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Mindjacking

Mindjacking
Image from Bernd Helfert

Obtaining control over somebody's mind by hi-tech, ultratech or transapientech methods.

This may involve a criminal using technology they have developed or obtained to gain control over a victim's mind by nanoinfiltrators, hacking DNI systems or other means. The victims can be made into willing accomplices, cat paws, slaves or simply defrauded of their possessions. The most powerful forms of mindjack tech are rare but powerful clarketech devices which can be used by modosophonts; such devices bring high prices on the black market.

Alternately the mindjackers may be acting for the local government, using mind control tech and memetic engineering to ensure a docile or obedient population. On occasion certain independent or non-sephirotic transapients have used a combination of memetic engineering and low-level direct stimulation via the victim's own neurotech connections to achieve a form of mindjacking that is imperceptible to the victims; by remotely triggering emotional responses such as happiness or disgust an unsuspecting sophont may be deceived into thinking that they are forming strong opinions about a particular course of action. This sort of mindjacking was used by the independent transapient at Bolobo during the Mind Control scandal during the Age of Expansion, and more recently by the Oracle Machines to control the Enthralled.

The most potent form of mindhacking is known as Binding, which involves completely overriding the sophont's conscious control of eir own body. In this method the sophont can observe the actions of their hijacked body, but is powerless to prevent them.

 
Related Articles
  • Binding
  • Bolobo Mind Control Scandal
  • Memetic Engineering, Memgineering
  • Memetic Infector - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    A sapient being used to infect societies or communities with a particular memeset. Memetic infectors resemble ordinary sophonts, but may differ psychologically, often having fanatical or one-sided enthusiasm for the meme-plex they are carrying. Infectors may be replicators (viruses) or non-replicators (memengers).
  • Mindhacker - Text by John B
    Illegal profession in many if not most clades or polities. Specializes in extracting information from the mental processes of a target sophont. The best mindhackers can extract full information replicas without the target recognizing this, but that is exceedingly rare without a transapient intellectual rating. Mindworker profession.
  • Oracle War
 
Appears in Topics
NeurotechnologyProscribed, Semi-legal and Illegal Activities
 
Development Notes
Text by Michael Beck
Additional material by Steve Bowers
Initially published on 08 December 2001.

 
 
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