S.U.B Space
Short Story | Science Fiction| A sweet sweet digital escape
The room is cold and empty because all the eyes, except his, are viewing through a screen. He stretches the two thin lines he calls lips and puts on his presentation voice. It is almost time to start the show–time to sell the future.
“Hi there folks, welcome all to our premiere event of the year.” He rubs the soft wool of his v-neck. A tingle of pride and pleasure strikes him thinking of how his defined chest might look in the sweater and he rushes to clear his mind lest he fumble over his words. He could not afford to have a negative moment snatch attention from the premiere of the new product.
lmeokitty233: finally xo
lotophagi: omg yes i need
maxxhemusprime: 250 chits bets they flop
cbunszz3: we are so back
He smiles, lets the comments roll in on the screen, takes a deep breath, and begins in earnest.
The cold steel of the table before him separates and an object rises slowly out of the hole. The lights in the room dim. There is a sharp light cast on the product and a softer blue light cast onto his face. He is glad then that he had taken the time to get a facial and a haircut. He knew how up close and personal these cameras could get. He also knew how vicious the people online could be. He stops himself from frowning and counts to three in his mind, rubbing his finger back and forth again on the sweater’s fabric.
“We at lotophages Inc. are delighted to present the S.U.B.”
He let the device rotate slowly so that the camera, pulsing the image out to the 17 million viewers, saw every inch of the sleek design. The steel rotates and the soft silicon of the device appears holographic against the dark silk cloth that forms a gentle bed for the device.
“Now, this design will perfectly match my skin tone. The device looks like skin, feels like skin, and is fitted with our latest skinmeld tech. It all but disappears into your skin. No one would know you were in a whole other dimension.” He pauses, winks, places his manicured fingers around the device, and places it smack dab in the middle of his forehead. As soon as his fingers make contact with the device it shifts color. It is a marvelous thing the quick seamlessness of the device from holographic silicon to human skin. The thing appears to melt into his face. There is only the light cast on him, emphasizing that he and the device are one. He smiles and nods.
“If you didn’t gasp then you might’ve missed it.” He pauses between each word letting the comments emphasize what the fuck just happened.
piesky35: whhhhaaaaatttttttt
loomiieepoomie: did dat shyt just disappear?
techboii97y: NEED DAT NEED DAT
JessicasStory: :0
hyuuuf: I’d tap that he is so babygurl
kalle4r88: give me the siliconnnn
“It’s there and it’ll do the same for you,” He pulled it off and placed it back again to emphasize the device’s skinmeld features. “But, that is not the main feature of this new, seamless device. The device is merely the luxury vehicle to the place we at Loto like to call S.U.B Space. SUBS for short. Now, I know I could talk about this thing forever, but there is nothing quite like showing you what the experience of S.U.B Space is like. Keep an eye on it as we demonstrate.”
The screen behind him turns on with a soft white glow. He lets it focus and closes his eyes. The screen behind him ripples into focus. His lips do not move but his voice is still transmitted to every device.
“This IS the future. SUBS is the only place you will need to be.”
As his voice bounces through time and space, the image melts into different spaces. At first, it is a chrome city, then a dense forest, a beach with pink sand.
“You think it. It is yours. More than a vision, SUBSpace is a feeling, any feeling. An escape. THE ONLY ESCAPE.”
On the screen behind him, his subbody sinks into a massive marble tub. The view pans up from the suds in the tub to a view of the kind of mountainside view that it took real money to ever see in real life. If the virtual audience could feel what he felt, they would feel his body humming in deep pleasure, temperature slightly rising, and body becoming slack. His real lips part and his shoulders drop as he exhales in pleasure. The screen glows its original soft white and fades.
hyuuuf: i told yall!
gigglet: is it another subscription???? please say no
bentonh: ??
tellybon: why he looked kinda turned on … we paying for porn?
His eyes flutter open, and the softest smile peels across his face.
“There are no words to describe it. It can ONLY be experienced. So, we have hand-selected 7 of this month’s top DPulsers to demonstrate. Pick a Digital Pulse any pulse and let them walk you through their experience.
DPulser Yurtzbag
23, Male
He opens the matte black box and holds the silicon in his slender fingers.
“As you can see it’s already matched with my skin. It’s quite eerie to feel. It truly does feel like holding some skin. It has the texture of those… spray on bandages you know? Fleshy, light, stretchy. It’s dense, although it does have some give when I squeeze,” he brings it close to the lens “I can tell that there’s a lot of hardware in there.”
He pauses and places the device on his forehead.
“Anyway they said just place it right in the middle of your forehead like so,” he runs his finger against the patch of his forehead where he can feel but not see the device. “You just close your eyes and the device will know.”
spaceprincessa: ok but HOW??
ppertvun: it look unrealll
fredthered: kind of creepy no?
poopemojisadsister: ok but i need to be in subland!!
“Whoa.”
Yurtz is in a crowded bar full of humanoid techno beings. Three on the counter wear nothing but red thongs. The blue light bounces off the parts of their flesh that are chrome and lingers on the parts that are not. One kneels in front of him, chrome cleavage kicking the blue light off and drawing him in. It grabs him by the jaw and tilts his head back pouring a shot of something into his mouth. It places a kiss on his lip.
“I—I can feel the coolness of its fingers. This is fucking madness,” he says, his voice dancing between deep disbelief and subdued delight.
It crawls off the bar and onto his thighs. His subbody is transfixed. The viewers watch as his body outside of the SUBS slackens. He has stopped speaking now. The humanoid presses its hand against his chest and places its lips on his neck.
“Are you here to stay?” The being asks it’s voice ambery sweet steel.
Yurtz's eyes snap open disrupting the DPulse.
TreinXY: Dang it was just getting good
techboii97y: dang yurtz mans is speechless
Gornandina: okay how much? adding to my wishlist
“I… its… I need—“
Yurtz cuts off his DPulse and heads back into SUBSpace.
DPulser AlleBalllie
32, Female
“So, as you all know I’ve kind of been looking for a new hobby, but more importantly something that allows me to practice my homemaking skills with half the funds but all the freedom. I really think this might be it girlies.”
She pulls out her box and turns it around to give her viewers the full vision.
“Oh, it is quite elegant. This is a step up from their last few releases for sure,” She says, sliding the top off the box. “Hmm, I don’t love the feel of this, but the feel is not even 1/10th of the experience, supposedly.”
Alle gently places the device on her forehead and snaps her lightly shadowed eyes shut.
Her viewers are transported to a perfectly manicured lawn where a three-story house that’s sliced open to expose each room stands. The rooms are so different. Each has a distinct style, color scheme, and vibe.
“Oh,” Alle gasps. “This is. This is breathtaking. Like a giant dollhouse. I can feel the grains of grass under my feet.”
As Alle talks the rooms begin to shift. Some experience slight changes in the shade of the room. Other rooms have furniture pop out and in. Artwork comes up and down.
“This is… it’s everything I’ve ever wanted, really,” Alle whispers.
The rooms continue to shift moving to Alle’s every whim.
The Show Host
“To those of you who have found your way back here, welcome back. Tell us in the comments what you saw, what you thought. Are you ready to enter SUBSpace?”
gjuu: price??
marnyKi: was anyone in BennTens DPulse? WILD! Cheeks was red as hell after I thought he was about to moan right there
Turnishpepcorn: buyin for the hole fam
VforVendiagram: Someone check on Yurtz! He might never come out hahahhahahah
GothJoyandGlither: infinite realms! I need it
fredthered: kind of creepy, NO?
“As you witnessed for yourself. The possibilities are endless. The pleasure is immense AND… you can experience other people’s SUBspace by subscribing! Of course, the experience will vary by user but there is no amount of Digital Surfing or Neural Stimming that compares. The stats simply don’t lie. We have a 99.99% return rate. Most people, when interviewed, state that they would prefer the device to the alternative and, after seeing what you have, do you blame them?”
He smiles his porcelain smile so pleased with the rollout of the device. He is eager to wrap up the presentation so that he can sink into SUBS.
“So, the price. We are pleased to announce that with the purchase of the device a mere 834 DCoins you can have access to the infinite. Access to SUBSpace is free with your consent to gather your biometric data and track all the good stuff that we already do. We do offer a tiered package. Minimal tracking at a measely 679 DC a month. No tracking, 1790 DC a month. Of course, the more tracking we get the more you can truly experience SUBSpace. I promise this is NOT something you want to limit. The device is available now. We hope to see you in SUBSpace.”
The light dims but the chat continues.
Jinsen: how do we meet other people in SUBSpace? Kind of felt like this was a half ass presentation
IternPol: Heard once you’re in you get like a digital dashboard we didn’t get to see cuz it’s confidential data
FruitLoverFT: just bought mine will report back
fredthered: idk shit type creepy
spaceprincessa: brb going to make out with Yurtz in SUBSpace
Thuinker: What Would Jesus do?
Turnishpepcorn: What is heaven but theological SUBSpace??
A week later
There are slack faces in every house. Bodies are limp in digital pleasure strewn like petals having fallen in protest. Some lean over couches, others are stuck on beds, on floors, asses stuck on toilet seats. It has been 3 days since anyone has heard from Yurtz. He has been wrapped up in his fantasy. There he is king. The show host can be found with legs spread loose like a man on the subway with no regard for others. His head is tilted back over the eggshell white leather couch. The room is cold and empty because SUBSpace is where the warmth is… where all the things are. An eerie silence has burrowed its way across the globe, a silent parasite settling, making itself home. There is more space in the streets when all heads are buried in SUBland.
In case you missed Substack’s fiction event THE SUBSTACK ZONE you can check out the stories here. The event was organized by
and to celebrate the 66th Anniversary of The Twilight Zone.*I’ve set up a “buy me a coffee” page so if you’re not quite ready to become a paid subscriber but want to spare a little coin you can do so here!*
Wow I came in under 2000 words but I feel like this story could be so much bigger. I enjoyed writing this one especially the Yurtz scene.
TELL ME:
What was your favorite part of the story? Would you enter SUBSpace? What was your favorite line?
For all of you who have already subscribed thanks so much!! For those of you who haven’t subscribed yet, it’s never too late to join my smart and funny subscribers (nickname sadly still pending)!
I think for me my favorite part was where everyone was looking for yurtz.
and also those usernames; oh my god! they sent me crying laughing into subspace🤣
I’m outside enjoying empty streets and green lights, grass and air, because I’m never going anywhere near SUBS. 😂