I was re-reading my T:WL when I wondered what would happen to a cyber-zombie who was infected with Mana-active Aura Deficiency Syndrome. MADS is supposed to lower the Essense/Magic of an Awakened being, so does it lower an already negative number? If so, wouldn't exposure to MADS improve a CZ's magical resistance?

Does a Cyberzombie actually count as an 'Awakened Being'. or it merely a 'Dual Being'?

CZ's are considered dual beings due to cybermantic spell effects and whatnot.
It's magic baby!

Dual beings are also affected by MADS.

I'd say it'd do something odd. MADS feeds off of astral energy - as Cyberzombies develop karma hazing and eventually start generating warps/fovea, I'd say if they managed to get infected by a strain that didn't die off due to their unusual way of existing, you'd have a whole world of hurt on your hands.

Why? Such a disease would start to warp into something worse.

In a strictly mechanical sense, I'd say if that DIDN'T happen, the downside would be that the zombie would have to make harder and harder TNs to avoid getting lost in the details, developing cancer, etc.

Strictly speaking, cancer is checked only at the creation of a CZ. It is not a constant modifier, unlike lost in details etc.

One slight little question for you guy's, it's a little things that have been chewing on my brain for a while.

Could the cyberzombie even develop cancer if you cast a "Preserve" spell on his flesh and quicken the spell to a foci within him? (nanite tattoos on a few pieces of skin perhaps?). The spell is mostly used for making food last longer by stopping it from becomming rotten etc and in a sence keep the cells in a form of stasis.

That's the closest to a logical explanation of the spell I can find, and it touches upon the impossible within the SR universe to affect time.

Bad stuff?
Since we have the little story of a quickened lightning bolt creating a background count in some sourcebook then what the hell would happen around a freaking cyberzombie? Would he be a walking talking giant background count?

Good stuff?
Would it be possible to have some "Clean astral space" or "Prevent Cancer" spell quickened?

Combining spells and cyberzombies, what would happen?

What about a sustained "Cellular Regeneration" spell?

I don't think cellular regeneration would help against cancer. The cells themselves just don't know what to do about cancer, and wouldn't even try to replace the infected cell structures.

That would be a great spell for other purposes, however...

cancer is basicly natural cell growth gone haywire, i would rule that both treat and heal works by speeding up coagulation and the other prosesses that naturaly repair a wound so they would do nothing or even worse speed it up

as for keeping the body alive, thats the job of the frankenstain coctail of chemicals you get injected by the auto-injector...

personaly i would say that any MADS trying to infect a CZ would just die of, sure its dual natured but there is no food to be found as the CZ is more like a walking, talking astral black hole...

Yeah, I don't think that 'heal' is strictly appropriate for dealing with cancer, as was stated above. I think that some derivative of a sterilize spell might work (destroy everything that has DNA unlike this DNA) or some sort of 'assimilate' spell (make all DNA equal to this DNA). Maybe even a 'youth' spell of some sort, in which cells die off in reverse order from their creation (this would cause damage throughout the body, however the cancer would disappear faster than normal cells). It's a shame we don't have this kind of stuff IRL. : (

I don't think MADS would have any effect on a Cyberzombie, excepting they could act as a carrier. Cyberzombies are CREATED with magic, and are dual natured, but they don't have any mojo to feed off of. In fact, the background count they create is more like a micro-version of what you get in outer space, I would say.
Anyhow, a good precendent is set for this with the FAB strain that eats magic items. Cyberzombies can be "carriers", but it does not affect them.