tickleesage
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This is my original story, so if it sucks, blame me. I've written fiction before, but never fetish fiction. This very long and drawn out, that's how I roll. Let me know what you think, I might even continue if there is any interest.
~ts
Kailey scrolled down the page looking for something she hadn't already tried. As a struggling college student, money was tight. It was tight even before she discovered and became hopelessly addicted to Eveslight. Now in her third year, having used up all her loans and all her generous relatives, desperation was setting in. She gave plasma, did clinic trials of experimental drugs, sold all her extra clothes, even did internet surveys for pennies. With the cost of her new addiction, she just couldn't making ends meet.
Eveslight was an elite cyber-drug. Although considered illegal under a recently passed neuro-hacks law, no agency enforced it. When you transferred your credits and received your temporary password, the results were instantaneous. A login screen, a warm wash, a soft pinkish light, then pleasure and nothing else. Heroin was supposed to be like this; but that came with needles, shady druggies, serious risks, unclear dosage, and nasty side-effects.
Eveslight was safe and lasted only as long as your session stayed connected. Since you connected from your home and set the timer, it could be done anytime you had an hour to spare. She even left it on while she slept. An ex-boyfriend got her started on EL, and they had spared nearly every hour since. She went to class, studied enough to pass, and connected to EL every chance. She didn't speak to him or any of her other friends anymore, which was fine since they didn't have anything to talk about anyway. When they did bump into each other, there was just knowing glances, followed by pleasantries about getting caught up some time and apologies about needing to be somewhere else.
The page she looked at, three times a day, was a classified page for desperate college kids. This is where she found infusions of quick credits: clinical trials, paid surveys, whatever she could do. It was also a pretty entertaining read. People posted "modeling" jobs which usually required humiliating naked pictures for some amateur porn site; she had refused several before she figured that out.
Pages of old electronics and furniture for sale, were now mostly filled with X13 and X14 coms, head mounted computer interface systems. They were outdated, being superseded by X15 or XS16. These older coms interfaced with the web, and with interactive lessons with full-field visual and audio support, but lacked neuroconnectivity. No N.C. meant the newest movies and video games were less exciting, and more importantly, no neurohacks like Eveslight. Suddenly tons of old coms were for sale.
Kailey had an XS16 with two custom amplifier mods. This gave her full N.C. and a very amplified EL experience. It was almost top of the line, leaving her completely broke. Eveslight charged her about 100 credits a day, on a slow day. Luckily, she spent practically nothing on food. Her roommate, Elisa, was a health-crazed vegan who insisted on feeding Kailey twice a day with various organic superfoods. Elisa, oddly, didn't even have a full com, she used an old sight-only visor with earbuds for her lessons and worked at a day-spa to pay for her green food habit. She refused to use anything that could "microwave her brain" and insisted that if Kailey wouldn't stop making a zombie of herself, she'd at least be a well fed zombie.
Kailey was described as "cute" because she was barely 5 feet tall and always looked younger than her age. She was thin with sharp features, but a very curvy and soft skinned body. Her hair was straight, black, and shaved in the back--tapering to become longer toward her face. All Eveslight addicts had a similar style because hair could create a small interference in the NC interface at the base of the skull.
She was pale white from rarely going outside anymore, which made a nice contrast for her dark hair and blue eyes. She maintained a good muscle tone since her high-end com stimulated muscle contractions regularly to prevent wasting, seizing, and cramping. All her stylish clothes had long ago gone to the second hand shop, leaving her to look frumpy in well-worn and thrift store quality clothes. Today, she wore her usual oversized and mismatched pajamas.
Since the page was text only, Kailey could see Elisa through the glass of her com as she struggled to get their front door open. She carefully held the door open with her sandaled left foot and squeezed in the opening with two large reusable bags full of groceries. Elisa was tall and slender, with wavy brown hair, and hazel eyes. She always looked like she was coming from a park or a beach, and usually smelled of essential oils and ethnic spices. Her left sandal fell off before she made it clear of the door. She stumbled, but recovered gracefully on her now bare foot. Kailey's thought of getting up from her folding chair to help was interrupted by this text ad: "Testers Needed, ages 18-26--healthy, must have neuroconnectivity experience"
"That's me!" Kailey said aloud, selecting the ad with her sight cursor.
"If you are referring to who would be too lazy to get up and help me, I kinda figured." Elisa smirked, but could tell that Kailey had already tuned her out.
Kailey's eyes moved slowly left to right through the blue tinted glass of her com. "This looks great! It just got posted today, and it says they'll pay based on how much time I'm willing to spend and how willing I am are to participate." Kailey's eyes focused on Elisa again, "But it doesn't say what is being tested."
This secrecy intrigued both girls, mainly because Elisa didn't know about the neuroconnectivity part yet. "You should come with me Leez."
"I'm not taking any drugs, you know how I feel about all those chemicals, Kay." She put on her own visor to search for the ad in question.
"Anyway, what is this "level of participation" thing?"
"They do that all the time. Basically, you have to get blood drawn every so often, or answer questions every hour, or do some motor skills activity. It's no big deal, you know I do them all the time and I haven't grown a third arm yet." Kailey illustrated her point by holding her hands up and wiggling her lithe fingers.
"Yeah, you are the poster of good health. Spaced out all day, strapped to your fancy helmet... When was the last time you ate?" Elisa knew exactly, but she often wondered if Kailey ever felt hungry. She didn't wait for an answer, it wasn't coming.
"I can't even find that ad, Kay."
"That's strange..."
"Yeah. You want to forget about that for now and help me put away this produce before it rots?"
"Let me respond first. Ask when it starts and how much time and money they are talking about. This could be my chance to pay you last month's rent, get caught up on bills, even help out with some grocery money."
"Riiiight. Or, more likely, upgrade your com again. So it can make your toes tingle or something."
Kailey was moving her mouth silently, which meant she was already composing her response. Elisa rolled her eyes, sighed heavily, and got up to start putting away the bok choy, mushrooms, and kale.
--
"Thank you for your interest. Because of the sensitive nature of our product, we can only answer a couple of your questions before you sign our Confidentiality Agreement. There are 3 levels of participation that are being paid.
The first paying level, we will pay you 200 credits a day to wear a data collection chip at home. This chip fits any standard Neuro-compatible com, and helps gather data to advance our next level products.
The second level, we pay you 400 credits a day. You attach the same chip and must participate in several lab activities.
The third level which requires at least one month of level 2 participation, pays 12,000 credits a week. You would not go home at all during testing and must sign on for week long intervals. There are some exclusion criteria you have to pass to be admitted into the Level 3 program.
No more information is available before you sign our agreement.
Hope to hear back from you soon,
CyberCom, LLC."
--
She got an address and went the next day. She was greeted by two guys who looked like grad-students at a huge dilapidated warehouse entrance. One was very tall, dressed in business casual, and had a thin, crooked goatee. The other was average height, clean shaven, obviously out of shape, and sported a t-shirt with lines of programming code on it. They were unimpressed with her in general and barely made eye-contact as they ushered her into a cramped and unkempt office. Shoving a pile of papers at her, they instructed her to fill out a health history and sign the standard confidentiality agreement. It basically swore her to complete secrecy about anything she saw, heard, or tested. There were far too many pages to read and she was in a hurry to start getting 200 credits a day, She flipped quickly through and signed every dotted line.
The taller one took her com and plugged it into their diagnostics machine, then he took a much greater interest in her. Showing the pudgy, shorter guy some numbers and exchanging glances. They both grinned and started looking at her instead of through her. "You have logged an impressive number of com hours on such a new rig." "Are these numbers right?!" She didn't even look at the numbers, just nodded quickly.
"Amazing, just amazing." The tall one placed a round glass sensor where the com usually clasped behind her neck and fused in some thin wires. "With this attached, you will be a gold mine of data." She nodded again, hoping to avoid telling them what she did with all those hours. They both stared at her with palpable excitement.
--
After that day, the credits came in like clockwork. No contact and no questions about why she spent so much time plugged into her com. The tracker they added strangely improve her EL signal, and it wasn't long before her thoughts drifted to the 400 credit level. She held off for several weeks, paid a few bills, bought some new clothes, even treated Elisa to lunch a couple times. Then, curiosity and greed got the better of her. She returned to the warehouse.
At Level 2, she could double her money, afford the next gen com and pay someone to get her grades under control. Secretly, she wondered if any of their "lab activities" would boost her Eveslight signal even more. The same two "grad students" greeted her, but she now suspected they were in charge of the whole place. The parking lot was always empty and she never saw anyone else working there.
The tall one wore designer sunglasses and had evened up his still-ugly facial hair. The chubby one had another silly t-shirt on, this time with some half-naked anime girl on it. She thought she heard them talking as she approached, but they just smiled warmly when she was close enough to hear.
"Right this way. I'm Adam, by the way." The short one spoke as he pointed her down a long empty loading bay. "He's Chris." She looked over her left shoulder to see the tall one quickly look up as she turned her head. She knew he was checking out her ass, his face reddened. Kailey had been sure to wear a low-cut blouse, short, bright red skirt, and matching heels. She hated being nothing but a bunch of numbers to them, and hoped a little sex appeal would improve her chances to make Level 3. She straightened her skirt and grinned.
At the end of the bay was a cavernous warehouse space. One wall blinked and whirred with racks full of servers and fans. In front of that wall several rows of what looked to be tanning beds all wired together sat idle. Various prototype coms laid on a shelves beyond the strange beds, most were partially dissected and heavily modded. The place needed better lighting, and a janitor. Take-out containers overflowed from their trash bin, the floor was covered in dust and various food spills.
"What is this place?" She heard herself ask. Her voice sounded eerie in the enormous, echoing room. "That wall over there is Eveslight One." Adam answered matter-of-factly.
Kailey stopped dead. "That's it?" She lost interest in the rest of the room and stared in awe. "Yep, We built that last year to get our degrees, mine in Computer Science and his in Engineering." Adam had trouble maintaining eye contact, and his mannerisms were very obviously nervous.
"And these are our next project..." Chris trailed off as Kailey wandered away from him and drifted closer and closer to the servers. He looked as Adam, "Moth to the flame." Adam grinned broadly. "I told you this would work."
"What would work?" Kailey spun around as she reached the wall. "Nevermind, I don't care. Is it stronger if I jack in right here?" She was pulling her com from a handbag before they could answer her. Chris nodded and followed her lead over to the wall, "But, if you finish your month of level 2, you'll get the chance to try our next project before anyone else."
"Really?! What's it like? Better the EL?" Kailey could feel her pulse racing and her palms start sweating. "It is so much stronger that we had to design a whole new com system for it, which you'll get to beta test." She clapped her hands together and shivered at the thought. "Oh my god, where do I sign and what do I have to do?" Adam approached with another huge document, "Here, and here... annnnnd here." She signed each line as quickly as he pointed to them all the while eyeing the strange tanning beds, which from this angle looked more like operating tables.
Twenty signatures later, Chris brought her a small hand towel. "Your first lab experiment is to go into the room at that end of the building and get a massage." She eyed him suspiciously. "That's it," Chris reassured her, "And you wear this com while you do it. It will help us tune the com to your nervous system." Adam was hiding behind 3 giant screens, but she could still see him glancing around the corner to see if she was getting ready to run for it.
"Fine," She yanked the towel from his hand, "but this had better not turn pervy." The com he handed her was emerald green, lighter and thinner than hers. Its body only covered the base of her skull and around her ears. Pale green glass encased the crown of her head and eyes. She was thoroughly impressed with the design, this was too sophisticated to be some pervert's scam to get her naked.
Chris Smiled, "Yvonne is very professional, I see her weekly. Tomorrow, we'll have you doing aerobics."
And so it went, for the next 4 weeks. Go walk outside for an hour, go to the amusement park, go out and eat your favorite meal, etc. They meticulously recorded all her sensory experiences, even talked her into using a special vibrator; at home, of course. It was the last day of her 4 weeks, and she wasn't going to let modesty stop her from getting to try the new Eveslight. The vibrator was equally sophisticated and pretty much the greatest thing she had ever experienced next to Eveslight. It stimulated her with sparkling bursts of energy and had her arched up and moaning instantly. They insisted in the instructions that she use it for an hour, leaving her a panting, soaking mess by the end.
--
The next day she woke with a purpose. Running from the shower, to the gluten-free muffin Elisa left out for her, to her car, and straight over to the warehouse. Within minutes they were prepping her to try out one of the simulation tanks in between gulps of coffee.
Adam looked at her apologetically, "You have to take your clothes off, they'll mess with the sensors." She stripped without hesitation having gotten used to these activities, and closed the glass lid on the simtank as she hopped in. "We'll know immediately if you have any health complications, this tank measures all your vitals with millisecond accuracy." He was trying to be comforting while obviously staring at her naked body.
She now laid naked inside the first "tanning bed" she saw setting in rows 4 weeks ago. She got goose bumps from the cold vinyl padding underneath her while clasping her com in place. As the com booted up, her vision blurred, and was replaced with a photorealistic image of herself standing, naked, in anatomical position in a completely black space. The avatar looked almost just like her, but skewed by the men who had coded it. Her boobs were a little bigger, nipples more pert and pinkish, she had no noticeable body hair, her makeup was applied with pixel precision.
She could no longer feel the vinyl or anything else. Two small lighted dials appeared in the corner of her vision, but she barely noticed them as she reeled from the disorientation of this new out-of-body experience. She couldn't restrain her excited breathing. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, but nothing happened.
"Is this it? I don't feel anything yet. I can't even move this stupid thing." She tried to will the avatar to move. The table's com completely overwhelmed her normal senses and replaced them with the floating avatar in front of her. The avatar wasn't responding.
Chris's voice sounded distant and distracted as she heard him say, "We're still getting everything ready on our end, can you feel this?" A small metal rod appeared in the space, and touched the flesh just above her navel. She could feel the cold steel as if it were on her own belly only more intensely. "I can feel that. Wow, Brrrr." She felt a shiver and the avatar wiggled a little. The skin on her avatar looked smooth but was actually covered in ultra fine colorless hairs, they stood on end in reaction to the cold metal. "Okay, can we get this started now?"
Adam's voice boomed as if a speaker were inside her head, "Yes, we will get started now."
Several seconds of dial turning and button pressing later his voice boomed again. "This new software is more interactive than what you are used to. First, we'll let you know what the stakes are." He pressed some keys, put on his com, and began the demonstration. Both men watched her body through the glass of the simtank.
The avatar was attacked by floating neon hands. Kailey's nerves erupted. Jolts under her arms, between each rib, on top of her hips, behind her knees. Anywhere the fingers touched the sensation was like nothing she had felt before. Slapping uselessly at her attacker, she could do nothing but yelp and roll around inside the enclosure. The avatar didn't follow her movements and thus remained defenseless. Her mouth opened and shut but only broken gasps came out now. Tiny fingers stroked effortlessly between her toes and up under her soles. "Eeeeeeeeeeee" was the most articulate sound she could muster.
He turn it off with a com command, they were already aroused by her reaction. "Hey! What the hell?" She sounded furious. He started it again and the hands fluttered up and down her exposed belly, squeezed her thighs, and gently stroked her neck on both sides. In seconds her angry demeanor was reduced to babbling pleas and giggles.
"Ahhh hahaha Staaaaahp." The tickling was more intense than she had ever experienced in her body. Being unable to move a muscle, or see anything other than her own abused body, or hear anything other than her own labored forced laughter; it made the whole experience surreal and suddenly terrifying.
"No ho ho ho more! Ple he he heease... You can't." She strained in a small, mousy voice. She could see the violet and red dials moving in her HUD, they spiked during the demonstration.
"That was level two. This has fifteen different settings. " she heard Chris say as the hands evaporated.
"To make this fun, I've programmed tons of different scenarios. Users will log in, vote for the scenario, and you will participate, maybe even win time in "The Light." You'll be playing against several computer generated foes in each "game" but also real players can play, if they pay for premium access." explained Adam, calmly.
"I don't want to participate in this, you said this was the new Eveslight. I'm done, unhook me. I'll give you the money back."
"This is the new Eveslight. We've been playing with your simulated body in Eveslight one for awhile, that's why we picked you for the beta. You are one of its greatest inspirations." Chris explained, an obvious smile coming through in his tone.
"Do you know how much time and money we've put into this? What did you think all this preparation was for? Sorry. You took the money, you signed the contract, and you will be here, working for the next seven days." Adam sounded totally different now, resolute.
"Seven days? I can't make it seven minutes if you're going to tickle me! You're kidding with me right, just trying to scare me? What do you mean by "simulated body?" Eveslight is some kind of Trojan?" She fired off questions in a panic as a loading scene appeared behind her.
Chris responded, "A Trojan brings in malicious software, our first program was just a 2-way experience. While you soaked in "The Light" your mind projected a self-image to our server. We were able to capture and manipulate it during your session. The body you projected was perfect and ultra sensitive, plus you were always logged in. We couldn't have asked for a better test subject. We started making extra money with girls like you, freaks pay top dollar for an hour with your avvy. We sent that ad you saw to all our most popular avvy girls. When we realized it was you, that day when you came in for level one testing... Do you know what they'll pay for time with this new version of you?"
"Okay, I'm serious now, get me out of here." She tried to feel her real body, to reach up and take off the com, but the avatar was her body now, and it started to move its hands up around its neck.
"No chance. But, keep in mind, you can win any of these games. Winning gets you the rest of the day in Eveslight. Just wait 'til you feel how intense that can be. You won't be disappointed. So let's see how many users we've got for our very first live test!" clicking sounds filled her ears. Her avatar moved around fluidly, exactly as she would have moved her own body. It remained in third person, so she had to watch whatever horrible things they were planning to do to her. Some of her fear felt different, almost like arousal. The possibilities of this experience filled her with a combination of fantasies and nightmares. The first tickling experience was so forceful and overwhelming.
"1,314 testers, and the majority are people who've bought time with your avvy. This should be interesting. Let's start the voting." The loading background split into 3 parts. The first was a white hospital building with pink letters that said "luna-ticks" underneath. The second formed into a purplish landscape with "Martian Garden" written in green and brown vines. The last section became a swirling vortex with "Tunnel Troubles" encircling the center.
"Oh, three great options. They want you to pick from here Kailey, just touch the screen you want." She looked at her options and crossed her arms. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You can't make me do this." the challenge hung in the air and she almost wanted the consequences. Something inside her craved that experience again.
There was a short silence followed by a buzzing sound. The neon hands reappeared in all the space around her, dozens of them swirling and wiggling fingers menacingly. "You are right, we can't make you choose one of these options."
Her wrists were grabbed and pulled over her head, making her feet dangle. Each ankle was grabbed and forced apart into a V at shoulder height. She screamed and tugged against their impossible strength, but was held in place as the smaller tickling hands descended slowly on her exposed armpits, ribs, and belly. Each stopped just over her sensitive flesh, as more hands positioned under her thighs, knees, and feet.
"Do your worst!" She growled through gritted teeth.
Outside the simulation, Chris and Adam looked at each other with surprise. Neither had expected this reaction. The awkwardness of being painfully aroused while standing side-by-side was forgotten entirely as they simultaneously wanted to be in the simulator instead of controlling it. One game of rock-paper-scissors later and Chris was laying in the next simtank, stripped and commed in.
Each hand attacked at once, but not like before, they stroked excruciatingly softly. Two fingers drew circles along her upper arms, ten fingers slowly danced down her ribs and then back up. A figure eight was drawn over and under her navel. Hands stroked simultaneously up her thighs, up her calves, and all over the tops of her feet.
"Ohh, mmmmm. hehhh" She fought the urge to laugh with long, drawn out breaths. Her eyes glistened and shot back and forth, trying to watch each new hand as it appeared.
Two hands wriggled along the small of her back, one finger traced along the cleft between her butt cheeks, another lightly scratched the skin above her straining hips.
"Okay! hehehehe" laughter erupted from her as their pace gradually increased. "okayokayokay! hahahahahaa!" she struggled and fought but the tickling persisted. Increasing again, and again in speed and intensity. "Okay, what?" Adam teasingly asked.
The hands on her ribs began a new tactic of gently poking, first one side then the other. She'd squeal and shift to the opposite side only to get a jolt on that side and squirm right back. Back and forth they kept her jumping while all the other hands continued their teasing strokes.
"2,600 logged in now! Are you ready to choose a game now, Kailey? They'll pay to watch this as long as you want to continue being difficult." Adam sounded giddy, and she couldn't hear Chris at all. In his simtank, the sensation from every groping appendage was being enjoyed silently. The hands did not give her a chance to respond immediately, they showed no mercy for what seemed like forever. The tickling, jabbing of her ribs, and stroking of her outstretched skin slowed only slightly. She managed a quick nod in between gasps for air and shrieks.
Most of the hands switched to gentle petting, but 10 fingers continued to play her armpits like a piano. "Was that a yes? I couldn't tell." Adam was loving this powerful position. "yes yes yes!" She responded in a panic as they all started tickling again without warning. "please please hahahaha pleeeease!" Suddenly they all vanished. She was dropped into a quivering lump in front of the options screen again.
"Choose." Adam said in his commanding voice, then he clicked off his mic.
"You better be wiping down the vinyl in that tank Chris!"
Chris reemerged, red-faced and winded. "It's clean, and you have got to try that thing."
~ts
Kailey scrolled down the page looking for something she hadn't already tried. As a struggling college student, money was tight. It was tight even before she discovered and became hopelessly addicted to Eveslight. Now in her third year, having used up all her loans and all her generous relatives, desperation was setting in. She gave plasma, did clinic trials of experimental drugs, sold all her extra clothes, even did internet surveys for pennies. With the cost of her new addiction, she just couldn't making ends meet.
Eveslight was an elite cyber-drug. Although considered illegal under a recently passed neuro-hacks law, no agency enforced it. When you transferred your credits and received your temporary password, the results were instantaneous. A login screen, a warm wash, a soft pinkish light, then pleasure and nothing else. Heroin was supposed to be like this; but that came with needles, shady druggies, serious risks, unclear dosage, and nasty side-effects.
Eveslight was safe and lasted only as long as your session stayed connected. Since you connected from your home and set the timer, it could be done anytime you had an hour to spare. She even left it on while she slept. An ex-boyfriend got her started on EL, and they had spared nearly every hour since. She went to class, studied enough to pass, and connected to EL every chance. She didn't speak to him or any of her other friends anymore, which was fine since they didn't have anything to talk about anyway. When they did bump into each other, there was just knowing glances, followed by pleasantries about getting caught up some time and apologies about needing to be somewhere else.
The page she looked at, three times a day, was a classified page for desperate college kids. This is where she found infusions of quick credits: clinical trials, paid surveys, whatever she could do. It was also a pretty entertaining read. People posted "modeling" jobs which usually required humiliating naked pictures for some amateur porn site; she had refused several before she figured that out.
Pages of old electronics and furniture for sale, were now mostly filled with X13 and X14 coms, head mounted computer interface systems. They were outdated, being superseded by X15 or XS16. These older coms interfaced with the web, and with interactive lessons with full-field visual and audio support, but lacked neuroconnectivity. No N.C. meant the newest movies and video games were less exciting, and more importantly, no neurohacks like Eveslight. Suddenly tons of old coms were for sale.
Kailey had an XS16 with two custom amplifier mods. This gave her full N.C. and a very amplified EL experience. It was almost top of the line, leaving her completely broke. Eveslight charged her about 100 credits a day, on a slow day. Luckily, she spent practically nothing on food. Her roommate, Elisa, was a health-crazed vegan who insisted on feeding Kailey twice a day with various organic superfoods. Elisa, oddly, didn't even have a full com, she used an old sight-only visor with earbuds for her lessons and worked at a day-spa to pay for her green food habit. She refused to use anything that could "microwave her brain" and insisted that if Kailey wouldn't stop making a zombie of herself, she'd at least be a well fed zombie.
Kailey was described as "cute" because she was barely 5 feet tall and always looked younger than her age. She was thin with sharp features, but a very curvy and soft skinned body. Her hair was straight, black, and shaved in the back--tapering to become longer toward her face. All Eveslight addicts had a similar style because hair could create a small interference in the NC interface at the base of the skull.
She was pale white from rarely going outside anymore, which made a nice contrast for her dark hair and blue eyes. She maintained a good muscle tone since her high-end com stimulated muscle contractions regularly to prevent wasting, seizing, and cramping. All her stylish clothes had long ago gone to the second hand shop, leaving her to look frumpy in well-worn and thrift store quality clothes. Today, she wore her usual oversized and mismatched pajamas.
Since the page was text only, Kailey could see Elisa through the glass of her com as she struggled to get their front door open. She carefully held the door open with her sandaled left foot and squeezed in the opening with two large reusable bags full of groceries. Elisa was tall and slender, with wavy brown hair, and hazel eyes. She always looked like she was coming from a park or a beach, and usually smelled of essential oils and ethnic spices. Her left sandal fell off before she made it clear of the door. She stumbled, but recovered gracefully on her now bare foot. Kailey's thought of getting up from her folding chair to help was interrupted by this text ad: "Testers Needed, ages 18-26--healthy, must have neuroconnectivity experience"
"That's me!" Kailey said aloud, selecting the ad with her sight cursor.
"If you are referring to who would be too lazy to get up and help me, I kinda figured." Elisa smirked, but could tell that Kailey had already tuned her out.
Kailey's eyes moved slowly left to right through the blue tinted glass of her com. "This looks great! It just got posted today, and it says they'll pay based on how much time I'm willing to spend and how willing I am are to participate." Kailey's eyes focused on Elisa again, "But it doesn't say what is being tested."
This secrecy intrigued both girls, mainly because Elisa didn't know about the neuroconnectivity part yet. "You should come with me Leez."
"I'm not taking any drugs, you know how I feel about all those chemicals, Kay." She put on her own visor to search for the ad in question.
"Anyway, what is this "level of participation" thing?"
"They do that all the time. Basically, you have to get blood drawn every so often, or answer questions every hour, or do some motor skills activity. It's no big deal, you know I do them all the time and I haven't grown a third arm yet." Kailey illustrated her point by holding her hands up and wiggling her lithe fingers.
"Yeah, you are the poster of good health. Spaced out all day, strapped to your fancy helmet... When was the last time you ate?" Elisa knew exactly, but she often wondered if Kailey ever felt hungry. She didn't wait for an answer, it wasn't coming.
"I can't even find that ad, Kay."
"That's strange..."
"Yeah. You want to forget about that for now and help me put away this produce before it rots?"
"Let me respond first. Ask when it starts and how much time and money they are talking about. This could be my chance to pay you last month's rent, get caught up on bills, even help out with some grocery money."
"Riiiight. Or, more likely, upgrade your com again. So it can make your toes tingle or something."
Kailey was moving her mouth silently, which meant she was already composing her response. Elisa rolled her eyes, sighed heavily, and got up to start putting away the bok choy, mushrooms, and kale.
--
"Thank you for your interest. Because of the sensitive nature of our product, we can only answer a couple of your questions before you sign our Confidentiality Agreement. There are 3 levels of participation that are being paid.
The first paying level, we will pay you 200 credits a day to wear a data collection chip at home. This chip fits any standard Neuro-compatible com, and helps gather data to advance our next level products.
The second level, we pay you 400 credits a day. You attach the same chip and must participate in several lab activities.
The third level which requires at least one month of level 2 participation, pays 12,000 credits a week. You would not go home at all during testing and must sign on for week long intervals. There are some exclusion criteria you have to pass to be admitted into the Level 3 program.
No more information is available before you sign our agreement.
Hope to hear back from you soon,
CyberCom, LLC."
--
She got an address and went the next day. She was greeted by two guys who looked like grad-students at a huge dilapidated warehouse entrance. One was very tall, dressed in business casual, and had a thin, crooked goatee. The other was average height, clean shaven, obviously out of shape, and sported a t-shirt with lines of programming code on it. They were unimpressed with her in general and barely made eye-contact as they ushered her into a cramped and unkempt office. Shoving a pile of papers at her, they instructed her to fill out a health history and sign the standard confidentiality agreement. It basically swore her to complete secrecy about anything she saw, heard, or tested. There were far too many pages to read and she was in a hurry to start getting 200 credits a day, She flipped quickly through and signed every dotted line.
The taller one took her com and plugged it into their diagnostics machine, then he took a much greater interest in her. Showing the pudgy, shorter guy some numbers and exchanging glances. They both grinned and started looking at her instead of through her. "You have logged an impressive number of com hours on such a new rig." "Are these numbers right?!" She didn't even look at the numbers, just nodded quickly.
"Amazing, just amazing." The tall one placed a round glass sensor where the com usually clasped behind her neck and fused in some thin wires. "With this attached, you will be a gold mine of data." She nodded again, hoping to avoid telling them what she did with all those hours. They both stared at her with palpable excitement.
--
After that day, the credits came in like clockwork. No contact and no questions about why she spent so much time plugged into her com. The tracker they added strangely improve her EL signal, and it wasn't long before her thoughts drifted to the 400 credit level. She held off for several weeks, paid a few bills, bought some new clothes, even treated Elisa to lunch a couple times. Then, curiosity and greed got the better of her. She returned to the warehouse.
At Level 2, she could double her money, afford the next gen com and pay someone to get her grades under control. Secretly, she wondered if any of their "lab activities" would boost her Eveslight signal even more. The same two "grad students" greeted her, but she now suspected they were in charge of the whole place. The parking lot was always empty and she never saw anyone else working there.
The tall one wore designer sunglasses and had evened up his still-ugly facial hair. The chubby one had another silly t-shirt on, this time with some half-naked anime girl on it. She thought she heard them talking as she approached, but they just smiled warmly when she was close enough to hear.
"Right this way. I'm Adam, by the way." The short one spoke as he pointed her down a long empty loading bay. "He's Chris." She looked over her left shoulder to see the tall one quickly look up as she turned her head. She knew he was checking out her ass, his face reddened. Kailey had been sure to wear a low-cut blouse, short, bright red skirt, and matching heels. She hated being nothing but a bunch of numbers to them, and hoped a little sex appeal would improve her chances to make Level 3. She straightened her skirt and grinned.
At the end of the bay was a cavernous warehouse space. One wall blinked and whirred with racks full of servers and fans. In front of that wall several rows of what looked to be tanning beds all wired together sat idle. Various prototype coms laid on a shelves beyond the strange beds, most were partially dissected and heavily modded. The place needed better lighting, and a janitor. Take-out containers overflowed from their trash bin, the floor was covered in dust and various food spills.
"What is this place?" She heard herself ask. Her voice sounded eerie in the enormous, echoing room. "That wall over there is Eveslight One." Adam answered matter-of-factly.
Kailey stopped dead. "That's it?" She lost interest in the rest of the room and stared in awe. "Yep, We built that last year to get our degrees, mine in Computer Science and his in Engineering." Adam had trouble maintaining eye contact, and his mannerisms were very obviously nervous.
"And these are our next project..." Chris trailed off as Kailey wandered away from him and drifted closer and closer to the servers. He looked as Adam, "Moth to the flame." Adam grinned broadly. "I told you this would work."
"What would work?" Kailey spun around as she reached the wall. "Nevermind, I don't care. Is it stronger if I jack in right here?" She was pulling her com from a handbag before they could answer her. Chris nodded and followed her lead over to the wall, "But, if you finish your month of level 2, you'll get the chance to try our next project before anyone else."
"Really?! What's it like? Better the EL?" Kailey could feel her pulse racing and her palms start sweating. "It is so much stronger that we had to design a whole new com system for it, which you'll get to beta test." She clapped her hands together and shivered at the thought. "Oh my god, where do I sign and what do I have to do?" Adam approached with another huge document, "Here, and here... annnnnd here." She signed each line as quickly as he pointed to them all the while eyeing the strange tanning beds, which from this angle looked more like operating tables.
Twenty signatures later, Chris brought her a small hand towel. "Your first lab experiment is to go into the room at that end of the building and get a massage." She eyed him suspiciously. "That's it," Chris reassured her, "And you wear this com while you do it. It will help us tune the com to your nervous system." Adam was hiding behind 3 giant screens, but she could still see him glancing around the corner to see if she was getting ready to run for it.
"Fine," She yanked the towel from his hand, "but this had better not turn pervy." The com he handed her was emerald green, lighter and thinner than hers. Its body only covered the base of her skull and around her ears. Pale green glass encased the crown of her head and eyes. She was thoroughly impressed with the design, this was too sophisticated to be some pervert's scam to get her naked.
Chris Smiled, "Yvonne is very professional, I see her weekly. Tomorrow, we'll have you doing aerobics."
And so it went, for the next 4 weeks. Go walk outside for an hour, go to the amusement park, go out and eat your favorite meal, etc. They meticulously recorded all her sensory experiences, even talked her into using a special vibrator; at home, of course. It was the last day of her 4 weeks, and she wasn't going to let modesty stop her from getting to try the new Eveslight. The vibrator was equally sophisticated and pretty much the greatest thing she had ever experienced next to Eveslight. It stimulated her with sparkling bursts of energy and had her arched up and moaning instantly. They insisted in the instructions that she use it for an hour, leaving her a panting, soaking mess by the end.
--
The next day she woke with a purpose. Running from the shower, to the gluten-free muffin Elisa left out for her, to her car, and straight over to the warehouse. Within minutes they were prepping her to try out one of the simulation tanks in between gulps of coffee.
Adam looked at her apologetically, "You have to take your clothes off, they'll mess with the sensors." She stripped without hesitation having gotten used to these activities, and closed the glass lid on the simtank as she hopped in. "We'll know immediately if you have any health complications, this tank measures all your vitals with millisecond accuracy." He was trying to be comforting while obviously staring at her naked body.
She now laid naked inside the first "tanning bed" she saw setting in rows 4 weeks ago. She got goose bumps from the cold vinyl padding underneath her while clasping her com in place. As the com booted up, her vision blurred, and was replaced with a photorealistic image of herself standing, naked, in anatomical position in a completely black space. The avatar looked almost just like her, but skewed by the men who had coded it. Her boobs were a little bigger, nipples more pert and pinkish, she had no noticeable body hair, her makeup was applied with pixel precision.
She could no longer feel the vinyl or anything else. Two small lighted dials appeared in the corner of her vision, but she barely noticed them as she reeled from the disorientation of this new out-of-body experience. She couldn't restrain her excited breathing. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, but nothing happened.
"Is this it? I don't feel anything yet. I can't even move this stupid thing." She tried to will the avatar to move. The table's com completely overwhelmed her normal senses and replaced them with the floating avatar in front of her. The avatar wasn't responding.
Chris's voice sounded distant and distracted as she heard him say, "We're still getting everything ready on our end, can you feel this?" A small metal rod appeared in the space, and touched the flesh just above her navel. She could feel the cold steel as if it were on her own belly only more intensely. "I can feel that. Wow, Brrrr." She felt a shiver and the avatar wiggled a little. The skin on her avatar looked smooth but was actually covered in ultra fine colorless hairs, they stood on end in reaction to the cold metal. "Okay, can we get this started now?"
Adam's voice boomed as if a speaker were inside her head, "Yes, we will get started now."
Several seconds of dial turning and button pressing later his voice boomed again. "This new software is more interactive than what you are used to. First, we'll let you know what the stakes are." He pressed some keys, put on his com, and began the demonstration. Both men watched her body through the glass of the simtank.
The avatar was attacked by floating neon hands. Kailey's nerves erupted. Jolts under her arms, between each rib, on top of her hips, behind her knees. Anywhere the fingers touched the sensation was like nothing she had felt before. Slapping uselessly at her attacker, she could do nothing but yelp and roll around inside the enclosure. The avatar didn't follow her movements and thus remained defenseless. Her mouth opened and shut but only broken gasps came out now. Tiny fingers stroked effortlessly between her toes and up under her soles. "Eeeeeeeeeeee" was the most articulate sound she could muster.
He turn it off with a com command, they were already aroused by her reaction. "Hey! What the hell?" She sounded furious. He started it again and the hands fluttered up and down her exposed belly, squeezed her thighs, and gently stroked her neck on both sides. In seconds her angry demeanor was reduced to babbling pleas and giggles.
"Ahhh hahaha Staaaaahp." The tickling was more intense than she had ever experienced in her body. Being unable to move a muscle, or see anything other than her own abused body, or hear anything other than her own labored forced laughter; it made the whole experience surreal and suddenly terrifying.
"No ho ho ho more! Ple he he heease... You can't." She strained in a small, mousy voice. She could see the violet and red dials moving in her HUD, they spiked during the demonstration.
"That was level two. This has fifteen different settings. " she heard Chris say as the hands evaporated.
"To make this fun, I've programmed tons of different scenarios. Users will log in, vote for the scenario, and you will participate, maybe even win time in "The Light." You'll be playing against several computer generated foes in each "game" but also real players can play, if they pay for premium access." explained Adam, calmly.
"I don't want to participate in this, you said this was the new Eveslight. I'm done, unhook me. I'll give you the money back."
"This is the new Eveslight. We've been playing with your simulated body in Eveslight one for awhile, that's why we picked you for the beta. You are one of its greatest inspirations." Chris explained, an obvious smile coming through in his tone.
"Do you know how much time and money we've put into this? What did you think all this preparation was for? Sorry. You took the money, you signed the contract, and you will be here, working for the next seven days." Adam sounded totally different now, resolute.
"Seven days? I can't make it seven minutes if you're going to tickle me! You're kidding with me right, just trying to scare me? What do you mean by "simulated body?" Eveslight is some kind of Trojan?" She fired off questions in a panic as a loading scene appeared behind her.
Chris responded, "A Trojan brings in malicious software, our first program was just a 2-way experience. While you soaked in "The Light" your mind projected a self-image to our server. We were able to capture and manipulate it during your session. The body you projected was perfect and ultra sensitive, plus you were always logged in. We couldn't have asked for a better test subject. We started making extra money with girls like you, freaks pay top dollar for an hour with your avvy. We sent that ad you saw to all our most popular avvy girls. When we realized it was you, that day when you came in for level one testing... Do you know what they'll pay for time with this new version of you?"
"Okay, I'm serious now, get me out of here." She tried to feel her real body, to reach up and take off the com, but the avatar was her body now, and it started to move its hands up around its neck.
"No chance. But, keep in mind, you can win any of these games. Winning gets you the rest of the day in Eveslight. Just wait 'til you feel how intense that can be. You won't be disappointed. So let's see how many users we've got for our very first live test!" clicking sounds filled her ears. Her avatar moved around fluidly, exactly as she would have moved her own body. It remained in third person, so she had to watch whatever horrible things they were planning to do to her. Some of her fear felt different, almost like arousal. The possibilities of this experience filled her with a combination of fantasies and nightmares. The first tickling experience was so forceful and overwhelming.
"1,314 testers, and the majority are people who've bought time with your avvy. This should be interesting. Let's start the voting." The loading background split into 3 parts. The first was a white hospital building with pink letters that said "luna-ticks" underneath. The second formed into a purplish landscape with "Martian Garden" written in green and brown vines. The last section became a swirling vortex with "Tunnel Troubles" encircling the center.
"Oh, three great options. They want you to pick from here Kailey, just touch the screen you want." She looked at her options and crossed her arms. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You can't make me do this." the challenge hung in the air and she almost wanted the consequences. Something inside her craved that experience again.
There was a short silence followed by a buzzing sound. The neon hands reappeared in all the space around her, dozens of them swirling and wiggling fingers menacingly. "You are right, we can't make you choose one of these options."
Her wrists were grabbed and pulled over her head, making her feet dangle. Each ankle was grabbed and forced apart into a V at shoulder height. She screamed and tugged against their impossible strength, but was held in place as the smaller tickling hands descended slowly on her exposed armpits, ribs, and belly. Each stopped just over her sensitive flesh, as more hands positioned under her thighs, knees, and feet.
"Do your worst!" She growled through gritted teeth.
Outside the simulation, Chris and Adam looked at each other with surprise. Neither had expected this reaction. The awkwardness of being painfully aroused while standing side-by-side was forgotten entirely as they simultaneously wanted to be in the simulator instead of controlling it. One game of rock-paper-scissors later and Chris was laying in the next simtank, stripped and commed in.
Each hand attacked at once, but not like before, they stroked excruciatingly softly. Two fingers drew circles along her upper arms, ten fingers slowly danced down her ribs and then back up. A figure eight was drawn over and under her navel. Hands stroked simultaneously up her thighs, up her calves, and all over the tops of her feet.
"Ohh, mmmmm. hehhh" She fought the urge to laugh with long, drawn out breaths. Her eyes glistened and shot back and forth, trying to watch each new hand as it appeared.
Two hands wriggled along the small of her back, one finger traced along the cleft between her butt cheeks, another lightly scratched the skin above her straining hips.
"Okay! hehehehe" laughter erupted from her as their pace gradually increased. "okayokayokay! hahahahahaa!" she struggled and fought but the tickling persisted. Increasing again, and again in speed and intensity. "Okay, what?" Adam teasingly asked.
The hands on her ribs began a new tactic of gently poking, first one side then the other. She'd squeal and shift to the opposite side only to get a jolt on that side and squirm right back. Back and forth they kept her jumping while all the other hands continued their teasing strokes.
"2,600 logged in now! Are you ready to choose a game now, Kailey? They'll pay to watch this as long as you want to continue being difficult." Adam sounded giddy, and she couldn't hear Chris at all. In his simtank, the sensation from every groping appendage was being enjoyed silently. The hands did not give her a chance to respond immediately, they showed no mercy for what seemed like forever. The tickling, jabbing of her ribs, and stroking of her outstretched skin slowed only slightly. She managed a quick nod in between gasps for air and shrieks.
Most of the hands switched to gentle petting, but 10 fingers continued to play her armpits like a piano. "Was that a yes? I couldn't tell." Adam was loving this powerful position. "yes yes yes!" She responded in a panic as they all started tickling again without warning. "please please hahahaha pleeeease!" Suddenly they all vanished. She was dropped into a quivering lump in front of the options screen again.
"Choose." Adam said in his commanding voice, then he clicked off his mic.
"You better be wiping down the vinyl in that tank Chris!"
Chris reemerged, red-faced and winded. "It's clean, and you have got to try that thing."
