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Message no. 1
From: "Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" <bolthy@**.COM>
Subject: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 14:20:49 -0500 (CDT)
I tried posting this on rec.games.frp.cyber, and got no replies... hoping
to get some reply, and resulted in getting a total of _none_. Since I
really would like some input, I'll try this on here:

After reading the dialogue between Ambrose and Harlequin at the beginning
of VR 2.0, I sort of wondered why "it" would want children super-deckers
at its bidding. The knowlege that the Otaku apparently gain from the
conversation among the Elders in Aztlan seems to intensify this
question in my mind, especially since they already suspected something.

I'm wondering: Could the It/Otaku know about the upcoming Scourge? And
if so, what would they be able to do against it... I think I actucally
started wondering this after reading Worlds Without End... and having
Harl mention, among the other assets the world can use against the
Horrors, he names off the Matrix.

The original notion I had was that perhaps the Horror's ability to enter
dreams might tie in well with the communual hallucination of the Matrix,
but that wouldn't explain why Otaku would be able to effectively combat
it... Since the Otaku deal primarily with the code of the Matrix.

So I'm wondering what good the Matrix would be against the Horrors, if
any? And if it isn't the Scourge that It is preparing for, what is it?



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http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bolthy
"Remember: Heaven is Blue. Tomorrow, the world."
-Head of the Blue Meanies
Message no. 2
From: MENARD Steve <menars@***.UMontreal.CA>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 17:22:53 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 30 Apr 1996, Dr. Bolthy von Schotz wrote:

> I tried posting this on rec.games.frp.cyber, and got no replies... hoping
> to get some reply, and resulted in getting a total of _none_. Since I
> really would like some input, I'll try this on here:
>
> After reading the dialogue between Ambrose and Harlequin at the beginning
> of VR 2.0, I sort of wondered why "it" would want children super-deckers
> at its bidding. The knowlege that the Otaku apparently gain from the
> conversation among the Elders in Aztlan seems to intensify this
> question in my mind, especially since they already suspected something.
>
> I'm wondering: Could the It/Otaku know about the upcoming Scourge? And
> if so, what would they be able to do against it... I think I actucally
> started wondering this after reading Worlds Without End... and having
> Harl mention, among the other assets the world can use against the
> Horrors, he names off the Matrix.
>
> The original notion I had was that perhaps the Horror's ability to enter
> dreams might tie in well with the communual hallucination of the Matrix,
> but that wouldn't explain why Otaku would be able to effectively combat
> it... Since the Otaku deal primarily with the code of the Matrix.
>
> So I'm wondering what good the Matrix would be against the Horrors, if
> any? And if it isn't the Scourge that It is preparing for, what is it?
>
I think that the major aspect that the matrix will serve is in
the vessel of knowledge. Back in ED, one of the main disadvantage in that
even though some people might have found ways to fight the Horrors, they
had no way to disperse that information around.

The otaku become the messengers of knwledge. There is no doubt
that the horrors will try to disrupt the global net. They pervert
deckers, or hire them, to cut off communities from each other. Otaku
might become the Freedom Fighters of the Net. Of course, physical ware
will also need protection, but that's not the Otaku's forte.

Lastly, since the Horrors have a physical side, what tells us
they wont use the Matrix as a way to do whatever it is that horrors do?
Puts another face on the Ghost In The Machine, neh?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- |\_/| Still The One and Only Wolfbane! ---
--- |o o| " Hey! Why ya lookin' at me so weird? Ain't ya 'ver seen a ---
--- \ / decker witha horn ?" --- Scy, Troll decker with a CC ---
--- 0 Steve Menard menars@***.UMontreal.Ca ---
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 3
From: jhm@*****.com (J Hulley-Miller)
Subject: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 19:19:42 -0400
Greetings,

30 Apr 96 14:20, "Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" <bolthy@**.COM> wrote:

>DBvS> After reading the dialogue between Ambrose and Harlequin at the

Who is Ambrose ? I dont think I've seen him mentioned before.

jhm

--
J Hulley-Miller <jhm@*****.com>
____ <fidonet#1:107/330>
\/\/ "Human nature is never so weak as in a bookstore" - Henry Ward Beecher
Message no. 4
From: Bryce Kaspar <Bryce.Kaspar@********.EDU>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 20:36:47 -0600 (MDT)
<<snip about Otaku stuff/Scourge>>
Could the Otaku be a semi-evolved form of dream warrior? Since the Matrix
is basically a group dream, the Otaku could be the first evolutionary
steps in the development of a being that could manipulate the stuff of
dreams inherently.
Programmers: Step 1: can manipulate the matrix/hallucination, but only
with a machine and an interpretive language. Also
cannot percieve it.

Deckers: Step 2: can percieve the matrix, but are still restricted by
machine/language

Otaku: Step 3: lose the machine(mostly), only hampered by language.

????????: Step 4: No longer need to translate into interprative language,
instinctual manipulation of the energies involved
What do you think of that?
. .
// Bryce Kaspar \\
// CU Boulder Aerospace \\
// kaspar@***.colorado.edu \\
// _._ \\
.---. .//|\\. .---.
________ / .-. \_________..-~ _.-._ ~-..________ / .-. \_________
\ ~-~ / `-=.___.=-' \ ~-~ /
~~~ ~~~

______________________________________________________________
The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make the billows smooth and bright --
And this was very odd, for it was the middle of the night.
-- Lewis Carroll
Message no. 5
From: "Mark Steedman" <M.J.Steedman@***.rgu.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 08:51:22 GMT
> From: jhm@*****.com (J Hulley-Miller)
>
> >DBvS> After reading the dialogue between Ambrose and Harlequin at the
>
> Who is Ambrose ? I dont think I've seen him mentioned before.
>
the book is Virtual realities two.

Someone posted that hes been about for about two years but i think
this is the only time he appears in print (well at least by that
name, insufficient data for name matching at the moment). But that
was one of our FASA freelancers (forgot who) so not allowed to tell
us everything. That would spoil the fun of piecing it all together
though.

> jhm
>

Mark
Message no. 6
From: "Gurth" <gurth@******.nl>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 11:29:09 +0100
Dr. Bolthy von Schotz <shadowrn@********.itribe.net> said on 14:20/30 Apr
96...

> I tried posting this on rec.games.frp.cyber, and got no replies... hoping
> to get some reply, and resulted in getting a total of _none_. Since I
> really would like some input, I'll try this on here:

What you might want to do is check the logs of late last year, after VR 2.0
just came out -- there was quite a discussion about It back then.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
It really makes you stop and think.
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Character Mortuary: http://huizen.dds.nl/~mortuary/mortuary.html <-

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Message no. 7
From: "Mark Steedman" <M.J.Steedman@***.rgu.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 11:17:29 GMT
"Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" writes

Ok i'm going to have to say 'spoiler warning' here. I am assuming
readers have read all the recent stuff. (sourcebooks and novels)






> After reading the dialogue between Ambrose and Harlequin at the beginning
> of VR 2.0, I sort of wondered why "it" would want children super-deckers
> at its bidding.
That depends on what 'it' is or quite possibly 'who'!. Leonardo says
he 'has the otaku's skills' at the ned of Black Madonna. Considering
the decking hes up to in that book he could be even responsible for
the deep resonance, his 'Salai' is Otaku after all.

> The knowlege that the Otaku apparently gain from the
> conversation among the Elders in Aztlan seems to intensify this
> question in my mind, especially since they already suspected something.
>
You are suggesting the two folks that deleted thier names are Otaku?
possible i suppose but anything more than a wild guess?

> I'm wondering: Could the It/Otaku know about the upcoming Scourge?
Depends on what/who 'it' is. If 'Leonardo' is involved most
definately.

> And
> if so, what would they be able to do against it... I think I actucally
> started wondering this after reading Worlds Without End... and having
> Harl mention, among the other assets the world can use against the
> Horrors, he names off the Matrix.
>
Well try reading Black Madonna. The principal advantages the sixth
world has over the fourth are
1) far more resources/people.
2) much better information exchange, despite the off matrix data/
black IC.
3) tech. You can do many things with it, magic cannot do them all and
it gives everyone not just 1 in 10 at best serious firepower at least
vs the more physical horrors and constructs. As HB says these are
more pysical than spirits therefore the big guns work.

the sixth world however lack the mana level for research and so far
the knowledge of what is really going on is rather restricted.

> The original notion I had was that perhaps the Horror's ability to enter
> dreams might tie in well with the communual hallucination of the Matrix,
> but that wouldn't explain why Otaku would be able to effectively combat
> it... Since the Otaku deal primarily with the code of the Matrix.
>
> So I'm wondering what good the Matrix would be against the Horrors, if
> any? And if it isn't the Scourge that It is preparing for, what is it?
>
anyones guess.


>
Mark
Message no. 8
From: "Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" <bolthy@**.com>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 14:02:20 -0500 (CDT)
On Tue, 30 Apr 1996, J Hulley-Miller wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> 30 Apr 96 14:20, "Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" <bolthy@**.COM> wrote:
>
> >DBvS> After reading the dialogue between Ambrose and Harlequin at the
>
> Who is Ambrose ? I dont think I've seen him mentioned before.
>

*shrug* That one I don't know either... I'd say it's Brightlight, but I
think they mention Brightlight in that same conversation. All I can say
is that in the dialogue it is "The Laughing Man" and "Ambrose"... with
an
odd assortment of other elves in Tir Tairgire (Lugh Surehand, Aithne
Oakforest, etc, etc, etc) Who knows... I don't think that the Tir elves
of either flavor are too fond of Harly, but one can never be too sure.



|\ /\ |\ | |\
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|\ /\ | |/ \ |
|/ / \ | | \|

http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bolthy
"Remember: Heaven is Blue. Tomorrow, the world."
-Head of the Blue Meanies
Message no. 9
From: "Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" <bolthy@**.COM>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 14:12:34 -0500 (CDT)
On Wed, 1 May 1996, Gurth wrote:

> Dr. Bolthy von Schotz <shadowrn@********.itribe.net> said on 14:20/30 Apr
> 96...
>
> > I tried posting this on rec.games.frp.cyber, and got no replies... hoping
> > to get some reply, and resulted in getting a total of _none_. Since I
> > really would like some input, I'll try this on here:
>
> What you might want to do is check the logs of late last year, after VR 2.0
> just came out -- there was quite a discussion about It back then.
>

And I would get these... where?

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|/ \/ | \ |\ | \
|\ /\ | |/ \ |
|/ / \ | | \|

http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bolthy
"Remember: Heaven is Blue. Tomorrow, the world."
-Head of the Blue Meanies
Message no. 10
From: "Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" <bolthy@**.com>
Subject: Re: My Otaku theory, Take Two.
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 14:17:16 -0500 (CDT)
On Wed, 1 May 1996, Mark Steedman wrote:

> "Dr. Bolthy von Schotz" writes
>
> Ok i'm going to have to say 'spoiler warning' here. I am assuming
> readers have read all the recent stuff. (sourcebooks and novels)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > After reading the dialogue between Ambrose and Harlequin at the beginning
> > of VR 2.0, I sort of wondered why "it" would want children
super-deckers
> > at its bidding.
> That depends on what 'it' is or quite possibly 'who'!. Leonardo says
> he 'has the otaku's skills' at the ned of Black Madonna. Considering
> the decking hes up to in that book he could be even responsible for
> the deep resonance, his 'Salai' is Otaku after all.
>

Okay... haven't read that one yet... they didn't have it on the shelves
and my neighborhood gaming store.

> > The knowlege that the Otaku apparently gain from the
> > conversation among the Elders in Aztlan seems to intensify this
> > question in my mind, especially since they already suspected something.
> >
> You are suggesting the two folks that deleted thier names are Otaku?
> possible i suppose but anything more than a wild guess?
>

They make use of "Channels" in the Matrix. This term pops up
conveniently in:

The Denver Sourcebook, when a technoshaman pops in to boast the power of
the Spirits of the Machine.

VR 2.0, when describing the abilities of Otaku.

Channels are basically what an Otaku uses to access the Matrix for most
things outside of decker dogfighting.

[snip]



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|/ / \ | | \|

http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bolthy
"Remember: Heaven is Blue. Tomorrow, the world."
-Head of the Blue Meanies

Further Reading

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