[StarManta]

I've been working on a theory, and am integrating it into an adventure I'm creating. In essence, it makes no sense for Technomancers to have recently evolved - technology moves too quickly for evolution to keep up (in just two generations of humans the Matrix has been reinvented - twice!). So the only sensible thing is that technology is moving the other way.

In other words, the otaku and the technomancers haven't Emerged to deal with the Matrix, the Matrix has been changing and (possibly intentionally, possibly as a side effect) is becoming easier for humans to access. The otaku started appearing sometime after the first Crash (and rebuild of the Matrix), and when they rebuilt the Matrix again, what do you know? Technomancers.

My hypothesis (and the heart of my adventure) is this: That technomancers have existed all along, and that some entities, likely NeoNET's precursors, have been experimenting on them since long before we knew they existed. The research led them to discover a new way to build Wifi devices, but there wasn't much of a market for an already Matrix-saturated world. What's a megacorp to do?

Via Shadowrunners, engineer the Crash 2.0, that's what. I'm not saying that Deus and all of them weren't involved, but they were pawns of Transys and/or Erika. So the new wifi technology, developed from the minds of technomancers-to-be, spread like wildfire as the megacorp rebuilt the Matrix. And so now technomancers, who had previously had little to no powers, were suddenly able to access all of this technology. The Crash didn't change them, the Crash changed the Matrix, and now they could see it.

Well, the Crash DID change some of them, of course. AIPS was a real thing. But I don't think it gave them the Resonance; it just made them more susceptible to it or more likely to notice it.

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So, the reason I'm posting this on the forums is this: is there hard evidence in any of the sourcebooks to counter this theory? I've read the core book, Unwired (specifically its section on technomancers), and most of the Emergence adventure, and it all seems consistent with this theory to me so far. And what a story uncovering this conspiracy could turn out to be!

(Edit: oops, put the wrong company for the pre-NeoNET conspiring)

[Chrona]

I can agree as far as technomancers could always have ben around but with no wireless marix everywhere o work with but NeoNET/Novatech orchestrating the crash to out Technomancers and TMs then getting loads of hate at them, with no help or public campaign or anything to help them feels un-megacorp like. Epecially as if TMs had ben there biggest source of the new tech it woul make the other megas aware of TMs.

But I don't have emergence, I havn't read much official stuff from before Tempo (besides core/source books).

[Charybdis]

A) This is a fictional game world, so bringing evolutionary theory into the argument is valid to a certain point
B) Technomancy may not just be due to the crash/matrix. Wireless signals are (disputedly) affecting Human physiology right now (and possibly have been for decades), so Otaku/Technomancers could have been in development (from a Shadowrun point of view) for 4-5 human generations by 2070
C) There's another catalyst here, the Awakening of Magic. It's entirely possible that the Awakening/Halley's Comet (which spawned an abundance of metagenic freakery) also assisted to kickstart the inexplicable Resonance attribute into sapient physiology.
D) In short, the evolutionary history of TM's is up to you. If you want them to have rationally and explicitly emerged due to certain circumstances, then make it so. There are an abundance of theories abounding, but even Magic (which has been in SR canon long before TM's) has deliberately left some historical and evolutionary aspects unexplained.

Heck, maybe there were Technomancer 'Spike Babies' as well? The SR4 world's your oyster, chummer

[Ethan]

I seem to remember reading in Emergence (I think) where one Jackpointer was hypothesizing that TMs were the first "mind readers" since they don't even need the Matrix to speak with each other.

There's also that theory that the Resonance is conscious somehow, and that it's been forcing these upgrades to the Matrix to bring it more in line of what this consciousness wants.

My feeling of that was some sort of Cthulhu-esque entity that lives in the EM band.

[Charybdis]

My feeling of that was some sort of Cthulhu-esque entity that lives in the EM band.

I personally love this option. +1 to you

[Valashar]

I've been working with the idea of pre-crash 2.0 technomancers for a while, with the idea that under the right conditions an otaku could push to the next level. Main use in our campaign has been folks that were inside Deus' arcology, which had a wi-fi rich environment (it's how Deus controlled the drones, security systems, and some of the Banded).

[SirDelta]

I read Arcology: Shutdown, but I can't remember what sort of experiments Deus was doing on Otakus.

Is it possible he was trying to force-upgrade them to Technomancers?

[CanRay]

If he wasn't, Pax was.

[Valashar]

Deus was able to force latent otaku into active status and instill otaku-like abilities on others, but they only when they were within the confines of the arcology. And yes, Pax was VERY interested in all of this because when the whole shutdown started she was already 21-22 and well down the road to fading. If I were to guess, I would think that she DID bootstrap to a technomancer during the shutdown, because she was able to break away from Deus and leave the arcology before the army came crashing in and she seemed to become more powerful between then and when she hooked up with Winternight. The creation of the Jormangund dissonant worm was NOT the product of a near-faded otaku, even one who'd gone down the twisted path.

[Orkimedes]

Not a bad theory. Its helped by Transys, Erika and NeoNET being so far along on the WMI when the Crash 2.0 hit. They were perfectly in place to rebuild the Matrix according to their own desires and to their immense profit. Personally, its always smacked of unbelievability that Novatech's IPO being the scene of Deus' resurrection, the Crash 2.0, and Winternight's attacks, and Novatech STILL survived that debacle, and actually grew after absorbing Erika and Transys, and became NeoNET. Something had to have been up.

Also, considering its Villiers and his company, and his connection with Echo Mirage and the first Crash...Villiers knew something.

As for the nature of technomancers and the Resonance...I dunno. No explanation I've heard has ever satisfied me. My own pet theory is that they, and the otaku, are a new kind of Awakening. Metahumanity's knowledge and consciousness have reached out and formed the Matrix, an information system that connects most people on the planet and is the primary means of communication in the world. It has an unbelievable amount of information, more information than humans have ever produced in the history, running through it all the time. I think this focus of knowledge and belief has created a link into astral, and formed a new hybrid realm, of pure data and magic. The Resonance Realms are metaplanes you must reach through the Matrix, and the Resonance is the great spirit of mankind's knowledge, bodied in the Matrix.

That's my two cents. We'll probably never get a real answer.

[SirDelta]

Deus was able to force latent otaku into active status and instill otaku-like abilities on others, but they only when they were within the confines of the arcology.

The Arcology was a Wi-Fi rich environment, correct?  So it would make sense that if he was giving them Otaku-like powers, they could only use them in the Arcology, if he was making them Technomancers.

That, or Deus is just that powerful.

[Crimsondude]

No. SCIRE was very much a hardwired building.

Wi-Fi Matrix wasn't introduced as an idea until 2063 in-game. Deus was out of the SCIRE Matrix for two years by then.

I don't want to dump on your idea too much because it's fun and whatever floats your boat is all good as far as I'm concerned. I have no intention of trying to explain TMs because it makes my head hurt. I just want to say that it is a workable idea so long as you ignore all of the metagaming reasons for why TMs, WiFi, etc. were added to the game. So, yeah. Rock on.

[Valashar]

Deus was hardwired into the SCIRE systems. The SCIRE itself was NOT a fully wired system. Deus used early wi-fi connections (called Snake Eyes links in the rules of the time) to maintain overwatch and control over the Banded (particularly the Blues, Greens, and the Whites that were arcology-'born') as well as the large drones (most notably the mantas, dervishes, and medusae). The SCIRE itself was also heavily shielded to keep such early wireless links from either entering (from the military outside) or leaving (to give outside folks a way to listen in).

Also, it's been established that two of the three primary 'master' AIs (Mirage & Deus) were capable of manipulating the matrix, and possibly the resonance itself, in order to create otaku. Mirage created and guided several of the early generation of otaku, a notable one being Hitomi Shiawase (current Empress of Japan). Deus' skills weren't nearly as good as Mirage's, as the otaku he created/empowered could only operate within the area where Deus had direct influence. It's possible that Morgan might have had the ability, but it was never indicated that she had the inclination or desire to do so, and once she got brain scrambled and became Megaera it's doubtful she could've mustered the focus needed.

So while the phenomena of otaku/technomancers weren't created by AIs, there is some meat to folks seeing a connection between them.

[CanRay]

*Cough*Clockwork*Cough*

[Crimsondude]

Deus was hardwired into the SCIRE systems. The SCIRE itself was NOT a fully wired system.

You're wrong.

If Dave wanted there to be wireless Matrix there would have been. There is not. The SCIRE PLTG was a completely hardwired system. What you are doing is confusing the SCIRE Matrix with the Deus' remote rigging networks (including Snake-Eyes). Remember, this was SR3—when rigging and decking did not overlap at all unless a decker installed a rigger emulation module into his cyberdeck so that he could hack into CCSS (a rigger network).

Deus automatically detects any decker who uses an existing jackpoint (tridphone, workstation, console) to enter Renraku’s Black Tower. How Deus responds is entirely up to the gamemaster. In some cases, Deus might allow the decker to explore the system before sending otaku to dump the intruder, or he might attack the decker immediately.

In order to avoid detection, the decker must tap into a Matrix feed—either a fiber-optic trunk or a remote slave device (see Jackpoints, p. 200, SR3).

The only thing Snake-Eyes is useful for in that case is to feed new BTL simsense to the Banded.

Deus uses four pieces of cyberware specifically to keep the Banded under his iron control: ASIST converters, carcerand release receivers, invoked memory stimulators and BTL stimulators.

The kicker, however, is the BTL stimulator. As the name implies, this implant is a personalized BTL sim that can be remotely activated through a commlink and experienced via a Snake-Eyes link (the BTL stimulator effectively overrides the Snake-Eyes’ peak controls).

The SCIRE itself was also heavily shielded to keep such early wireless links from either entering (from the military outside) or leaving (to give outside folks a way to listen in).

Not exactly. It's too long to quote, but I'll just direct your attention to pp.56-7 under the heading Communications. It's not shielded, per se. It's simply heavily encrypted beyond the Army's capabilities. Meanwhile they sit and stare at each other because both sides can blind each other at a moment's notice.


I find it interesting that Pyschotrope/Mirage was able in one night (well, with five people. I forget how many it killed) create adult otaku, but Deus couldn't in 18+ months. However, the one thing that Mirage had that Deus didn't was free access to the entire Matrix. Deus could study the effects on Free Whites and Renraku's own studies, and then replicate the effects within its dominion. It's been so long I cannot recall if it was simply a matter of Created Whites being able to access and control the SCIRE systems themselves as if they had been given a measure of Superuser control and access to "complex forms" and "streams" that were simply operations and programs Deus had created to make them capable of operating as otaku. I recall that being a hypothesis at the time that they were running virtual machines in their heads.

I never thought about it too hard, especially since Dave and Jay and other people who did discuss it know WAY more about science and computers than I do.