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Sybil virus: Clues and wild speculations

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RHat

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« Reply #495 on: <03-19-14/1838:59> »
My guess? What Dietrich has is what they were experimenting on. But when FastJack and the others hit the facility, they encountered the things that had gotten away from the experiment, had kept their sanity, and they grabbed their chance.

It could well be we're looking at something opportunistic piggybacking onto however the e-ghosts crossed over, too.
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« Reply #496 on: <03-19-14/1929:54> »
lets recap a little bit here... (away from books so going off memory, help me out here guys!)

Sometime back in 2071 Fastjack and a select team raid a data store that is off the grid... Fastjack feels that this event is ground zero.

Plan 9 gets infected, and almost immediately is consumed by the invading personality, forcing Plan-9 to betray contacts that lead them to their capture and/or death

Lanier is also infected, but in this case the spread of the invading "thing" seems slower... more deliberate.. almost as if it is taking it's time or trying to hide?

Fastjack is infected, yet the rate if infection takes almost 2/3 years to overcome him... or at least get to the point that he feels he is losing and needs to remove himself.

 A trio of mages, seemingly under the effects of whatever this is, blow themselves, and their guests up in a deliberate magical attack by one of the infected... and the conversation leads us to believe that they know EVERY skill and ability of their hosts... if not fully control it all the time (one of them mentions "losing" the spell ability for a moment in the bedroom conversation)

Gargin base goes dark for 130 days... the crew is changed.. more aggressive, confused...
The underwater base are even more aggressive and disturbed....

Dietrich comes back with what looks like on the surface as full blown MPD (if you can get 3 psycologists to agree that MPD exists!)


So, if Fastjack is correct on "ground zero" then we have "something" that has spread across the world and into space in 2 years, and infected hundreds....

After 2 years, the  method and mode of infection is impossible to trace (is it spread by a handshake? bodily fluids? only over the matrix? DNI connections, infected nanobots....

****

Did I miss anything?


IMO, I think the transmission method is the Matrix, and I think this also explains the Gargin, Mars and underwater colonies and their random, odd behavior (even for the "invaded?")

These 3 locations would not have the constant background of the matrix humming in their "ear" all the time....

Water a depth, has massive weight (32feet of water = 1 atmosphere, or 14.7 pounds of pressure....depending on the depth of the habitant.... that could be massive! if it was at 1500 feet below sea level, that would be 46.875 Atm of pressure... or almost 700 pounds of pressure!)  I highly doubt that a standard matrix signal could reach that far down.... Mostly likely they have a high intensity transmitter and use it to do burst transmissions. The same thing for both the Mars base and Gargarin base.... (except in those cases it is distance)

So, I think, whatever we are dealing with used these burst transmissions to get into and infect the inhabitants.

The only thing don't know is "Why?" Are these random infections or are these targeted. If there are targeted, why these people? Why not higher up the pecking list? Why Lanier and not Villiers? or Knight himself?
Where am I going? And why am I in a hand basket ???

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Nightmare

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« Reply #497 on: <03-21-14/1022:43> »
Don't forget that a large group of those infected have either nano-hives, have gone through leonization/gene-wipes, or have extensive cybernetics ('Jack has tons of headware).

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« Reply #498 on: <03-21-14/1251:05> »
And Plan 9 is a Known Technophile....


But the mages? Lanier?
Where am I going? And why am I in a hand basket ???

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Namikaze

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« Reply #499 on: <03-21-14/1307:00> »
Well, we don't know for certain that the mages and Lanier had never had Leonization or worked with nanobots.  But yeah they definitely stick out like a sore thumb in the theory that this is a tech-based "virus."  It's probably safer to work with the term "disorder."
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martinchaen

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« Reply #500 on: <03-21-14/1401:36> »
I thought Lanier said he had a nanohive. In fact, I'm almost sure of it.

[EDIT]
No nanohive, but extensive augmentations none the less.

Quote from: Corporate Intrigue, pages 142 and 143
Augmentations:(all deltaware) Bone density augmentation 4, damage compensators 6, datajack, genewipe, low-light vision retinal modification, muscle replacement 4, orthoskin 2, platelet factories, smartlink retinal modification, synaptic booster 3, synthacardium 3, toxin extractor 6

The mages are a different story. While technomages (heh) are not unheard of, they're certainly not common. And for three of them to be suffering from CFD at the same time, in close proximity enough of each other to become aware of each other? Those are some long odds.

Then again, if you were a technomage, wouldn't you look for others of your kind to band together with? All evidence supports mages of nearly all traditions to seek out others of the same tradition, so why wouldn't this be true for technomagicians?

[EDIT2]
Aha, that's what I thought! The three magicians were all attending a Society of the Phoenix Arisen party. And what kind of members are this society made up of, you ask? Magicians who have suffered from Essence loss, from, you guessed it, 'ware use amongst many reasons. The founder of the society had lost the spark due to cyberware and drug misuse. In game terms, members must have an essence lower than 6...

Quote from: Storm Front, page 168
Society of the Phoenix Arisen Flames Out!
January 1, 2075—The new year is a time of resolutions and making those changes that will last a few months before the old habits come back and the resolutions are relegated to the annals of our minds to create future subconscious feelings of failure. (Yes, I am here for brutal honesty.) For a small organization of struggling magic users in Bellevue, though, the new year will bring a different feeling and different sense to their future subconscious, a sense of foreboding and fear as they question their sanity after the acts of their brethren last night.

Quote from: Magical Societies, page 18
Society of the Phoenix Arisen
The formation of the Society of the Phoenix Arisen was the personal quest of one nearly burned-out mage, Troy Danthorpe, attempting to regain his magical ability. Danthorpe expressed some magical talent as an adolescent, but cyberware and drug abuse ate away at his ability until it was nearly gone.

I think that rules out that theory.
« Last Edit: <03-21-14/1436:53> by martinchaen »

Namikaze

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« Reply #501 on: <03-21-14/1434:59> »
Great sleuthing, martinchaen!  Yeah - looks like it's strictly technological.  Still, having three people in the same magical society with the same disorder are pretty long odds.  Maybe there's something that the society did that helped to propogate the disorder, like a step in a ritual.  Maybe even sharing blood.

I feel like we're a step closer to understanding.
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martinchaen

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« Reply #502 on: <03-21-14/1441:19> »
If there is indeed a sentient intelligence behind the Sybil virus infections / Cognitive Fragmentation Disorder spread, everything we know about epidemiology and pathology is null and void. Instead of a random spread through specific vectors, we could be looking at a targeted, cautious approach. To me, this sounds more like a military plan of attack, where defenses are probed and weaknesses located to be exploited later than it does a virus spreading as fast as it possibly can...

And thanks! I am really enjoying the Sybil plotline, so I'm happy to help where I can.

Namikaze

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« Reply #503 on: <03-21-14/1602:46> »
It actually reminds me of the Vectors from the Syfy TV show Helix.  It seems like there might be a case made that there is some sort of intellect behind this whole thing, based on the tactics expressed.  We only know of the higher profile "infections" too - I'd be curious to know if this is affecting Joe Wageslave as well.
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psycho835

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« Reply #504 on: <03-21-14/1736:14> »
Possible, but not likely. Why would Sybil attack a wageslave? A reasearcher, an exec, somebody with access to resources and/or data, definetly, but a wageslave? Don't think so.


As for propagation of Sybil in the Society - it's entirely possible that one of them was infected and decided to "share the love", so to speak.

Namikaze

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« Reply #505 on: <03-21-14/1741:33> »
Well, if Sybil/CFD affected Joe Wageslave, that would imply that the cause is not necessarily intelligent.
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Sendaz

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« Reply #506 on: <03-21-14/1851:27> »
Well, if Sybil/CFD affected Joe Wageslave, that would imply that the cause is not necessarily intelligent.
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« Reply #507 on: <03-22-14/0101:42> »
Actually, the fact that they've had implantations - presumably with at least datajacks, considering that's the #1 most common implant in the world (I tend to call it 'equal to all other implants combined', but that's my game) - makes the mages of Phoenix Arisen significantly more likely to become targets.  Presume there is a guiding intelligence - or at least 'a plan', which all of the ELINTs have agreed to, and are following.  The power of magic in the 6th world is undeniable; any sort of plan would naturally want to see if magical power couldn't somehow be acquired, and individuals such as these would definitely be prime targets.  These are people with at least some Power left, but who are ... accessible.

Consider also that the invasive ELINTs were expressing difficulty with using the magic that their hosts possessed.  They were actively experimenting with trying to utilize spells ... which makes the explosion killing the three more of an accident during experimentation than anything else.  For the rest of the SR world, this might be the best thing around - the volatile nature of active magic, combined with at least a capability to use it and an ... unfamiliarity with actually doing so.  Early failure may continue to lead to the deaths of both possessed mage and possessing ELINT, and continued failure may lead to complete abandonment of that possibility by the ELINT 'Sybil' host.

On a tangent, this tends to nail down the idea that the capacity for magic itself is a genetic predisposition, and has less to do with the mind/soul possessing the body...
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Longshot23

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« Reply #508 on: <03-22-14/0702:56> »
Maybe the ELINTs are looking for old-style otaku.

And one of the former Big Three [AIs] is behind it all.

psycho835

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« Reply #509 on: <03-22-14/0937:42> »
Actually, the fact that they've had implantations - presumably with at least datajacks, considering that's the #1 most common implant in the world (I tend to call it 'equal to all other implants combined', but that's my game) - makes the mages of Phoenix Arisen significantly more likely to become targets.  Presume there is a guiding intelligence - or at least 'a plan', which all of the ELINTs have agreed to, and are following.  The power of magic in the 6th world is undeniable; any sort of plan would naturally want to see if magical power couldn't somehow be acquired, and individuals such as these would definitely be prime targets.  These are people with at least some Power left, but who are ... accessible.

Consider also that the invasive ELINTs were expressing difficulty with using the magic that their hosts possessed.  They were actively experimenting with trying to utilize spells ... which makes the explosion killing the three more of an accident during experimentation than anything else.  For the rest of the SR world, this might be the best thing around - the volatile nature of active magic, combined with at least a capability to use it and an ... unfamiliarity with actually doing so.  Early failure may continue to lead to the deaths of both possessed mage and possessing ELINT, and continued failure may lead to complete abandonment of that possibility by the ELINT 'Sybil' host.

On a tangent, this tends to nail down the idea that the capacity for magic itself is a genetic predisposition, and has less to do with the mind/soul possessing the body...

I agree, any body snatcher worth his salt would want to see if he/she/it can hijack somebody capable (at least potentially) of mind control. Imagine, how easy it could be to snatch othter people if you've gotten those guys first!