e·ther deck
/ˈēTHər/ /dek/ – noun
An Ether Deck is a stationary tethering station that facilitates safe consciousness transfer between physical bodies and the Etherverse, equipped with neural interface hardware and various life support systems depending on the model.
Users who haven’t undergone proxy-ready procedures rely on these dedicated spaces to access digital realms while their physical forms remain secure and maintained.
Ether Decks aren’t just technology—they’re lifelines to another existence. These sleek tethering stations stand as sentinels between worlds, where flesh-and-bone bodies surrender consciousness to digital realms with a single neural handshake.
Public Ether Decks: The Digital Slums
In the cramped basements of lower Los Demonios or Aetherpoint’s forgotten districts, public Ether Decks crowd together like battery hens. The air hangs heavy with the revolting cocktail of human secretions—stale sweat, urine stains that the cleaning bots never quite reach, and the occasional splotch of dried vomit from users who didn’t heed the “No Food or Drink” warnings.
The metallic tang of overheated circuitry tries and fails to mask the biological miasma, a sensory assault that grows stronger in summer months when cooling systems inevitably falter.
The decks themselves—cracked synthetic leather stretched over minimal padding—squeak in protest with each shift of weight. The neural interface headsets, smudged with the oils of thousands of previous users, leave ghostly rings around your temples that linger for hours after disconnection.
The connection itself buzzes with static—digital snow that never quite clears from your peripheral vision, often accompanied by phantom sensations from previous users’ residual neural patterns.
The infamous “Upper East Side Encephalitis Outbreak of ‘XXX44” was traced directly to a chain of budget Jack Shacks where neural interface sanitation protocols had been bypassed to save costs, resulting in 72,800,000 cases of brain inflammation worldwide and ~11,000,000 deaths. Despite stricter regulations following the pandemic, public health officials estimate at least twelve new pathogens evolve annually in these conditions.
You’ll find these in twenty-four-hour “Jack Shacks” near worker housing blocs, basement levels of shopping complexes, and the back rooms of convenience stores where the clerk watches your unconscious body with bored indifference.
Mid-Tier Options: Comfortable Confinement
Corporate tethering lounges and middle-class home installations offer a veneer of dignity. The air carries a synthetic lavender scent designed to mask the subtle chemical odor of the cleaning systems that automatically activate between users.
The padding—memory foam that remembers thousands of previous occupants—cradles your body in utilitarian comfort while temperature control keeps you precisely at 68.7 degrees, regardless of your preferences.
The connection comes through sanitized headsets that adjust automatically to your cranial measurements, sending a mild warming sensation across your scalp as neural pulses synchronize with your brainwaves.
The waste management tubes attach with a pneumatic hiss that never stops being mildly embarrassing. The nutrient delivery system pumps lukewarm, oddly sweet fluids directly into your system, leaving a metallic aftertaste that persists long after you’ve returned to your body.
These decks populate office relaxation zones, residential tethering spas, and mid-range hotels where business travelers maintain their Etherverse presence while physically transported across continents.
Luxury Variants: Digital Temples
In the penthouses of Neo Manhattan’s gravity-defying spires, Ether Decks transform into sensory sanctuaries. The air itself seems alive—organic aromatherapy molecules that respond to your mood, shifting from invigorating citrus when your attention wanes to calming sandalwood as your heart rate elevates during intense Etherverse negotiations.
The deck’s surface—genuine engineered tissue grown from your own DNA—responds intuitively to your body’s pressure points, offering counter-pressure exactly where needed. Temperature gradients flow across your skin in waves, stimulating circulation without disturbing your trance.
The neural interface—a gossamer-thin crown of advanced conductors—connects with a sensation often described as “digital champagne”—effervescent tingles that cascade pleasantly from cerebellum to extremities.
Waste elimination happens so discreetly you forget it’s occurring, while nutrition arrives as gourmet flavor experiences delivered directly to your taste receptors—Michelin-quality sensations without calories or digestion to distract from your Etherverse endeavors.
These masterpieces of tethering technology grace invitation-only executive floors of SoulTech Tower, exclusive members-only tethering lounges in Staten Farms Island, and the private estates of those wealthy enough to maintain both Surface and Etherverse prominence.
Freedom in Motion – Ether Deck Alternatives
For those who refuse the confinement of stationary decks, Ether Rigs offer liberation. The most basic models—lightweight headsets with temple interfaces that leave faint circular marks after extended use—offer continuous connection while navigating crowded Surface streets. More comprehensive systems incorporate spinal arrays beneath clothing, the connection nodes leaving a distinctive honeycomb pattern temporary branded across your back.
The most advanced full-body systems—reserved for those whose work demands seamless transition between realms—envelop users in second-skin comfort, the material breathing more efficiently than your own lungs while regulating every bodily function with invisible precision. The neural interface becomes an extension of your nervous system, the boundary between technology and biology fading until disconnection feels like losing a sense.
You’ll spot these walking the exclusive promenades of Jersey Genesis, in first-class compartments of rapid transit systems, and anywhere the demands of dual existence won’t wait for a stationary connection.
The Hidden Stakes: Digital Addiction
With each technological iteration, the balance tips further away from The Surface—a shift so gradual that few notice its progression until entire neighborhoods stand abandoned. In crowded apartment complexes, entire families share a single waste-processing Ether Deck, their physical bodies mere anchors while their consciousness competes for limited Etherverse resources.
Children develop “physical atrophy”—a medical condition where their muscles wither while their Etherverse presence grows increasingly elaborate.
The wealthy fare little better despite their superior technology, many developing “connection dependency”—panic attacks triggered by mere seconds of disconnection. Medical journals document increasing cases of “reality rejection syndrome,” where patients physically assault those who interrupt their tethering sessions.
As humanity pours its creativity, energy, and resources into an ethereal existence, The Surface crumbles from neglect—a deterioration so subtle that only those comparing centuries-old records would notice the difference.
Streets once bustling with physical interaction now serve merely as conduits between tethering locations, while natural environments reclaim abandoned regions where virtual experiences have rendered physical ones obsolete. Over millennia, this imperceptible decline compounds, invisible to generations who’ve never known different, yet catastrophic in its ultimate trajectory.
In this brave new world, your Ether Deck doesn’t just determine how you connect—it defines the precious few hours you spend remembering what it means to be human at all…
