In an age where everyone was obsessed with what others were wearing, where they were going, what they were doing, it was only a matter of time before someone took it as far as it could possibly go in order to satisfy society's voyeuristic tendencies. Gone were the days of social media, where all you could do was send pictures and videos. The area of consciousness streaming had begun.
This was made possible by a surgical procedure that installed the necessary biotech into a person's parietal lobe. At one time, this would have been a major procedure, but was now as easy as scheduling a yearly physical, and a client would be home the same day, able to stream.
The parietal lobe made it all possible. It is the part of the brain that translates the messages received from the five senses. These messages could be transmitted live to another person's parietal lobe, and experienced in real time. Whatever the sender saw, touched, heard, tasted, and smelled, the receiver would as well.
What controlled it all was a website called World Consciousness. Anyone who wanted to stream parts of their life, like going on a hike, having a party, sharing the nervousness of a first date, only had to go live with their parietal signal. Anyone who wanted to silently ride along and experience what the streamer was sending, selected that stream, and were immediately sharing the streamer's five senses. The people that shared another person's stream were called ride alongs. To them, it felt exactly the same as if they were living it themselves. It was a thrill to all parties involved. In a matter of months, everyone was doing it.
There were restrictions of course. To begin with, you had to be 18 or older to undergo the procedure. If you were streaming, you determined when you were online, and when you weren't. You couldn't be controlled by a ride along in any way. You were in the driver's seat. That being said, streamers did take requests, earning money through tips and subscribers to their streams.
At first, streams had been mostly family friendly, but like all technology, that envelope got pushed quickly. Hacks and mods began to appear rapidly. The first ones primarily benefited the receivers, such as intensifying sensations. But others began to focus on the streamers, which eventually led to an even more invasive experience, as a high school senior by the name of Emily would soon discover.
Emily couldn't wait to stream that day. Her backwards town didn't let students stream from school, which didn't even make sense. She could see why being a ride along would be banned, because it would be like they were somewhere else, in somewhere else. But just to stream, well, she was present and accounted for when she did that. It wasn't fair. She'd have so many more followers if she could stream during the day.
As the high school senior left her shoes by the door, she took in the quietness of the house. She was first home. Her older brother would be getting home from his backbreaking factory job in about an hour, and her mom and dad usually got home shortly after that. This was her favorite time to stream, because she knew she looked great, and there were no parents or annoying older brother around to embarrass her in front of her followers.
Emily bounded upstairs to her room and shut the door behind her. She did a quick check in the mirror to make sure her hair and makeup still looked good. She nodded to herself that she passed inspection, and then gave a cursory glance around her room. Parents could say what they would about the supposed negatives of streaming, but it did help keep a room clean. If her fans saw through her eyes leftover bits of food or dirty clothes, she would die of embarrassment.
She smoothed out a wrinkle on top of her bed, then went to her computer. The screen came alive, and she pulled up the World of Consciousness website. She logged in and looked to see if some of her favorite people were online. She rarely did ride alongs herself, but made exceptions if her favorite celebrity, musician, or influencer were on. None of them were, which made sense. She was pretty sure none of them had been scheduled.
Famous people's streams were always carefully coordinated and controlled. The general populace knew this, but it didn't stop them from hopping on to experience a more glamorous life, fake though it might be. It was a thrill to sit in a makeup chair before a movie star headed out to shoot a scene for a big blockbuster. Or to walk a red carpet. Or to feel what it was really like to be a rockstar and come out onto a stage and perform in front of thousands of screaming fans.
But those were all very special events, and they did not happen often. The bulk of streamers were exactly like Emily. Just normal people from all walks of life, who enjoyed the knowledge that there were dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people experiencing every little thing they did. The most mundane things could become amazing when seen through the eyes of another, even school. But Emily's followers wouldn't know, because it wasn't allowed.
As she selected her name and prepared to go live, she wondered again why her school couldn't be more progressive. She knew of schools in other districts that encouraged streaming, especially in class, saying it provided accountability and safety for both teachers and students. Apparently her school didn't see it that way though, because they were a bunch of old school hicks.
Emily smiled as she saw a digital queue forming. Her loyal followers, waiting to ride along with her. There seemed to be more than usual today. She was ready for them. She'd been thinking about what to do and say all day. She pressed her finger to the screen, and opened her senses up to whoever wanted to ride along.
In another part of town, Bob, a man in his late forties, had gotten home early from work, and was now going from one ride along to the next. When he found his last two meetings had been canceled, he excitedly rushed home to enjoy an empty house. This solitude enabled him to do the ride alongs he wanted, ones that were generally frowned upon from people like his wife. But he knew lots of people that had the same desire he did, to experience what it felt like to be the opposite sex.
The second he had gotten home, he locked the doors, closed the curtains, and turned on the large monitor in his living room. He went to the World of Consciousness website and began to scroll through women that might interest him. There were lots of women that allowed people to ride along while they were doing all sorts of things, from shopping, cooking, cleaning, working out, and much more. But Bob's tastes were very specific. He was looking for the streamers that were doing anything remotely sexual. His favorites were the sexy challenges that streamers often did.
Trends and challenges sprang up all the time on World of Consciousness. They usually took the form of a dance, a specific pose, or a challenge. A lot of them were harmless and silly. But several skirted the edges of teasing and provocative, like putting on skin tight leather pants and then streaming hands that ran up and down them.
Other challenges went way past provocative, like the ice cube challenge. Ladies most often did this one. They would schedule a time, and a few million people, mostly men, would log on to experience it. It involved a streamer going to their ice box, and taking out a single ice cube. They'd hold it between their fingers, letting everyone connected to them feel the cold, and see it through the streamer's eyes.
Then everything would disappear as the streamer closed their eyes. The ride alongs couldn't see the ice cube, but could tell its destination seconds later. They could feel a shirt being lifted, and a hand brushing past a soft belly, reaching higher and higher, until it came to an obstruction of even softer flesh. The ice would ride along a curve, until it found a very sensitive nipple that would stiffen at the cold. The streamer would leave it on there as long as they could bear, some letting it melt completely. The ride alongs felt it all, including the arousal that most streamers had when doing the challenge. And then the stream would end, and most ride alongs would log off in order to have some quality alone time.
Nudity was allowed, but not openly advertised. Actual sex acts could get you banned if it was reported to a moderator and they witnessed it in real time. That didn't stop it from happening though. Every so often, a person would begin streaming thirty seconds or so before achieving climax. These were extremely popular, but it was a classic case of being in the right place at the right time.
