[ WP ] You 've just invented a device that allows you to see the world through the eyes of anyone alive , wherever they currently exist . However , you are unable to hear what they hear .

The only thing keeping me alive was the smell of freshly roasted coffee. My mug sat heavy on my fingers as I made my way, carefully, through the instrumentation lab. When I passed by the clock I closed my eyes, because who the hell wants to know that it's twelve minutes past four AM? 
 
 Other than myself, a dozen or so half-finished contraptions, and a chemical-grade shower and sink, the only other thing in the room was Nanjit. If you asked me to describe Nanjit without using the word `` eccentric,'' I'd tell you it could n't be done. His hair always looked like he had just stepped out of a blast chamber. When he was n't invading someone's personal space ( usually mine ), he could be found tinkering with some appliance or other. 
 
 This time, he was adjusting the eyepieces of the microscopes with a screwdriver. Only, the eye-pieces were no longer attached to a microscope - instead, Nanjit had fastened them to some spherical piece of metal, laced with exposed circuits and vacuum tubes. Wires spilled out of the sphere at random openings, as if it were a grotesque, mechanical egg laid by some alien monster. 
 
 Even though he was eye-deep into the lenses, he must've heard me when I walked into the room, because he started flapping his hand in my direction. Naturally, I pretended not to notice. 
 
 `` Benson,'' he hissed at me, `` Come over here.'' 
 
 I let out the deepest, most drawn out sigh I could muster, and turned towards Nanjit. 
 
 `` Nanjit, I have less than four hours to complete this round, and I'm only a fifth of the way through.'' 
 
 In response, he flapped his hand harder, `` No, Benson. Seriously. You want to see this.'' 
 
 It takes maybe five steps to cross from my side of the lab to his. I did it in about thirty. It was a pleasure to watch Nanjit squirm and writhe and flap as I shuffled across the lab. 
 
 My voice was stonier than a C-type asteroid. 
 
 `` What?'' 
 
 `` Put your head in there,'' he pointed at the eye-pieces, `` Do n't blink. If you blink, it'll change.'' 
 
 My eyebrows creased together, `` Change?'' 
 
 If there's one good thing I can say about Nanjit, it's that he never fails to capture your curiosity. 
 
 `` Yes. When you see it, do n't blink.'' 
 
 I put my mug down on the table, and leaned forward, not really sure what to expect. The rubber kissed the rims of my eyes, and I blinked a few times to clear the blur of too-close light. 
 
 I saw a woman's face, pale, streaked with sweat. Just from looking at her, I could almost feel her pain. Her skin was turning red under her own exertions. There was blood all over my hands. Wait - *my hands? * 
 
 I blinked. 
 
 `` Do you see it?'' Nanjit whispered breathlessly. 
 
 A man with a thick, curly beard was staring at me - smiling, laughing. He did n't have a shirt on - no, he did n't have *anything* on. And the look he was giving to me, it made me feel naked too. He looked down, and I looked down, and I saw that our bodies were connected - only, it was n't my body, it was a woman's: dark curves rising and falling like dunes in the desert. 
 
 I blinked. 
 
 `` Nanjit, what the hell is this-'' 
 
 The Earth was a fat, blue marble, swirled with white and splattered with green. 
 
 `` It's a seer. You can see through the eyes of *anyone*-'' 
 
 `` Anyone? What about animals?'' 
 
 The moon was a much smaller marble, hovering just in front of the Earth, obscuring most of South America. 
 
 `` Not animals, I've adjusted it for higher intelligence. It's several levels above dogs and dolphins.'' 
 
 `` Nanjit-'' 
 
 `` It skips over children too. But most adult humans, you can see through their eyes. Really, anyone with an average adult level intellect, or above.'' 
 
 `` What about astronauts?'' 
 
 `` Ohh!'' he gasped, `` I was n't sure if it would work beyond the Earth's Atmosphere. Did you find someone on the ISS?'' 
 
 `` No, it's farther out than that. Hey, are there any astronauts beyond the moon's orbit?'' 
 
 A shadow passed over the moon, lancing its spear tip over the craters. 
 
 `` I... I do n't think so. Why?'' 
 
 *** 
 
 [ *Part 2 > * ] ( https: //www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/4atgk8/wp_youve_just_invented_a_device_that_allows_you/d13tnly )
