Short Story: The Livestream "Hi, My Name Is David"

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Success! Your Stream is Live!

The message flashed on screen.

0 viewers.

David sat at his table facing the camera. He was situated in a secluded alcove of a pub. It was a quiet afternoon with the gentle hum of an old man pub in the background. Light streamed in through the window behind him. He quietly wrote something on a page in his notebook. 0 viewers. The coffee beside him gently wafted steam into the air, vanishing before reaching off camera. Once David finished writing, he carefully ripped the page out of his book. He looked up at the camera. It was facing him and the table on a tripod. The table was in focus and could be clearly made out by the HD camera. He placed the page on the table in front of the camera. Viewers could finally see what he had wrote down.

"Hi, My name is David. I haven't left my home in months to socialize and could use a friend to chat to. All friends, old and new welcome. Take a seat and lets talk. First drink is on me."

David sat back. 1 viewer. David looked to be in his twenties. He possessed pale skin but that could be the lighting conditions. He had dark brown hair with a receding hairline and sharp piercing brown eyes. He was dressed in a smart, casual attire. A white shirt with the top button undone with a dark blue light jumper on top. The rest of his attire could not be made out. His scarf and a jacket were placed behind him on his chair, signifying that outside was much colder than his current surroundings made it seem. 2 viewers. It was 7pm . What had lead this man to do this? Was he insane? He did not appear to be. He quietly sat with his notebook, pen and coffee. There he sat anxiously. He looked appealingly at every person who strode past. The glimmer of hope and terror on his face was clear. He was putting a lot on the line here, yet what did he have to lose?

8:00pm. His coffee had stopped emitting steam some time ago. David began to relax a little. His posture stopped being so stiff and he was beginning to become more comfortable with the situation he had voluntarily pit himself in. The waitress approached his table. She took his empty cup and asked if he would like anything. She then seen the message written for the camera. She was a little taken aback and looked at the camera realizing it was live streaming. The look of pity on her face was clear. She read the message again. "How many viewers have you gotten?" David felt embarrassed. The pathos of the situation struck him all at once yet he kept a cheery outlook. "Currently there are 3 viewers, no comments. I'm hopeful, I haven't been here that long. " She did not inquire whether anyone had taken him up on his offer. She knew he sat alone. "Have you posted the link anywhere? Maybe you can use one of those bit.ly links to shorten it and post?" "No, just on the streaming platform." The obvious thing to do would be to post it to his social media, yet he could not bring himself to do so. "Post it on Reddit and see what happens, then maybe expand where you post it. Do you want another coffee?" David nodded. with that she wished him luck, waved at the camera and left. David let out a sigh. He had begun and was not about to give up now. He looked at the viewer count. 0 viewers. David grabbed the laptop which was out of shot. He navigated to Reddit and logged in. He barely used Reddit, he had an account but couldn't sign in without having to reset his password. He proceeded to post in /r/AskReddit . The message was simple.

"Hi, My name is David. I'm currently live streaming myself in a pub. I haven't left my home in months to socialize and could use a friend to chat to. All friends, old and new welcome. Take a seat and lets talk. First drink is on me."

He added a link to the live stream shortened to bit.ly/PullUpASeat. he hesitated momentarily and then hit post.

8:15pm. the waitress had dropped in his fresh coffee and had suggested putting the link on his page on the table. He did so not thinking it would make a difference. David continuously refreshed the Reddit post. Each time his being took a little punch. His viewership had risen but did not retain much interest. People would pop in for a few seconds as a morbid curiosity and leave when it was just as described. A lonely man looking for some companionship. It was as depressing to the viewers as it was to be him.

8:30pm. The comments started. Both on Reddit and the stream. At first they were positive, people wishing David well and that they would come if they were in the same city. David thanked them for their kind words and vowed to stay as long as possible. His fear and self loathing had somewhat lifted and he was beginning to think it was not such a stupid thing to do. When the waitress came along and saw him smiling she too smiled and asked if she could get him anything. David opted for a beer. He now had 50 unique visits and 10 current viewers.

9:00pm. The stream exploded. Hundreds of unique viewers and they were not just peaking at the stream, but they were staying. They stayed watching, observing him and commenting. The comments begun to mock him. His appearance. His desperation, His motivation to do this. Then things got darker. A group had begun trying to find out everything about him. His full name, where he lived, his family and job. David was frightened by the extent of the doxxing. Soon people were openly telling him to kill himself. They had begun calling his work telling them he was a pedophile and rapist. David tried to explain that he was not any of those things. He pleaded with them to stop contacting people who knew him but it was too late. People he knew had begun calling him. They angrily asked what was going on. David was no longer looking around hopefully, but in terror. Anyone walking by could be one of those on the message board. The stream then turned its attention to the waitress. They had her name and number in minutes. The chat was then somehow flooded with her nudes, having been posted to a revenge porn site from an ex. Soon they were calling her. Her phone did not stop. Messages and calls, all talking about the stream. Some sent her the nudes. Others told her lies about David. They were playing a game. To get David kicked out, or worse.

9:15pm. The waitress appeared on the stream in tears. She confronted David about what was going on. She shouted and he stammered to explain. He was not a pedophile nor any sort of criminal. He had not known her before and had no way of getting her nudes. The chat took notice of the last part. They begun posting that he was secretly her stalker. That he came here to spy on her and it had been him that posted the nudes to both the revenge porn site and the current stream. She slapped him and told him to get out. The chat went wild. David put his face in his hands and begun to softly cry. The chat had somehow attained copies of his internet history and all of his online conversations. He looked up when a bouncer grabbed him. The bouncer roared at David to pack his things and get out. David took hold of the camera and did a 360 degree motion unintentionally. Scores of people had been drawn to the scene. They stood watching in awe, in pity and disgusted. Some must of heard the lies and believed them. The stream cut out.

The chat lingered. They celebrated their success and continued to mock him. An hour later they had all left.

The waitress never saw David again, at least not alive. His body was found a day later. He had hung himself with the cables from his camera and laptop. The final thing he posted was a delayed live stream. The stream started exactly 26 hours after the first. It did not take investigators long to find the body once it went live. The stream had a single delayed post from David.

"Hi, My name is David. I'm currently hanging myself from a tree. I haven't left my home in months to socialize and could use a friend to chat to. All friends, old and new welcome. Take a seat and lets talk. First drink is on me."