Working on a primarily bioware-based street sam, I contemplated the idea of hiding the presence of a smartlink system by substituting the 4 subsystems with what would seem to be otherwise legal cyberware:

• Eye Display -> Image Link
  Exchanging something purpose-build with something more general-purpose would help diffuse the presence of a smartlink system.
• Induction Pad -> Datajack
  Again, purpose-build vs. general purpose.
• Internal Smartlink 2 processor -> Dedicated Chipjack
  Nothing says that the actual ballistics processor has to be internal, it just has to be in relative proximity to the data it needs, so that signal delay and degradation does does not become an issue. A solution to the legality problem would be to simply slot the ballistics processor when needed using a (dedicated) chipjack.

The problem, however, comes when trying to substitute the Limited Simsence Rig with something both legal and more general-purpose. The only options would seem to be either the baseline or full-x cyberware simrigs from SR3 priced at 300.000¥ and 500.000¥, respectively. Both the price and the fact that they both take up 2 essence points makes neither of these options particularly feasible. I was wondering if any of You had ideas as to how this could be made workable?

\cth

External simsense rig in your helmet, and btw, chipjacks slot optical memory chips, not processor style chips.

Yup. You'd need the standard processor.
[EDIT]By that I mean the listed processor. Of course you can use the Smartlink 2 processor[/EDIT]

Hmm. If you were going to go that route, and I'm still not sure it's feasible, then I'd say you lose your DNI to the gun. No more free actions for firing mode or ejecting the clip, and you'd need to actually pull the trigger with your finger.

Whether the datapaths of the other smartlink subsystems go through a chipjack before reaching the ballistics processor should not change the function of the smartlink system as a whole. I agree that there might be a delay problem due to the emulation layer, but it is nothing that can't be handled by a little creative rewrite of the chipjack's I/O-subroutines; essentially making it a dedicated chipjack.

Alright, fine. Sounds like you already have your mind made up. I could argue against a chipjack's ability to properly handle the DNI, but you could argue the opposite just as effectively. Good hunting!

I didn't think chipjacks could write data to the slotted OMC?

Change the chipjack to a datajack. Apply same idea. And remember, there are completly external smartlink systems.

Yeah, I kinda prefer smart shades. sexy, clean, and easy to uberize. Plus, I'd just that if you really wanted, you could use a wireless connection to run the link to the gun, since I doubt the data volume is really that high when you think about it.

I'd argue that beyond a shadow of a doubt, a chipjack cannot handle that, because that delay is going to get significant and yes you can run emulation, but the chipjack is not designed to handle that sort of input or even that sort of output. Basically you'd be using the optical chip as a buffer for IOing to the processor... which is undeniably clumsy and may or may not work. the smartlink processor is designed to go a specific place in the brain and likely outputs data in a number of quirky ways that simply wouldn't be accomodated. Datajack'd prolly work though...

All a chipjack is an IO processor that interfaces storage (the chip) with the system (the skillwires, or brain). It does I/O That's it.

Saying you can replace a ballistics processor with a chipjack is like saying you will replace your Pentium (or athlon 64) with a hard drive. It doesn't work that way. Neither the chip nor the chipjack really do any processing, and that's the only thing the Smartlink Processor does.

What I want to do is, essentially, to separate the I/O part and the processing part of the ballistics processor. The I/O part (connecting the processor to the brain, the simrig, the gun (via another datajack) and the image link) is then handled by a modified chipjack, datajack or something similar, while the actual calculations (and I/O management) is conducted by an external system connected to the I/O device. This setup should allow for the most illegal part of the smartlink system, the ballistics processor, to be removable and for practical purposes undetectable by cyber- or magical scans.

\cth

It would have to be a very heavily modified chipjack, so much so that it probably wouldn't even be recognizable as a chipjack at all. What you're proposing is analogous to putting a specially-designed CD into a CD-ROM and using it as a graphics accelorator card; it just doesn't work that way.

It's more like taking a CD, and using it as an IO buffer for a special CD-rom that also happens to be a graphics card, and using that instead of just using a graphics card, if I understand what you're planning.

As soon as a part is external at all, you automatically lost the bonuses of a fully cyber smartlink. That's explicitly stated in the rules.

What you want is a ZIFF sicket on your skill they you can stick a smartlink processor in and take it out when you feel like it, except you want to call it a chipjack. What you want to do has not a damn thing to do with a chipjack.

That being said, it's a WHOLE lot easier just to get a damn permit for the smartlink in the first place. That'll stick out a *lot* less than wholly customized cyberware.

Chipjack Media = Storage Device
Smartlink Processor = Computer processing intergrated circuit.

You might as well try and shove a graphics board into a floppy drive.

They are not the same thing.


-karma

Just use a regular datajack connected to a Pocket Secretary (or something similar) that's been modified to double as a ballistics processor. You'll lose one point from the targeting bonus, but you'll still get all the fun mental commands and gun data displays as normal. Heck, you might even be able to run the gun cable to the Pocket-sec thing, and not have to install a second datajack.

hmm, mirrorshades with a jackport maybe?

this is about as tilted as the idea of useing c2d parts to build a fully grown cyberdeck inside a pocket sec...

Permit me to point out that unless they run a diagnostic on the ballistic processor, odds are they won't be able to tell from casual inspection what kind of data it processes.

What makes people sit up and take notice is the palm-pad induction point which will raise flags and make any inspector re-examine the linked hardware because the only use of palm induction pads is for...well...smartlink systems.

Swap out the palm-based induction pad for a datajack cable or even a jacked glove and you will achieve more or less the same effect, although the glove is not canon.

-Siege

If you compare the essence cost, ect. An argument could be made for the ballistics, and Smartlink II processer to both be specalized Math SPU's.

Since what they do is in fact, process math problems... Get a regular math copressor and a bit of memory (~20mp?) for the ballistics program.

Just put in a smartlink processor and if he questions it, tell the guy running the scan that it's a math co-processor. When he asks for 2345423 x 12342134, just answer politely, "Bite me," and hope he doesn't have fangs and venom sacks.

honestly just get a permit. it's easier.