[Belker]

To expand a little on Michael's post: Copycat Killer states that the original Mayan Cutter was in fact killed by Knight Errant, not shadowrunners. KE tracked him down and found him at the scene of his final killing; he fired on KE, who killed him with their return fire. They found substantial physical evidence at the scene and in the Cutter's home.

[Bull]

Okay to clarify, did the original really die to KE or was he killed by runners canonically and how did the copycat get "cloned by the sybil virus? I know Bull would know best but can/will he tell as it's possibly giving up huge spoilers.

He was killed off screen.  Tosh Athack's report that comes with Copycat Killer (And Carbon Copy), which Belker recounts, is accurate. Ish.  Given Tosh's nature, and the situation they were dropped into, it's entirely possible that they gunned down the Cutter in cold blood.  But either way, it's purely off screen.

Lone Star was on the outs with Seattle.  They had been getting complacent, were getting too expensive, and there were two high profile cases that they weren't able to solve: The Ghost Cartel drug trade, and the Mayan Cutter who had wracked up a hell of a body count.  When LS got fired and Knight Errant brought in, they had a couple major mandates:  Stop the drugs and shut down the Cutter.  the drugs dried up more or less on their own, thanks to the Ghost Cartels adventures and shadowrunners getting involved.  So KE put together a squad to take down the Cutter, led by Tosh.  Like I said, this is all "behind the scenes" stuff.

Fun story...  A couple months before I took over Missions, Copycat Killer was my first writing assignment when I rejoined the freelance team after a couple years off.  The concept of Copycat Killer and the title (A Mayan Cutter Copycat) was already in place (All the 2010 CMPs, which were just released in Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line) were actually set down (at least as far as a title and a couple sentences of plot concept) before I took over Missions.  Anyway, the story went through a couple revisions (In the original version, the Mayan Cutter was a blood mage with a cult!) before I finally figured out where it was going.  It ended up being a nice launching pad for Season 4, when paired up with Ashes.

[Angelone]

Thanks Bull, I had a feeling it would have been runners or Tosh and crew.

[Eremitic Fool]

Whatever happened to the mantis spirits running the Empowerment Coalition, and their fight against the Secret Hive?

[Crimsondude]

 Unless someone decides to retroactively say, "Oh, yeah. They were all killed." the presumption is that they're still around doing their thing.

One thing that has been pointed out following Conspiracy Theories's chapter on DeeCee, which was also supposed to include an update of Anne Penchyk that got preemptively "cut" for time/wordcount, is that DeeCee and the UCAS are currently run by several powerful women. And Anne Penchyk is also still running the Timmons Memorial Fund, which acquired the EC and is an umbrella charity for similar metahuman , is also on the Draco Foundation's Board of Visitors along with other powerful women, including Carla Brooks, Sharon Chiang-Wu (the de facto head of Wuxing now), and former Presidents Pritchard (UCAS) and McCabe (CAS). The three newest DF Trustees are Masaru, Alexis Glimmerscales (of the Children of the Dragon), and Dr. Kristine Martin (the shadowtalker/JackPoint contributor KAM); the latter two being women. Masaru is, of course, a male Great Dragon.

Take that as you will.

[Nath]

I don't know about Alexis Glimmerscale, but Masaru is a male.

[Angelone]

Also a Great Dragon. Some of the names are males they don't all need to be females.

[Crimsondude]

Oh ... That's what I was editing. Sorry. I got distracted and thought I was done with that edit.

Yes, Masaru is male. The living female Great Dragons are: Arleesh, Hestaby, Mujaji, and the Sea Dragon.

He got the seat that most, including Hestaby, expected would go to Hestaby.

[Bull]

Don't fuel the rumors, James. Behave.

[Angelone]

Rumors and speculation are fun though. Haven't you heard runners gossip more than fishwives. What are we expected to do until more 5th ed material comes out? 

[Bull]

Problem is when Freelancers post rumors and speculation, they too often get taken as gospel by the fanbase.

Remember...  unless it's actually in a published book, or discussed by the developer who worked on that product, it's not official anything and should not be taken as such.  backstory that the writers intended is all well and cool, but it can, will, and does change down the line.

After all, at one point in the early days of Shadowrun, Loremaster was supposed to be Harlequin's father who was on Astral Walkabout, and look how that turned out.

Bull

[Crimsondude]

Don't fuel the rumors, James. Behave.

I'm not saying that the UCAS federal government and possibly the Draco Foundation are run by Mantis Spirits. I'm saying other people have suggested that.

[Bull]

Uh-huh.  Behave.

[Sendaz]

Don't fuel the rumors, James. Behave.

I'm not saying that the UCAS federal government and possibly the Draco Foundation are run by Mantis Spirits. I'm saying other people have suggested that.

Oh  Mantis, that makes a lot more sense.  I had heard conflicting reports that it was Manta Spirits and was thinking they were going to go all Steve Irwin on people while others were claiming Manatee spirits which was just bizarre.  

Plus I would be very careful calling any of those ladies a sea cow.

[Mara]

The living female Great Dragons are: Arleesh, Hestaby, Mujaji, and the Sea Dragon.

And, then, of course, there are conflicting reports about Aden....