Coalescent
Stephen Baxter
Science fiction. Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. 4% suffer acute meningitis, and 1% find themselves 'locked in' - fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. 1% in the US is 1.7 million people 'locked in' - including the President's wife and daughter. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, 'The Agora', where the locked-in can interact with other humans. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, allowing those who are locked in to occasionally 'ride' these people and use their bodies as if they were their own. This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. But will somebody be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse.