, <Don’t get greedy, Joey. Four hours on Saturday and four on Sunday is a reasonable amount of work.>

Joey sent, <You’re right. $2400 is a lot of money for one weekend.>

Suzi, John and Brad all sent an explosion of thoughts. We hadn’t mentioned how much my dad was paying us. Minimum wage in 1986 was just $3.35 an hour and the 1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am I was planning on getting cost $13,000. Officially, Joey and I would make a whopping $6 an hour for twelve hours of work. $72, about $50 after taxes. That $50 was equivalent to around $100 in 2011.

As it turned out, my dad didn’t have anything they could do over the weekend.

We made it up to them both by organizing a get together with the ring slave girls for a few rounds of strip poker and blowjobs during fourth hour. That was a lot of fun even if Joey won every hand. Joey’s poker face had become so good even I couldn’t tell when he was bluffing. Sometimes I’d sense him feeling guilty about that.

Little did I know how much trouble his poker face and programming experience he’d gain from the job would later cause.

Saturday was a busy day. Eight o’clock dance practice finishing around eleven, Joey leaving at 10:15 for basketball practice. We were working to have both a public and private performance ready for my New Year’s Eve party.

Joey and I traveled to Marlfield and were dropped off at the mansion on the corporate bus I had used to bring the girls to my home. My dad, Joey and I spent a good six hours that day working on fourteen people before calling it quits. Joey really hadn’t had much experience yet at doing this sort of thing so my dad had to coach Joey for the first couple of hours while I worked on my own. The hardest part was what my dad called tuning which was slightly different for each person.

Joey and I both had mild headaches and were a bit tired, but we still headed to the employee’s rec center after dinner.

Having only been there once, the twins came with us. They immediately became interested in the women’s dance workout, though for different reasons than why Joey and I were. I mean, shit. There wasn’t a woman in there who wasn’t physically fit and sexy as hell, and the dancing while not purposely erotic was stimulating to watch.

Even though this was a private facility, there wasn’t any nudity or fooling around allowed there. Not that I couldn’t have if I really wanted to, but Joey and I were saving our sexual energy for the twins that night.

Joey and I enjoyed ourselves even though whenever we played against someone else, we lost horribly. Joey kicked my ass at one on one basketball, but I somewhat made up for it when we played handball. That was one of the activities I had played at Crow the previous spring.

We returned to the mansion around ten, and after showering, we laid down in my bed against the pillows with the T.V. on while the twins nursed on our cocks to relax.

Joey said, “I never thought I’d see the day where you would accept this kind of life.”

I looked at him and asked, “What do you mean? What life?”

“Being your father’s son. We just showed up at the gym, and if we wanted a court, people gave up their reservation for us.”

I said, “They use the facilities all the time, Joey. If we wanted to do this on a regular basis, we’d schedule it like everyone else. Besides, it’s technically my dad’s private facility. Use of the facility is a perk of working for him.”

Joey said, “Still, you didn’t hesitate.”

I shrugged and said, “I’ve been living here on the weekends since summer. I guess I’m just used to his employees doing that sort of thing for me. I’m like their prince or something.”

Joey asked, “Does that make the twins princesses?”

I grinned and said, “Oh, yes. How much you want to bet they end up running their own dance exercise program there during the week?”

The twins pulled their heads from between our legs and looked at me then at each other. They apparently hadn’t considered that.

Joey snickered and said, “No bet now.”

The twins looked at me and sent me their excitement over the idea and indicated they wanted me to talk to my dad about it.

I told them, “It’s late. Let’s bring this up at breakfast, okay?”

As the twins went back to doing their thing, Joey asked, “How many of your dad’s women have you fucked?”

I said grumpily, “Just the ten grad girls at the workshop and Wanda and Vicki. Shit, Joey. Are you saying I’m letting myself be corrupted by my dad’s lifestyle?”

Joey groaned, “No, Tim. I think you’re doing great. Besides, what’s the fun in fucking someone else’s girls? I guess I’m just worried you’re going to wake up one day and decide you’re sinning again or something. I look at what your dad has done and can’t help but be impressed. I mean, all his people are hardworking, dedicated and happy. They all have their own lives and what they give up I think is worth the benefits they receive.”

I looked at Joey and asked, “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m not trying to say anything other than I think your dad’s business plan is a good one. I mean, for someone like us. Just think what we could do after high school. We can go to a university we like and expand the ring slave and tutor concepts there. Just imagine having college girls at our beck and call while they go to class and earn straight A’s. Suzi and the twins would have the same thing only with guys.”

I asked, “And we’d be taking classes too?”

Joey said, “Sure. Though we wouldn’t need to attend class that much. That reminds me. When are you going to show me how to do that knowledge copy thing?”

I said, “Right now, I don’t think I can. There’s a piece missing in my knowledge that would let me copy it. I think I’d have to go back to Crow to get it, but then it will probably only let me use it on others attending Crow.”

Joey sighed, “Shit. Why didn’t you mention that before?”

“My dad and I only recently worked that out. I can show you my dad’s method, though.”

Joey shrugged and said, “Sure. That’s better than nothing.”

But then Joey looked at me and said, “So what do you think?”

I frowned and asked, “About...”

“About college?”

I sighed and said, “I don’t know. Shit, Joey. Ask me in another year. I don’t want to think about shit like that yet. I’m still trying to work out my high school curriculum.”

Joey said, “Which is why I think we need a plan for college. You’re talking about taking college courses your senior year. That will put you even further ahead of me and Suzi if you do that.”

I said, “Not if you follow a similar plan.”

Joey groaned and said, “Tim, why are you in such a hurry? Why can’t you just enjoy high school while you’re here?”

I said, “I’m bored with the classes here, Joey. They’re slow and tedious. Crow’s classes were fast and challenging. I don’t want to go back to Crow, but after experiencing their program ... I’m just trying to find the right balance for me, okay?”

When I saw Joey wasn’t content with that, I said, “Look at it another way. If I do this right, I’ll have my master’s degree by the time the rest of our class could have a bachelor’s degree. If you want, I’ll help you accelerate your education too. We could earn PhDs by the time we’re twenty-four and have part-time positions at a university while running our own corporation. That would allow us to skim the best of the best for ourselves.”

Joey grinned and said, “I thought you didn’t want to think about college yet.”

I punched him in the arm and said, “You tricked me, didn’t you.”

“Not exactly. But seriously, Tim. You think we could do that?”

I said, “I’m fine with your plan, but I don’t know what I want to do for a degree yet. I really don’t want to commit to doing something until we’re closer to it. Whatever we do end up doing, I’m sure we’ll do it together. We’re partners, remember?”

Joey gave me a weak smile, yet his eyes speaking his disappointment. He thought I’d be excited about the idea. I didn’t know why I instinctively felt cautious about the future like that, but I couldn’t ignore it.

Joey didn’t bring it up again that night. The twins were ready for some personal attention and the next hour was a blur of fucking and sucking.

The twins released us from their mild empathic control while Joey and I were both on top with our cock fully embedded inside them. I was startled to find how strong of an empathic connection I seem to have while coupled with them like that. This was as strong if not stronger than what I had felt when coupled with Joey and Suzi through Suzi.

I had never felt closer to the twins. They were my empathic playmates and truly my sisters in a lot of ways. The love I felt for them was a lot like the love I felt for Joey and the trust was very similar too.

That night while we were coupled like that, the twins communicated to us how grateful they were to us to having unlocked their potential while also opening their eyes. The act of removing the collars wasn’t just symbolic. They had defied my father’s will, something that Gladius twins weren’t supposed to do. I didn’t understand everything they were expressing to us, but that act had given them the freedom to choose not to alter us in the way my father wanted.

However, because they hadn’t released their full empathic potential that night, they had somehow damaged their own potential. The incident with Penny’s boys had been a direct result of their need to complete what they had started, ideally with someone close like Joey and I were. While they would never completely recover their full potential, it was much stronger now, and each time they used it on us strengthened it a little more.

They expressed how they would never betray our trust and how important it was that we trusted them. After Joey and I both echoed their own feelings towards them, they changed subjects.

My sisters seemed frustrated that my empathic abilities weren’t emerging any faster and seemed worried I might not ever fully develop them. To Joey, they impressed how he and Suzi were just as important to me as I was to them, and he shouldn’t worry that I would ever leave either of them behind. They encouraged us to embrace the connection we felt and that I had already stopped sharing myself with anyone else like I had with them.

That was a bit startling to me. Granted, one of the purposes of the ring slaves was to have people I could have sex with without making love to them. All three of us reserved making love to just between the three of us. Except for Penny, I hadn’t made love to anyone else who was not part of my flock. Even Holly had been just a friendly fucking.

The twins pointed out I had with one other person, and it took me a few moments to understand who their feelings were describing.

Eric Roberts, the gay boy from camp. I tried to argue that my feelings towards him were more brotherly than anything else, but the twins insisted it was more than that. Joey didn’t weigh in on that topic. None of us expected to see him until summer at camp, so I didn’t argue with them.

At that point, the twins tried to explain something to us that completely went over our heads. That seriously frustrated them.

Having sex with my sisters without their direction was a new experience for me and Joey. I began to understand it was disorientating to have two males plugged into them like that who weren’t in physical sync, but it was shockingly a simple matter for me and Joey to work in sync without resorting to telepathic links. I realized later the twins had been preparing us to do that by partially controlling us in previous fucks.

As I slowly made love to Joy, I could sense Joey staring into Honey’s eyes while I stared in Joy’s. I instinctively wanted to connect Suzi to us, but I resisted that urge. Suzi was with her family and cousins visiting her mother’s parents in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Suzi specifically told me not to connect to her unless it was an emergency.

After the twins were satisfied and conked out, Joey slipped in beside me and without a word, snuggled up to me like how we did when sleeping in one of our twin beds together. Just enough physical contact without it being gay, we had slept that way together since we were eleven and learned what gay meant. The two of us being naked kind of violated that concept, but we didn’t care about that anymore. Joey fell asleep shortly after doing that.

My mind was a swirl of thoughts as I laid there trying to fall asleep. I kept thinking about the differences in abilities and the people I had had sex with. The people I had infected with my need I had cured with my love. I had made love to them and they had surrendered themselves to that love. I had made love to Joey and Suzi too, but they had never surrendered like that. But then that had felt different. I had shared not just my heart with them, but my body and mind.

The connection I felt with them was stronger than ever, but I could remember feeling that sort of connection with Joey all the way back in elementary school. And I had felt drawn to Suzi the day I met her on the playground in fifth grade. I couldn’t say I felt a connection to her, but yet in seventh grade, she was the one girl I constantly thought of even before I started fantasizing about girls.

The connection I felt with the twins was similar but different. There was love, but it wasn’t like what I felt for Suzi. Again, it felt more like what I had always felt for Joey. Like we were partners. I still felt that about Joey, but now it was confusingly mixed with the same type of feelings I had for Suzi.

What did I feel for those I had shared my love with? My flock were just ... intimate friends at this point. Same thing for Penny. I had no urge to see them again. Not like with Joey and Suzi. Did I feel something for Eric? I sort of did, but not like Joey or Suzi. No, that wasn’t right either. It’s like how I had originally felt about Suzi. What did that mean?

I thought back to Penny. I had made love to her three times, and each time I had watched her surrender and then proclaim her love just like the girls in my flock. Somehow that had taken her resentment and fear of men and had empowered her to capture the hearts of her two love slaves. I hadn’t detected any commands in her head afterward either.

Where all those people now connected to me somehow? That’s what Father Xavier had said. He called it the will ability.

I tried to see who all I could feel out with my mind. If those people were connected to me somehow, surely I could find them easier. I tried Gwen first since she had surrendered twice to me. I was startled when I did it, not really believing I could. But confusingly, Cindy, the first girl I had cured, was even easier, but Rachel and Tina, two sisters I had repeatedly attempted to cure before finally getting it to work, I couldn’t.

Brad and Sandi I could find, and John after a little more effort. Lex I couldn’t, but then I hadn’t seen him in almost a year. I found Sheryl and Dawn, but I couldn’t locate the other ring slaves.

I couldn’t find Penny either. I gave up at that point and finally drifted to sleep.

Aggravatingly, Joey brought the college subject up at breakfast and my grandmother of all people shot the idea down.

“Do you really think you won’t have competition in doing that? I doubt you’ll find a campus that didn’t have some sort of controlling presence already established there. You would be better off working through Charlie’s established channels to gain an education then come to work for us.”

My dad said, “Now, now, Mother. There’s nothing wrong with finding their own way. After all, that’s what Sam and I did.”

My grandmother said, “You both had more help than you realize. But enough of this matter. It is obvious that Tim is uncomfortable about discussing it at the table.”

I talked about what the twins had explained to us the night before and then discussed everything I had thought about afterward, especially how confusing it was I could locate certain people easier than others. Then on a hunch, I asked my grandmother if she knew anything about the will ability.

When my grandmother didn’t respond, my dad said, “There are a lot of different interpretations of what one ability is considered separate from others and what is just an extension of another. Some can argue empathy is partially telepathic, though it is generally accepted as separate. I’m not familiar with this will ability, but then I’ve never heard of someone being able to share ones lifeforce with another either.

“But back to your empathic abilities. I know the twins may not seem educated, but Mother has been homeschooling them ever since I received them when they were six. While they can’t read or write beyond their names, they understand arithmetic, and ever since they fully started comprehending English, mother and others have read a great deal to them. When it comes to the empathic abilities, they are experts. They know far more than they let on. Don’t discount anything they express to you about your own abilities.”

I said, “I haven’t. At least I don’t think I have, have I?”

Honey indicated I hadn’t fully taken them seriously about my lack of progress.

I said, “It’s not that I don’t take you seriously. But I’m not sure I’m ready to have yet another ability to control. From what I gathered, it’ll be a lot like how my telepathy did what it wanted until I had used it enough to control it properly.”

The twins sent a sense of frustration and a few other emotions, and it took me a few moments to piece it together.

Joey asked, “What was that?”

“I think they’re telling me they’d be able to train me as it emerges to prevent me from accidentally using it.”

Joey and I both felt their confirmation.

Joey asked them, “Well, is there anything he or you can do to help him?”

The only thing I got that I could interpret was I’d need to try harder.

I asked, “Try harder to do what?”

Joey said, frowning, “Feel people out, I think. And maybe you should try forming those connections with more people. Use it as much as you can instead of whenever it occurs to you.”

I sighed and said, “I guess I haven’t tried to do much since football season was over. But you have to understand that ever since I was seven, I’ve resisted using my abilities like that. It’s practically a habit now.”

My dad said, “I’m sure it won’t take much to break that habit.”

I sighed and said, “Okay, but don’t blame me if my smile starts making all the girls swoon at school.”

My grandmother said, “Oh, I’m sure you’ll be doing more than just making them swoon before you’re done.”

My mom said, “In that case, Charles, you might want to keep those RVs around. We might need them.”

I sighed, but then my dad wiggled his eyebrows at me, cracking me up.

The day after Christmas, Suzi, Joey, and their parents all joined us at my mansion for dinner. The three of us were incredibly nervous because we felt we needed to tell their parents about how we felt about each other. We had no idea how they were going to react, and both Joey and Suzi made it quite clear my parents and I were not to interfere in any way except verbally.

During our discussion about how to break things to their parents, I had mentioned to both Suzi and Joey the idea of coming clean about my telepathy, but they both were firmly against that idea. Doing that would only complicate things.

There was also the matter of exchanging gifts. I knew my gift to Joey would most likely be initially refused, if not by Joey, then by his father. Suzi’s gift I wasn’t as worried about since my dad was also giving her father the goblets they had discussed last year. Of course, Suzi’s mom might object, but then she might not. She did kind of like me. :)