History Literature / LockIn

* GenderNeutralWriting: Chris Shane's gender is never specified; references to it are avoided very unobtrusively, helped by the first-person narration. Two versions of the audiobook were recorded, one with a male narrator and one with a female one.
** In addition, it's not until much later that we find out that Chris is black, as it hardly matter when one is using a Threep. It only matters for Chris's father, who blows away the assassin going after his child with a shotgun and is immediately told that his chances of winning the election are now nonexistent, as all the voters are going to think of now is a "black man with a gun".

* AngryBlackMan: After Shane's father [[spoiler:shoots a man in the defense of his child]], his party asks him to drop his candidacy and endorse a rival for fear that the perfectly justifiable act will be seen as this trope by the public.

* YourCheatingHeart: In ''Head On'', Chris and Vann discover that the dead Hilketa player was having an affair with a teammate. It's easier for Hadens to get away with it, since all they have to do is connect to a different threep somewhere else. The victim kept a secret love nest, filled with specially-designed "fully-functional" threeps: one with male sex organs, one with female, and two with special "neutral" ports. Apparently, the victim and his lover tried out all of them. His non-Haden wife found out and ended up sleeping with her husband's friend out of revenge.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:While Johnny's Integrator network was programmed to retroactively cause him to lose time, Brenda Rees and Nicholas Bell weren't so lucky, with the former being used to try and kill Vann and then herself, and the latter being witness to Johnny Sani's suicide and Hubbard trying to kill his sister.]]

* BluffTheImposter: [[spoiler:How Shane and Vann expose Hubbard while he's controlling Nicholas Bell - by switching out his intended victim, Bell's sister Cassandra, with the body of a recently deceased Haden's victim, banking on the fact that Hubbard doesn't know what she looks like.]]

* ConspicuouslyPublicAssassination: In ''Head On'', Chris witnesses [[spoiler:a fellow FBI agent being gunned down by a threep near the Independence Hall. The sheer audacity stuns everyone]].

* DeadManWriting: [[spoiler: Sani leaves a video for his grandmother and sister telling them his suspicions about his employer.]]
* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler: Sani eventually realizes that he knows too much, and will probably be killed by his employers. So he throws a sofa out a hotel window and slits his throat while his boss is controlling the body of Nicholas Bell. This is what got the attention of the FBI, which lead to Shane and Vann uncovering the whole plot.]]

** In addition, it's not until much later that we find out that Chris is black, as it hardly matter when one is using a Threep. It only matter for Chris's father, who blows away the assassin going after his child with a shotgun and is immediately told that his chances of winning the election are now nonexistent, as all the voters are going to think of now is a "black man with a gun".

** [[spoiler:Vann admits that the events of ''Lock In'' have become personal to her after finding out what Hubbard and Schwartz were doing with and to Integrators, because it's everything she feared during her time as an Integrator.]]

* MindRape: [[spoiler: How Vann views Integrating. She does not like the idea of someone else being in her head and controlling her body. She attempted to cope with it using alcohol, which only made her even more vulnerable.]] It doesn't help that [[spoiler:her last Integration involved a mentally-disturbed girl trying to commit suicide in Vann's body to see what death was like]].
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: [[spoiler:The suicide of a man in a hotel leads to a plot to corner the Haden's technology market.]]

** To an extent, it's already happening; Hadens without a lot of money can subsidize their virtual reality spaces by letting companies put ads on their "walls" (although the companies will try to cater to each Haden's artistic sensibilities and give them things they at least don't hate.

Now has a sequel, ''Head On'', which was released in April 2018. After the death of a Hilketa player on the field, agents Chris and Vann must delve into the darker side of the Hadens-specific sport in order to get to the bottom of it.

* BloodSport: Hilketa, a Hadens-exclusive sport, is half this trope and half-football. The name literally translates to "murder" (it's Basque), and the "ball" is actually a designated player's (called a "goat") head, which the opposing team has to tear off before they can use it to score goals. Players can pick up and use certain weapons, from swords and bows to grenades, although all damage is simulated, since Threeps are expensive. It's the first truly gender-neutral sport, since physical stats do not come into play, as Threeps are piloted remotely. Currently, Hilketa is restricted to Hadens, although there is a growing movement demanding that non-Hadens be allowed to play. Naturally, Haden players are resisting, as they feel the league will marginalize them, if everyone is permitted to play. At the same time, it's pointed out that Hilketa is still far from being the most popular sport in either the US (still football) or the world (still socker). This is why the league is so eager to expand into foreign markets. Currently, the North American Hilketa League is composed of 24 American, Canadian, and Mexican teams.

** President Haden's reason for wanting the Hadens Research Initiative Act in the first place - his wife, the First Lady, was one of the disease's most notable victims.

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: [[spoiler:The suicide of a man in a hotel leads to a plot to corner the Hadens technology market.]]

* NotDisabledInVR: Hadens left a significant portion of the planet with Locked In Syndrome, and so the government built a huge VR system, the Agora, to allow Hadens freedom of movement in a simulated setting, including Chris.
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: When Chris first meets Hubbard, he denounces Buchold for wanting to create a cure, all but claiming that it would be akin to genocide. [[spoiler:However, as events unfold, it turns out that he cares less about Hadens's rights and more about ensuring that he makes a ton of money from them, even going so far as to try and kill a famous Hadens activist to help make it happen. Cassandra Bell (said activist) even describes him as "able to speak passionately about Hadens when it is convenient and advantageous for him to do so, and when not, not."]]

* NotDisabledInVR: A plague left a significant portion of the planet with Locked In Syndrome and so the government built a huge VR system to allow Locked In folks freedom of movement in a simulated setting. This includes one of the central protagonists.

* NotSoWellIntentioned: When Chris first meets Hubbard, he denounces Buchold for wanting to create a cure, all but claiming that it would be akin to genocide. [[spoiler:However, as events unfold, it turns out that he cares less about Hadens's rights and more about ensuring that he makes a ton of money from them, even going so far as to try and kill a famous Hadens activist to help make it happen. Cassandra Bell (said activist) even describes him as "able to speak passionately about Hadens when it is convenient and advantageous for him to do so, and when not, not."]]

* FalseFlagOperation: [[spoiler:Schwartz and Hubbard set up the Loudon Pharmacy bombing to make it look like the culprits had done it on behalf of the Hadens movement, and would have set up Cassandra Bell's death to look like an act of anti-Hadens violence.]]

* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler:Vann admits that the events of ''Lock In'' have become personal to her after finding out what Hubbard and Schwartz were doing with and to Integrators, because it's everything she feared during her time as an Integrator.]]

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Chris's dad has this reaction when he (Chris) explains the conspiracy going on ''Lock In'', saying that it's a miracle that he didn't just bring in the (scotch) bottle with a straw.

* ShoutOut: Chris mentions in ''Head On'' that he's a fan of Scalzi's real life author pal Creator/CatherynneMValente .

* FalseFlagOperation: [[spoiler:Schwartz and Hubbard set up the Loudon Pharmacy bombing to make it look like the culprits had done it on behalf of the Hadens movement, and would have set up Cassandra Bell's death to look like an act of anti-Hadens violence.]]
* FixingTheGame: This turns out to be [[spoiler:the motive behind everything in ''Head On''. The BigBad plans to use her vitamin supplement company to distribute specially-targeted drugs to certain Hilketa players. The drugs would be triggered by mild electric shocks and serve to reduce the players' performance. Thus, the BigBad could ensure a game's outcome. Unfortunately for her, her test case's boyfriend got his hands on one of the supplement packets and used it himself. Since the drug was configured to his girlfriend's biochemistry, it ended up killing him in a very public fashion]].

* {{The Alcoholic}}: Vann. It seems that whenever Shane calls her outside of work, she’s in a bar getting drunk.
* {{The All Concealing I}}: Scalzi uses this to conceal Shane’s gender.

* {{Automated Automobiles}}: Cars have an auto pilot function, but drivers can still take manual control of cars.

* {{Cops and Detectives}}: A future version of the FBI, to be more precise.
* {{The Corpse Stops Here}}: The first suspect, Nicholas Bell, is found in the same hotel room as the murder victim.
* {{Dead Man Writing}}: [[spoiler: Sani leaves a video for his grandmother and sister telling them his suspicions about his employer.]]
* {{Death is the Only Option}}: [[spoiler: Sani eventually realizes that he knows too much, and will probably be killed by his employers. So he throws a sofa out a hotel window and slits his throat while his boss is controlling the body of Nicholas Bell. This is what got the attention of the FBI, which lead to Shane and Vann uncovering the whole plot.]]

* {{Gender Neutral Writing}}: Chris Shane's gender is never specified; references to it are avoided very unobtrusively, helped by the first-person narration. Two versions of the audiobook were recorded, one with a male narrator and one with a female one.

* {{Grand Theft Me}}: [[spoiler:Hubbard developed software that allowed him to take complete control of an Integrator without them remembering. He then uses it to frame Integrators for murder.]]
* {{Man in the Machine}}: Threeps, although they were purposefully made to be no stronger than a human.
* {{Mind Rape}}: [[spoiler: How Vann views Integrating. She does not like the idea of someone else being in her head and controlling her body. She attempted to cope with it using alcohol, which only made her even more vulnerable.]] It doesn't help that [[spoiler:her last Integration involved a mentally-disturbed girl trying to commit suicide in Vann's body to see what death was like]].

* {{Non Idle Rich}}: Shane becomes an agent of the FBI despite having a pretty sizable trust fund.

* {{Obsessed with Food}}: Some Hadens experience this after being locked in for a while. Vann and Nicholas Bell talk about how the first thing many Hadens do after integrating is eat a bacon cheese burger. It got to the point where all Vann had to do was walk into a Five Guys and they would start cooking one up.
* {{Oral Fixation}}: Vann is constantly smoking.

* {{Sharing a Body}}: Neural Networks allowed Hadens to project their consciousness onto an Integrator in order to interact with the outside world. The Haden can control the body, but the Integrator remains conscious and can take control when needed. [[spoiler:However, the software that Hubbard developed overrides the Integrator's control.]]

* {{Slashed Throat}}: The cause of death for Sani.

* NeverSuicide: [[spoiler:Subverted in ''Head On'', where the second victim really did hang himself. Why? Because the NAHL lawyer told him he would be the scapegoat.]]

* BloodSport: Hilketa, a Hadens-exclusive sport, is half this trope and half-football. The name literally translates to "murder" (it's Basque), and the "ball" is actually a designated player's head, which the opposing team has to tear off before they can use it to score goals.

* YourCheatingHeart: In ''Head On'', Chris and Vann discover that the dead Hilketa player was having an affair with a teammate. It's easier for Haydens to get away with it, since all they have to do is connect to a different threep somewhere else. The victim kept a secret love nest, filled with specially-designed "fully-functional" threeps: one with male sex organs, one with female, and two with special "neutral" ports. Apparently, the victim and his lover tried out all of them. His non-Hayden wife found out and ended up sleeping with her husband's friend out of revenge.

* BloodSport: Hilketa, a Hadens-exclusive sport, is half this trope and half-football.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:John Sani's suicide to Schwartz and Hubbard's plans.]]