[Reaver]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but it occurred to me while driving home:

All of the invasive entities so far seem to be more or less complete individuals - if they escaped from 'dissection' facilities I would have thought a lot of them would be bits and pieces in people, and sort of directing their hosts to find others with other parts of a given ELINT (to use Worm's term). Like Deus' post-Arcology network - each person had a portion of the code, and Deus arose again only when the code pieces were reassembled.

In fact, maybe all the ELINTs are, actually, pieces of a greater whole.

Possible, but as you say, every entity we know of (the entities that took over the mages, SEARCH in FJ), all seem, as you say, to be complete personalities, and not fragments.

In fact, after reading FJ's little episode (where he was hammering himself) and the discussion between the controlled mages, it almost sounds like a what a rigger does with a drone (jumping in).....  all the talk of "forgetting" skills, or how to do things, the fact that whilke the entity is in control they have no control...



hmmmm maybe rigger is the right term... more like a puppet in a bunraku parlour.

[Longshot23]

Isn't there a shunt - I think that's the term - for bunraku? What performs that function in the 'documented' cases?

Come to that, what are the purposes of the nanohive and genewipe SEARCH demanded that FJ get? And, is this definitely a point of commonality?

[Reaver]

Isn't there a shunt - I think that's the term - for bunraku? What performs that function in the 'documented' cases?

Come to that, what are the purposes of the nanohive and genewipe SEARCH demanded that FJ get? And, is this definitely a point of commonality?

Not really looked in the tech needed for the bunraku dolls... but it is in essence, like an on/off switch for the Dolls original personality, and allows the personality that the client wants to subsume the Doll's body for the length of the client's stay. Then the Doll reverts back to their normal personality, usually with no memories of the events and action that they took part in (which is probably a good thing...)

[Namikaze]

The personalities also seem to start off weaker and get stronger and stronger, presumably until the entire original personality is overwritten.  I think it'd be safe to say that the tech is working kind of like a heuristic virus in this sense.  It's testing it's limits and pushing the boundaries until it takes over completely.  Evidence that these people lose their whole personalities is still not documented, but it would follow that this happens.

So at this point, I'm looking at a few different sources for this kind of thing.  An AI based on personality-altering technology is probably highest on my list.  However, I don't rule out the possibility that something is attempting to get a claw in the meat world via technology.  Something from the Deep Resonance, perhaps.  And finally, an e-entity of some sort.  Perhaps Eliohann, perhaps a bunch of e-ghosts, etc.

I have little doubt that there is something behind all of this though - the fact that this seems to be organized and not so random seems to point toward some sort of design or intent.  However, just because we don't really know of anyone but the really important people getting "infected" doesn't mean that normal people aren't also feeling the effects.  I'm really curious about which book will reveal more of the truth - Data Trails or Street Grimoire?  My gut says this is a purely technological effect, so I'm going with Data Trails but I can't rule out the involvement of something more mystical in nature.

[martinchaen]

Stolen Souls is likely going to cover CFD in more detail than any other book, presuming it's still scheduled for release

[Namikaze]

Stolen Souls is likely going to cover CFD in more detail than any other book, presuming it's still scheduled for release

CFD?  Is that what we're calling it now?  What does CFD stand for?

[Sendaz]

Cognitive fragmentation disorder as per splintered states pg 56 in sidebar

[Namikaze]

Gotcha - I haven't had a chance to dabble in Splintered States yet.    It was one of those "do I want more SR4 stuff, or new SR5 stuff" kind of decisions.

[Michael Chandra]

Basically Splintered State recaps the effect in a short sidebar as a rough description of what's going on with the guy, without going into finer details and finesses.

[psycho835]

Just read Splintered State - and I find it weird that SEARCH and the other body snatchers were all working towards some sort of goal, while Dietrich was simply... well, you know. He seemed to be so... disorganized and confused. As if he just got brainfried by IC or something.

[martinchaen]

psycho835
We don't really get a lot of insight into what's causing Dietrich's episodes. Where SEARCH and whatever is/was "infecting", for lack of a better term, Mr. Lanier and the mages is concerned we have much more to go on. It seemed to me as if Dietrich's infection was very much in the beginning/mid stages, with little to no direct interaction between the hostile personality and Dietrich himself.

You'll note that this pattern repeats with the interactions between the Gagarin station employees, particularly Plan-10 as Orbital DK refers to him/her/it, as well as the other corp / security employees mentioned in Storm Front (I forget who they work for..

[RHat]

Actually, what Dietrich had going on was radically different in terms of presentation than FastJack, given that SEARCH seemed to be wholly Matrix-bound in origin as well as aware of what was going on, while all of Dietrch's personalities were real people who were just as clueless about what was happening as Dietrich was.

[martinchaen]

That's a good point, RHat.

With that, we've got three different scenarios.

SEARCH; a focused, dedicated personality with a purpose ("We are coming" kinda thing)
Gagarin personnel; almost cultlike behaviour after a period of resistance where confusion and frustration was evident
Submarine/underwater installation personnel; similar as above, but with high aggression
Mages; three different entities with unified goal, and awareness of surroundings and host bodies
Lanier; can't recall his symptoms off the top of my head, actually

I wonder if Evo and/or Ares might be the cause of this whole mess.

I mean, Gagarin went dark for 130 days, and while we don't know how long it took for the personnel there to be infected (and assuming it's even related, which I'm pretty sure of personally) we do have reason to believe that all of the subjects so far have had long incubation periods of confusion, memory loss, and general unease, similar to the ones on Earth. What happened to the sample that Ares stole away with the help of Polaris and Orbital DK from Gagarin base just before it went dark?

Is Fastjack and/or Plan-9 (or someone else, even) Patient Zero? Is there even a Patient Zero?

All I know is I want to know what's going on right now, please!

The Truth Is Out There!

[psycho835]

Actually, what Dietrich had going on was radically different in terms of presentation than FastJack, given that SEARCH seemed to be wholly Matrix-bound in origin as well as aware of what was going on, while all of Dietrch's personalities were real people who were just as clueless about what was happening as Dietrich was.

My point exactly.

Also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQoRXhS7vlU

[Michael Chandra]

My guess? What Dietrich has is what they were experimenting on. But when FastJack and the others hit the facility, they encountered the things that had gotten away from the experiment, had kept their sanity, and they grabbed their chance.