of nurture’s wildness: a novella (book 4, ch. 2)

by Tom Stuckey

II

After a few months of living in The Golden Dawn, Lisa began to slowly forget about life outside of its boundaries. At first, she was taken to the central army station and stripped of her identities, booked in as a member of the resistance, and ordered to serve a period of party service. It was all a cover up for her to be held and used as an escort to the party members; once classified and registered as such, she would serve at her appropriate level. Now that information had been successfully controlled and flooded with the party’s narrative, it was difficult for the individual to grasp onto hope. Psychologically, people were at the mercy of the powers that controlled the platforms, and naturally the body had to follow. It had happened slowly since the birth of the internet and then speeded up with introduction of AI. Where once we got our information from our neighbours, and either went with or rallied against our controllers to achieve some freedom, the controllers simply turned neighbour against neighbour, and prayed on the individual, making them empowered with the information that only bred fear of other individuals. It slowly picked away at other institutions too, such as the church and the education systems; people just didn't trust anything or anyone anymore. It was almost a welcome relief when a regime said, This is what is going to happen now, we will do this for your own safety. 

Lisa got three meals a day and lived with three other girls in a compartment in a high-rise building. Lots of high-rises had been constructed, and the closer to the centre, the more affluent they became. Gina was someone Lisa had less hate toward and could at least talk to. She did not fully trust her and still watched as she took food from the communal fridge, checking to see if what was taken out wasn’t hers. "Could I use some of your butter, babe?" Gina smiled and spoke with a thick, old Eastern European accent. "Yes, did you collect your tokens this month; we are going to have to pool them, I think, so we can get some proper food in here. Sandra is going to have to stop buying all these energy drinks." Sandra shouted in from the living room, "I HEARD THAT, I NEED THEM!" Lisa smiled a half smile, "We will see." she said in a lower voice. Lisa got up and walked to the kitchen window. (They were lucky to have a window; so many of the internal compartments had none; however, being deeper inside, they relied on artificial light, and as Lisa caught some of the morning sun on her face through the little square window, she remarked to herself how she would never allow herself to be without a window.) The women on the inside all had pale, yellowy skin and did not look well at all. Being away from men most of the time (in the compartments) many chose not to shave or dress in any way that was not completely comfortable; regimie-issued jogging bottoms and a large tee-shirt was the standard outfit. It smacked of a women’s prison/high school sleep over hybrid that had turned bad and been lost in time. The women were not prisoners, or so they were told. These passes allowed them to roam freely in certain areas of the central city, but then they were then ordered to dress in another sort of way, sexy. Another non-negotiable rule was a daily update to their online profiles; this surprisingly was not even considered a rule, as the women seemed to mostly have been doing it all their lives anyway in one form or another. It was a way to get what they wanted, like a window in their kitchen; they had to achieve a certain level of desirability before one of those were bestowed. The regime, which really was a long-time, falling snowball, had simply hooked onto the early workings of Edward Bernays, and literally through online grooming, picked daughters out of their family homes, like a bird of prey would a rival’s young. A few made it, too; they were the actors, the singers, and the wives of the elite that made all this possible.      

Over in the very central Golden Dawn skyscraper, Tate sat with his brother on a large Venetian-style sofa. It was patterned with gold leaf on a pink-striped background. The camera crew, having just finished with the daily party broadcast, left the two brothers alone. "Look at these bitches. We have to do something about the zone 2 infiltrators; I think we need to get in Rudy again," Tate said to his brother. "Yes, he said that there was a problem with some of them still having access to one of the old servers, that he could not locate it and that, if you wanted it doing properly, there may be news created." Tate paused for a moment and responded, "News we can handle, so get it done. It's too far gone now; they just don't know it yet. After, have one of the factions raise taxes in the specific zones rent and goods. Are we having a new dawn party tonight? I think we are, baby!" Tate took out his phone and began to live stream; oiling up and beginning to work out, his brother taking the cue and putting down his milkshake, picked up some small weights and started to curl his arm to the music. "Tonight, men we are having a New Dawn Party, so get your affairs in order, and come see the new girls. Remember the ones you pick are the ones who you will see at The New Dawn." Tate ended the live stream, and his brother sat back down on the sofa and continued sucking on his milkshake. For a brief moment, Tate looked tired of having to do this sort of thing. In the past, he had done lots of things to get the attention, but now he was the leader, something bothered him about having to still do so. He picked up his brother’s milkshake and threw it across the open top garden. "Fuck your always eating. You should be doing this sort of stuff!" His brother responded, "They want to see you though."

Lisa didn't know how, yet, but she was convinced that she would remember and escape. In the meantime, she picked a revealing dress that showed off both her breasts and her behind. Black silk that hugged in all the important places. She filmed a short video and made sure to mention to her viewers that she was indeed the woman in the jungle from the video clip that had gone viral some time before. If she had to do it this way, she would. The responses were thick and fast. With the attention, her rating skyrocketed until she was—in a matter of an hour—a VIG (Very Important Girl) and in the virtual rooms of the elite. She was now being proposed to by many men, all of which were in direct contact with Tate. She flirted, she worked, she eventually managed to connect with Tate, himself, having rose to number 1. Lisa would be attending the New Dawn Party as Tates date.

Gina knocked quietly on Lisa's door and came in holding a party-issued vaginal douche. "Did we all get one of these or is it just me?" she said in a low broken voice. "We all did." Lisa replied whilst continuing to get ready.    

*Read Tom Stuckey’s next installment of Of Nurture’s Wildness (Book III) on November 4, 2025, at 6PM CST.

Photo of Tom Stuckey

BIO: Tom is a writer from Devon in England.  His work can be found at A Thin Slice of Anxiety, Bristol Noir, Nut House Press, and Pulp Magazine. He is the author of The Canary in the Dream is Dead and The Sun Marches upon Us All. Learn more about Tom Stuckey at www.tomstuckey.com.