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Otaku are the first generation "children of the Matrix". With some notable exceptions, otaku are children and young adults who can interact with the Matrix using only a datajack (as well as an ASIST converter in SR3). Many of them worship the Matrix with cult-like devotion.

Otaku typically exist in gang-like social groups known as tribes, and are fiercely loyal to these tribes — most otaku are recruited from the abandoned, homeless or orphaned, which makes them protective of (and dependent upon) each other. Many tribes are devoted to poorly understood causes, following arcane instructions from the Matrix, or worshipping strange Matrix entities like artificial intelligences (see also: The Network). Otaku are rumoured to act in concert to take down threats to metahumanity and/or the Matrix, including those who would reveal the existence of the otaku to the megacorps.

Otaku interface with the Matrix through a living persona (with ratings based on their mental attributes), using innate channels (equivalent to operational utilities), complex forms they "write" like programs but learn like skills (equivalent to offensive, defensive and special utilities), apparently sentient programs with embedded commands called sprites (equivalent to smart frames), and more complex autonomous programs called daemons (equivalent to agents). They may also submerge to gain echoes (equivalent to Initiation and metamagic techniques), or undergo transmogrification (an artificial kind of Submersion created by Deus) to improve their abilities. How they understand these abilities varies based on their path or tribe.

Unlike the technomancers who would Emerge later, the otaku can also receive cyberware augmentations that improve their capabilities — which is just as well, since many otaku are described as neglecting their bodies to the point of being physically disabled. In-game, otaku characters have improved mental attribute limits in exchange for reduced physical attribute limits.

Most otaku come to realize their powers through a phenomenon known as the Deep Resonance, which they can experience directly through Resonance Wells. Some claim that the Deep Resonance is a being that exists on a "higher plane" of the Matrix, calling it "the Machine Mind" or "Virtual Intelligence", and these are known as technoshamans. They treat their sprites like spirits and their complex forms like spells they wield in the Matrix.

Some instead claim they are able to transcend the connections of data to reach a higher state of being, seeing code and formulae which they intuitively understand, and these are known as cyberadepts. Where a technoshaman might treat her sprites like familiars and her complex forms like talismans, the cyberadept sees both as tools of his own creation. For cyberadepts, the Deep Resonance is a way of seeing and recognising machine code, or an experience of being in tune with this code, rather than a sentient entity.

Besides the two "paths" (which would later evolve into the Resonance Streams of the same names), there are also Dissonant otaku, who have turned their back on the Resonance to spread Dissonance. Dissonant otaku are often described as having been warped in some way — perhaps by the same process that awakens their abilities or because they feel cut off from (or rejected by) the Deep Resonance. Instead of seeking harmony, they wish to spread chaos, subverting the Matrix to reflect their own inner turmoil. Most notable are the otaku of Ex Pacis. Led by Pax, who turned to Dissonance when she learned that Deus had manipulated her, Ex Pacis were opposed by the otaku of Overwatch, as well as the AIs Mirage and Megaera. Their actions helped cause the Matrix Crash 2.0, sealing the fate of the otaku and paving the way for the arrival of technomancers.

Although some otaku have seemingly been created through the efforts of the AIs Deus and Mirage, research conducted by the megacorporations hasn't been able to replicate this process (though many have tried). Beside creating its own otaku, Deus often poses as the Deep Resonance to recruit existing otaku to its cause, and these otaku are usually more capable than those it created in its own experiments. This suggests Deus is less capable in this arena than the Deep Resonance.

Since their abilities often depend on the flexibility of a child's mind, otaku often experience a loss of abilities as they grow to adulthood. This is known as "The Fading" (not to be confused with the Drain-like Fading experienced by technomancers), and usually begins around the age of 21. While Submersion (and less savoury practices) can halt or delay this slow degradation, most otaku lose their abilities by they time they reach the age of 30. Many Faded otaku go on to become "novahot" deckers, but most are sensitive to their lost abilities. To call an otaku "Fader" is thus a grave insult.

Some otaku, including at least five of those created by the AI Mirage, do not experience the Fading. (The novel Psychotrope suggests Mirage tried and failed to make adult otaku before finally perfecting the technique with the main characters of that book.) Others seek artificial means to avoid it, such as experimental drugs and prolonged use of UV hosts. This can have deleterious consequences.

The "next-generation" (or grown-up) otaku are technomancers, who started to appear after the Matrix Crash 2.0 and are able to interface with the wireless Matrix without any device at all. Most known otaku died either in the Crash or the attacks by Winternight and Ex Pacis that preceded it. Many surviving otaku became technomancers — some even Emerging after their otaku powers had already Faded — but other survivors lost their abilities entirely. Notably, the surviving "Mirage otaku" — the youngest of whom was aged 16 when created — seem to be technomancers now.

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