LEXICON:Â dhf - digital human freight. Â
     For every member of the civilized worlds human consciousness is now stored as DHF, digital human freight and is no longer stored in the living brain matter of any human body / sleeve but exists rather as electronic data that is stored in CORTICAL STACKS and, for some, backed up at regular intervals on satellites or servers. This data can be transferred between stacks in various sleeves (biological / cloned / designed or synthetic). DHF can also be spun up (activated) in a virtual reality environment (called virtuality) or needlecast (transmitted) across countries or worlds anywhere in the galaxy in a matter of minutes.
     For most people, if their stack is damaged to the point that it corrupts the data or the stack itself is destroyed this equates death (RD, real death).  There are some people, typically those with a more significant financial status (usually limited to those called Meths or Methuselahs) that have their own satellites or have a server / dedicated service which allows their DHF to be backed up at regular intervals.  This could range from every day, every 72 hours, or longer, depending on what one can afford & preference.  For anyone with a backup, if their stack / DHF is corrupted, damaged or destroyed, they can simply restore from their last ‘save point’ into a new sleeve / clone / synthetic body – they will be missing all memory of whatever events occurred since their last backup.
The technology for DHF was developed* by Nadia Makita, a scientist, programmer and explorer who studied and adapted ancient / elder civilization coding to allow her to turn the human consciousness into electronic data that could be stored in cortical stacks embedded at the base of the neck and allowed for travel across the universe in matter of minutes rather than travel taking decades or longer in cold storage in interplanetary transports.
If your DHF is transmitted to a biological body that is not a clone of your birth sleeve you will experience what is often called ‘sleeve shock’ or ‘sleeve sickness’.  This may take a few hours or a few days to fully recover from and includes nausea, muscle cramping, disorientation, potential hallucinations, decreased mobility and more.  (This does not happen if you are transferred into a clone - modified or otherwise - of your birth sleeve or if you are transferred into a synthetic body.)
It is illegal to have more than one copy of your DHF / consciousness spun up / aware / existing actively or consciously at any given point in time, period, no matter who you are. Â If it is proven that you are or have been double sleeved, the result is immediate erasure of all copies of your consciousness, permanently.
DHF is code; it can be hacked, though all stacks and all DHF code does come with its own extremely specialized anti-virus / anti-hacking software to prevent any interference.  It is not impenetrable, however, and certain hackers (called Dippers) make their living stealing / copying memories from the transmissions of royalty or financial elite, socialites etc. to their backup servers or satellites and selling these memories for the mundane people to be able to immerse themselves into these memories and experience a sliver of the life of the elite.  The more extreme or more personal these memories, the more they are worth.
DHF can be corrupted. Â Certain viruses have been used in warfare to create insanity, to cause targets to self destruct in various forms. Â Rawlings virus is one example; used to cause the victims to self destruct, to kill each other and themselves. Â These are considered terrorist weapons and use of them is against all Protectorate standards of law and are not to be used in any form of warfare. Â (Officially.)
There is a ‘Central Command’ where base code for all DHF is stored. This facility’s location, security protocols and access is all highly classified and protected by the most elite of the Protectorate forces.
*best estimation only i would say this tech was probably developed sometime around 2060.  this is not verified; season one is set in 2384. laurens is 360 years old or older putting him being born around 2024 and toss in a couple decades for tech to be discovered / developed and another couple for it to become usable and accessible by civilians.
