[Horsemen]

It could be MCT given the focus of the initial campaign chapter of SRC.

[Lorebane24]

MCT has just overtaken S-K as the world's largest megacorporation.  It's painted a target on their back, but I really doubt that they would taking such a lashing so soon after that as to lose their mega status entirely, especially not with NeoNet and Evo being so much easier to go after right now.

For my own part, I would hate to see Evo drop out.  They are so deliciously creepy in a way that is so distinct from the other AAAs, and I hope the stick around so we can see what other sort of marvelous fuck-ups they produce.

While we're talking about this, do we know yet who was ultimately responsible for the initial outbreak of CFD?  I mean the whole Boston fiasco is squarely on NeoNet (and Pax, I guess), but what about all the stuff before that?

[Mirikon]

CFD in general is laid squarely on NeoNET's doorstep, I'm afraid. The reason EVO is so infested is because of their transhuman vibe. Augmentations help spread it, so before people knew about CFD, a corp that actively encourages augmentation in their citizens is going to get hit hard. But CFD is still NeoNET's bag. Thank Celedyr for that one, locking up e-ghosts and other AIs in a private server for happy fun torture times/live dissections to see how they work. Eliohan's status as Cerberus is what likely prompted this route, trying to get the dragon's e-ghost back in his body. The AIs escaping their prison and going bodysnatcher showed Celedyr the way to make it work, with help from Pax and Aztechnology. Yeah, you can already see why this blew up in NeoNET's face, right?

Anyways, CFD is NeoNET's bag, but good luck pinning it on them without damn good proof.

[Nightmare]

CFD in general is laid squarely on NeoNET's doorstep, I'm afraid. The reason EVO is so infested is because of their transhuman vibe. Augmentations help spread it, so before people knew about CFD, a corp that actively encourages augmentation in their citizens is going to get hit hard. But CFD is still NeoNET's bag. Thank Celedyr for that one, locking up e-ghosts and other AIs in a private server for happy fun torture times/live dissections to see how they work. Eliohan's status as Cerberus is what likely prompted this route, trying to get the dragon's e-ghost back in his body. The AIs escaping their prison and going bodysnatcher showed Celedyr the way to make it work, with help from Pax and Aztechnology. Yeah, you can already see why this blew up in NeoNET's face, right?

Anyways, CFD is NeoNET's bag, but good luck pinning it on them without damn good proof.

I don't exactly agree with you Mirikon about NeoNET being the one that CFD is laid squarely on. Boston's lockdown, that's for sure on NeoNET and part of CFD is on NeoNET but Evo is also at fault.  In fact, it's spelled out in Lockdown pg 198 that they are both at fault:

[spoiler]

Evo and NeoNET’s programs will be the primary focus of the canon universe, but any megacorporation could have some similar, if smaller, program.

So that gamemasters are aware, forces within Evo and NeoNET are at the root of the problem, but as a whole, the bulk of the either corporation does not know what’s been going on. Members of Evo’s Dickens Program and the management that oversees it are becoming more and more aware of what is happening but are not about to share that information with anyone else. The same goes for Project Imago staff and its overseers, including Cerberus and Celedyr.

As one of the progenitors of the original CFD virus, Evo is in a dangerous position following the incident in Boston.

[/spoiler]

Also, remember that the Mars thing with Evo - where the folks there were affected by CFD and went dark for a time - started before NeoNET's problems in Albuquerque.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Wait, Gagarin happened before Albuquerque? That's confirmed? I could have sworn it was the other way around.

[carmachu]

A new AAA will be intriguing but for the love of the matrix, please have it make sense. No more out of nowhere no one heard of Ala Horizon......

[Nightmare]

Gagarin first went silent in Hazard Pay. The time stamp on the intro to the book reads March 8, 2074. Supposedly Fastjack's run was 2072 in December but it's questionable if those nanites were the first CFD nanites as Lanier posts articles that seems to possibly predate that run in Storm Front...unsure though.

Also in Storm Front, when  Black Mamba sends in her last post, she mentions  that the stuff used to stop Siggurg was a blue gel type stuff. Supposedly it's what caused everyone exposed to it to rage uncontrollably (pg 31) much like a rage headcase. So it seems the Azzies are a bit at fault too...

[MijRai]

Blue-227.

[Nath]

A new AAA will be intriguing but for the love of the matrix, please have it make sense. No more out of nowhere no one heard of Ala Horizon......

If it has to make sense as an established name in the setting, I'm not sure there will be much about it though would be "intriguing". There's only a small number of non-AAA corporations that can claim some recognition: Zeta-Impchem, Monobe, Lone Star, Universal Omnitech...

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Take a look at Hard Targets' talk about potential mergers.  If you're a long-time runner, there are a LOT there that are easily recognized.

[Mirikon]

Part of me really wants to see Telestrian somehow get the AAA seat, just for the joy of seeing what Lofwyr will do.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

They'd still only be part of a PacRim AAA - something workable, so to speak, but all things considered, I'd put my money on The Blob being the CEO.

[Nightmare]

They'd still only be part of a PacRim AAA - something workable, so to speak, but all things considered, I'd put my money on The Blob being the CEO.

Id' think the Azzies would do anything possible to keep Roxy and his crew from gaining Triple A status.  Though the fact he is being very...sneaky and quiet is disturbing.

[Wakshaani]

They'd still only be part of a PacRim AAA - something workable, so to speak, but all things considered, I'd put my money on The Blob being the CEO.

Id' think the Azzies would do anything possible to keep Roxy and his crew from gaining Triple A status.  Though the fact he is being very...sneaky and quiet is disturbing.

Just because you haven't heard of anything doesn't mean that things aren't being done.

And I'll just be over here, quietly looking at "Blobs Quarterly" for a while. There's a new centerfold! Well. Parts of one. Scattered all over the magazine. Apparently it'll be spread over the next few issues as well. Huh.

Moving on!

[PiXeL01]

Wakshanii - you truly enjoy torturing people while hiding behind your NDA, don't you?
On that note I wonder how often writers are being inspired by the theories spun in forums like this compared to the forums simply figuring everything out before the information has been published.
...
As mentioned above having NeoNET go down AGAIN would be old as it just pops back again with a new name but same game. The same could be said about the Japana Corps.
Aztechnology would be very interesting indeed, but so would Ares for that matter.