WHAT IS A WIREHEAD?
A wirehead is the common term used to refer to a human recipient of the Mind-Machine Neural Interface [Wired] (currently on Model V). The terminology refers to the fact that wireheads were originally required to shave their heads bald (hair didn’t cooperate with the original jack technology), and the old generation of the implants required so many separate fiber-optic and wire linkup cables that when fully connected the recipients appeared to have hair made of wires.
Developed in response to the inability to perfect an automation system or AI that could monitor and operate the Higgs Drive and associated systems, wirehead technology allows a single person (in conjunction with high-speed data links and drones) to replace dozens (and in properly-trained and skilled wireheads, hundreds) of technicians. This innovation is what allows there to be FTL-capable Terran ships of frigate size and smaller.
The Mind-Machine Neural Interface [Wired] is a development of a neural interface developed by Dr William McDougal in the early 2010s. His original interface was designed to control cybernetic limbs (and is still used to this day for that purpose). The original Interface was modified to basically treat a computer system as an additional limb. This was a clunky and inefficient method, at best, and has since been improved upon. The original (and 2nd) model of the wirehead implants also had a notable drawback – they relied interfacing heavily into the recipient’s primary motor cortex, particularly the upper portions of it that normally controlled a person’s toes, feet, legs, and thighs. The original interface (first used in 2019, for system tests with the Janus) was crude and effectively shunted the computer interface signals into these areas, effectively replacing the subject’s lower body with whatever system they were plugged into at the time. The original recipient of the implant (Dr McDougal’s wife) was paralyzed from the waist down in a pre-war terrorist attack, which is why this was deemed an acceptable drawback to the implant. As such, the first two generations of wireheads were drawn entirely from paraplegics.
Subsequent generations of the interface technology improved the systems:
Model II (Introduced in 2020) – Removed the requirement for the recipients to be bald, through the use of automatic-sealing cable jacks that closed themselves off when the cable was removed. This, in turn, allowed wireheads shower without having to wear skullcaps.
Model III (Introduced in 2022) – Removed the drawback of losing the use of the recipient’s legs, by relocating the neural shunts that make up the implant throughout the neural cortex and the rest of the active brain. While this did open up the candidate pool for recipients to a much wider range of people, it required a drastic change in the way that wireheads are trained – leading to the first wirehead academy, the Kennedy Academy for Brain-Computer Interface Training, in Berlin, Germany.
Model IV (Introduced in 2026) – This model decreased the jack-in/jack-out time by replacing the collection of wires and cables with a headpiece that is custom made for each wirehead. The headpiece has fixed connectors which have diagnostic sensors that detect when they are properly seated inside the jacks on the recipients head. The Model IV and later versions are backwards-compatible and can still be used with the old wire-and-cable system.
Model V (Introduced in 2029) – This development removed the need for wireheads to be submerged inside a sensory-deprivation tank by essentially replacing the recipient’s senses with sensor data that used to come in as separate data feeds. This is primarily a firmware change from the Model IV interface, with some routine technical improvements made during the rollout of the model, and as such this feature is available for Model IV recipients as well. Wireheads on ships traditionally remain inside their sensory deprivation tanks, however, as the tanks served a dual purpose as a shock insulator as well as serving to deprive their senses of input.
Another recent innovation is a wireless adapter system, which is easily hidden underneath a hat or by hair. Powered by an array of high-capacity energy cells, the system sits on top of the user’s head and is seated into the neural shunt jacks. It contains a panel antenna that allows the adapter to interface with standard wireless devices, allowing basic control of systems while not physically jacked in. Due to limited wireless throughput capability, a ship cannot be controlled wirelessly, but a drone can.
Any player character with a wirehead neural interface has a Model V implant, unless otherwise noted. Some NPCs have older models, either due to personal preference, incompatibility with newer models, or other reasons.
Though it is optional with the introduction of the Model V upgrades, wireheads on board vessels usually spend their jacked-in time inside something usually referred to as a ‘goo pod.’ This tube, which used to serve as a sensory deprivation tank, is filled with a substance that has the consistency of gelatin. This ‘goo’ serves as a shock absorber, protecting the wirehead (and what used to be a very delicate hookup of wires) from any sudden movements the ship might make. While in the ‘goo pod,’ a wirehead wears an interface suit, which contains hookups for nutrient delivery and waste disposal, as well as equipment for neuromuscular electrical stimulation to ensure that the wirehead does not suffer any muscle atrophy while in the pod for extended periods of time.
WIREHEAD BENEFITS
While wired into a Terran spaceship, a wirehead must constantly spend a certain amount of mental effort monitoring and managing systems vital to the vessel’s operation. When not wired in, they can use the training that allows them to do this to perform other computerized tasks, making all wireheads exceptional multitaskers in the digital realm.
With trained wireheads, there are currently two specialization tracks:
Higgs Operator: A training commonly associated with TAPS wireheads, this specialization focuses more on the management and fine control of the Higgs Drive in order to bring out the maximum possible speed of the system. Their increased focus on managing the drive systems allows them to use Higgs Drives beyond their baseline potential, translating into increased FTL speeds for vessels that they pilot.
Multitasker: The more common of the two wirehead specializations, multitaskers are excellent at multitasking when wired-in. They are found managing Terran FTL-capable spaceships, large installations, sensitive equipment such as power reactors, and many other places. Their ability to monitor and control numerous systems at once allows them to take the place of an entire monitoring team.