Ok - we've all dug through the massive pile of tangled plot threads that comprised "Portfolio of a Dragon: Dunkelzahn's Secrets" (Many thanks to Anchient History, some explainations were really needed.)

My interest is in the entry thus reproduced:

"To the elusive TX, whom I know exists, I leave 10 million nuyen on the condition that she come in from the shadows and report to the UCAS government for testing and training. I give her full assurances that she will not be harmed. I further authorize my executor to grant this same sum to any person or group of people who find TX and bring her, alive and undamaged, to any UCAS military installation. I authorize an additional 10 million nuyen for the hiring of qualified individuals to escort her safely home and, if necessary, to avenge any mistreatment of her with extreme prejudice."

-Has there been any definitive conclusion to this one?

Plot ides that do arise:

1: TX is an engineered being.
- Ok, maybe I've seen too many "Dark Angel" episodes (It actually took me 15 minutes and a pile of Google-Fu to dig up the damn title, sheesh) but this option hasn't really (To my knowledge) been explored very deeply in the SR universe.

2: TX is an Immortal Elf/Human/Ork/Troll/Rock/Sentient Bunny/Dolphin.
- Admittedly this supposes that Dunkie was expecting to be the Prez for a time AND that he'd have control or oversight over said testing. Hell, an Immortal Bunnie would be able to keep a bloody long and low-profile "watch" on the grassy woodland of choice.

3: TX is a Drake.
- Oh yeah, let's keep the old Human/Scaly fetish flowin'. Again, not at all sure why the UCAS Govmn't would be of use regarding testing, etc, apart from officially establishing the emergence of a new species. Or maybe having an "All American Dragon" in uniform would drum up numbers at the local recruitment centre.

4: TX has been given/accquired innate Magic, when they should be mundane.
- Woohaa! If, and this is a monsterous IF, such a thing has happened...well.
The massive and world-wide implications of such a thing happening are staggering. "Implant this, and you've got a magic rating - do the kids to and we'll throw in a 20% discount!"
IMHO, too world-changing and Loffy would sit on or eradicate it out of habit.

5: TX has had something "odd" implanted, something that shouldn't have existed.
- I haven't played Earthdawn or read deeply in its convoluted pages, but another long-shot "what if" is a magic/machine interface, Old-school mojo mixed with bleeding-edge headware. Use could be patchy without training in the necessary thought forms needed to "synch" with the machine (a Wireless, essence-free datajack/Remote control/deck?)

All are, well, unlikely. The Drake idea is up there, but so was the far-fetched "Friendly Invidae Queen" idea that I forgot to throw up above.

Thoughts, ideas, flames, solid intel?

-Tir.

I'm sure TX isn't a Drake - Dunkie would never give the UCAS military the possibility to capture a drake and research it.

I like the Dark Angel idea though.

Yeah the Dark Angel thing is what I lean most towards also.

Any decision yet if TX is hiding of the UCAS military because of bad treatment/fear? Maybe an escpaed test subject which the Army wants back?

But why should he handle a drake to the UCAS military? Because he's a patriot? I doubt that.

There are many possibilities. A normal metahuman with a natural immunity of VITAS or HMHVV. A ghoul who doesn't have to eat flesh. A vampire who doesn't suffer from Essence loss.

The choice of terminology in interesting. "Undamaged" is used instead of "unharmed" or "uninjured".

Perhaps TX is a machine. A sentient drone; An AI; A sentient drone that possesses an Aura; A spirit bound to a computer that can somehow jack into the matrix through its homunculus.

The posibilities are endless.

But aren't there notes in some of the sourcebooks (I can't remember which ones, unfortunately), with her posting intimate knowledge of the Matrix and how to hack it. (One I remember was her telling people who to get into a system locked with a vanishing SAN, and the reply from the other decker was simply: "Cunning slot.") That would seem to limit our choices.

My personal guess is that she's a magically active otaku, though I readily admit that that's because it's one of the most fringe things I could think of. But it explains her skill with the Matrix and her uniqueness/desireability for study (since the rules expressly forbid such things). It also perfectly meshes with Dunkelzahn's desire to integrate magic and technology.

I like the idea of an escaped robot, like the one in I, Robot. I see the additional 10 million is to be paid to runner's basically, to escort her to UCAS once she's willing, then to be put on retainer to seek vengeance against anyone that ever tries to harm her.

maybe she's a ship that can access the 'trix?

What about a Free Spirit that is able to access the matrix?

The free spirit decker aspect was suggested in the Denver Sb, so I doubt they would pull it out again, but...

The name, TX, seems to imply something to me (THX1138, to the point), and then additionally "testing and training": what could the UCAS military train a free spirit in? I doubt it would be decking.

I lean towards some kind of drake like creation, only of human making. Some combination of human DNA and free spirit essence, perhaps.

I think maybe a biomechanical robot possessed by a free spirit, or maybe an ally spirit in a biomechanical homunculus.

Interstellar otaku cyberzombie shedim ninja shifter adept.

It is the only true answer.

TX is a giant midget... she has been able to hide thusfar because she appears to just be a regular sized human...

How about a magical talent that lets her lend her skills to a large number of people? Would be the most valuable commodity of all.

Actually the moon does rotate. If it didn't, we'd be able to see all sides of it from different parts of the earth. The moon's rotation is synched with its revolution around the earth in such a way that the same side is always facing us.

OSUMacbeth

Why didn't I see it before. It is so obvious.

TX is a robot sent from the future to terminate John Conner. She failed in her mission and thus her future no longer exists, however she was able to make millions by turning her story into the script for Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines.

She has been using the procedes from the movie to hide out ever since.

Ah, i see: Dunkie wanted retribution for T3. I can understand him, the movie sucked.

I vote for a mantid spirit with a good merge in a cyberzombie.

Just want to clarify something about that "dark side of the moon" thing that always bugs me.

We see at least some of the dark side of the moon on any night that isn't a full moon. It's the part that's, well, dark. And we see the entire dark side of the moon on the night of the new moon.

What we don't see is the *far* side of the moon. That only a handful of Apollo astronaughts have ever seen, because, as OSU said, it rotates at the same rate as the Earth (something with the moon's composition not being completely equal or something, the exact answer escapes me).

So what you should say is the *far* side of the moon, not the *dark* side of the moon. The dark side changes, the far side doesn't.

Any objects orbitting each other will slowly alter the rotation of the other. While the rate of change for the earth in this equation is very low (something on par with a second every few centuries, probably even less a change than that), the moon has already synchronized to the earth such that a lunar day is equal to a lunar month. In theory, an earth day will eventually match a lunar day, but it will take a long time. Since solar gravity is the next strongest tidal force out on this rock, that's the next rotational synchronization scheduled if the objects involved survive long enough.

Of course, all it takes is one nice, big comet to mess up those really long term projections.

Thanks. There's a lot of really interesting science that surrounds why we only see one side of the moon, and I'm afraid I don't know enough of it. Enough to state my point, but not to go beyond it.

Well, whatever TX is, I'm certain of one thing - She is a damn fun GM hook.

These are the sort of things which GMs base campaigns around. Perhaps in SR4 a sourcebook will come out. Perhaps TX created/was the Crash Code of 2029? Perhaps it is an AI which built itself a body, a fragment of Morgan that evolved?

Dunkie probably wouldn't consign a Drake to being examined. His brother would not be happy. Now...Some form of magically advanced machine? Perhaps. The "damaged" part is interesting, but it could also mean psychologically damaged. Perhaps its a brain?

I would love for it to be an Obsidiman, from what I know of Earthdawn. That'd be cute. As for Shadows, I think the best place for a living rock would be a place with a lot of dead rock - The Shadow of the Moon.

Happy huntin, GMs. Or, in a possible case if my group makes it this far, myself...

[Edit - Lunar Addition] - As for the moon, it is in orbit around our planet and revolving at exactly the same speed which our planet turns. Somehow this works out that the moon which we see will always be the same place. This might not be true with other planets

The phrase "alive and undamaged" is often used to discourage those who consider bringing in a prisoner/bounty in a manner that is technically alive, but only with the aid of life support.

Eh, you probably have a better way of phrasing it but, ashes to ashes, its the same idea.

I'd say she is the last descendent of a bloodline that Dunkelzahn owed a minor favor. He gets around to checking on her only to find she's majorly ***'d up her life, say she accidentally killed a parent at a young age with a spell gone wrong and she's run off into the Shadows as a decker. She's good, but her bloodline has an innate talent for Spell Design and Dunkelzahn's putting up the money so she'll get the training from the government (closed station, no otherworldly affiliation) she needs to accept her heritage and breathe new life into the world. She's completely against the idea, deepset phobia and resentment, last Dunkie heard, so she'll be coming in whether she wants to or not.

are there any canon references to TX? Like shadow talk, similar to the random post in (I think) Cybertechnology where some chick comes on says "Merry Christmas, mind your manners" and what not.

Three days? More like months. Unless they changed that in 2nd Ed or something, which I don't think they would have, considering that they used pretty much the same race texts that they did in 1st Ed.

Book ninja! Away!

I have to say that something like an awakened Dark Angel type character would be pretty cool. That gets my vote! Of course, with the Matrix tie-in, it seems unlikely.

Maybe it's some one who can read threads or is actively a name giver? If you're going all Earthdawn-y.

Maybe the government needs the training, not the other way around...

All of the metahuman races are already Name-Givers (even if they don't know it/don't call themselves that/don't recognize the power of names), and all of the dragons and IE's know patterns and threads, which means that talent wouldn't be unique. I like the idea of the government being the one needing training, but I think that's why Ehran's on the DIMR board and Aina joined the DF.

Now I'm getting curious about TX comments. I know they're out there, I just haven't had time to look. Now it's looking like I need to start reading all of my books again. I'll see what I can find.

My mistake. I tracked down that reference. It's in the Tir Tairgire Telecomunications section, but is posted by TS, not TX. So that drops me firmly back in square one.