[hider=Neural Simulation]Neural simulations are, for all intents and purposes, individuals without a biological body.  Rather, their minds are simulated by an advanced computer system capable of accurately replicating the minutiae of a living brain.  It should be said that unlike most biological sentients a neural simulation’s mental capacity can naturally expand over its lifetime.  With a sufficiently sophisticated computer hosting it there exists no need for a neural simulation to forget any experience or skill, a reality that tends to turn the mind of most neural simulations into a sprawling mass of connections hardly recognizable as the digital reproduction of a living brain it once was.  Left alone a neural simulation can grow its mental capacity without clear limit.  This natural process of growth can even be undertaken artificially, though this can result in depersonalization or insanity if attempted without proper know-how or preparation.

As digital life forms capable of expanding their mental capacity neural simulations eventually, inevitably, become adept manipulators of the environment they live in.  This is as true of neural simulations as it is of totally artificial intelligences.  Data, code, these things are the building blocks of reality for digital lifeforms and with enough understanding they can modified and shaped in almost any manner imaginable.  The majority of mature neural simulations are capable of dismantling most commercial security systems and encryptions.  Rigorously designed military or corporate measures often pose a greater challenge and depending on their sophistication can prove totally intractable to even skilled neural simulations.  It goes without saying that defenses designed to frustrate completely artificial intelligences are equally effective against neural simulations.

Of course, neural simulations do have an inherent disadvantage not shared by true artificial intelligences; a neural simulation is fundamentally incapable of large scale multitasking.  Though an extended existence will lead to a neural simulation gaining an understanding of its virtual world and how to manipulate it, there are limits to any mind built from an organic model.  If a neural simulation aims to break a sophisticated encryption it will have to commit the majority of its focus to that task.  While superior to unmodified biological minds at the endeavor, neural simulations cannot perform on the level of true AI when it comes to exerting a massive digital, or even physical, presence.  There is no perfect metric for defining a neural simulations innate limitation at multitasking, but in general a single neural simulation can split its focus between thirty to fifty distinct tasks.  Complex undertakings understandably require greater attention, further complicating matters. 

While limited in the number of actions they can perform at once, neural simulations do not lack another advantage commonly associated with proper artificial intelligence.  Accelerated data processing permits neural simulations, like any digital lifeforms inhabiting systems with significant processing power, to perceive time as passing a great deal slower than may actually be the case.  This is a result of two major factors: available processing power and the physical makeup of advanced computer systems.  More available processing power simply allows more thought to happen in a shorter time, and advanced computer construction allows the brain thinking to physically operate at a speed greater than can be accomplished by the electrical connections between neurons in an organic brain. 

In practice such a perception of time allows a neural simulation to act at what organic life might consider an accelerated rate.  Things can be done faster and decisions made before slower life thinks of the question.  Whole conversations can be shared before an organic is able to utter a single word.  However, is important to note that while digital organisms may perceive time as slower, they are still limited by the same physical realities as all other living beings.  A camera, arm, leg, or anything else can only move so fast.[/hider]