Bodyjacking
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Bodyjacking |
Invasion of an embodied
sentient being's mind against eir will, for the purpose of
tele-operation. This is done by manipulation through the victim's
uplink to the local information nets. Most commonly, as implied by the
name, this is used to tap into the victim’s senses or to
override control of movement. However, a skilled bodyjacker may also
implant false sensory information, create remove or edit memories, or
even edit or erase aspects of personality if e desires. Complete
personality erasure is considered to be murder. Continued
tele-operation and occupation of the victim's body, together with
personality erasure and replacement, is considered a form of
subsumption.
Bodyjacking for the purpose of committing a crime is
called shacking.
Bodyjacking is most often committed against vecs and
cyborgs,
and some varieties of neogens,
because "breaking in" is easier
if the victim has a standard design. However, a skilled bodyjacker
(usually either a being who is one toposophic
level above, or is
assisted by expert software) may invade the less standardized
structures of ordinary bionts such as humans, as long as a direct
neural interface of some sort is available. Most personal uplinks have
firewalls and other safeguards against such action, and most network
protocols also have precautions, but only someone without any form of
uplink or DNI
to the Net is completely immune to bodyjacking.
Bodyjacking by ordinary citizens is a crime in civilized polities, and
the penalties for such action may be extreme, depending on the purpose
and extent of the invasion. Tele-operation of a consenting adult's body
is not considered a crime in most places, but some cultures frown on
engaging in such a practice for mere entertainment or profit, and
restrict it to emergencies or special instructional or ceremonial
occasions. Some polities do allow their policing and public safety
services to tele-operate a sophont citizen’s body within a
very narrow range of circumstances, usually to save a life or to
prevent serious crimes. Outside the Sephirotic
sphere, some
polities reserve the right to invade any citizen's mind and body in
this way at any time, with or without an official reason. Of course,
these authorities do not refer to such acts as bodyjacking.
