Infohazard

An infohazard is a pattern of information hazardous to thought, disrupting the external stimuli processing systems of conscious substratic networks. Intentionally engineered infohazards can effectively inject code into viewers when the patterns are observed via visual, auditory or tactile routes (via Braille or similar). Types of infohazards can range from those engineered to cause harm, including death, to those intended to subtly influence or plant an idea into an individual. Infohazards are not always overt; many infohazards are designed to be difficult to detect and/or utilise subliminal techniques, such as high levels of translucency in images, short display durations, or infrasound audio. In military contexts, infohazard countermeasures are referred to as INFOHAZSEC.

Countermeasures

Countermeasures usually include filters placed on auditory or visual inputs, which can take the form of external eyewear or hearing protectors for unmodified organics, or internal filtering systems for cyborgs or synthetics. High-grade infohazards can be engineered to bypass these countermeasures, requiring that filtering algorithms be kept up to date. Exosuit helmets often include infohazard filters as an option; filters also can integrated into the electronic viewports of blast doors. Filter technology starts in the high six-digit unit range, and is a classified technology sold exclusively to the public sector; the largest manufacturer of the technology is Metatron, and the largest customer is Raven.

Infohazard filtering is highly computationally expensive. It requires the simulation of neural side effects, which scales processing time exponentially with the complexity of the pattern. It is also possible to specifically engineer an infohazard to bypass a given filtering algorithm with access to that algorithm, necessitating access to the filter algorithms to be restricted and the code itself classified.

Resistance

It is possible for individuals to have an unusually high resistance to infohazards, by virtue of their consciousness possessing a strongly coupled substratic network. This phenomenon often originates from extreme periods of trauma during developmental phases, such as in childhood. These people, which make up a very small fraction of the population, are commonly employed in high-risk positions at organisations such as the Interdimensional Research Treaty Organisation (IRTO) and Raven, being granted the special Star clearance marker. Additionally, some types of substratic networks are intrinsically immune to infohazards, including artificial intelligences; the proliferation of sapient AIs throughout society has enabled Raven to become less reliant on those with traumas and increased the number of eligible Star personnel.

Classes

Class A - AMNESTIC - Acts similar to a chemical amnestic agent and wipes the subject’s memory to varying degrees.
Class B - BLINDER - Renders the subject’s senses nonfunctional. May be all senses, or a combination
Class C - CONTROL - Forces the subject to perform an action. Often, the subject will have no memory of the actions it performed after the effects wear off.
Class D - DELIRIANT - Induces hallucinations.
Class H - HYPNOTIC - Makes the subject vulnerable to suggestion and allows for the extraction of memories and confidential information
Class M - MNESTIC - Makes the target recall information from subconscious or repressed memories
Class K - KILL AGENT - Induces near-immediate brain death by cascading network collapse
Class P - PARALYTIC - Paralyses the subject and prevents them from moving.
Class S - SOPORIFIC - Makes the subject fall unconscious.
Class X - NULLIFIER - Overwrites the effects of other infohazards and returns the target to a normal state.
Class Y - SUBLIMINAL - Plants an idea in the subject’s mind or replaces memories. This is often one of the hardest types of infohazards to detect.
Class Z - POLYMORPHIC - Very complex type of infohazard that may combine multiple classes

Modifiers:

• FRACTAL: Causes the subject to attempt to self-propagate the infohazard to others by speaking, writing, or contorting its limbs.