where da sprites at? Options

[mattvo28]

Where do sprites live when compiled? Or possibly to be more accurate where are sprites compiled from?

It has been my understanding that sprites are just little bits of discarded code that a Technomancer recompiles into something useful. So where does he pull the code from? If a Technomancer is in a Dead Zone is he unable to create a sprite?

The other half of the question is once a sprite is created where does it hang out? A mage/shaman can keep just leave a spirit at base until called for and it will come (pretty quickly at astral speeds) but can you leave a sprite somewhere and call it also, or do they reside in your comlink/mind like a Bit from Tron?

I'm kind of hoping that these will get answered in Unwired, and I"m not going to be able to make the chat this saturday (having an open house at my new condo) so if someone could bring these up it would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time and help.

[hermit]

In effect, Sprites are unstable little AIs. Unless compiled, they degrade and eventually fall apart. Compiled sprites that don't do stuff are just inactive code/programs.

That's how it is as of now. Unwired will possibly bring matrix metaplanes and all kinds of mumbo-jumbo stuff, though.

[Aaron]

Sprites come from the Coca-Cola bottler.

[JesterX]

Hehe! funny one Aaron ^_^

I personnally think that the reside in the cerebrelum of their compiler. It has something to so with brainwave re-interception and synaptic semi-concious repatterning...

Maybe my friend Dr. Shalbermat might have some insight on this ^_^

Also, when the sprite act on his own without the virtuakinetic adept that his online or in vaccinity, I think that the sprite upload itself (his own code) from one node to another. Since memory and bandwitdh is not much of an issue in the 70's, that would make sense.

Note: I don't think think that this question will be officially answered one day...

[Dashifen]

I don't think there are canon answers to your questions, really. Sprites are too new in the world to be fully understood. Plus, with Unwired hinted at introducing free sprites and entropic (nasty) sprites, it certainly seems that they can exist in some capacity without being compiled by a TM.

[mattvo28]

Yeah I kind of figured the Sprite would be uploading itself around (like people who upload them in to their electronics to help with skill tests), I guess I'm thinking of more the registered sprites who may have long periods of inactivity.

If lets say you store them on your comlink then your comlink gets stolen (or destroyed), do you lose the inactive sprite? Can he still be activated, or are they ever present? I can't quite see them sitting in a Technomancer's brain, because that would hurt I/O speeds (especially the more you have) plus the usually describe a Technomancer as not having any storage unless they have a comlink.

I'm really hoping they will get a grand chapter in Unwired, or at least a better starting point for us to expand upon.

other pseudo-related ramblings:
What if the upcoming free/entropic sprites are being created by some of the more mallevolant AI's that might have popped up after the crash? (assuming tournaments are cannon-ish I freed a seemingly benevolent AI two years ago named Patches)

[Blog]

I always saw sprites as something you pull from the Resonance and somehow bind in the normal matrix space. This binding is linked to your persona somehow (thus how the TM and sprite have communication)

Compiled sprites - An on-the-fly mishmashed construct of something from the Resonance which will de-rez after time
Registered sprites - A carefully crafted construct of something from the Resonance which after completion of its tasks will de-rez. Maintance of the construct can extend its duration (aka re-register)


Remember a Persona can be connected to multiple devices at any given time. Additionally a TM has a limited number of 'registered sprites' equal to Charisma; So I figure that an 'idle' sprite is either hanging in the Resonance or in one of the systems your connected to which is why actions are needed to interact with an idle sprite.

A more sticky situation is the following:
Registered sprite on a remote task enters Matrix Gateway #456, from there moves into Office System #32 of company XYZ. Matrix Gateway #456 goes down either by fault or admin later noticing its hacked; though the sprite is no longer even in that node but its the only pathway from the TM and the system its currently in.. SO does the sprite stick around in that system and continue its task or does it bamph and come back to the TM?

I know my GM has this situation covered by having sprites be connected by the Resonance and indirectly to the Deep Resonance and therefore back to the TM so that 1) sprite can bamph back 2) continue on its task and maintin that funky sprite/TM communication link. Then again my GM revamped the Mages rules and apply them to TMs (threading = spells, sprites = spirits, spam zones = background count, power sites, dead zones, etc etc etc It just made more sence to both of us for how we saw the TM)