By Raven (raven@dcs.qmw.ac.uk) (14 Oct 94)
Based off the characters and events from "Cyberia."
Deadheads are a small subgroup of the Virtual Adepts. They follow the paradigm of the original hackers, described in "Cyberia." Their way of life and their views -sometimes conflicting- on different things ha ve earned them the respect of some and the dislike and disapproval of many. Their peculiar natures have forced them to become alienated with the aspects of society most people would consider "natural" and they mostly prefer to mingle with their own kind. But what are the Deadheads really ?
First of all, their nickname "Deadheads" has been derived by their favourite group, namely Grateful Dead. Theirs is the music that always plays in the background when a Deadhead leaves his meat body behind and enters the malleable reality of the Web. The society that Deadheads have created for themselves is one of open-mindedness. As a result, they are not afraid of experimenting. Rather, they encourage it. That is one of the primary reasons why one would be 100% sure to find psychedelic substances in the clubs they hang out. Indeed, it is a rare Deadhead that surfs the data in the Web without being under the influence of LSD or other psychedelics. Some mages shun them for their use of such "abusives" as they call these substances, but the Deadheads argue that psychedelics confer a clear state of mind that one cannot attain through normal means. Indeed, they have been known to develop specific rotes to help enhance the effect the drug has on their brains. They claim that while using psychedelics, a person is able to discard all irrelevant thoughts and concentrate much better on the task at hand, ie Magick and the Web.
They basically are anarchists at heart, who rather than tossing molotovs, prefer more subtle and discreet ways of making their presence known. They often play practical jokes on people who regard their systems of being 'safe', and the havoc created in computers of corrupt government officials is often their doing.
Of all the Virtual Adepts, it could be that the Deadheads hate the Technocracy the most. The reason for that is that the Technocracy represents Order, the very force that is directly opposed to the beliefs of these anarchists. What is more, during the times that the Virtual Adepts were a convention of the technocracy, the Deadheads were forced to exist in a state of not-being. They wanted to live as they do today, but they could not, for the Technocracy's Pogrom would surely claim their very souls. As soon as the Virtual Adepts joined the Battle for Ascension on the side of the Traditions, the Deadheads celebrated the liberation of their right to express their views and beliefs openly.
The only problem that the Deadheads have faced, apart from the disapproval of the majority of the other Mages, was the addictive factor of some of the drugs they were using to boost their mental state of being. Therefore, they have managed to develop a few simple rotes that, if cast before the start of the drug's effect, can minimize or even eliminate the drug's addictive factor, while on the same time raise their systems' tolerance. The result of this is that Deadheads are able to use drugs to alter their perceptions and state of mind more effectively and without ever being subject to addiction or withdrawal symptoms.
Image in the Deadheads' society plays an important role. While matters of the "meat," as the call the body, are unimportant to them - things such as appearance, manners etc- they are very sensitive concerning existance in the Web. Their icons are always flashy and functional at the same time. Their magicks use the full potential that the Virtual Reality of the Web can offer. Finally, they interact using a kind of Netspeak which is a variation of the language that all VAs use.
Status in the group is translated to daring deeds. The more dangerous a thing a Deadhead attempts, the more famous he can become. Even if his scheme fails, it's danger and the will to oppose the status quo that counts....as long as he makes it out sane and in one piece. The direct consequence of this is that some of the worse system crashes of Technocracy systems have actually been brought forth by Deadheads working alone or in unison to destroy these systems. One story is widely known, however, that a Deadhead called The Slicer managed to infiltrate a Technocracy chantry virtually and crashed their system by having the computer play "Pink Panther" in the background while displaying fractals of the most disturbing nature.