Psychotopia, p.10
Psychotopia, page 10
‘And privately?’
‘Privately they may well do everything they can to subvert it. They are, to be quite honest with you, utter cunts.’
The word both shocked and delighted me.
‘And how many psychopaths do you think are in the current cabinet?’
‘I haven’t had the opportunity of testing them, so I couldn’t possibly say.’
‘What about Jackson?’
‘Oh, the Prime Minister is almost certainly a psychopath.’
I had to laugh at that.
LEVEL TWO, CONTINUED
While still in the secure unit, the player’s game persona will be subjected to various therapeutic techniques. In keeping with the game plan outlined previously – that is to say, the strategy of manipulating psychiatric professionals by seeming to cooperate with treatment – the protagonist will go along with all the therapies offered. At the same time, they must find a way to subvert and resist the possibility of a cure, or more accurately medical neutralization. (There is no cure for psychopathy in real life – but should we posit a cure for the sake of the game?)
The player’s goal at this level is always to escape or effect release from the secure unit.
From the player’s point of view, none of this is easy, but that’s the challenge! Obviously we need to think through the detail here. Possibly this could involve not taking medication that is offered to them (concealing under the tongue and spitting out), or lying prodigiously in any therapeutic sessions, whether in a group or one-to-one.
That should be easy enough to do, unless hypnosis is involved. So yes, let’s have the protagonists hypnotized. Under hypnosis, the character will regress to an earlier stage in their development. The game becomes their experiences under regression. They are a child again. The regressive experience offers another opportunity for gameplay, as the player is free to control his/her character in the new setting. (Though the inbuilt tendencies and traits associated with their dialled-up condition or disorder will exercise some kind of a pull, loading in impulses and behaviours that the player either has to resist or give into. The player is never totally in control.)
Suffice it to say, there will be siblings, there will be family pets, there will be sharp household objects that can be utilized as weapons.
How the player reacts in these regressive episodes will have a bearing on the fully developed personality of their character in realtime play. That is to say, the formation of the game character is dynamic.
We can safely predict, however, knowing our fans as we do, that most of them will engage in junior psychopathic serial killer behaviour when under regression. If there is a kitten, or a gerbil, or a baby brother, the question is not whether it will be killed, but how. Will it be strangled? Or given broken glass to eat? Or tied to a firework or two? These are all options that are open to the player. Also, what will become of the animal corpse afterwards? Will it simply be buried? Or skinned? Or eaten?
We should consult with a psychologist to explore the ramifications of these early choices in the mature psychopath. The more authentic and plausible the pathological progression, the more fun the game will be.
Development notes for PSYCHOTOPIA VR game.
Internal Alpha Games document. Not for release. For approved circulation only.
EIGHT
He gave her a desk just outside his office so he could look at her whenever he wanted. He was aware of her expectant glances cast occasionally, tentatively, nervously, hopefully, despairingly, in his direction. But did not return them. Naturally. Naturally too, he waited until she had given up all hope, and sat with her head hanging forlornly over her Let the Alpha Games Begin booklet, convinced that he would never acknowledge her presence, before looming over her when she least expected it.
‘How are you settling in?’
‘Oh, err, I, sorry … I was just …’
He made the noise of an electric buzzer. ‘Remember what we said about the sorry word?’
‘Oh … yes. Sorry.’ She winced apologetically.
‘No! I’m going to have to take you in hand! Don’t you remember our little mantra?’
‘Oh … yes.’
‘I hope you said it this morning?’
‘I …?’
‘I am a strong and confident woman?’
She laughed. It must have been pretty funny, he guessed, hearing him say that.
‘I forgot?’
He shook his head in mock rebuke. ‘Everything working OK? Your MindBook configured? You’ve found the network?’
‘I guess so?’
‘If you’re wondering, the IT department is …’ He gestured all around. ‘Everywhere. You’ve fallen into a den of geeks. If you need tech support, just ask anyone. Except for Mario. Mario doesn’t know shit about shit.’
Mario was his PA. Who was sitting right next to Sally. There was no doubt that he heard. ‘Mario is just here to make up our diversity quota. So that we hire the politically correct number of gay fuckwits.’
Of course, he was saying this not so much to belittle Mario as to make Sally complicit in the belittling. This was her first day in a new job. She was at her most vulnerable. He was her boss. She wanted him to like her. It was more than that. A moment ago, she had been desperate for him to just see her. So she was in the mode of smiling at everything he said and laughing at all his jokes. If she didn’t play along, she’d make an enemy of her boss. But if she did, she’d make an enemy of someone who had just as much power to make her life miserable – her boss’s PA. It’s what you call a double bind. It can drive people into a mental breakdown trying to navigate their way out of one of those.
At the very least, he expected it to cause her some moments of anguish, perhaps a whole sleepless night of it, when she reviewed her first day later. He’d been led to believe that people can feel pretty bad about stuff like this.
He had, in the past, from time to time, tried to imagine how it must feel when you crave other people’s approval. Even harder when you want them to like you.
Neither ever troubled him at all. As far as he was concerned, the only reason for getting people to like you is so you can get them to do what you want.
In his experience it was easy enough to do, if deep down you don’t really care one way or the other.
Anyhow, it was clear that her sympathy for the perceived underdog was winning out. The smile froze on her lips and tautened into a wince of pain. She looked for a moment like she was going to cry, then did all she could to avoid looking at him.
‘Oh, don’t worry about Mario. Like all gays, he can give as good as he gets. Besides, he’s into that whole BDSM scene, like a lot of them are. He spends most weekends in a rubber suit with a ball gag in his mouth, locked in a wardrobe. It’s actually written into his contract that I have to abuse him. Turns out the rougher I am with him, the more he loves it. That right, Mario?’
‘That’s right, Oscar.’
‘Course, he had to have his rubber outfit made specially. They don’t usually do them in children’s sizes.’
He had to admit it, Sally really brought out his witty side. Though for one moment, he was a bit worried that he might have gone too far. He knew he had a tendency to get carried away when he was having fun. He prided himself on his self-awareness, particularly of his own faults.
‘I love him really. Couldn’t manage without him. He knows it. Don’t you, Mario dear?’
‘Yes, Oscar dear.’
He promised himself that he would get the little fag back for that sarcastic echo some other time.
‘So I should take you for a tour later. Introduce you to the team. You’ll notice straightaway that most of them are a little spectrum-y. Goes with the territory, I guess. I mean, we do have the best games developers in the country working here. Some of them even manage to pass for normal people. I’ll let you work out which ones.’
‘Thanks? I think?’
‘They’re not, as a rule, very good with change. Or women … They may actually prefer to behave as if you’re not here. Don’t take it personally.’
‘But there are other women working here? I mean—’ She broke off, embarrassed.
‘Yes. Of course. We have some women in legal. And marketing. In fact, the head of marketing is a woman. Moni Samir.’
‘But you don’t have any female developers?’
‘We have one or two. We used to have more. But you know what happens.’
‘No, what does happen?’
‘They leave to have babies. Or something. I don’t know. I don’t look into it too much.’
‘And never come back?’
‘Not so far.’
‘I wonder why that is?’
‘I have no idea? They must prefer the smell of nappies to the hormonal honk of their co-workers?’ He had once again fallen back into the habit of mirroring her rising intonation.
‘But everyone knows why I’m here, right?’
‘Why you’re here? Remind me, why are you here?’
‘The thing we talked about in the interview?’
‘Oh, that. Yes, sure. We should talk about that. Talk to Mario about setting up a meeting? He has control of my diary? Which is why you should always keep on his good side? Too much rising intonation?’ He couldn’t believe he actually said that, but what the hell. He couldn’t resist it. It was funny, though it left Sally looking a bit nonplussed. It got a laugh out of Mario at least. Not that he valued that particularly.
‘I’d really like to get started on it as soon as possible?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘But I’ve been invited to a lot of other briefing meetings?’
‘We’ve got a lot going through at the moment.’
‘Yes. That’s great but … I’m just not quite sure how I’m going to schedule in …’
‘I’m sure you’ll find a way, Sally. I have every confidence in you.’
‘Well, that’s great but …’
‘You just need to have a bit more confidence in yourself.’
‘Well, I think I just need to be sure that you’re fully committed to it? To what we talked about? I mean, I have to be honest, it did feel a little bit like …’
‘Like what?’
‘No, well, I’m sure it wasn’t … but you know … I mean, it’s great … really great. A fantastic opportunity. I’m really grateful.’
‘You don’t have to be grateful. You’ve earned this. And, you know, it’s not going to be easy. You know the old saying. Be careful what you wish for. This could end up being a case of that.’
‘Yeah, yeah, sure … But the thing is there was no mention of it in the job description? Or in the contract you sent through. I mean, I thought there might have been something written down? So I know what the job entails? What my targets are and how I will be assessed?’
‘I can do that, if you like. If you think it’s necessary? I mean, I thought we were on the same wavelength? I thought we understood each other? I thought we shared the same vision?’
‘We did. We do.’
‘Look, the reason I didn’t put anything in writing is because—’ He broke off and flashed a wary glance towards Mario. ‘Look, why don’t we talk about this later? Are you free this evening? For dinner? I would very much like to take you out to dinner. It would be an opportunity to get to know each other better, and we could flesh out how we’re going to take this thing forward. We need to get all our ducks in a row before we take it to the board. Believe it or not, this isn’t a dictatorship. From time to time, I have to get the other partners to buy into my crazy ideas.’
‘And you haven’t talked it over with them?’
‘In principle, yes. We all agree something needs to be done. The hard part is agreeing precisely what.’
He saw the despondent sag of her shoulders. The disappointment tugging at the corners of her mouth.
‘Sally, there is nothing I want more than this. And, generally, I have a habit of getting what I want. You believe that, don’t you?’
She gave him her brave-soldier smile. He knew he had her.
He took her to Mother Earth’s, the upmarket veggie restaurant in Farringdon. He had the dim impression that she was a vegetarian. Maybe she’d told him, or he’d read it somewhere. Or he just knew. Just by looking at her.
In the cab, he warned her: ‘I hope you don’t mind. It’s a vegetarian restaurant? You can handle that?’
‘Yes! Of course! I am a vegetarian!’
So, he was right. He pretended to be surprised. ‘You are? Me too! Well, sometimes I eat fish. But less and less these days. I try to keep it veggie. It’s mainly for environmental reasons with me. You know the arguments, you’ve seen the films. I did have a vegan phase, but you know what I couldn’t do without? It sounds pathetic but milk chocolate.’
‘Me too!’
‘I know it’s more sophisticated to eat dark chocolate. I guess I’m just not all that sophisticated after all. I just like milk chocolate best.’
‘Me too! I mean, I don’t believe this? I’m exactly the same!’
He had read her like a book. She wanted to save the world, and she’d do it any way she could. As long as it didn’t require her to give up chocolate. Of course, as far as he was concerned, the truth was he would eat any part of any animal. But for tonight at least, for Sally, he was going to be a vegetarian.
He could tell she’d never been to a restaurant quite like Mother Earth’s before. Two Michelin stars. Immaculate table linen. Real art on the walls. Tables nicely spaced. Waiting staff who look like models or millionaires. Her eyes visibly widened as they went in. He had to admit, that gave him a kick. He liked to give pleasure to people. It placed them ever so slightly in his debt.
It pissed him off, though, the way she kept looking at the guy sitting on the next table to them. Then he worked it out. Guy’s face was vaguely familiar. Some B-list celebrity. He wasn’t good looking or ripped enough to be an actor, unless he specialized in slightly overweight roles. So probably a MindNet star who’d made a name for himself by sharing the tedious details of his meaningless life with millions of MindLess followers.
He decided to have some fun.
He leaned across and pointed a finger at the sleb. ‘I love your work.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I mean, it’s so brave what you do.’
‘Thank you.’
‘For a guy with such a tiny dick to do porn, it takes a lot of guts. But God knows you’ve got plenty of that.’
‘Fuck you! I’m not a fucking porn star. And I don’t have a tiny dick.’ The guy had reached full off-the-scale shouty without even realizing it.
‘Are you sure?’ He made sure to keep his own voice level and polite – and just a little bit sceptical.
‘Yes!’
He turned to the MindNetter’s friend, a girl who was visually way out of his league. ‘It’s gay porn. I guess that’s why he’s denying it.’
That didn’t go down well. ‘Who the fuck are you? Joker! Fucking joker.’ The guy’s shouting went so far off the scale it broke the shout-o-meter.
One of the waiters came over and had a quiet word.
‘No way! No fucking way! Why the fuck should I leave? He fucking started it.’
‘All I said was, I love your work.’ Ever the reasonable one.
The B-lister’s dinner date was on her feet, grabbing her bag and phone. ‘Come on, Raj, it’s not worth it.’
He could always count on the women to avoid a scene.
‘Why did you do that?’ said Sally.
‘Do what?’
‘You know what.’
He gave an excellent impression of an honestly bewildered man. Then remembered. ‘Oh, that! Case of mistaken identity, I guess. I genuinely thought he was a gay porn star with a tiny penis. Little Will is his nom de guerre. Is he not?’
‘You know very well he isn’t.’
‘I don’t know. Those MindNet celebrities piss me off. I mean what have they ever done? I really would have more respect for him if he was a gay porn star with a little dick.’
‘Well, I think it was mean, what you did.’
‘He was asking for it. The way he was looking at you.’
‘He wasn’t looking at me.’
‘You were looking at him.’
‘I wasn’t. But even if I was, that wasn’t a reason to take it out on him. And another, you can’t tell me who I can or can’t look at.’
‘OK, don’t get all feminista on me. Look, he was the one who started shouting. He could have just said, “I’m sorry I think you have the wrong person”.’
‘It’s not very sensible, from a PR point of view, to go round making enemies of MindNet stars. They have a lot of influence with gamers. Did you even know who he is? He’s Raj Sandeep. A big game reviewer. He can make or break a game. If he recognized you …’
‘He didn’t recognize me. I’ve made a point of keeping a low profile with the public. I’m a backroom boffin. Nobody knows my face. That’s the way I like it.’
She stared at him for a few long minutes. ‘I’ve got a feeling I know you.’
‘Duh, yeah? I’m your boss.’
‘No, I mean from somewhere else. I can’t help feeling we’ve met before.’
‘Very probably. At some gaming convention or other. I do panels. You probably saw me speak at one.’
‘I thought you like to keep a low profile.’
‘I make a point of only appearing on panels that nobody comes to.’
She couldn’t help laughing at that. He’d won her back.
