[Ryushiroi]

Not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, so here goes...

I have been puttering around in the background/back history of Shadowrun. Being a relatively new player, and having an over-active imagination, I have begun to consider creating a character who used to be a member of the Network, the nodes created by Deus.

Problem is, I've come up against two concerns. One is could any members of said group have survived Crash 2.0? Second, if they did, would there be any residual issues. Perhaps most key, are there any "required" cyber/bioware implants that I might need to account for?

[Crimsondude]

>Over the last few months I’ve been pulling a steady income pulling kidnap jobs for a Johnson. The guy had a list of names—everyday wageslaves—of people he wanted me to snatch off the streets and deliver. Don’t ask questions, right? So, I get near the end of the list and I start to recognize some of the names, and then I start to ask questions. It turns out that all of them were involved in Arcology Shutdown. They were all trapped inside when the doors closed. I decided right then that it was time to stop asking questions.
> Hard Exit
   

They would probably have some form of Invoked Memory Stimulator, a Datajack, an ASIST Converter, and possibly Cerebral Booster. Given their incredible utility to otaku (which the Network nodes in fact were), their "unique" headware setup might also include a Math SPU and Encephalon. They may not still have all of that hardware, or it might have been upgraded or simply removed, but even if so it would leave an Essence hole. I mention that because ...

If they survived Crash 2.0, the nodes are probably going to be technomancers of the "evolved otaku" variety, and their Resonance needs to be reduced by the amount of lost Essence  . They also all possess above average attributes, especially Mental attributes.

[Black Sheep]

I was under the impression that many members of the Network didn't know they were members. Why would they need a specific cyberware setup in order to house a piece of Deus unwittingly?

I'll fully admit that I haven't read every piece of source material on Deus and I might just be missing facts.

[Mirikon]

It was the cyberware that allowed them to house part of Deus unwittingly. Just because you have chrome, doesn't mean you know you have it, or how you got it.

[Crimsondude]

The cyberware setup is from The Network chapter of Threats 2. It's heavily modified, so it takes a lot of success for an expert to even notice what it is. In SR4 it would be a Cybertech 8+ threshold. But while Deus was stored in their brains (as otaku), there was other cyber that they needed to be otaku (the datajack and ASIST converter), as well as the actual ware to control them (the IMS, BTL stimulators, carcerands; all the stuff that it used to control the Banded). Plus, like I said, in SR3 there was not an otaku alive that didn't have a Math SPU and Encephalon.

[Sengir]

But while Deus was stored in their brains (as otaku)

Actually, System Failure says they have a Data Lock for that. Which makes sense, because neither Otaku nor TMs can store data in their brains (although Deus might have been able to solve that problem)
The other significant piece of cyber mentioned is "a cutting-edge simsense transceiver that the rest of the world has not yet seen". Significant because captured samples of this tech are heavily implied to have been the basis for the new wireless matrix tech.


What is more difficult to answer is the fate of the Network members after the crash. According to System Failure, all Deus-aligned nodes of the Network fell comatose once the recompilation was complete. What happened to them has AFAIK never been established, but being comatose is probably not the best state during a global infrastructure collapse...

[Crimsondude]

Well ...

From just above the HE quote:

Though former Director Huang has been arrested (and possibly is deceased), his team of scientists—commonly held to be responsible for the Arcology Shutdown—is rumored to be working on more emergent tech- nologies similar to what was witnessed at the Renraku Arcology in Seattle. This time it is believed they are working on tech that can capture, transfer, and store biological memories.

> Downloading into human brains is how Deus escaped in the first place. It was only a matter of time before Renraku seized upon how the AI did it and patented the process.
> FastJack

Take that as you will.

Also, I seriously doubt all of those people Hard Exit was kidnapping were non-Deus nodes.

[Sengir]

Uh huh, so the in-character text in book that is not exactly known for its canon consistency disagrees with the game info in another book -- your point was?

And Exit's story could basically mean anything. Several 10k people were trapped in the arcology and it's fair to assume the majority was subjected to all kinds of experiments. A few hundred of those were made into network nodes, but  Exit's mysterious Johnson could as well have been after something totally different...that's the beauty of such references

[CitizenJoe]

I wanted to point out that the wireless matrix wasn't a new thing when it got adopted.  Iris Firmware (a Renraku subsidiary) designed the Athabaskan Council's grid using satellite and microwave systems rather than land lines.  This was way back in the 2050's.  I find it difficult to believe that Deus was unaware of that.  Renraku is also VERY well known for its nanotech abilities, this goes way back to the first DNI between a human and a cybernetic hand.  I'm sure Deus was well aware of that.  Renraku programming is very modular.  Which means distributive programming.  I'm sure Deus was well aware of that.  SK had an kill switch for their matrix which protected them from the crash.  The inherent fragile nature of the Athabaskan grid would have protected them similarly. 

When I combine all that together, I see Deus holed up in the Athabaskan grid with modular nanite nodes (people) wandering about until enough get together, and then Deus manifests in some manner.  Since higher level processing requires more power than a human body is going to provide to a nanite colony, it requires an external source, like maybe a constant background wifi signal.  The nanite nodes would likewise need to be updated and replaced as they die out, so maybe if you convince the whole world to carry around transponders, maybe even implanting them... Where did Transys come from again, with all its technology?

[Ryushiroi]

Thanks for all the replies. Now my head hurts... 

This might also be the time to mention that the character is supposed to be for the Missions campaign. We are just starting to be inserted into Denver...

[CitizenJoe]

Good to know.  Did I mention that Iris Firmware is HQ'd in Denver?

[Ryushiroi]

Oh, I already know that if my GM gets sufficiently annoyed, he might send Renraku goons after me... Something about being proprietary equipment...

Oh, and a technomancer...

[Crimsondude]

Fine. Let me put it this way:

The use of datalocks would be incomprehensibly stupid. If Deus used datalocks, then it would have never escaped because the Army and Renraku would have carved every single one of them out of the skulls of the survivors and stuffed them in a box somewhere because they are datalocks.

[Sengir]

Oh dear...

System Failure, page 15f:
Like many of Deus’ creations, the technology of the Network is ahead of its time. Each Node in the Network is implanted with a suite of advanced headware disguised as everyday business ‘ware, so that most cursory security or medical scans detect nothing out of the ordinary for a productive member of twenty-first century society.
Each Node’s headware suite includes a large amount of headware memory, compressed with state-of-the-art software and bound with a data lock and Rating 8 encryption so that even the Node itself cannot access it. It is here that the compiling code fragments for Deus (and Megaera) are sealed.
There is also a sizable secondary memory storage unit used in conjunction with the Node’s cranial cyberdeck and datajack/knowsoft link. Each Node also comes equipped with an internal radio transceiver, subdermal speakers, a transducer and a cutting-edge simsense transceiver that the rest of the world has not yet seen. This internal simsense transceiver allows the Nodes to transmit and receive short-range Full-X ASIST transmissions over an encrypted radio wave carrier signal. Combined with a system of headware sensory links, this allows Nodes to share sensory information, sometimes even memories and experiences, over a distance of about 20 meters from one another or through the Matrix.
The only piece of bodyware that the Nodes possess is a set of Rating 6 skillwires, which, combined with the knowsoft link, allows the Nodes to download skillsofts and utilize them
if necessary.

I might also point out that your arguments would be equally valid against any other piece of cyber Deus installed. Are you claiming Network members didn't have any cyber?

[CitizenJoe]

I'm claiming that there might be a way of doing it without cyber.  I'm also claiming that the entirety of the matrix wasn't wiped out.  I'm also claiming that Deus had access to research that could have predicted wireless matrix and his access to a safe zone.

Whether or not you should be concerned with these claims depends on how much you respect Deus as an adversary.  I mean how smart could he be?