Seven of Swords
Aside from the reflection of the screen in the glasses of the member sitting at the centre, all seven of the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Internet were shrouded in shadow as Kelly Drummond walked into the darkened room. They were busy people; her presentation had been set up in advance.
"Thanks for agreeing to see me." Kelly blinked in the light from the projector and turned to the smart-board, stepping to one side so they could read the first slide.
"The School of Media Psychology has been looking into the effects of the latest generation of mobile device games. The preliminary results are somewhat alarming and we felt that it was better to bring them to your attention sooner rather than later and hopefully transfer further investigations to Bloomsbury College's government funded research programme."
The shadow in glasses inclined its head.
"We were already aware of the compulsion loop exploited by previously popular games - tapping into the potential for addictive behaviour in the human brain, stimulating the release of dopamine by boosting the anticipation of a win or completing a particularly difficult level." Kelly thumbed through slides illustrated with garish screenshots of tile-matching puzzle games. "These were driving their users into the realms of obsessive-compulsive disorder and - "
"Professor Drummond." Glasses sat forward in his seat and was presumably staring right at her. "We are well aware of these facts. Three years ago a member of your department gave a presentation in this very room. Action has been taken. Legislation to control and limit the more harmful effects of such games is already in place."
His voice was dry and serene and yet held within it a tiny undercurrent of menace. Don't waste our time. Kelly swallowed and flicked through the next five slides. It would be fine.
"The popularity of this genre of games recently took a dip." She paused and took a deep breath. She knew this presentation inside out and didn't need her notes. "Partly due to the legislation you just mentioned but mainly because of how quickly the latest craze took hold of the public imagination. What have become known as Panic Challenges. The original was Seventh Life, introduced with the new Axis 7 tablet, but it was so compelling that it was a matter of days before there were clones and knockoffs on the market for all conceivable platforms.
"It was a while before we realised we were looking at something new. At first the reverse structure of the scoring system seemed like a gimmick. But then we performed live imaging of the brains of people playing.
"The pleasure centres were not involved. No dopamine was being released. If anything the participants were being hyped into a state of artificial nervousness, a low key stimulation of the fight or flight response. They weren't playing in anticipation of a prize; they were playing because they were afraid of what would happen if they didn't.
"Most people can only comfortably hold three or four items in their mind at once; to win these games the player is required to hold seven. It's possible, but it ramps up the stress. The combination of this, the reverse scoring, plus the fact that events within the game could impact their in-world avatar even when they weren't logged in proved far more compelling than any reward. Survival comes before pleasure in the hierarchy of needs.
"The old games drove people into addictive and compulsive behaviour patterns, which was worrying enough in itself. However, these new games are far worse. Even in the very mildest cases they can be shown to induce Generalised Anxiety Disorder; it is our fear that unchecked they may induce more serious conditions from clinical depression to schizophrenia. Legislative control may not be enough. Even before - "
"Professor Drummond." Glasses was holding up his hand. "If I may?"
Kelly nodded.
"What makes you think we didn't already know this?" Glasses asked, his voice calm and measured. "What makes you think that this wasn't in fact, what we intended from the start? That this wasn't one of the methods we put in place as a result of your faculty's previous report? An anxious population is easier to control."
"What?" Kelly looked around for the light switch.
"An anxious population doesn't want to rock the boat. They're too afraid of what might happen." Glasses shifted in his chair, sitting forward, the lenses two miniature screens in the dark. "Will they lose their homes? Will their children have enough to eat? The games mine good, old-fashioned human anxieties. And just imagine what we might be able to achieve when the technology improves? We have to think generations ahead. The resources of this world are limited. If we don't manage the behaviour of the bulk of the population we will lose control, and if we lose control we will no longer be able to live in the manner to which we have become accustomed. That cannot be allowed to happen."
Kelly jumped as a click from the door indicated that it had just been locked from the outside. The screensaver chose that moment to kick in bathing the room in a swirl of unreal red and green light as the seven members of the committee stood up.
"Well now." Glasses took a step forward. "You clearly have an aptitude for this subject. The question is, do you want to help design the next generation?"
Kelly stared at the hand being held out towards her and wondered what would happen to her if she said no.