The neural implant, also known as Protocol I, is an ongoing plot to force Silence on a biological level in all Psy. The chip plays an important role in Caressed by Ice, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, and a variation of it in Ocean Light.
Protocol I[]
Protocol I is a neural implant, a chip inserted into the brain stem to impose Silence on Psy minds at the biological level, particularly children, reducing most of the population to worker bees without free will and a few queen bees controlling the Psy.
The Psy Council secretly worked towards developing this implant with Ming LeBon overseeing the project; some Councilors, however, had more reservations about the program than others.[1] It could be embedded in everyone, or at least to those who refused to buckle under the emotionless regime of the Silence Protocol.
Static[]
An early problem was that the background thoughts of millions of Psy minds would overwhelm anyone with the implant, which was called static. Ashaya Aleine solved the issue, but it's not stated how.[1]
Live Trials[]
In 2079, alpha trials were authorized on volunteers or those who wouldn't be missed. Since no Psy would willingly allow an untested chip to be inserted into their brain, ten subjects were pulled from the latter category. There was one fatality almost immediately.[1]
Acting without formalized council knowledge or approval, Shoshanna Scott and her “husband” Henry Scott implanted themselves and authorized live trials in eight more unwilling Psy victims. Initially, the Scotts were a flawless unit and shared every thought without becoming a single mind. When the chip began to catastrophically degrade, they had it removed, but for two months it worked. Shoshanna learned that despite being supposedly equal, she wielded more power than Henry, indicating that there would always be a more dominant mind in the hierarchy.[2]
Opposition[]
The dissidents argued that Protocol I, while ensuring universal compliance with Silence, would have the unavoidable side effect of linking minds together in an unnatural hive mind. Those who had reservations that couldn't be publicly voiced out of concern for their safety included Kaleb Krychek, Nikita Duncan, and Silver Mercant.[1]
Rebels opposed the implant more violently, targeting facilities and scientists for destruction.
Anthony Kyriakus[]
Anthony has long opposed the corruption of the Council and its use of Silence as a means of controlling the Psy. The extent of his activities is unknown as he's more subtle than some other rebels, but it is known that he shared information on the implant and rebel activities with his daughter, Faith NightStar, who had publicly defected to DarkRiver.[3]
The Ghost[]
Active since at least 2077, the Ghost acted on classified information that could only have come from within the Council's superstructure and worked closely with Judd Lauren to target facilities working on Protocol I.
Father Xavier Perez[]
Although these days the priest is more peaceful than his friends the Ghost and Judd, he provided a place to meet, safe harbour, and was a confidant for them; most importantly, he kept their secrets.
Judd Lauren[]
Using skills he learned as an Arrow and from Ming LeBon himself, Judd acted on intel provided by the Ghost to destroy labs researching and developing the implant.[4]
Laboratories[]
Exogenesis Labs[]
Top secret research and development laboratories targeting implant design. The main lab developing the chip was destroyed in a carefully targeted explosion set by Judd Lauren on intel provided by the Ghost, killing two lead scientists and destroying months of work.[4]
Nebraska Lab[]
After the Exogenesis property was destroyed by the rebels, the Psy Council hid the replacement lab in a cornfield in Nebraska.[5] The nearest settlement's the fictional town of Cinnamon Springs.[6] From above, the main access point looked like a ramshackle farmhouse at the end of an abandoned road.[7] A laser fence encircled the perimeter.[8] Inside the house, there was a dirt floor[8] and a hidden elevator leading to the lab below.[9]
Ming’s forces set up the security at the new lab, keeping the lab staff ignorant of the location, under a communications blackout,[5] and forbidden from going outside. All satellites looking in that particular area were under Psy control.[9]
Scientists[]
Ashaya Aleine[]
Ashaya Aleine was the lead scientist, coerced into heading the project because Ming LeBon and Tatiana Rika-Smythe had kidnapped her son Keenan Aleine and held his life hostage. She and her colleague Ekaterina Haas secretly sabotaged the work and tried to protect the Forgotten Psy children and youths that Ming kidnapped as test subjects.
She held the loyalty of most of her staff, at the very least because they were under a psychic black-out: forbidden from entering the PsyNet. As psychic beings, it was like suddenly losing a limb.[10]
Larsen Brandell[]
Gradient 7 tp, lower-level sociopathic scientist. He killed children and youths for which Clay Bennett killed him.[11]
Other Implant[]
The Human Alliance strives for a different type of brain implant that will create a shield from psychic intrusion via telepathy. It’s a complicated piece of technology—some kind of a neuroinhibitor.” Bowen Knight was the first to attempt it, which was nearly a catastrophic disaster for him. They also used some sort of drug that inhibits Psy abilities and capable of stopping the heart depending on the dosage.[12]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Caressed by Ice, Ch. 14
- ↑ Caressed by Ice, Ch. 46
- ↑ Caressed by Ice, Ch. 6
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Caressed by Ice, Ch. 8
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Caressed by Ice, Ch. 36
- ↑ Mine to Possess, Ch. 34
- ↑ Mine to Possess, Ch. 15
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mine to Possess, Ch. 38
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mine to Possess, Ch. 26
- ↑ Mine to Possess, Ch. 35
- ↑ Mine to Posess
- ↑ Branded by Fire