bcifi

“Dear God, not more neuroscience!”

“Please, just bear with me. It’s a real technology. Look, it’s all over the internet.”

“With our job titles, you’re citing The Internet?”

“Not just there. It’s been in lots of papers since the 1990s. Published, peer-reviewed articles. Look at this stack of papers over the last 30 years.”

“You didn’t print those during work time, right, detective?”

“No, ma’am.”

Captain Dubois glanced at one of the papers. “You told me all this before. A bunch of brain scientists figured out how to shine a laser through the skull, and measure how the light reflects back onto sensors outside the skull, without opening the skull or even hurting anybody?”

“Right. It’s the same principle as shining a flashlight through your hand. And it’s not really visible light, since it’s a slightly longer wavelength. That’s why it’s called functional near-infrared spectroscopy. fNIRS. Look it up.”

“Thanks, detective. That is your title, right?”

“Um – well, unless you’re a lot more pissed off than I think, captain.”

“Your title isn’t doctor, or professor, or anything?”

“Ma’am, I’m just trying to do my job. Nobody else can figure this one out. I thought I was on to something when you pulled me out of the interrogation room.”

“And you’re not going back in there until I’m convinced it wasn’t just a case of two pissed-off nerds. Angry, spoiled little snots who hated each other and both just lost the biggest games of their lives and had a fistfight out of frustration.”

“Agreed, but why did they lose?”

“Froze under pressure?”

“They’re top gamers. Both had been in over a hundred major, public gaming tournaments. They were ranked 1 and 2 in the world. Why would they suddenly have trouble now? Why would they both report the same weird brain problems that we’ve never seen before? People who freeze under pressure don’t have trouble seeing and moving on half of their bodies only.”

“That’s what they told you. Look, we’re just investigating a fistfight. Find out if they want to press charges against each other. If so, you know the procedure. If not, let ‘em go.”

“Respectfully, ma’am, I’d like – ”

“To keep your job?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’ve wasted way too much time on this. We have other cases. Close this one.”

Captain Dubois looked poised to further criticize Detective Sanchez when the door opened and two very well dressed women walked in. The older one walked up to her. “Captain Dubois?”

“Yes. This is a secure area, ma’am.”

“I’m Special Agent in Charge Miller, this is Agent Jackson.” Both women casually flashed badges.

Captain Dubois glared at Detective Sanchez. “You called the fucking FBI on this one? Without asking me?”

“No, ma’am, of course –”

Miller interrupted. “No, Captain. We were contacted by both of your suspects’ attorneys.”

“This is just assault, Agent Durran. Two kids punching each other.”

“Assault with a deadly weapon, probably illegal use of an unapproved medical device, racketeering and fraud on the scale of hundreds of millions of dollars, so far.”

“So you’re sold on the theory from Detective Sanchez?”

“Yes. Outstanding detective work. We were watching the camera feed of the interrogation downstairs. Seemed he was doing a great job until you pulled him out.”

“And that’s why you came up here?”

“Yes. Detective Sanchez, you will continue your investigation, and I’ll join you.”

“Yes, ma’am. Is it possible we might get an expert on this technology as well?”

“That’s why I’m here. I’m a neurologist with a PhD in neuroscience. We have a team reviewing the video from the Superbrawl game right now. You and I, we’ll talk to the suspect here in Interrogation Room One, and Agent Jackson will speak to the one in Interrogation Room Two.”

“Yes, sir,” answered Sanchez. “So you agree they might be using it as a weapon?”

“When they first tested fNIRS, they realized that lasers that are too powerful can influence neural activity. It’s been a big issue getting any of those systems through the FDA. Now, since both of these suspects shaved their heads, you wouldn’t need to put the emitter puck in contact with the scalp to avoid hair. And, if we’re right, the perpetrators don’t care about detecting any reflected light to actually image the brain. They just want to ionize and heat a little patch of the cortex at a distance. It’s essentially a tool to induce dysfunction instead of measure function.”

Sanchez nodded. “And if it’s not too powerful, it would only cause a temporary effect. It’d leave the victim with unprovable and very temporary brain damage that nobody would believe.”

“We think so. Quite an intuitive leap you made, given your background.”

“I studied Psych, sir. Did an internship in a neuroimaging lab.”

“Right. That’s what I meant.”

Captain Dubois spoke up. “What’s my role in this?”

“Get that headset he was wearing out of Evidence and bring it to us. Otherwise, don’t interrupt again.”

“Yes, sir.”

Detective Sanchez and Special Agent in Charge Miller entered the adjacent interrogation room, where a 17 year old suspect was holding an icepack over a black eye. “Finally!” the suspect said as the two men entered. Detective Sanchez closed the door, then he and Miller sat down across from him.

Miller looked piercingly at the suspect for a few seconds before speaking to him. “David, I’m an FBI agent. We’re here to listen. Could you please repeat what you were saying about the crime?”

“Well, yeah, or the only part you care about. After I lost to that fucking flaccid gremmie, I was in the prep room, and there was Headshot Harry, and, he called me a noob, and we, well, we were yelling at each other, and I told you he threw the first punch.”

“Not that part. The other crime you alleged.”

“Oh, so you’ll listen this time?”

“We just said that. Please explain the unusual activity you reported during the game.”

“OK. So I’m playing MindSplat 3 against Seoul Man. Winning. Of course. Was just an expo game, the guy’s only rated diamond league, and I’m number one. Bookies had it at 32-1. I had just killed him and was camping the warehouse outside his spawn point. Knew he would go for the warehouse because he did it before and it’s a great sniping position. So I got there first and I had my crosshairs right where he was gonna pop out.”

“So you believed that you were in an advantageous location within the game?”

“Hell yeah!! And I was right. Sure enough, he pops around the corner and I started moving the mouse wheel to line one up right between his eyes. You know how it is, with sniping and headshots.”

Sanchez spoke up. “Not within the context of gaming. But I get the point. Please continue.”

“So right then, I just couldn’t see him for like half a second. Suddenly he’s in a different spot. Like, I knew he was moving, but I couldn’t see him move. It was like watching a bunch of freeze-frame images.”

“Have you ever experienced this problem before?” Miller asked.

“No. Never. Are you really an FBI agent?”

“Yes.”

“Cool! Have you ever killed anyone?”

“Please continue, David.”

“So then I lost the shot, but I knew he would be coming up the stairs. So I moved to hide behind a desk and pop him at the top of the stairwell.”

“And to make sure, you’re referring only to movement of your character in the game?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, we were both just sitting onstage the whole time.”

“And your location onstage would have been easy to predict before the game began?”

“Yeah. Everyone knew where we would sit. Same as last year.”

“OK. Please continue.”

“So then I just couldn’t move right. Like, my right hand wasn’t really doing what I wanted. I meant to click behind the desk and then hit the control key with my left hand to crouch. But instead I clicked too far, then I ended up crouching in plain sight. Then I see his ugly head pop up at the top of the stairs, and I clicked to fire, but I, well, I missed.”

“You mean that your character fired a shot that missed your opponent?”

“No. I missed the left mouse button. Clicked to the side of my mouse. Nothing happened in the game. So there I am, totally exposed, I’m crouching so I can’t dodge, and the fucking gremmie comes up and knifes me. Knifes me!!! So the whole stadium starts laughing. At me. ME!!!!”

“And this was a competition for whoever killed the other player three times?”

“Right. So I respawn and I’m after him, but same thing. The whole world isn’t moving right. Everything is freeze frame, but only stuff on the right half of the screen. Otherwise I can see fine.”

“So you had no trouble seeing color, recognizing shapes, identifying objects, naming them, anything like that?”

“No. But I still can’t move my right hand.”

“Which was on the mouse?”

“Right, my left hand, on the keyboard, seemed fine.”

“And these problems continued throughout the remainder of your game?”

“Yup. The pasty-faced gremmie gook slaughtered me.”

“And you are no longer experiencing any of these problems with moving your right hand nor recognizing visual movement?”

“Right. But I’m telling you, I didn’t freeze. I wasn’t that nervous. I knew I had that guy. I’ve been under way more pressure. Like, at the finals last year against Headshot Harry. Which I won, of course. And then the next month, I was fragging some guys at a –”

David stopped as Captain Dubois opened the door, holding some headphones. “This is the evidence you requested, sir.” She handed the headphones to Agent Durran, then left.

Agent Durran showed the headphones to David. “Is this the gamer headset you were wearing?”

“Looks like it. It’s a custom model just for me. See, where it says Air David? They pay me about 22 million a year to wear it.”

“And I’m guessing that, when worn, this device goes roughly over the central sulcus, which would leave your premotor area exposed on the anterior side and medial superior temporal on the posterior end?”

“I – um. If you say so.”

“David, would you mind putting these on, the same way you did at the tournament earlier today?”

David obediently donned the headset. Agent Miller opened her coat and removed a small device and a cloth measuring tape, then began measuring David’s head. “This doesn’t hurt, right?”

“No. I’m not really in any pain. I mean, I was winning our little fistfight. I would again too, if you’d let me out of this room. Wish they had that on camera.”

“Please remain silent and avoid any movement. I need to check a few things.” David remained still while Agent Miller took several measurements around his head. Agent Miller leaned back, looking satisfied. “Thought so. Now, David, I’d like to try something, if you don’t mind. It won’t hurt.” Agent Miller picked up her device.

“What’s that?” David asked.

“It’s a modified neuroimaging device. It’s called a functional near infrared spectroscopy, or fNIRS.”

“OK.”

“I’m going to point this at your head. Please observe Detective Sanchez here. Detective, please begin waving at David – just keep moving your hand until I tell you to stop.” Detective Sanchez began waving as instructed.

“Now, David, can you see him waving?”

“Yes.”

“Any problems?”

“No.”

“What is the name of the body part he’s waving?”

“Um. A hand.”

“Right. What color is it?”

“Well, it’s a dark flesh color.”

“Right. Can you name some other things people can do with their hands, aside from waving?”

“Sure, you can use hands to play MindSplat 3, or Band of Legends, or World of MindCraft, or –”

“OK, good. Now, please continue observing Detective Sanchez. I’m going to turn this on now.” Agent Miller pressed a button.

David’s eyes widened and he exclaimed, “That’s it! Same thing.”

“Can you describe what changed?”

“His hand is like moving in snapshots. Same thing that happened when I lost. But it’s only doing that for half of the arc, when it goes to my left side, it’s fine.”

“And can you recap your answers to my other questions about the body part he keeps waving?”

“Yes. It’s a hand. It’s a normal color for a Mexican guy like him, people use it to play games and stuff. What the fuck is that thing doing to me? Turn it off.”

“OK.” Agent Miller removed the device and put it on the desk. “Now, has anything changed?”

“No! Same problem. What the fuck did you do to me? His hand keeps – whoa, this is really weird. OK, now the weird shit is going away…. It looks normal now.”

“Thought so. OK, now I’d like to try something to see if you have the same trouble moving.”

“No! That fucking thing scares me. I mean, I’m still one of the top gamers in the world. I need my brain.”

“Don’t we all. Please remain still.” He stood up and flicked a switch at the camera mounted in the ceiling of the interrogation room.

Detective Sanchez, who was still waving as instructed, turned to Agent Miller. “Agent Miller, he clearly refused. We have no right to continue this procedure. ”

Agent Miller glared back. “It’s off camera now. Just us. You’re looking at a commendation if you keep your mouth shut.”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, I can’t condone this activity.”

“It’s not just him!” David yelled. “Get that fucking thing away from me or I’ll call a lawyer!”

Detective Sanchez turned to David. “I thought you had a lawyer? That’s how – ” He stopped speaking rather suddenly as a metal blade emerged from his mouth, just above his tongue. His head slumped forward as Miller pulled her knife out of the back of his head. David bolted and ran for the door, but Agent Miller grabbed and quickly pinned him with a bloody knife at his throat.

“Lemme go!”

“David, you need to calm down. You understand how much money is at stake here, right? And he’s not going to respawn, and neither will you if you keep fighting me.”

David started to cry. “What – what do you want?”

“We’re going to walk out of here, calmly, unemotionally. If anyone asks why you kept saying the things you did after you lost, you’ll say you froze under pressure. Otherwise, you’re not going to mention anything about this ever again.”

“OK.”

“Every match you play, from now on, you will win or lose as we instruct.”

“But – I mean, can I be number one again some time? I mean, this is all I have.”

“Stay here. Don’t move.” Agent Miller opened the door and motioned Captain Dubois inside. She entered the room, looked at her dead Detective Sanchez, and then felt Miller grab and snap her neck. Miller dropped the captain’s corpse and turned back to David. “I had to do that eventually, but the timing was just to make my point to you. We don’t really need you. Just a better story if you cooperate. Lots of money in vengeance matches.”

David kept crying. “Whatever you want.”

“We need to leave, soon. We’re going to get in a car, where I’m pretty sure your new friend Headshot Harry will be waiting, and we’ll provide further instruction. Or, I’m gonna walk out of here alone, and they’ll find three corpses in here instead of two.”