Parable of the Talents

Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Talents: A Novel. New York: Seven Stories P, 1998.

See for the "Dreamask," which allows for multisensory VR stories (293; ch. 19), and, much more stressed, "the latest in electronic convict control devices": collars that allow a puppet-master controller to "lash" a wearer with severe pain—and, possibly, with some models, elicit pleasure (80, ch. 5; 120-21, ch. 7; and passim). Rich adults can move beyond Masks to a "virtual room," a "private fantasy universe"—"like a womb with an imagination," centering on a "v-bubble" (310-11; ch. 19). Cf. and contrast explosive collars on "risks" in Pohl and Williamson's Reefs of Space, and the joys and dangers of the holodeck in STNG and other VR environments.