The Viewing Room

Lorraine woke slowly and gently from the best sleep she could ever remember having.

She took a moment to take in the environment: the soft white lights illuminated what appeared to be a private medical room. There was a counter to her left with a sink in it, and, craning her head a little further, what appeared to be the door to a private bathroom at the back of the room. She was lying in a hospital bed, but the blanket covering her and the pillow under her head were out of place for a hospital. Where was she…

The realization hit her all at once, and her face immediately flushed. The Center. She was at the Student Body Rental Center. She’d signed up for an overnight stay…shift…whatever at the Center on a Friday night. She’d overheard some girls talking about it a few weeks back, and she hadn’t been able to get the idea out of her head. It sounded so different than anything she’d known or heard about growing up, and she wondered what it would be…what it would feel… Oh my goodness!

A knock on the door abruptly surprised her. “Miss Stannis? Are you awake?” A moment later the door cracked open and a woman in nursing scrubs with short, mousey-brown hair stuck her head in, “Ah, good morning Miss Stannis. How are you feeling?”

“Eeeee…,” was about all Lorraine managed to get out before discovering that her face could, in fact, get even redder.

“Yes, I remember seeing this was your first visit to the Center,” the nurse replied, smiling. “Don’t worry – you’re alright. I’ve got your clothes here,” she said, stepping into the room to place a container on the floor by the door. She gestured with her chin, “And there’s a bathroom at the back if you need to use the facilities. Let us know when you’re ready, and we’ll take you to your Viewing Room.”

The nurse closed the door behind her, as Lorraine furrowed her brows for a moment. Viewing Room? What did that mean again…? “OH NO…,” she whispered, her eyes widening. Now she remembered.

She’d felt a little (maybe more than a little) overwhelmed when they’d gone over all the options at sign-in last night, but one had caught her interest. They’d called the experience “Viewing Rooms”: special rooms where what happened in them was recorded, and you could watch afterwards. The nurse last night had explained, “Some people like to watch, so the Center created these rooms for them. But both parties have to sign off to use the room, and people aren’t allowed to take a copy of the recording with you – we delete them after people view their sessions for privacy purposes. So they aren’t as popular as other services.”

Lorraine had wanted to try getting blanked, but she wanted more than the warm, fuzzy feelings they’d told her would be her only memories of the experience – she’d wanted to SEE what had happened when she’d been blanked.

At least, she had last night. This morning she had trouble finding her courage. But if she didn’t get dressed soon (checking under the blanket – yup, she was naked), then the nurse might come back and-and-and-

Lorraine had just finished getting ready when the nurse returned and escorted her down the hall to another room. Stepping inside, she saw a flat screen TV, and a comfortable-looking couch. Lights in the ceiling were dimmed, making it possible to see in the room, but also making it feel…private, in a way.

“We don’t have any food, but I got a cup of coffee to help perk you up this morning,” the nurse said, gesturing to the corner. “You had three people visit you last night, so there’s only about two hours of footage. Please use the phone over there to let us know when you’re done with the room.”

Lorraine looked into the corner and saw an old-fashioned desk phone sitting on a small table, next to a covered cup and a remote control. That reminded her – “Where’s my cell phone?”

“I’m sorry,” the nurse replied, “but we don’t allow any personal electronics in the room. We’re keeping it at the front desk with your purse and the rest of your personal effects, and will return them when you sign out.”

“And when will you delete the…um…”

“At the same time.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. See you in a couple of hours.” The nurse winked at Lorraine and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Lorraine gave a quiet thanks and reached for the remote, feeling a little anxious. What would it be like to see herself blanked? What would it be like to see herself having se-sex…? It wouldn’t be her first time, but she’d felt so anxious and awkward in the past that she didn’t think she knew what it was really, REALLY like. “But finding that out was the whole point,” she thought to herself, getting comfortable on the couch and using the remote to activate the TV.

And there they were, three dark icons in the middle of the screen reading “Session 1”, “Session 2”, and “Session 3”. There weren’t any pictures to tell her what was in each, no names of who she’d been with – not even anything telling her how long each was. There was only one way to find out.

Moving the cursor over to “Session 1”, Lorraine pressed Play.

The screen immediately showed a fairly plain room lit with warm lighting. There was a bed at its center, with a simple wooden frame and white sheets and pillowcases. The camera appeared to be elevated near the head of the bed, looking down at the top and right sides of the mattress and angled towards the foot of the bed.

Lorraine sat on the bed on her knees, looking around vacantly but vaguely facing the right side of the room. She was wearing the simple beige negligee she’d brought with her, and one of those collars the Center makes Blanks wear. She must have been facing the door because there wasn’t one on the opposite wall in the recording.

The door opened, and a young man walked in. He looked like a student at the college: young and fit, but without the bulk an athlete. She heard him close the door, take one look at Lorraine, and say, “Hey~” in a husky greeting.

Lorraine started to roll her eyes at that, but was interrupted when the her in the recording giggled and sat up straighter. “What the hell?” she thought. “I don’t like it when people talk to me like that – why do I look so happy here?”

Past-Lorraine didn’t seem to mind at all though, crawling closer to the edge of the bed as the stranger approached her. When he reached out to touch the side of her face with his palm, she leaned into it and started making contented cooing noises. He started looking around the room until he saw the camera, then pointed to it and said, “Let’s put on a good show for ourselves.” He started waving at the camera, and past-her enthusiastically joined in.

Then he got into bed, pulled her close and angled them so the camera kept them both in profile, and started kissing and touching her. Past-Lorraine melted into him like butter, while Present-Lorraine stared in shock at herself. Whatever he did, past-her acted like she couldn’t get enough of it. He fondled her breast, and she bit her lower lip. He kissed her neck, and she started panting. By the time he slide his hand up the inside of her thigh towards her crotch, she was moaning.

Since they were both so eager, foreplay didn’t last long. They started having sex after a few minutes fooling around and making out. They didn’t even completely undress – he just pulled down his pants and pulled up her lingerie before starting. A few minutes of thrusting later, he shuddered, she moaned, and it was over. They collapsed in a pile together, breathing heavily for a moment, before he dressed and left. Then the file ended and displayed the total runtime before returning to the menu: 00:15:47.

Lorraine stared at the screen for a few minutes after it ended, collecting herself. She hadn’t been sure what to expect, but she was completely surprised with how she’d acted when she was blanked. But now she knew what sex could be like if she didn’t feel so awkward and self-conscious. It didn’t look so bad at all – I mean, nothing to write home about (not that she would!), but still very, very nice.

Though seeing that made her realize something – her negligee hadn’t been included with her clothes earlier. What happened to it? Lorraine made a mental note to ask about it at the front desk, moved the TV cursor to “Session 2”, and pressed play.

The screen displayed the same room as it had before, with the same bed and lighting. Past-Lorraine lay curled up in the bed, roughly where she’d been at the end of the last video. Her clothes were askew, with the hem of her lingerie over the top of her hips and one breast hanging out. It looked like she had just rolled over afterward the last video and slept for…some amount of time. It wasn’t clear what time it was, or even how much time had passed.

The door opened again, and an older man walked in, wearing a suit with a jacket and tie. He seemed important, but Lorraine didn’t recognize him. Past-Lorraine woke at his entrance, and slowly rose to regard him with big, saucer eyes as he closed the door.

“Well, aren’t you a cutie,” the man said in a deep, low voice, which caused Past-Lorraine to break out in an ear-to-ear smile. “Looks like I’m not the first one to see you tonight,” he continued, approaching the bed. “Hopefully you won’t mind keeping me company as well.”

She stared up expectantly at him, her lips spreading into a slow smile. “Come over here, hmm?” he suggested, opening his arms and flashing her a grin in reply. She responded immediately by wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling her face into his abdomen. “OH! You’re very affectionate, aren’t you?” he said, wrapping one arm around her while the other played with her hair.

He picked her up and set her on his lap so the camera could see them, though he didn’t look for it like the last person had. “Had he done this before?” Present-Lorraine wondered. And then he kissed her, but unlike she’d ever been kissed before (or seen herself kissed before – this was all so strange!). He started off slowly, before gradually ramping up the passion. Then he would ease back to slower, more leisurely kisses before repeating the process again. He’d clearly done this before, and it wasn’t long before she was squirming in response.

Lorraine thought he would have sex with her after a little foreplay, like the last person had, but he didn’t. Oh, things certainly escalated – they transitioned from kissing and touching to undressing and fondling, and eventually she was giving him a very enthusiastic blow job. But there was something about how he did it, a slowness to his pace that made it seem like he was less interested in his own climax and more interested in enjoying…well, her. And she was clearly enjoying it – Present-Lorraine could clearly see her past self eagerly enjoying every bit of the experience.

So by the time they transitioned to actual intercourse, Past-Lorraine was so energized with zest and gusto that she was laughing, LOUD deep belly laughing, as she held onto the man and bounced up and down on his lap. They continued this for far longer than she thought possible before they both climaxed, each of them gripping the other tightly against themselves. And as the tension left him, she watched the man help ease Lorraine down as well, holding and gently stroking her as the intensity drained away.

Her partner slowly dressed them both as he prepared to leave, but noticed Past-Lorraine rubbing her palms against her arms. “Oh, are you feeling cold?” Her attention turned completely to him as he asked the question, but her only response was a smile and a small shiver. He smiled and said, “Let’s get you warmed up,” before reaching down, pulling the sheets down on the bed, and encouraging Lorraine to get under the covers. “That should be better now. You be a good girl and get some rest. You deserve it.”

The man tucked her in before quietly leaving the room. The file ended and displayed the runtime before returning to the menu: 00:42:33.

Present-Lorraine stared at the screen for a while before she noticed her mouth was hanging open. She closed it, also noticing how flushed she was and how fast her heart was beating. It was at least a minute until she could put her thoughts into words and start processing what she’d seen.

What…what had she just seen? Like…it was sex, but it was like night and day compared to the first session she watched. She’d never known it COULD be like that. Is it SUPPOSED to be that good – like, that good all the time?! If…if she was with someone who was like that ALL the time… Oh GOD, what would that even be like?! What would it be like to REMEMBER that kind of sex…?

Lorraine suddenly noticed she was clamping her thighs together tightly and her lower abdomen was throbbing. “Great – I don’t remember the night of incredible sex I had, but my body definitely does,” she grumbled, forcing her legs to relax. Trying to distract herself, Lorraine reached for the cup of coffee she’d been directed to earlier, took a sip, and made a face – cold. Great. Fantastic.

As she huffed and muttered to herself in frustration, her mind kept playing the events of those two sessions over again in her head. It was so strange to clearly see herself in those scenarios but have no memory of the events. And she wasn’t even done yet – she’d only watched two of them, thought she had no idea how the third could…possibly…top…

“Wait…”, she said, with dawning realization. “Wait, they said it was TWO hours of footage, right?” She did the math quick in her head, “But that was only…about an hour of time… Wait-wait, is the last session…AN HOUR LONG?! What…what happened? What did they do… WAIT, what did I do in that last session…?”

Lorraine stared at the screen for some time, breathing heavily, before she remembered to blink. She swallowed hard, and noticed her hands were trembling. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the remote, and pressed play on “Session 3”.

The door opened to the same room a third time, and Lorraine heard a slow, appreciative whistle before a smoky feminine voice said, “Well, what do we have here…” A woman with copper blonde hair and a comfortable business casual outfit walked into the room, closed the door, and slowly approached the bed with a smile on her face. Lorraine though she seemed familiar, but couldn’t place her – maybe one of the assistants or administrators at the college?

Past-Lorraine woke when the woman entered the room and started stretching and extending herself towards the edge of the bed as the woman approached. Rising to her knees, Lorraine let the sheet fall as she gave her third visitor of the night a winning smile. “Someone seems happy to see me,” the woman remarked, before suggesting, “Give me a kiss?”

And Past-Lorraine put her hands on the woman’s face and started kissing her with exuberance and passion. She pressed herself against the visitor, moaned, and tried to shove her tongue down the woman’s throat. And the woman accepted that passion for a few moments before pulling away and saying, “Oh, someone’s been teaching you all kinds of naughty lessons. And while that was very good, I think we can do better. Pay attention now – THIS is how to kiss someone properly.”

And then the woman kissed Lorraine in a way that had her – both past and present Lorraine – curling their toes. She pressed her lips gently to Lorraine’s before opening her mouth, dragging her teeth slowly along Lorraine’s lower lip, and then dancing her tongue lightly into Lorraine’s mouth – before grabbing Lorraine’s hair in a firm handhold when she tried to lean into the kiss further. “Ah-ah-ah~” the woman tsked. “I told you. To pay. Attention.” Then she returned to giving Lorraine a firm, passionate, frazzling kiss.

When she finally pulled away, Past-Lorraine stared straight ahead with a glazed expression in her eyes (even moreso than her normal blanked expression) while her mouth let out short huffing moans. It took a moment for her to come back to her sense, and groggily refocus on the woman – who brushed a hand against Lorraine’s face that she wordlessly leaned into. “There now – how did you like that?” the woman asked. Past-Lorraine’s only response was to bite her lower lip before breaking out into a sedated, lascivious smile.

“Would you like me to teach you more?” Lorraine replied with a nod. “Well alright then,” the woman said, with a smile of her own. And then she taught Lorraine more.

She taught Lorraine the different ways to kiss someone’s lips, neck, ears, and even fingers. She taught Lorraine how to excite with a light touch, and with a firm one. She had Lorraine fluttering her eyes and squeaking in ecstasy when she slowly ran her nails up the back of Lorraine’s scalp. Every bit of it was erotic, even before the stranger slowly started to undress.

And alongside every lesson was the woman’s patient, accompanying voice. “Touch like this.” “No, kiss like this instead.” “There you go – good girl.” She was nothing if not thorough, having Lorraine imitate and reciprocate each kiss and touch she received. They repeated things over and over again, until Lorraine’s blanked mind was able to absorb the lesson. Sometimes it took a while.

Of course, all of this had the effect of ratcheting up the sexual tension of the room without giving poor Lorraine any release, which is how she ended up looking flushed and overheated with the woman’s face between her thighs. Her partner noticed her distress and asked, “Are you feeling too hot? Take that off then.” So Past-Lorraine grabbed her negligee with both hands and-

“Ah, so that’s what happened to it,” Present-Lorraine dimly though, as she watched herself rip the lingerie in half before throwing it across the room. Her partner looked over towards the discarded garment with a slight smile before looking back to Lorraine – naked, heaving, and glistening with sweat. “I think I’ve kept you waiting long enough,” she said, before focusing on bringing Lorraine to an intense, primal climax – twice.

“There – that should be better now,” she said, sliding next to Lorraine in bed. She trailed her fingers down Lorraine’s forearm until she could intertwine their fingers together. “That was a lot Dear – take as much time as you need to come down from that. I’ll be right here.”

A few minutes later, Past-Lorraine’s eyes focused, and she turned towards the woman. “Welcome back,” her partner said, giving her a gentle peck on the lips. “How do you feel now?” Lorraine’s response was to give her partner a slow, groggy, generous hug. A few minutes later she asked Lorraine, “Do you want to just cuddle now, or do you want to make me feel good too?”

Past-Lorraine responded by trailing kisses down the woman’s body towards her hips while also using her nails to tease her. Her partner fluttered her eyes, stretched back, and spread her legs. “Then show me how well you learned, and FUCK ME.”

Lorraine had always been a good student. Even blanked, she was still a good student. The first time she brought her partner to climax, the woman called out, “More!” So she gave her more. Another shuddering climax, and another shout, “MORE!” A Past-Lorraine brought her to orgasm a third time before she called out, “Enough! Enough. Oh God… Oh, that was great. You were so great.”

Past-Lorraine had stopped when she’d been told, and waited – staring at her partner. The woman’s eyes focused a minute later, she looked up, and said, “Come here you.” Lorraine scampered into bed where she was quickly pulled into a hug. They laid they for several minutes, just holding each other, before the woman said, “I don’t want to leave, but probably do need to get going…”

She dressed with little fanfare, while Past-Lorraine sat on the bed and watched her with a satisfied smile and glazed eyes. When she was done, the woman went over to Lorraine’s earlier outfit, looked at it for a moment before looking up with a wry smile and saying, “I don’t think we’re going to be able to salvage this.” She walked back to Lorraine and said, “Well then, let’s get you into bed – you’ve got to be exhausted, and we can’t have you catching cold.”

So Lorraine crawled under the covers, and the woman sat on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers slowly through Lorraine’s hair, humming a wordless lullaby. Not long after, Lorraine drifted off to an exhausted sleep, and the woman rose to leave. She opened the door, and closed it again.

And walked back into the room, looking right up to the camera, and quietly said, “I hope you paid attention Dear. I quite enjoyed our time together, and would be more than happy to see you again – here, or elsewhere. And I would LOVE to see what you’ve learned, if and when we ever meet again.”

At that, the woman left, and the video ended. The runtime displayed on the screen before returning to the main menu: 01:08:17.

And Lorraine sat there, dumbstruck and illuminated by the screen and what she had seen for several minutes. Then she did the only thing that made sense to her. She moved the cursor over to “Session 3” and pressed play again.

Lorraine had always been a good student. Even now, she was still a good student. So she watched it again, paid close attention, and desperately wished she could take notes. But memory would have to do – she was definitely motivated today.

She was feeling a little less shell-shocked after the second viewing, though not by much. The whole experience – all three sessions, but especially the third – had her feeling very overstimulated right now. She’s been expecting…well, it definitely wasn’t this!

She would have understood and been okay with it if the entire night had been like that first session – just…sex without any pressure or anxiety ruining the mood. She certainly hadn’t expected anything like the second session. That gave her a new benchmark for what sex could be, and what she wanted her se-se-sex life to be…sometime in the future. Like, as a life goal, or a five-year plan, or something like that.

But that third session…what the FUCK?! Not only was it intense and passionate (and making Lorraine wonder if she should give serious thought to female romantic partners in the future), but the woman in the video had given her a-a-a SEX PRIMER! Like, HER her – the present one…who that woman knew would be watching the video in the morning!! AHHH!!!

After taking a few minutes to indulge in a well-deserved existential crisis, Lorraine calmed down enough to start thinking clearly again. “Okay! Okay… Okay, one more time before I leave!” Lorraine took a deep breath, raised the remote again with focus and intent, moved the cursor to “Session 3″…

And prompt screamed, flailed, and fell off the couch when the phone on the table next to her started ringing unexpectedly.

It took her another ring or two to realize what was happening before Lorraine scampered over to the phone and lifted the receiver. “Hello?” she asked on her hands and knees next to the phone, heart jackhammering in her chest.

“Hello Miss Stannis. This is the front desk – we just wanted to call and see how you’re doing.” Lorraine recognized the voice of the nurse from earlier.

“Yes! Yes, I’m doing…just fine right now,” Lorraine replied, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.

“Are you sure Miss Stannis? Your voice sounds a little strange. Do you need someone to come and check up on you?”

“NO! No. No. No. No. No, that’s…that’s fine. There’s…no need to do that.” Lorraine started panicking again.

“Are you ready to check out then?”

Her cornered mind took the easy way out. “Sure… Sure, I’ll…be out in a-in a… I’m sorry, is there a bathroom nearby?” Lorraine desperately needed to splash some water on her face.

“Down the hall to the right Miss Stannis. But please wait in the room until I get you – we don’t allow visitors to wander the Center without an escort. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

Panicking and beet-red, Lorraine responded without thinking, “Um, actually…could you…could you maybe give me…five or…maybe ten…minutes before you come pick me up?”

Lorraine swore she could hear a smile in the woman’s response. “Of course Miss Stannis. I’ll see you in five minutes.” Then she heard a click as the nurse hung up the other end of the line. Lorraine hung up her receiver and stared at the phone, puzzled why the woman sounded so amused. She turned the situation over in her head for a few moments, and suddenly realized why someone visiting the Center might want “Five more minutes.”

“Oh my God, what did I just say to her?! She probably thinks I’m- No. No, I don’t have time for this – she’ll be here in a few minutes, and I need to calm down.” So she stood up, and tried to straighten her hair and calm down. Lorraine was sure she looked like a mess.

She felt a bit more put together when there was a knock on the door five minutes later. Lorraine opened it to see the woman from earlier, wearing the same scrubs. Though now Lorraine swore she saw the woman fighting to contain a smile and entirely unable to contain a twinkle in her eye. She felt mortified but forced a smile and a polite greeting.

“This way please Miss Stannis,” the woman said, leading her to a restroom door down the hall. After taking a few minutes to freshen up and splash some water on her face, Lorraine let the woman lead her to the front desk at the main lobby. As Lorraine filled out some discharge paperwork, the woman fetched a box with her remaining belongings.

“Unfortunately,” the woman began, “we do need to notify you that there was an article of clothing you brought with you that was damaged last night.”

Lorraine tried to keep a straight face as she remembered what happened, “Yes, I saw that in the videos.”

“What would you like done with the garment? We could return it, if you’d like, or dispose of it.”

Lorraine paused to think for a moment. What should she do? She couldn’t wear it again – definitely not as-is, and she doubted it could be mended. Would it be a good memento of last night? That almost seemed silly – something she couldn’t use again sitting in a drawer to remind her of a night she didn’t really remember. It was probably better to get rid of it.

“No, thank you for the offer, but it can be thrown out,” Lorraine finally replied.

“Will do,” the woman replied, removing the garment from the box. Then she took Lorraine’s completed paperwork and skimmed through it. “Looks like everything’s in order. Please review the contents before signing the form.”

Lorraine looked through the box, finding everything she was expecting. She signed the form and said, “So…what now?”

“Now we’ll delete your videos, and you can be on your way,” the woman said, turning the monitor to where Lorraine could see it. She had a program up showing three videos, and went through the process of deleting them one-by-one so that Lorraine could see her doing it. They probably do it this way so that people weren’t worried there are copies left, or something like that.

“All done,” the woman said, signing the paperwork herself. “I hope you enjoyed your visit to the Center.”

“Yes, I did. Thank you,” Lorraine habitually replied before realizing how that sounded. “Um, have a good day.” Collecting her things, she left, and tried to find a place to process all this – and maybe get some coffee.

Fifteen minutes later, Lorraine stood in line at a café, still mulling over recent events. As she waited for her turn to order, she thought about her previous sexual encounters, and how…wildly inferior they seemed now compared to what she’d seen of last night. She didn’t want that old life, not anymore – not now that she knew…about the kind of life she could be living…

But…if she wanted that life, Lorraine knew she’d have to change. And she WANTED to change, but she just wasn’t sure where to start. It all seemed like so much right now.

“Miss, your order?” a voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

“OH! Yes, sorry.” She responded in surprise before pointing to something on their menu and said, “I’ll have that.”

“Okay. Name?”

And it hit her, just like that: the perfect place to start. “Lori,” she told the barista with a smile, and paid for her order. Then she took her receipt and slid into a chair at a corner table to wait for her order.

And while she waited, Lori continued to think about the new life she wanted to make for herself.