missingvolume | #95 Lock In by John Scalzi

In a near future a virus has caused 1% of the world's population to become locked in their own bodies till fully aware but unable to respond. Money is thrown at the problem and a solution of sorts is developed. One is a virtual reality that allows the "locked in" and the unaffected to interact. The other way is a giving them a robot body to walk around with. A third method is also available but much less accessible since it requires someone to have come down with the initial infection but not suffer the total effects of the disease. The locked in can control the body and the owner of the body is in the background but isn’t in the driver’s seat. This method is strictly controlled and licensed and schooling is expensive but fully covered if you complete your contract of employment. Chris’ first day on the job with the FBI as a sufferer of Hayden’s [lock in] has him paired with someone who used to provide a body that allowed sufferers to control and they are assigned a murder case where it seems the perpetrator is someone with Hayden’s while they were operating someone else’s body. The story does cover quite a bit of how society and laws have changed to adapt to this disease but the secondary feel to the story is also a bit about how people perceive you when they have no clues as to your race or sex.