[The Jake]

You remember Horizon supplying commlinks for free, distributing them amongst feral cities like Lagos, in the name of educational campaign...giving those people hope and possibly even a reality of better living standards? How could they not LOVE Horizon and praise it all the time, with high level of Passion and Emotions. From certain angle...this looks quite like Tempo, so possibly even Primeira Vaga cabal can be involved in this...well there is no direct astral link to those involved...unless the Consensus is more than just a matrix shared meme.

I just read that as Deus handing out free devices that were auto-backdoored and pwnz0r3d by it directly... AAAAND garnering the thanks and praise of thousands of souls at the same time.

Did you also miss the bit where someone said they raided a Horizon facility and everyone "moved like bugs", had some headware/skillwire cyberware (according to astral appearances) but were decided "not magically aware"? Sounds like Deus' 2.0 new Banded to me.

- J.

[Mirikon]

If Horizon's Consensus is Deus rebranded, then that is the absolute MOTHER of all spin jobs! And it is making me very much hope that its true. I miss Deus.

[Longshot23]

I can buy Horizon as an experiment (set) of Deus, but something feels off about it.  I can more easily buy Horizon as a possession spirit enterprise. Not bugs, not shedim - something else that's not immediately creepy.

Although it's definitely gotten Creepy^TM   

[Mirikon]

It definitely isn't bugs or shedim. Hestaby would never have pulled strings to get Horizon into the Tir if it was one of them. Other spirits? Maybe, but unlikely, for the same reasons. The main problem with the Deus is the Consensus theory is that Horizon was around before Crash 2.0. However, Deus could have subverted whatever the initial Consensus was, and substituted himself for it, especially now that no one is looking for him any more.

If Deus had managed to rework his code enough so that people wouldn't recognize him, and, say, approached a megacorp as an entity named Pulsar...

[Sichr]

IMO Deus new appearance is not too presumable...even players are allowed to play AI today, and there is quite enought dogs in matrix. But more AIs are in play this days. Just for example:
Goldenboy - Running this kind of hi profit corporation fits quite good into this enterprising "mind" agenda 
Sojourner - Using Horizon as a step further to create its desired state of "mutual respect" between all sentient beings...

[Sichr]

Moreover:
This excerpt:

Colleen, I’m really pleased the Consensus adopted
your policy proposal. I tell you, better to have them on our
side than against us. I had a look at the last two months’
worth of compiled reports, and we count no less than
53 different strikes—most of them conducted against
their “persecutors.” Our analysis suggests their favorite
targets are MCT, Renraku, NeoNET, Saeder-Krupp,
Aztechnology, and a half-dozen or so AAs. Wuxing, Ares,
and Shiawase also got their share of heat, though not as
bad as the others. It’s interesting to note Evo seems to have
been spared so far. I’ll have our services look into that
more thoroughly, but it’s possible Evo’s adopted a stance
similar to ours. I’m wondering if they too have been contacted?
My gut agrees with your assessment, we’re on the
verge of something major. When it breaks, we’ll be ideally
placed to capitalize on it. See you Tuesday evening on the
squash court.

IMO this seems that consensus is not about every Horizon Citizen, but They is used for either AI`s or Technomancers...Netcat references Them as "Digital Inteligences"

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Sichr, if you're going to excerpt, basic courtesy -- not to mention copyright -- requires you to say what and where you are excerpting from.

[Mirikon]

Note, Sichr, that the excerpt you provided does not prove or disprove whether the Consensus is Deus, or whether Deus could have subverted the Consensus. It is written based on what the writer knew at the time. Even back in the arcology, Deus was smart enough to devise double blinds and other tricks to conceal his motives until it was too late. If he survived the Crash, then it is quite possible he's learned a few new tricks since then.

This would also possibly explain why Jackpoint was labelled as a possible threat. How many of Deus's enemies are on Jackpoint?

[Sichr]

Sichr, if you're going to excerpt, basic courtesy -- not to mention copyright -- requires you to say what and where you are excerpting from.

Sorry wrote it in haste, fixed...

Note, Sichr, that the excerpt you provided does not prove or disprove whether the Consensus is Deus, or whether Deus could have subverted the Consensus. It is written based on what the writer knew at the time. Even back in the arcology, Deus was smart enough to devise double blinds and other tricks to conceal his motives until it was too late. If he survived the Crash, then it is quite possible he's learned a few new tricks since then.

This would also possibly explain why Jackpoint was labelled as a possible threat. How many of Deus's enemies are on Jackpoint?

Truth, it can be read many ways. I read it that Consensus is Them. I read it that author and recipient of this corespondence knews who They are. Refering to plural would lead me to believe that we are talking about multiple entities colaboating in one single pool the call Consensus. Digital inteligences is Netcats reference to other part of this conversation she read.

Interresting on this topic is also on p.103, Corporate Guide, where even FastJack refers to his attempt to find out who Consensus is/are, because it seems that they/it had broken his defenses. Im more interrested on the response he gets from jackpointer "Icarus" who seem to defense Consensus and Horizon. Then conversation dies out with some prejudices and general paranoia again.
Icarus seems to be deep in neoNET, well I dont know any other info on this jackpointer, can any of you enlighten me a bit?

Also...Who Dr. Colleen Hendrickson  is? She is recipient of that original message related to Consensus Ive posted prior...

[Mirikon]

From what I've been able to piece together, Icarus was a NEONet researcher, and something forced him out of the corp. He's intimated that he was involved in Project Imago, but is suitably unwilling to divulge details on his past.

The 'Them' the message was referring to was pretty clearly not the Consensus, but Pulsar and his allied AIs.

[hobgoblin]

While all Horizon employees feed data to the consensus, and sometimes participate in consensus initiated votes on some decision or other, i have the impression that it seems to be a distinct entity or group. There is also the opening fiction in Conspiracy Theory to consider, where Fastjack laments about overlooking the human element. Now if that is a reference to the consensus or the analyst that brings jackpoint to their attention, i am not 100% sure.

[Sichr]

From what I've been able to piece together, Icarus was a NEONet researcher, and something forced him out of the corp. He's intimated that he was involved in Project Imago, but is suitably unwilling to divulge details on his past.

The 'Them' the message was referring to was pretty clearly not the Consensus, but Pulsar and his allied AIs.

IMO this sentences:

Colleen, I’m really pleased the Consensus adopted
your policy proposal. I tell you, better to have them on our
side than against us.

Speaks about one and single subject... Consensus is "They" -

It is better to have Consensus on our side, so it is good that they adopted/accepted your policy proposal.

Pulsar and his allied AIs being consensus are exactly what I had on my mind when I first posted this

[CitizenJoe]

I know I mentioned this someplace else, but Iris Firmware did the Athabascan Council's matrix.  It was all wireless back in the 50's using satlinks and microwave transmitters.  Iris Firmware was a subsidiary of Renraku so it is quite likely that Deus knew about it.  S-K had some sort of safety switch that cut them off from the matrix during the Crash 2.0, but the Athabascan network would have been relatively fragile and thus the first hits would have isolated them at the hardwire interface.  I.e. The Athabascan matrix would have been just as safe as S-K's.

Deus could have migrated his primary database up into the Athabascan grid and then run essentially clones on the main matrix.  The nano technology being developed in the SCIRE could have then offered modular platforms to host Deus subroutines.  Those modular hosts would however need a larger wireless network to interface with the main body, thus the wireless matrix revolution and proliferation of commlinks.

The greatest trick [Deus] ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.

[Sichr]

You know...I understand that Deus may be some kind of favourite oponent during the time, well it coexisted with multiple AIs later, fought with them, was defeated. Maybe one day it will rise again, to be defeated again. But its supremacy is far gone, with sprites and matrix realms etc...and Deus as an Artifical Inteligence is not resonance being, so it has no acess to realms itself...only it it is some kind of primordial supersprite...

[Longshot23]

Sichr, if you're going to excerpt, basic courtesy -- not to mention copyright -- requires you to say what and where you are excerpting from.

Sorry wrote it in haste, fixed...

Note, Sichr, that the excerpt you provided does not prove or disprove whether the Consensus is Deus, or whether Deus could have subverted the Consensus. It is written based on what the writer knew at the time. Even back in the arcology, Deus was smart enough to devise double blinds and other tricks to conceal his motives until it was too late. If he survived the Crash, then it is quite possible he's learned a few new tricks since then.

This would also possibly explain why Jackpoint was labelled as a possible threat. How many of Deus's enemies are on Jackpoint?

Truth, it can be read many ways. I read it that Consensus is Them. I read it that author and recipient of this corespondence knews who They are. Refering to plural would lead me to believe that we are talking about multiple entities colaboating in one single pool the call Consensus. Digital inteligences is Netcats reference to other part of this conversation she read.

Interresting on this topic is also on p.103, Corporate Guide, where even FastJack refers to his attempt to find out who Consensus is/are, because it seems that they/it had broken his defenses. Im more interrested on the response he gets from jackpointer "Icarus" who seem to defense Consensus and Horizon. Then conversation dies out with some prejudices and general paranoia again.
Icarus seems to be deep in neoNET, well I dont know any other info on this jackpointer, can any of you enlighten me a bit?

Also...Who Dr. Colleen Hendrickson  is? She is recipient of that original message related to Consensus Ive posted prior...

I read it as "them" & "they" referring to the AIs known at that time, and the Consensus adopting the proposal to . . . woo . . . the AIs into not being hostile.  "Better to have them [AIs] on our side than against us" is my understanding.