Ono-Sendai™ Simstim Unit
Ono-Sendai™ VR Helmet
SYNOPSIS:
In Burning Chrome, Automatic Jack and Bobby Quine, two computer data thieves (called "Cowboys"), attempt a robbery in Cyberspace. Working from a tip that there may be a way to infiltrate the data base of a local crime boss, Chrome, they set out to steal the vast amount of wealth stored as credit there. From a fence named The Finn, Jack procures a Russian Military Program which will, hopefully, enable them to decode and infiltrate the elaborate, and deadly, security systems (called "ICE") surrounding the database. The only problem is, they do not know the full capabilities of the Program, and if they are discovered, they could be killed by a backlash effect through their own system. The play is told in memory, through Automatic Jack, and periodically shifts from the story of how the idea for the heist came about and to the hallucinatory experience of the Cyberspace "burn" itself.
TERMS:
Cyberspace - An alternative universe where all computer data exists in three-dimensional form, that can be accessed for easy manipulation through a device, called a Matrix Simulator, connected to one's nervous system. In the play, as if to mirror the experience of Cyberspace travel, the character Automatic Jack has built his Matrix Simulator into the fuselage of old airplane. Conceptions of Cyberspace, of course, change from story to story depending on the desire of the author; for Burning Chrome, it is characterized as a heartless corporate-military environment.
Simstim- Essentially the Sony Walkman™ unit of the future. Simstim performers, or "stars," have recording devices implanted in their eyes, ears, etc. They then record their exciting, action-filled life experiences (sky diving, for example) on disk for sale to the general public. The unit is able to give the wearer the exact same sensual experience; escapism to the nth degree. In the play, Tiger and Rikki yearn for the life of the Simstim star Tally Isham.
ICE Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics - Security programs which protect data from intrusion by "Cowboys" like Jack and Bobby. In the play, once Jack is "jacked into" Cyberspace, he sees these security programs as actual walls of ice, high and terrible, surrounding the core data. It is also rumored that the "Black Ice" surrounding Chrome's database is capable of killing anyone who tries to break into it.
The Russian Program - A military Icebreaker. A decoding machine which, when encountering a security system (ICE), immediately recognizes what it needs to become in order to pass through, and does so. In the play, Bobby and Jack do not know if the chameleon program will be able to pass all of the way into Chrome's database without being recognized.