Here’s a friendly tip. Don’t—don’t—try to out-think Saeder-Krupp. They love tactics. Love it. Their demi- GODs work in squads of five, and they have studied, over and over, the best way to utilize their people, the most effective attack sequences, and the possible al- ternate responses they may need to turn to if anything unexpected happens. Remember when I talked about Matrix fighting being like fencing? These guys are blademasters, and they come at you in a coordinated flurry. MCT’s got their Zero-Zone rep, and it’s well de- served, but I find a pack of five S-K demiGODs closing in on me to be even scarier than the chorus line of IC that MCT likes.
So don’t wait around for the S-K demiGODs to come find you. You won’t like it. Get out before trouble arrives. Sometimes, it has to be that simple.
SHIAWASE
With the recently announced Megacorporate Revision, speculation is running rife over which of the Big Ten is most responsible for pushing it through. Popular candi- dates in the opinion of the general public include Saed- er-Krupp, on the theory that they are looking to solidify their status as the world’s number one megacorpora- tion, and Horizon, who is looking to swat down some AA rivals who actually have more gross income than they do. But in the shadows, a perhaps-unlikely main suspect has emerged, and that’s Shiawase.
For a motive, you have to look no farther than the Pacific Prosperity Group. That organization has been a thorn in the Japanacorps’ side for years, and it got worse for Shiawase and company when Wuxing managed to draw Aztechnology to the fold. The (quite credible) the- ory is that Shiawase intends to use the Megacorporate Revision to strike out at many of the smaller members of the PPG, lowering their status and sending their stock prices into a death spiral. That could give them the chance to snatch a few of them up, which would then make the PPG a whole lot more fun for them.
Whether this theory is true or not, there are plenty of AA corps who believe it, and they are quite active in let- ting Shiawase know how unhappy they are. All sorts of harassment is occurring in Shiawase hosts, keeping their demiGODs very busy. A distracted demiGOD is a nice thing for us, so take advantage while you can.
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THE ALL-SEEING EYE OF GOD >>
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The problem is that when a demiGOD feels over- whelmed, they often lash out, going for the broad, sloppy kill stroke instead of the precise knockout, Shi- awase agents would prefer precision, but it’s been clear to them recently that their preferences don’t matter, so they’ll settle for getting the job done.
WUXING
While Wuxing Matrix hosts tend to be beautiful—or- derly, calming, and tranquil—what’s really at the heart of their host design is not feng shui but one of their other central concerns—finance. The lending business has been particularly good to Wuxing recently, with most of the Big Ten and a number of AAs putting their lines of credit to new use or seeking quick-turnaround capital funding for takeovers, expansions, or other projects.
There is a certain aura financial institutions try to project. They want you to be comfortable enough with
them to take some of their money, but scared enough of them to want to give it back. This is the model that has been permeating Wuxing’s online presence, with “polite but firm” serving as watchwords. Wuxing does not host the NeoNET demiGODs, who like nothing more than to jump out of the spot you least expect them to be in. Instead, they employ the large, friendly people who greet you when you enter a casino, kindly and politely directing you to the games you want to play while delivering that unspoken message that if they have to, they’d be quite willing to break your spine over their knee.
They are quite capable of backing up their threats, but their desire for a veneer of politeness gives them the same weakness as anyone who talks too much. Talking takes time, and if you’re clever it’s time you could be using for important things like finishing up a hack or getting ready to log out, quick. This is why MCT takes a “just attack” ap- proach to defense, figuring it’s best to get to business and not leave your opponents any time to do anything.
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Just remember that the time you’re using to gain what you think might be an advantage is time your opponents could be using for very similar activities, even though you think they’re just chatting.>
SounderGAME
INFORMATION
Below are a few new forms of IC as well as some Matrix security NPCs to keep players busy while running the Matrix.