Key To ‘Lock In’ Is Scalzi’s Clean Storytelling

Tightly-written modern detective yarn or topical exploration of modern issues? John Scalzi’s Lock In pulls off the impressive trick of being both.

Science fiction writers often tackle difficult, thought-provoking issues: cultural alienation, free will, pandemics, and xenophobia (both extraterrestrial and human). The best authors incorporate these ideas slowly and subtly, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. John Scalzi’s 2014 novel, Lock In, is a master class in this. It deftly touches on agency, contagion, moneyed privilege, and fear of The Other, without excessive discursion or over-analysis.

Best known for the military science fiction Old Man’s War series, and sci-fi satire Redshirts, Scalzi tries his hand at a high-tech whodunit.

The Story
In the near future, a meningitis-like virus leaves a small percentage of its victims with no voluntary motor control, paralyzed but conscious in a bed-ridden body, experiencing “lock in.” First Lady Margaret Hayden is infected; the disease becomes known as Hayden’s Syndrome and the locked-in are known as Haydens. A massive effort is undertaken to help the 4 million Haydens throughout the U.S. Both a cure and a vaccine remain elusive, but high-tech solutions are devised. Haydens are implanted with neural networks; these provide access to a dedicated virtual world, as well as a degree of mobility through the use of powered android-like “Personal Transports” which Haydens control via their implants. Lastly, a tiny percentage of people who contract the virus survive without being locked in; instead, the disease alters their brains in a way that allows them to “integrate” with Haydens. These Integrators temporarily host a Hayden client, providing them mobility and a human face. When a Congressional bill passes which cuts off most federal Hayden subsidies, challenges and opportunities arise that set the table for the rest of the book.

The trouble begins when an Integrator is found in a hotel room with a dead body, covered in blood, confused as to what happened. On his first day at the FBI, Agent Chris Shane – himself a Hayden who was once the poster boy for the syndrome – is sent to the crime scene, where he meets his new partner, Leslie Vann, an ornery detective with a secret. Their investigation points them first toward the Navajo Nation, then to the powerful organizations with a stake in Hayden technologies. Leads are followed, theories are examined, red herrings are uncovered, and a plan to trap the perpetrator is put into action.

The Craft
Scalzi’s writing is straightforward and accessible. His prose is the polar opposite of classic hard-boiled detective novels: similes are virtually non-existent, dialog is realistic and medical terminology is used sparingly.

Similarly, technology enables the story rather than being the story. Descriptions of key technologies are not hyper-technical or over-long, as is the case in many hard sci-fi novels. Neural networks, virtual spaces, software coding and hacking are revealed mainly through dialog, rather than lengthy exposition, and are natural and accurate (as a long-time IT engineer, I can attest to that).

Lock In highlights Scalzi’s wry sense of humor and deep love of all things geeky. Dialog is witty but not overly deliberate or precious. Personal Transports are called “threeps” after “a beloved android character from one of the most popular films of all time.” Haydens refer to non-Haydens as “Dodger Dogs,” because “One, you guys are basically meat stuffed into skin. So are hot dogs. Two, hot dogs are mostly lips and assholes, and so are you guys.” Integrators, not surprisingly, are called “mules.”

It also showcases Scalzi’s ability to smoothly incorporate big ideas into a story. Fans of Jessica Jones and the X-Men will find familiar themes: loss of agency, xenophobia, alienation, and the tension between humans with new, different abilities and the reactionary fear of the other 98 percent of humanity.

One of the major plot elements is highly topical: wealth gap. Extremely affluent Haydens, including Agent Shane, have high-end Personal Transports and full-time nursing for their bodies. Some use their wealth to further their own ends, and ruthlessly use and discard the most disadvantaged people. Middle-class Haydens, conversely, often live in tiny efficiency apartments and pool resources for maintaining their bodies. When Congress cuts funding and subsidies for Haydens, the wealthy scramble to exploit the situation, while the rest of the Hayden community has to scramble to survive.

To his credit, Scalzi largely uses these themes for character development and as plot points, rather than as a soapbox for expounding on personal philosophies. Similarly, he never indulges in the kind of “look at my incredible depth of knowledge on this subject” writing that characterizes some high-tech and hard sci-fi books. Scalzi’s self-discipline keeps the story moving briskly, and allows the reader to ingest ideas without being spoon-fed morality lessons.

Lock In is Scalzi close to the top of his game: inventive, entertaining and introspective without being self-indulgent or rambling. While Lock In might be closer to a beach read than A Big Important Book, it succeeds by painting an abstract of serious themes and letting readers draw their own conclusions.