Hy Zap

Hy Zap is the owner and manager of a virtual reality retro-arcade in Minneapolis.

On 9 May 2144, Zap's retro-arcade was the scene of the accidental death of Peter Warzecha. The teenage gamer received a fatally large laser blast from a console playing the interactive battle game Bug Wars – the third such death among gamers to be reported in 2144.

Zap described to FTL Newsfeed the craze of "full-juicing", where battle games are tampered with so that they give players a much more potent laser blast than the usual mild jolt. However, he refused to take responsibility for the teenager's death: "Full-juicing" is the new craze. Teenagers do it for thrills. They dare each other to notch up the current. I wouldn't be surprised if this kid reset the laser himself. Look, I can't be everywhere. It's up to the manufacturers to find a way to make these games tamper-proof.

As a result of the deaths, retro-arcade owners like Zap faced much stricter regulation by authorities.