I’m working on a possible alternate Renraku Arcology scenario and I would like people’s feedback. The basic idea is that groups of Otaku conspired to take over the Arcology and awaken an AI. The Cyberadepts want to use it as a testing ground for better integrating man and machine, whereas the Technoshamans see it as an opportunity to bring a great spirit into existence. The AI then becomes subordinate to the Otaku. Basically it’s like a child and it follows their instructions because it thinks they’re its friends. This explains Deus fascination with human experimentation. However the Otaku realize that they won’t be able to hold the entire Arcology on their own so they work together with other big misfit groups of society, the ghouls. The ghouls, esp. orc ghouls, would have the knowledge of the Orc underground to be able to infiltrate the Arcology and block escape channels while the Otaku take control of the SCIRE and tell it to begin lockdown procedure. Plus the ghouls would provide excellent magical security, something no Otaku could do. In exchange the ghouls get a place to call their own and a ready food supply. Yummy.

Hmm... since you asked for opinion: doesn't work. The AEP/Deus is far, far too powerful to be subverted by anyone. It's WAAAAY the hell smarter than the otaku, so yo can't manipulate it. It also does not care about "friends". Furthermore, children Otaku would totally lack the cohesion to focus a group effort of that kind. Ideas would diverge just a little, then a lot, then the effort would fall apart.

An ork ghoul sub-society is interesting, though. But once again, such a rag-tag no ressources group would be ripped apart by Renraku security / Red Samurai and would be of no use to Otaku commandoes (who would similarly get spanked and set home to their mommies).

Well that's why I asked for feedback. I was just speculating that with the proper virus code it might be possible to subvert the AEP. Assuming that worked turning the automated defense systems back on the samuris could give the other intruders enough of an advantage to capture the Arc. Then again the Red Samuri are the best of the best of Renraku's guardians and they have been training for such an eventually for years so the thought of them losing would be rather unrealistic. On the other hand with a complete suprise attack and the subversion of their communications network, it might be possible.

Why would a vastly inteligent AI not care about freinds? What else is it going to care about? Sex? Food? Simsense? Aside from good company, it really doesn't have a lot to look forward to in life.

Whether an AI cares about friends or not is entirely up to the GM. No amount of logic or psychology can lend any evidence because we're talking about an utterly inhuman, alien intelligence.

No, it's not utterly inhuman and alien. It's pretty different, I'll give you that. But it's core programing is based on the work of human programers, and it's interactions are with humans, and with the constructs of humans. the Matrix is not an alien envrinment to humans, humans built it. The AI may have no human qualities, but it should be at least remotely relatable.

Yes, I was posing certain "canon" limitations to this "non canon" Deus. The canon Deus does not care about friends, but Morgan cares very much for Dodger, so it is not impossible for an AI to be motivated by friends. Making him into a big eye lost little boy can make things pretty scary... Having your skin peeled off by a little boy AI... yep, there's some potential.

Introducing a virus to subvert Deus is the most far fetched thing in the scenario. It runs a freakin arcology, it's well protected. But for the purpose of the scenario, you could gloss over it, inside job, Otaku are mysterious and powerfull, blah blah. After that, the Shutdown follows it's normal canon course, so that's fine.

Yeah, now that I think of it, it could work.

Cool idea, you should keep going with it, for sure. I remember when the Arcology shutdown was first announced it was a big secret and all my players were scared but drawn to it. Now that everyone knows the story,going back and playing it would not be nearly as cool. Not that people mean to metagame, but the mystery is gone from it. Creating your own scenario is a great way to change things up.

deus will eat your cyberadepts for breakfast and crap them out by noon.

also he would bitch smack your super cool otaku forces. however if you rewrite history to make deus running on a commodore 64 you may still have a chance

then you have to deal with renraku though, they are pretty mean. i guess you could rewrite them to be a small crappy company. but then i guess they wouldnt make an arcology so another one like ares could make it. but then you have to deal with them...

and that goes on until your playing another game entirely, so it probably won't work

Wait, I just though of something.

If you have otakus subverting the AI, that means Deus is controlled by a human, with ultimately human goals (on the mass murder scale of Pol Pot, but human nonetheless). The point is that Deus would not be an out of control AI, which is 90% of the horror of the canon Deus. He'd be an AI under the control of someone else, but still under control. So your plot wwould have to have a moment somewhere in there where Deus trumps his new master/friend.

For example, the PCs meet the head Otaku, blah blah evil speech, PCs kill Otaku. They celebrate, yay Deus can be restored... only to discover Deus had broken lose of the head Otaku a while ago, was cleverly letting the Otaku *think* he was running this show, and is now infact breaking out (right back into canon). Typical horror movie end, where the real evil isn't defeated and in fact wins. Even better, when the PCs kill the Otaku, that was the last piece Deus needed to go free. So the PCs are responsible for this rogue AI that likes to skin people being free in the world.

as megaera is to morgan, so this version of deus would be to the canon one... I like it.