Head On (Lock In, #2)

by John Scalzi

It’s these threeps—machines designed arguably better and more efficiently than human bodies—that have led many, including non-Haden professional athletes, to state that Hilketa athletes aren’t athletes at all, but something along the lines of glorified video game players.

So here’s Hilketa. It’s an actual sport, designed to be played by people operating threeps—which meant Haden athletes. And it’s a popular sport, even (and, actually, especially) with non-Hadens, which means the Hadens who play the sport have become bona fide celebrities outside of Haden circles. In just a decade since its inception, the NAHL fields twenty-eight teams in four divisions across the United States and Canada, averages 15,000 spectators a game in the regular season, 95

percent of whom are non-Hadens, and has athletes earning millions and becoming posters on kids’ walls. That matters, for Hadens and for everyone who cares about them. Of course, I thought as I watched Duane Chapman’s head sail through the goalposts, giving the Snowbirds eight points, the reason Hilketa is so popular is that the players score points through simulated decapitation, and go after each other with melee weapons. It’s team gladiatorial combat, on a football field, with a nerdy scoring system. It’s all the violence every other team sport wishes it could have, but can’t, because people would actually die.

In doing so, it makes the players something other than fully human. And that matters too, for Hadens and everyone who cares about them. Basically, Hilketa is both representation and alienation for Hadens. So: It’s complicated. Well, for a Haden. For non...

Data on the players, on the field, and on the sidelines. Data about the play currently being executed. Data about the field itself. Data about the stadium and attendance. Current data,

historical data, projections based on data coming in real time, processed with AI and by viewer sentiment. This view of the data, and the game itself, could be displayed from any angle, up to and including the first-person view from the players themselves. Thanks to the overwhelming number of cameras framing the game and the amount of data otherwise filling in and modeling any gaps the cameras missed, one could virtually walk the field while the game was afoot and plant one’s ass down in the very center of the action. That’s the Haden view of the game.

To be clear, the Haden view was not accessible only to Hadens. Aside from being discriminatory, it would also be bad business for a sport whose fan base was massively skewed toward non-Hadens. People pay extra for the Haden view, and it would be stupid to limit access to 1 percent of the possible fan base. Even in the stands at the live event, the faces of non-Haden spectators glinted with the glasses streaming Haden view information into their eyeballs. The reason it was called “Haden view” was tha...

like mad chaotic data overload to non-Hadens was the Haden equivalent of a standard spreadsheet. Non-Hadens could use it and view it, but it wasn’t for them. They simply had to manage it as best they could. Ironically this became a selling point for the Haden view. It seemed “exotic” to non-Hadens and made them feel like they were getting a glimpse into what i...

And, well, sure. It was like that, exactly in the way going to Taco Bell is like living in a small village deep in Quintana Roo. But then, Taco Bell h...

Haden athletes play Hilketa in threeps, not with their physical bodies. But threeps have full sensory input and output. A Haden feels what their threep feels, and that’s going to have an effect on their brains. And like anyone else, Hadens are affected physically by their emotional states. Our hearts race when we’re in the middle of the action. Our brain activity spikes when we feel danger or anger. It’s all there for us.

I think it’s interesting that this Stodden character could simultaneously say they didn’t know why Chapman died and also blame him for his own death,” I said. “You said his job was franchisee relations, right?” Vann asked. I nodded. “Then it’s not his job to tell the truth. It’s his job to keep the money from bolting.”

Hadens have a higher incidence of seizures because of what the syndrome does to the brain and because of the neural nets we stick in there.”

You had certain expectations and understandings with your husband, Mrs. Chapman. About intimacy. About who you both spent your time with and how that time was spent. If your husband went against that, then he was unfaithful to you. Whether it counts as ‘sex’ is immaterial to that.” “So you would say he was a cheating son of a bitch.” “Yes,” I said. “If he was doing that, he was a cheating son of a bitch.”

Coincidence does happen, but Chapman dying and a Hilketa league executive killing himself and Chapman’s secret love nest burning down all within a span of eight hours was a little much to take.

Duane Chapman was goat three times in the game. That means he was the defensive player whose head was selected as the ball.

So, here’s the first time.” Tony pointed. “You see the heart rate go up and the brain activity jiggle around a bit. That’s because it hurts a little when the head gets pulled off. Not a lot, they dial it down, but enough that it motivates the player to avoid it. So right around the level of an open face slap,

painwise. It’s reflected in the vital signs—a sharp spike, which comes back down because once the head’s off the threep, the threep’s sensory system is shut down.”

Right, but now look at the second time Chapman’s the goat.” The data flashed by and then stopped. “This time the heart and brain activity spikes are substantially higher, and they don’t come down as far as they did the first time, once the head is off the threep. To the extent this data correlates with pain, he’s in a whole lot more of it, and it’s not entirely going away.” “Someone dialed up the pain receptivity in his threep,” I said. Hadens with threeps can increase or decrease the threep’s pain receptivity. It’s stupid to dial it down to zero—as with a human body, you can damage yourself really badly that

way, and repairs are expensive—but reducing that receptivity can come in handy at times. You can also go in the other direction, but, really. Few do. “You would think so, but the Bays’ sideline tech director says the threep checked out. At least that’s what he says in a story I read this morning. And that’s data the league would have. They’re always auditing threep adjustments and data feeds because the temptation to tweak the threeps out of standard setup is huge.” “So it’s like car racing,” Diaz said. “Everyone has to race basically the same-model car.”

Right,” Tony said. “In this case it’s one of four models and there are some other modifications that are allowed, but everything has to be within a certain range. Step out of the range, and everyone gets penalized. And in this case the tech guy would probably get fired. He’s not going to lie about it in a press conference.” “If it’s not the threep then what is it?” Vann asked. “I’m not sure, but whatever it is, it’s significant.” Tony started the feed scrolling again, but more slowly. “Chapm...

stress path. So when he’s goat for a third time, right here”—Tony pointed to a third, substantial spike in the data—“his vitals were already close to what they were in the second spike. And after this third spike, things get really messy.” Tony was right. After the third spike, Chapman’s vitals kept spiking, wildly and chaotically. “Here’s where the feed was shut off,” Tony said, pointing to a marker in the data stream. He pointed to another marker past the first. “Here’s where he w...

When death was likely inevitable, yes.” “So you’re saying Chapman died from too much pain,” I said. “Well, no,” Tony said. “We know he was in pain because at the press conference last night we were told that.” He waved at the ribbon, now still. “These data don’t explicitly show any sort of pain, but strongly imply it. But these data are incomplete. Especially the ‘brain activity’ data, which measure a sort of ...

Basically,” Tony agreed. “It gives the league something to sell. It lets you see something was going on with Chapman’s brain. But nothing specific enough to say anything with accuracy.” “Except to say he was in pain.” “Except to say that this data supports everyone’s assertion that he was in pain,” Tony amended. “And anyway, pain is a symptom. Technically, I’d say Chapman died of the cardiac arre...

In your opinion, has this data feed been tampered with?” Vann asked. “No, or if it has the person who tampered with it is really good at what they do,” Tony said. “That’s a preliminary assessment, based on a couple hours’ examination. I’ll run more detailed tests on it later. But even if it was tampered with, it’s been tampered with to show pretty much what we already knew: Chapman died...

He’s being fed tuna.” “See, now, that’s no good,” Silva said. “It doesn’t have all the nutrients a cat needs. And if you feed him too much, he can get mercury poisoning.” “And if it’s raw tuna it will disrupt his ability to absorb B vitamins,” Pena said. We all turned to him. He suddenly looked defensive. “My mother was a vet.