Operator

Even though the Corporate War has ended, the aftershocks are still being felt today. Corporate espionage forces and "deniable assets" seem to have more work available than ever before. The mysterious shutdown of the Renraku Arcology and the unknown cause for the influx of Red Samurai, the end of the Quarantine Zone in Chicago, the race to claim former Fuchi assets, and the change from the Big Eight to the Big Ten have only led to even more action for these forces. What does this bode for the future? Is another even larger Corporate War on the horizon? What does this mean for the general public? For the shadow community? For the corporate world?

Agent Orange

More business. Being a ChemApp Consultant is surprisingly profitable right now, what with everyone upgrading security systems and all. Just finished work on an Ares system up Seattle way for about 50K. On the other hand, its going to be a bit more lethal for everyone from now on...

Smiley

I’ll tell you what it means for us in the shadow community. It comes down to something really simple. There will be more Johnsons who have their little puppets on strings doing more jobs than ever before. All in all. It should be quite fun.

Jitters

Bout... I done a lot of work getting into the Containment Zone before it was opened, and I’ll tell you right now, it was all a show how Lonestar went in and killed a few bugs. There were more hives in that place than I got ammo.

Lonestar’s in league with the bugs, there’s no two ways about that. They’re allowing themselves to be taken by the insect spirits, so they become more powerful. They’re spreading. They’re all over the UCAS. Even Seattle ain’t safe. Nowhere is. Before at least you could be sure the bugs weren’t on the move, but now, who knows where you'll find one of em..

”The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

Crispy

And people call me paranoid...

Operator

Jitters, this is your warning. Keep it on topic,and keep the conspiracy theories to a minimum. While I appreciate the knowledge you have presented on the threat that insect spirits pose,you are stepping over the line a bit. I'll see about starting an appropriate thread for such information.But you’ve been warned. Next time you start bringing out your zealot side, it will be one strike against year. No hard feelings,but are we clear?

Jitters

Well I wouldn’t call ‘em conspiracy theories. More like fact. But I get the point. So I’ll close with this warning for all the would be runners out to make a little cash in the newly opened Chicago... The bugs are definately on the scene, and they might be behind the jobs you pull. Two of my mage buddies have discerned as much, and you gotta ask yourself if thats really the kinda cred you want. What this means for the Joe Citizen, I don't know, probably nothing for a long time, but it’s something to think about.

Duncan Idaho

Jitters, you truly do need to get your terminology and corporate affiliations correct. It was Knight Errant that did most of the ‘cleaning up’ of Windy’s... er, pardon me, the Chicago Containment Zone; not Lone Star. If anyone should be looked upon as implementing a poorly thought out operation, it should be them and not the other. But, as the INN Operator has requested an annulment to that conversation, please feel free to reach me via my personal mtx-box <<display mtx_port PNV-IDF-ADMIN@IDAHO.MTX>> if you want to discuss it further.

<<display ad Private Carrier for Hire>>

TRON-JEH DANIELS

Jitters, your ignorance amazes me. It’s because of slags like you that Chicago got so much out of hand. Nothing worse than having civilians interfering with your mission. I really wish I could have been there.

Quote: DUNCAN IDAHO said: “If anyone should be looked upon as implementing a poorly thought out operation, it should be them and not the other.”

Let’s not forget the surprise element and uniqueness of the situation. No-one had ever encountered anything of this magnitude; Knight Errant was no exception. But in the end, who gained control of the city, wiped out the hives, and saved thousands upon thousands of civilians? And promptly set up a global network of “bug” specialists, ready to deal with any future incidents?

That’s right: Knight Errant. <<display_salute>> <<display_grin>>

Jerry Pegleg

The Corporations have never really paid attention to the problems that their petty disagreements cause to the general population. I am shudder to think what will happen if there ever was another Corporate War. There are ten megacorps now. Not just eight. If there is another Corporate War I believe that it will be worse than the one that began in 2058. You can bet that metahuman rights will just get trampled worse than ever. The Corps are only worried about their bottom line, not people. That’s what started this whole mess to begin with

Daniel Barmeowitz

I’d been working with Renraku for a long while, and then suddenly they sacked me, citing that I was too lax on security. You know, I checked everyone’s background and identifications thoroughly, but they say someone got past me somehow... perhaps with a fake ID. I swear, I believe that there’s some professional mercs out there that know how to bypass regular security. Rumors said that another megacorporation had hired them to steal from Renraku.

Let me tell you, Megacorporation life is not the way because it harbors too much violence, no matter if there’s a war or not. I have seen the war first-hand. With the change from Big Eight to Big Ten, I must tell you that it’s bound to get much dirtier — uglier than you think. Many innocents will die because of their petty wars.

No matter what, megacorporations will continue to grub for money. I have witnessed the whole thing first hand,and I want it to stop because it continues to disgust me. <<display scowl>> Hah,like it will stop.

Jerry Pegleg has said most what I wanted to say. I must quote it: “The Corps are only worried about their bottom line, not people.” I cannot tell how true it was. I made no mistakes in many of my security checks... I have stopped and arrested about 50 people a month sometimes. But... if something got screwed up, the corps would just sack people, and fill in with new people. In fact, they sacked me because some professionals got past them and they needed someone to take the fall. My seven years of service meant nothing to them.

TRON-JEH DANIELS

That’s Renraku for you. <<display_frown>> Something about their ancient and out-of-date Bushido way of managing their corp. Understand, that to the suits upstairs, you’re a disgrace to the company. Doesn’t matter that you’ve performed admirably all your life; one screw- up even if you’re not responsible and you’re history. Just be glad we’re out of the middle ages, or they would have you commit seppuku! <<display_smile>>

I’m forwarding you a number to a friend of mine in recruiting, in case you're looking for a new job. I firmly believe in giving hardworking people second chances.

Quote: JERRY PEGLEG said: “The Corporations have never really paid attention to the problems that their petty disagreements cause to the general population.”

Indeed? And what problems would these be? A wider selection of consumer products? Lower prices? More workplaces? All caused by “petty disagreements”, also known as “competition”.

Quote: “There are ten megacorps now. Not just eight.”

So? More competition, better/cheaper products. Happier consumers.

Quote: “You can bet that metahuman rights will just get trampled worse than ever.”

Now, how did you reach that conclusion? <<display_bewilderedexpression>> Most likely, the increased competition will result in a wider range of meta-human specific products/appliances.

Lenny

It’s true. In the corporate world there is little room for failures. That’s one of the reasons a corporate life never held much for me. Your future is determined by your worth and, quite frankly, the execs don’t put a lot of worth in people.

Though, it is sad that people in my business sometimes cause perfectly innocent people to lose their jobs. I do apologize for the general population of deniable assets, Daniel. A lot of us actually have families of our on to support. No matter that the trid shows, us Shadowrunners do have lives beyond the shadows. I’m sure my weak apology doesn’t mean much right now.

Another Corporate War might be a good thing. A lot of power has changed hands over the past few years. I know one person in particular that’s happy that Fuchi sunk when it did. Another war would be bigger than the last simply because there are more players now. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next one is more public than what has happened before. Most of the real dirty work was behind the scenes. The kind of thank that the average person still doesn’t know about. I could tell you some stories that would make the Euro-Wars look like a picnic. I wonder that if there is a next time the megacorps will even bother to take things quietly or bring it out into the open.

Agent Orange

I keep getting images of small canisters labeled Seven-7 when I think about that...

Mallory

Putting the motives and intentions of the various corps aside To be honest, they’re pretty obvious to most, I’d just like to see what people have noticed down at the short end of the stick. Now, obviously most people will have noticed that corp security has been beefed up, but have many noticed how it’s been done? One word. Mercs. It used to be just your average Joe guarding these little enclaves, but of late I keep running in to more and more professionals, who are not so given to non-lethal force. Security is being maintained in a military manner.

Unpleasant, certainly, but then I’ve found that the military mind is much easier to bewilder with some fast talking and a little ‘magic’ than the average Joe, so my life, amusingly, is easier these days.

Corinthia Silverman

Quote: MALLORY said: “Security is being maintained in a military manner.”

You state this fact as if, by itself, it is something horrible. Once again I ask, are modern megacorps really so different from nations of any other era? Of course we use military force to protect our interests — nations of all sizes have been using standing militaries since time immemorial.

Mallory

Ah, Corinthia, I have no problem whatsoever about enclaves being defended with lethal force. Hell, if I can do it with my apartment, why can't a corp do it with a multi-million nuyen installation? All I was trying to do is point out that this is happening, which can be important to a lot of people, not just runners. I wouldn’t want to make any of these guns for hire nervous, so I’m betting the public don’t want to do anything to set them off either. I’m just saying the game has gone up a notch.

TRON-JEH DANIELS

So? If you ask me, it was about time they did. Most of the other megas had gotten really sloppy and lax on their security.

Take old Fuchi, for instance. While I’m ersonally pleased that Villiers was able to snatch most of Fuchi America from the claws of Nakatomi and Yamana’s Japana-corps, I also believe that, had Fuchi had better trained and equipped personnel, the situation today would be a very different one. Although no Knight, Villiers is an admirable person; pulling his JRJ-trick was simply beautiful. Watching Fuchi implode was almost funny in a sense.

And let’s not forget Renraku. They lost their friggin’ arcology! Although their Red Samurai have certainly come a long way from being a purely honorary guard, I have a feeling that they had been lulled into a state of drowsiness, caused by relative internal peace and self-delusion. When the shutdown was suddenly thrust upon them, they had simply lost their edge and the ability to defend themselves from whatever forces have taken their precious arcology.

As for the other megas:

Aztechnology: Who the frag knows what they are up to. But increasing pressure caused by their civil war and the partnership with Universal Omnitech a very big target of most megas may have caused them to focus more on their defenses. Or maybe the Azzies are just feeling more paranoid than usual.

Cross Applied Technologies: When traitor Aurelius fled the country, they just made it to AAA status. And they want to stay that way, so they up their sec forces.

Also, a lot of former Ares employees, unhappy by suddenly finding themselves on CATCo’s paycheck, wish to return to their former workplace. Only, this is of course hindered by the self-righteous bastards that keep them like slaves. Fearing the crush of someone many times their size, they put these people, these American people, under very close surveillance. But I can guarantee all those American people that they will be rescued! *ahem*

Mitsuhama: Well, M is always making new deadly drones and sentry weapons, and with Renraku suffering from the arcology blow, they’re suddenly in the leading field of the IC market. I guess they would like for things to continue that way.

Novatech: Maybe you could have Ms.Silverman come and yap out some public relations excuse for tightening their security? <<display_smile>> However, they’re still the smallest of the megas, and many facilities are still suffering from the Fuchi-to-Novatech restructuring. I’m guessing they still have some holes in their systems that need extra manpower until they’re able to fill those holes.

Saeder-Krupp: I’m not touching this one. Although rumors abound that the wyrm has given its division heads more freedom to perform as they see fit, so maybe that affects the security of the individual facilities as well. Anyone?

Shiawase: Lots of internal problems, especially in the family that runs the corp. I suspect that various subsidiaries have upped their security to protect them from attacks from rivaling managers/family members. Fragged up.

Wuxing: Also a new player, and head of the Pacific Prosperity Group. The latter status alone puts them in a lot of heat, especially from the Japana-corps, of course. I’m still waiting to see what these guys are up to, and whether they can hold their newly appointed Corp Court justice.

Yamatetsu: Well, given the fact that they have ork chairman, relocated their headquarters from Japan to Russia, and are pushing a big pro-metahumanity campaign, the Japana-corps aren’t too happy with them. That, and several attempts on chairman Shibanokuji’s life may have persuaded them to bring their security up to date.

And as for Ares. Check out other The True Fascade threads to learn more about Knight Errant’s newest service. Well, I guess we’re just SOTA. <<display_biggrin>>

But those are just my opinions, based on recent events and well-known corp history.

Corinthia Silverman

Why does everyone in these forums simply assume that megacorporations are machines of pure evil? We are nations of people just like any other. In every era, there are nations that are more powerful than those around them, and they are always resented by those around them. In ancient times, it was Rome or the Ottomans. In more recent times, the Spanish or British empires. And just before our current age, the “superpowers” of the USA and USSR. In our age, these superpowers have moved into the next stage of evolution and are extra-territorial nations rather than the more traditional sort. But that doesn’t make us so different. Misunderstanding and resentment is understandable to a degree. We are wealthier, healthier, and more educated on average than other nations. But rather than being jealous or angry, other nations should be taking cues from our example.

David Gerish

I suppose that it has something to do with the fact that most corporations do not treat its citizens as true citizens. I use the term loosely when applying it to a corporate context. Corporate Court is a lot different from more conventional government judicial systems which have a respect for due process and the concepts laid out by the fore fathers of the UCAS.

TRON-JEH DANIELS

Quote: CORINTHIA SILVERMAN said: “But rather than being jealous or angry, other nations should be taking cues from our example.”

Finally, someone with a degree of insight! and certainly a pleasant one,when coming from someone as talented and photogenic as yourself <<display_wink>>

I heartily agree. The one thing I detest more than anything is the simultaneous petty jealousy and unwillingness to make an effort that a lot of people use to blame the success of a corporation. Although I was glad that you didn’t jump ship to one of the Japana-corps when Fuchi folded, I’m a little disappointed that you didn't choose Ares. <<display_friendlysmile>>

Quote: DAVID GERISH said: “Corporate Court is a lot different from more conventional government judicial systems which have a respect for due process and the concepts laid out by the fore fathers of the UCAS.”

Of course the Corp Court is different. Your Constitution, upon which the USA, and later the UCAS, was founded is terribly outdated and inefficient. How many Amendments does it take before your government realizes that a new, revitalized Constitution is required? As to your “due process”, can you honestly say that your country lives up to these goals? Anyone with a drekhot lawyer or a bought judicial system can commit whatever crime he chooses and still stay out of jail. And if you don’t own a SIN you're not even entitled to a trial.

Corinthia Silverman

Quote: MR.GERISH said: I suppose that it has something to do with the fact that most corporations do not treat its citizens as true citizens.

I take serious exception to that, Mr.Gerish. That is nothing but UCAS propaganda. Just because we do not embody what your constitution interprets as the ideal of representative democracy does not make us less perfect that your government. Again, I point to the fact that our citizens, on average, are by far healthier, wealthier, and better educated than the UCAS populations you represent, Mr.Gerish. Our citizens are well adjusted, happy and safe —how is this wrong? By what measure, does your nation consider itself superior to ours? I don’t get it

Lastly, to more directly address the topic at hand: I do feel that the “corporate war” continues to this very day. It is not as overt as it once was. We limit our skirmishes mostly to the financial fronts and PR battles. Do I think that more obvious physical violence may erupt again? Given human nature, that is very possible — nations have always been at odds. But more and more, we are finding mutually advantageous agreements, that make us rely more and more on each other. This is good.

Charles Alvin Lang, Ph.D.

”Mutually advantageous agreements.”

I like the sound of that. For the uninitiated in the audience, that’s corpspeak for “leveraged buyouts” or “hostile takeovers.” Ya know, where you make another lil’ corp an offer it can’t refuse, sometimes with some blackmail or assassination to drive the point home, chop it up and keep the parts you want, and dump the rest at a profit?

Speaking hypothetically - what is advantageous for Novatech also becomes quite advantageous for XTZ SoftDesigns, now that it’s a Wholly Owned And Operated Subsidiary. What’s left of it, at least. But it’s hardly advantageous for the hundreds to thousands of ex-XTZ employees who either get hired on at a loss or are out of a job.

And in the vast majority of cases, these employees never know what’s gonna happen. No one consults them before the merger, and sometimes they even think it’s a blessing for a month or two, before the “restructuring” when their ten years coding experience suddenly comes to an abrupt and startling end. And, of course not surprisingly, there’s not all that much they can do about it.

And it’s even worse when XTZ used to fit quite nicely under the umbrella of another well-known American mega. Again,that’s just business as usual for the suits - but it’s moot to the casualties of this little non-violent conflict.

TRON-JEH DANIELS

First of all, when a larger corp buys up a smaller one, it’s usually because that particular corp has a product/research results that the larger corp finds compatible and advantageous to its existing products. Why on earth would they suddenly want to rearrange people, and have them work on other projects?

And most smaller companies are more than happy with the additional resources, contacts, and market shares a bigger corp usually brings with it. How do you think Cross Applied Technologies made it to AAA status? Yup, when that shadow of his father and traitor to Ares as well as to the UCAS Leonard Aurelius, jumped ship, he took most of his portfolio of shares with him. And CATCo certainly don’t seem to be suffering, do they?

And logically, if someone doesn’t perform his or her job at the expected level of efficiency, is it any wonder they get fired? Happens all the time, chummer, especially to bums too lazy to get off their hoops and make things happen. I wouldn’t want such a person to be working for me, would you?

Dade Mitchell

Quote: CORINTHIA SILVERMAN said: In ancient times, it was Rome or the Ottomans. In more recent times, the Spanish or British empires. And just before our current age, the "superpowers" of the USA and USSR.

Ms. Silverman, the logic of your argument is that because past governments and ruling powers have always used war as a means to ends, that it is somehow "okay". This logic requires making the assumption that the status quo is always correct, which frankly, I am not quite ready to make. I believe that all the other past powers you have named, also just as the corps do, used unnecessary force in some way or another.

You also compare the extraterritoriality granted by the law to Corporations to that of an actual nation. This is an absurd contrast. The obvious function of a nation, and government is to serve the people. The obvious function of a corporation on the other hand, is the bottom line. That’s what makes the true difference, and that’s why the corps will always be seen as the evil they are. People aren’t people to a corp, they’re a name and number on a payroll, a consumer, or a potential consumer. They are out there to make the biggest buck, not out their for the people, or their "citizens".

Your corps may appear efficient enough, but as a smart lady once said, "The more complete the despotism, the more smoothly all the things move on the surface."

The corps merely serve to put a price on everything, and de-value life itself.

Ashes

Damn straight. <<display_nodhead.mif>>

Corinthia Silverman

Mr. Mitchell, your statements are pure rhetoric and are insulting and de-humanizing to those of us who are citizens of corporations. I’m actually familiar with your periodical, and I am not impressed. It is full of liberal propaganda and anti-corporate slogans while being short on verifiable fact.

Quote: DADE MITCHELL said: The obvious function of a nation, and government is to serve the people.

I would not say that that is obvious. A better statement would be: “In an ideal world designed by Dade Mitchell, the primary function of government would be to serve the people.” But how do you define "serve"? Are people best served by giving them as many choices as possible? Are they best served by ensuring they are safe and fed and clothed and educated? Are they best served by ensuring that they are happy? How about reaching for their potential? How about being able to express themselves? Corporations most certainly serve their citizens and serve them well. You spit out your contempt for us, but I will rephrase my question now for a third time, since nobody seems to have an answer for it: Our citizens are, on average, healthier, wealthier and better educated than any other population on earth—how is this wrong? In what way are our citizens not being served?

We’ve heard that we are evil, that we only care for the bottom line, that we don’t treat our citizens as people, that we are despots. How so? Someone give me actual details. The people of Novatech are, in general, very well off and very happy about it. We are glad to be citizens of a successful corp and are glad for the many advantages this allows us. Show me the evil.

Dade Mitchell

I’ll show you the "evil" as plain as can be.

You keep your "citizens", your scientists, your guards, and executives healthy, and more educated for a single reason; to keep profit up. If they aren’t those things then you wouldn’t have the edge in the corporate community. One of the main reasons that you can claim that all your citizens are healthy, wealthy, safe, educated, and adding something to the corp, is that if they weren’t those things, if they weren’t, you have the ability to fire them, cut off their “citizenship” so that they will no longer drag you down. I’m sure the UCAS’s citizens would all be perfect if they could just declare that everyone who isn’t near perfect, is simply not a citizen. It all makes business sense though, you fire an employee i f they aren’t keeping up on their tasks

And even regardless of whether or not corps maintain their own citizens, their very presence worsens the world at large. Corps still conduct covert wars, sending men and women to their deaths for the cause of cred. It’s also no secret that corps have had secret experiments and projects that cost lives, and for what? For cred. How many of Renraku’s "citizens" died inside the Arcology because of some project they had?

The fact of the matter is that corps hold an enormous amount of sway in today’s world. They have the power to influence governments and institutions. But in the end, they aren’t governments, and they aren’t nations. They are entities with a superior amount of power, that value profit over anything else. The bottom line. Cred. That’s what corps are made for, and they’ll try to get it at any expense. That’s what makes them "evil", so to speak.

Duncan Idaho

I must find that I tend to agree with what appears to be the general consensus that dealing with the megacorporate organization is a dangerous, and oft-ill fated operation. There does seem to be an exception however.

If the assets involved are the corporations own people, its own gear, there does seem to be a tendency to protect them well enough in most regards. Yes there is always a fall guy for an event, and that is saddening, and it often breaks up the integral social structures that are in place.

As for the event of 'another' corporate war, I like to feel that the 'War' have never really stopped, it has only slipped into a false sense of annulment for the time being. I have seen the events of megacorporate conflict first hand, and probably at a level most of you would be completely unfamiliar with. I’ve seen and helped to deliver small corporate resources into areas where a corporation may not have as much as they would want for instance, and I've seen the results; both good and bad, that often come of such actions.

'War' is such a dramatic, climactic, term and to be honest I fail to see why metahumanity must utilize it so often. I know that War is a necessary component to the development of a civilization, and even perhaps a culture as a whole, but I do not understand how it can be used so often and in so often what seems a misunderstood manner.

Ashes

You said all megas care about is the bottom line. I really don’t think war is all that profitable if the corps themselves are fighting it. If they want a war, it’s between nations, so they can sell the supplies at wartime production. You know that the only people that got rich during the 19th century gold rushes were the ones that sold the shovels and pickaxes.

The Pantless Wonder

Yeah, and Krupp and Mauser made millions off the world wars. A better analogy than the gold rush I think.

Max

I don’t know, I’ve done all right for myself in light of the late unpleasantness. Of course, my shares in Ares played no small part in that.

TRON-JEH DANIELS

Ashes, that’s ridiculous. Ares broods wars as much as the suppliers of shovels made gold valuable. <<display_shakinghead>>

Ashes

You misunderstand me. I merely meant that war is not profitable, except when one can reap teh benefits of wartime demand while swallowing l i t t l e of the profound human anguish that comes with war.

As for your story: You are one lucky bastard. I wish I could have shown my decking skills back when I seriously slung one, and gotten hired in some relatively cushy job as a secdec. Instead, I’m eating soy-based "food" and hustling harder for info than a runner ever did on his legwork. I still get shot at regularly, too. At least I feel better knowing I’m not on the wrong side of the law anymore. The pay’s not as good, but I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I help a scared corp-girl find her programmer daddy. Or when I find the Mafia’s connection to the recent flooding of the market with cheap brainfriers. Then again, I might be getting that feeling from the money, too.

I recently saved up to buy a real nice trench. The acid rain just rolls right off. If I didn’t get it, I would have thought about how much use would it be. Now that I do, I hardly think about it. I guess the same applies had I some one-in-a million rags-to-riches story. You’re the exception, not the rule. You say that if it hadn’t been for Ares, you would be much the poorer without them. Doesn’t that prove that their hiring and using you only happened because they thought that it would be efficient for them. A lot of corps I dealt with are ruthless, but the ones with human beings in 'em won't go too far over the line. The question is, how far is too far? The answer is up to them in the end, and we can do jack about it.

Dade Mitchell

The fact of the matter is that the corps are there for the dough, and nothing else. If tomorrow it becomes profitable to give each bag lady a place to live and enough to eat, they’ll do it. If tomorrow it becomes profitable to spread diseases among third world nations thus killing off huge parts of the world population, they’d do it. They have the power to do a lot of damage, I’m not saying they don’t have a lot of power to do a lot of good as well, but there is no check, they have complete free w i l l to do what they please with virtually no checks.

Are you willing to put trust into something that ultimately follows the scent of cred, and only cred?

That’s not a step I’m willing to take.

Daniel Barmeowitz

I am not sure about people of the streets, but I do know one thing, corps will help people off streets if they are willing to support the corp. I am saying this because I was taken off the street by the corp. Renraku kept me because of my potential inside me, they hired me and gave me several series of intensive trainings. I suppose that I’m "profitable" to Renraku for time being...

Ahhh... Check and Balance. That are what is keeping megacorporations in balance. If a megacorporate, in my opinion, becomes too strong, then several megacorporates will combine to beat down that megacorporate. After this threat is gone, the combined megacorporates will dissolve and go on their own ways. This is exactly why you don’t want a megacorporate to be “all-powerful.” I believe that a megacorporate that does horrible things to everyone would be shut down by other megacorporates because it is profitable for them to do so. The reason why it is profitable is the fact that if this megacorporate is gone, then there will be more customers to other megacorporates.

Dade Mitchell

It’s simple dear friend. The checks and balances won’t work like that forever.

In nature, we know heating water causes it to become steam. In economics, we know that the nature of corporations and business is to try and conglomerate, thus forming one entity to remove competition and gain the highest profit possible. The function of the government was supposed to regulate t h i s nature. Now with megacorp extraterritorial rights, it’s only a matter of time before there is truly only one megacorp.

John Wise

Ah, but if there is single megacorporate, then we can easily divide people into two groups: Megacorporate and non-megacorporate. Since this ONE megacorporate is ruling everything in business, etc etc, then non-megacorporate people will rise and strike against the large empire. Remember that the population of people who is NOT affiliated with any of corps is much larger than those who are affiliated with the corps. This type of uprising has appeared so much throughout the history, especially peasant-king relationship, oilworker-boss relationship and many various relationships throughout the history. Basically, nonmegacorp people will "check" the megacorporate because people do not like to be treated like inferiors under "false God" Granted, a lot of non-megacorporated people will die, and eventually, the megacorporate will run out of sources to profit from, and collapse. If there is ONE megacorporate, I will guarantee it will collapse apart in few pieces. Perhaps violently like what happened to Julius Caesar. Perhaps peacefully. The history has shown a lot of check and balances in different forms, and I believe that it will continue.

Dade Mitchell

That’s great, we can wait until there is only one megacorp, and wait for the people to shatter it and then wait till the cycle starts all over again... Or, we could take away the extraterritorial rights and allow the government to regulate corps so they don’t have such overwhelming power.

White Lightning

Mr. Mitchell, I don’t see how the Governments would be able to regulate something so large as the Megas are now. Maybe I’m lacking in experience, I’ve only had a couple of years dealing with them, you’ve obviously had more, but the Megas already have ways around such a "small" thing as taxes, what’s to keep them from finding ways around other situations as well.

Here's a situation, and I believe it is valid. Megacorporations no longer have extraterritoriality...MegaCorp A issues a hit out on Mega B...using some 'expendable assets'. Mega B hires a Security Firm...a lower-end company on the list of companies owned by the mega, and uses them to deflect the hit. Okay, so the Shadowrun team is geeked in the process. But the Mega B doesn’t have to worry about anything because they contracted the service of an ‘outside’ security firm. A couple of calls and the security firm no longer has anything to do with the Mega.

I think my point is, that there are so many loopholes the corp can dive through. Extraterritoriality no longer MEANS anything, they’d do it anyway.

Roberto Santiago

I am so pleased that my own employers decided to stay away from such a petty, worthless conflict. A useless waste of time and resources. So distasteful.

Pegasus

Since you're a cadet, I'll break this to you lightly. I know several people who have been hired by your wonderful corporation to pull hits on other corporation. Believe you me, you’re part of what keeps the war machine rolling whether you like it or not.

Roberto Santiago

I have no doubts that my own employer used “expendable assets” to accomplish certain goals to insure my homeland’s growth and success. But we do not involve ourselves in petty feuds such as those between the former Fuchi and Renraku. I understand the role of “expendable soldiers.” Perhaps you overestimate your role to my employer.

Pegasus

So you mean to tell me that your employers didn’t get the slightest bit irked when Ares pulled that job on Solaris Systems last week? Isn’t Solaris one of your subsidiaries?

Duncan Idaho

Pegasus: Solaris is such a small holding that even if it were to go into hock completely on the International Exchange Board ... it could still be written off as a business expense.

A Question of Tactics if I may. With all the advances metahumanity’s Science has gained in this century and the last, do any of you believe it possible to apply animation enough to operate a larger operation and have it related back to say... a few living Operators?

What kind of obstacles would likely be in the way of such an operation, and what would be required to overcome them? I am most interested in this aspect, as those like me of the past are quickly becoming obsolete as it no longer does require massive crews of people to keep some things up to maintenance.

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