What's Deus up to now? Options

[kjones]

I don't think we've heard anything from Deus ever since he instigated the Second Crash. And as far as anyone can tell, the structure of the post-Crash 2.0 Matrix doesn't allow for the existence of AIs like Deus, Morgan, etc. anymore.

But come on! This is Deus we're talking about, the baddest motherfucker to ever walk the Matrix. He's got to be around somewhere.

So where is he?

My personal theory is that Deus is currently running Horizon, from beyond the scenes. Think about it - Horizon rose to AAA status as a direct result of the Crash 2.0. It would be just like Deus to instigate the opening of a seat on the Corporate Court, just to get himself a foothold.

More than any other megacorp, Horizon is researching virtuakinetics (the otaku of yesteryear, they were more connected to the rise of Deus than any other humans) and AIs. There are rumors that they're building biodrones out in the desert - sounds a lot like the results of Deus' years of study in the SCIRE being put to work.

And here's the kicker - within the SCIRE, Deus was all about omniscient control. He saw everything, knew everything that happened within its walls. But he was only able to get that kind of control within the SCIRE because he had eyes and ears everywhere. There's no way he could get that kind of total information awareness out in the world. That would require every single person to be broadcasting everything they see and hear, all the time...

Gee, sounds a lot like Persona 2.0, doesn't it?

Does anyone have canonical information that supports or disproves this theory? Anyone care to elucidate or elaborate?

[Dread Moores]

Mostly seems like Deus was a victim of editorial opinion. AIs, like Deus, seem not to fit well into the revised setting of SR4, so he was quietly written out. That's my take anyway.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

Indeed. All big AI were flat out declared gone in System Failure GM Info, no further details given.

[Ascalaphus]

> fed53384 localtime_u (ffbf57ec, fedc2DEUS86c, 3, 7efefeff,
849200, ff00) + 14 f2d845c __1cKCRspoolMsPAINLOSSRIPBRAINgF-
spool6M_v_ (884fd8, 885064, fDffEffUffSf, 20, 852590, 885024) +
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> Netcat

[Dreadlord]

What if... Deus is running The Exchange?
(evil cackle)

[Angelone]

He's sitting in the old AI home talking about the good old days when deckers had to jack in and everything was hardwired. I think it was retarded of him to plot to and eventually blow up the matrix. What did he expect was going to happen? Oh yeah, he was planning on downloading himself into people or some other such nonsense.

Good riddance I say. No more shoving pointy things up peoples noses for him.

EDIT- I'm also surprised at how people are all okay with AIs now. You had Dues who took over the Arcology, you had that one that took over the weapons satellite, and you have wild ones that try to eat you, but it okay they're cool, just moody sometimes. Technomancers? They must be burned at the stake! Kill em all!

[Mongoose]

Dreadlord- I fully expect he might be running the Exchange, and don't realy have any problem with that. Deus never had the GOAL of hurting people, that was just a means to ensure his continued existence. His GOAL (IE, the purpose of his creation) is to optimize the economic and social interactions of large groups of people.

Hell, maybe he founded the Exchange, and funded it by selling metahuman terminal limits data to various corps and governments, so they could use it the same way the US used captured Nazi death camp data. Who looks evil now? Not that "evil" is really relevant when discussing something so alien as the mind of an AI.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

I'm also surprised at how people are all okay with AIs now. You had Dues who took over the Arcology, you had that one that took over the weapons satellite, and you have wild ones that try to eat you, but it okay they're cool, just moody sometimes. Technomancers? They must be burned at the stake! Kill em all!

See, that's the second flat out declaration:

All the AI part was super-sekrit and nobody except ninjas know about it. And Horizon worked really hard, so everyone likes AIs now.

[Snow_Fox]

He retired into a microwave oven in Genvea, Switzerland and spends his days burning popcorn.

[kzt]

All the AI part was super-sekrit and nobody except ninjas know about it. And Horizon worked really hard, so everyone likes AIs now.

What's could people find objectionable about performing experimental brain surgery on their children?

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

See, that's the second flat out declaration:

All the AI part was super-sekrit and nobody except ninjas know about it. And Horizon worked really hard, so everyone likes AIs now.

The whole archology incident? Yes, few people know what truly happened. The AI who took over a satellite full of WMD? No, everyone knows what happened, but at the same time, people know that another AI convinced the first one to drop the issue. Forget its name right now, it is the golden "boy" of Horizon right now.

[Dahrken]

He's sitting in the old AI home talking about the good old days when deckers had to jack in and everything was hardwired. I think it was retarded of him to plot to and eventually blow up the matrix.

The "Blow up the Matrix" was not his plan. You had three factions in the events that lead to the crash : terrorists wanting to blow up the matrix, Dissonant otakus wanting to turn it into a Dissonance realm, and Deus wanting to write itself into the Matrix, free from the restrictions of the arcology and it's native host...

[TheScrivener]

He retired into a microwave oven in Genvea, Switzerland and spends his days burning popcorn.

How evil!

[KarmaInferno]

> fed53384 localtime_u (ffbf57ec, fedc2DEUS86c, 3, 7efefeff,
849200, ff00) + 14 f2d845c __1cKCRspoolMsPAINLOSSRIPBRAINgF-
spool6M_v_ (884fd8, 885064, fDffEffUffSf, 20, 852590, 885024) +
44 _íÆ‘ÿÁ ̄ø“ ̈òlè_wNOSAVEMYBABYNOSAVEMYBABYek ́çÖ<�TMEGj
^àÌD_ÞÌÄ�jÒöyÚƒñ*__[_1’_ë_TMËTM8‡=_g±jb�ÁbÈ3ÜAÕÄ]Ü3q_U
> Netcat

Okay that's just creepy.*

"I'M ALIVE!"




-k

*-(for those who haven't seen it before, the garbled bit in the quote is when NetCat had morning sickness while connected to the Matrix)

[kjones]

The "Blow up the Matrix" was not his plan. You had three factions in the events that lead to the crash : terrorists wanting to blow up the matrix, Dissonant otakus wanting to turn it into a Dissonance realm, and Deus wanting to write itself into the Matrix, free from the restrictions of the arcology and it's native host...

Precisely this. The Matrix blew up by accident, more or less - its destruction really benefitted nobody.

Except, of course, that it indirectly resulted in a vacancy on the Corporate Court. A vacancy filled by Horizon. And who runs Horizon?

Nobody knows.

[kjones]

I've read this ten times, and it continues to send chills down my spine.

Is there any context?

EDIT: Nevermind, KarmaInferno clarified.

[Draco18s]

'E's dead, Jim.

[Neurosis]

The eight connected adventure campaign that I wrote for 4E is actually about Mirage. Deus is mentioned, but only as a red herring. He never actually resurfaces.

While I really like all of the AIs, I THINK that I am in favor of Deus staying dead. I think that as little of the new plot as possible should come from recycling old plot, lest SR become Marvel Comics.

[KarmaInferno]

I've read this ten times, and it continues to send chills down my spine.

Is there any context?

EDIT: Nevermind, KarmaInferno clarified.

I also went back and highlighted the important bits.



-k

[Kumo]

Well, the devs officialy said that old-time AIs (Mirage, Deus and Morgana/Megara) will not show again. It was said in one of official CGL chats, if my memory is good.

Still, there were "Idols" mentioned in System Failure. They COULD be a next stage of those old AIs.

[Sengir]

Expanding on what Ascalaphus said, kitty previously was on the hunt for Puck, who disappeared after this
I don’t know about dead people, but I know about someone who should be dead. I ran across some … interesting activity in the Matrix that caught my attention not too long ago, and eventually it put me on the trail of a group of alleged AIs called the Code Clan. This was interesting enough in itself, so I kept digging to find out more about what they were about. I still hadn’t ascertained their agenda when
I came across a technomancer gang calling itself the Discordians, who were somehow involved with this Code Clan, but who were taking orders from some seriously cold-hearted slitch. This new outfit seemed even shadier, so I switched focus, and ID’d a few of their members. What I found didn’t bode well—both had previously been members of Ex Pacis. You do the math.
I’ll be looking into this more.


But if an AI is behind Horizon, my money would be on MIrage/Psychotrope. Just like Deus, she's an expert for human psychology and worked in networking (willing) human brains, but her philantropic angle just fits Horizon better IMO.

[KarmaInferno]

Or all the old school AIs merged and the gestalt entity takes advantage of her skill set.

Other creepy possibility:

Technomancers ARE Deus. Even if they don't realize it.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)



-k

[Angelone]

I always liked Psychotrope the best out of all the "old school" AIs.

Kinda related but whatever happened to Alice Haffeaner(sp?) aka Alice in Wonderland the original AFAIK ghost in the machine. I liked her too.

[Sengir]

She had a run-in with the crash worm in System Failure...just like Deus, or the Captain

[ProfGast]

Okay that's just creepy.*

"I'M ALIVE!"




-k

*-(for those who haven't seen it before, the garbled bit in the quote is when NetCat had morning sickness while connected to the Matrix)

Wait so, Netcat's unborn child is Deus? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif) It's a possibility. Just throwing that out there. Clockwork might have been right ALL ALONG