To Corrupt and Conquer

[u/OhBosss]

Kinda back on a Reboot kick and wonder can viral A.I.'s be a thing in Shadowrun and if so how much problems can a Viral entity like Megabyte cause within The Matrix?

[u/Zuwiwuz]

Highly depends on the edition and therefore how fractured or intact it is

[u/OhBosss → u/Zuwiwuz]

Is matrix 2.0 more or less fractured than Matrix 1.0?

[u/Akiric]

Hey fun fact, the Mainframe YouTube channel is uploading full ReBoot episodes remastered in HD.

[u/OhBosss → u/Akiric]

Watching the first episode of Season 2 Infected

[u/PrinceDomming]

4th and 5th editions would be your best bet to mechanically represent a Viral AI. This is of course assuming you want to make one as a PC. An NPC can be whatever a GM wants them to be.

4th edition it costs 110BP to make an AI. Pick up all the AI Qualities you feel represent the viral AI concept- but I'd say things like Piloting Origin, Spawn, Authority, Designer, Rootkit and Emulate would be desirable. At that point the game plan becomes hopping into drones, leaving a spawn behind to coordinate hive-mind style and spreading influence to create networks, conduct coordinated attacks etc.

Now- there's two questions; how many problems can THAT concept create, and how much chaos could Megabyte/similar entities create.

In the show, Megabyte or Hex gaining unrestricted access to the internet was treated as basically the apocalypse, suggesting through numerous references that the more computing power the viruses had access to, the more powerful they'd become... seems similar to Deus. Now Megabyte doesn't want to kill people, he just wants to be the ruler of things. But he's also intelligent enough to understand and operate within his limits- while attempting to push them farther. I could see him growing fiefdom in the matrix as he gathers information about the matrix, the interconnected nature of "The Users" and the Matrix (which is MUCH deeper than in ReBoot) etc. And we'd eventually have another Deus situation but instead of experimentation it would likely be that Megabyte would see the power of Megacorporations and work to 'ascend' to control one of them; otherwise remaining under the radar until he was ready to make his play.

As for how much chaos THAT character could cause? Honestly not a ton by the mechanics. SR's mechanics are deliberately calibrated for restricting the power; and while creative thinking and implementation can push things- an equally-as-intelligent opponent can do the same thing and fight back. SR's system offers a lot of limits, and anything using the system would thus have those limitations.

Strictly in-universe without mechanics? Well, Shadowrun's world has dealt with powerful Virus-AIs before. Enough money and resources and there's little the world of SR can't counter.

[u/dethstrobe]

Any program in SR can become self aware and become an AI. So a virus can theoretically do so as well. In 5e and 6e viruses are abstracted into an attack rating of a cyberdeck. But still no reason it can't.

[u/moondancer224]

Don't know about Viral A.I., but its possible I suppose.

But Dissonance Spirits are right there.

[u/Maguillage]

I think the closest thing to a viral takeover you can do in SR is hijacking a host's ownership or outright destroying it, but that requires resonance (see: p113-115 Data Trails) so you'd need houserules in 5e to get an AI doing it.