Question 1: Can Agents be given autosofts that give them the Software skill (i.e., let them code)?
Question 2: if the answer to 1 is 'yes', what happens if I write an agent with the Software autosoft and the Replicate autosoft, and build them with the following script:

Step 0: Analyze my Creator. If I have a higher Rating than my Creator:
0.a. move to a new node
0.b. jump to Step 3.
Step 1: Acknowledge my Creator
Step 2: If my Creator responds to my acknowledgement with a 'Currently Hacking' pointer for the next Agent it's compiling:
2.a. assist with this task using my Software autosoft and the Teamwork rules
2.b. Repeat Step 2
Step 3: Set an 'iteration' count to 50.
Step 4: Set a 'Currently Hacking' pointer to Nobody.
Step 5: While 'iteration' is greater than 0:
5.a. Replicate a new Agent in this node that is a copy of me, setting its script to Step 0.
5.a. If 'Currently Hacking' is Nobody:
5.a.1. Set 'Currently Hacking' to its Program ID and tell it to deactivate.
5.b. If 'Currently Hacking' is a Program ID:
5.b.1. Use my Software Autosoft to give it a new Access Id.
5.b.2. Use my Software Autosoft to increase its Rating.
5.c Continue Step 5 loop.
Step 6: Begin whatever the original task was.

Event 1: Whenever another Agent Acknowledges me as its Creator
Step 1: Analyze it to verify that it's really one of mine
1.a. If it isn't, attack it in Cybercombat and exit this Event
Step 2: If my 'Currently Hacking' is set to a Program ID, hand it that Program ID so it can assist me and exit this event.


So, what should happen here is, you load an agent into a node. It proceeds to spawn new agents, then slowly hack each of them with their own Access ID's. Agents that haven't had their Access ID hacked yet will assist their mommy agent with this, until everyone gets a turn. As agents are completed, they are increased in Rating by 1 and sent off into a new node to complete the process. Once Mommy has had 50 babies, she begins her original task.

So, you drop a Pilot 1 Agent into a node, and wait. In a few months, you should have 50 Pilot 2 Agents, all with their own ID's, floating around working on each building an army of 50 Pilot 3 Agents. The higher their Ratings go, the faster the process accelerates.

more or less the first kind of virus that simply replicates itself over and over again . . but this virus gets stronger each time . .
one could still build an anti-virus code to stop it, because even if it does get better, it is just code bettering code, so if the basic code is faulty then the better code will be most likely faulty too . .

Then I guess you win Shadowrun.

I was thinking about this and came to the conclusion that a reasonable house-rule to prevent this would be to limit Software constructs capable of coding to writing programs with lower ratings than their own.

I think it reasonable to assume that no Intelligence can be sufficiently advanced to fully comprehend itself.

they aren't really coding themselves. they just need to spoof the access id of the copy when they replicate in the same node. it doesn't even take a long time.