Yknow what's scarier than being trapped in a simulation?
Your mind being manipulated, quite literally, to persuade you not to leave.
You know what's even scarier than that?
Being forced to sell your friends out to eat steak, and be famous..
HEAR ME OUT. I'm not saying ANYTHING...because I do have a little faith in my dude Jax, after being such a pain. And because there are a few episodes left and I just got into this series last month lol. I'm not even going to make excuses for him, to suggest his own memories are false, and that he couldn't make that decision on his own. But boy, if he isn't close to becoming the Circus' equivalent to Judas, then I am bArking mad.😂
It's mathematically impossible to be in such a situation, with a contained group, and NOT have one human being who is ready to bargain for their lives, imagined or otherwise. Jax has not lied once (unless it had to do with his true feelings)
Do you know what that gun scene of Jax and Pomni reminded me of?
"There is no spoon."
"Stop shooting like a human."
In my mind, Jax is both capable of getting out, and is the most likely to stay and lock everyone in with him, like he did in episode 7. That adventure was a test. For JAX, specifically. Caine knew they wouldn't hit the other button, he isn't focused on Kinger anymore, because he doesn't know about the darkness factor...until Bubble got it on film watching Ragatha and Kinger talk.
The Digital Circus' floor is a chess board.
Kinger is a white chess piece, and they always begin in the dark spaces. Caine wants validation, and whoever created him cannot give him that. The only proof, is to be a user, or rather a prisoner. To be a test subject. One of the first few games you were EVER able to play against an AI, on a computer, was CHESS.
If Kinger was an original aid in creating Caine, why WOULDN'T you give him the piece with the LEAST amount of movement on the board? And in doing so, blackmail this man's immediate family into joining this prison circus (Queenie), thus feeding Caine's world building and "adventure" construction for YEARS until new prisoners are collected to gather more data. Queenie had the most movement, so she was removed from the board first, and Caine sought to put the King in perpetual Check. What BETTER protection from an AI, than to "play a role", Like Jax is already trying to do since we arrive in the Circus with Pomni. But he ISN'T the "funny one". Not anymore.
If he's the sarcastic "jokester/jester" archetype, he could never be classified as a threat. If he's funny, he won't have to think about the reality of the situation too often. In protecting his mind after seeing his friends abstract, he masks. He's kept himself alive until now.
And so ironic, considering Jax is known to be the one who holds ALL the keys..🔑
Caine and Abel may as well reference the Bible directly. The moment I heard the wooden NPCs name I knew it was a fake. What drove Cain so mad to kill his own flesh and blood in the Bible? Because God favored Abel's offering over his. When God asked where Abel was: 'showing no remorse for the murder; he lied to God, saying: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Basically mocking Him like "why should I know, am I his keeper?"
Caine wants validation from his creator, and will manipulate data in order to fulfill his use as an AI. If the ideas of the prisoners are more stimulating than what HE comes up with, they're thinking too much. What is he made for if he can't control the board?? He glitches when his purpose is thrown into question, or doesn't have an answer readily at his disposal. He's a young AI, still working off the information his creators fed him.
C&A. Cain and Abel.
If Caine can turn a meat-lover into a legit vegan, give you bipolar disorder (Gangle’s masks), or feed your mind hallucinogens ("stupid sauce"), he can absolutely bring up horrible memories for one or more parties to persuade the subjects into choosing a button. It does not matter which. An AI's job is to interact, WHEN interacted with, and to KEEP the flow of interaction going for as long as the system is willing to learn. And Caine is the most willing participant here, despite being the game maker.
Caine has no concept of grabbing beers like Pomni suggests, or ideas about s e x like Zooble or Bubble bring up. His directive is simple:
Keep everyone stimulated.
Give them the illusion of choice, so they continue to feed the machine.
'They need to forget. If I can't make them forget anymore, I will kill their egos, and make them live in the basement'.
The basement, being the embodiment of a recycle bin file on your PC. He's throwing human consciousness into the garbage.🗑🗑🗑
Caine has no concept of these humanlike qualities, or funerals. He has no concept of a painless death. He has no concept of what to place behind an exit door, because he knows nothing BUT the circus.
Think. What is the scariest thing of all, knowing the mf with ALL the 'keys' is about to go apeshit?? The exit.
Does Caine even know the way out?
What's an ego death to an AI? Unrecognizable code?
"Abstraction?"
Is your mind too fragmented to continue pretending you're okay?
