It's late and I'm sick. Let's go.
Gooseworx made it pretty clear that Jax is the way he is because of the choices he made. I don't think anything particularly horrible happened to Jax to make him the way he is. Maybe he just learned by watching what happens when you show "weakness". I think he either witnessed it and did nothing or worse; actively took part in it because "better them than me". I also think that that person was probably Scratch. Kinger said the Scratch was pretty unapologetically weird and brilliant (and possibly terminally ill). And Jax had a pretty interesting reaction to his name.
If Caine is a metaphor on how AI is encroaching on our lives, empathy and morals then Jax is a stand-in for its ideal user - the people who do random (and at worse heinous) shit online because it's not real to them and requires little to no effort. He wants to stay in the circus because it goes back to the status quo, nothing really changes, there are no real consequences. I mean, he's always the one placating Caine for a reason. His mood didn't start deteriorating until things started changing.
It's been shown about three times now that what causes abstraction is isolation. When you lose what makes you human, you become an idea. An abstract. What makes you human is connection, which Caine is not interested in.
If the circus is real, then there might be some BIG consequences waiting on Jax on the other side. Especially if Abstraction means Brain Death. Moreover, I think he also has to come to terms with whatever might've happened between him and whoever Scratch is.
My theory - since they're both Animal Characters - is that they have a preexisting relationship. Maybe brothers? Idk. Either way, I get the feeling Jax hated him to his face but privately admired him for being the way he was. Maybe he made fun of him, maybe he trolled him online idk, either way, something he didn't truly mean had some major impact on Scratch and that was a huge fallout as a result which could be anything but Jax reacted to Scratch like that for a reason.
Like a typical bully, Jax is extremely insecure and tends to project that onto others, particularly easy targets. The more open you are, the easier you are. Gangle can't help but be herself, so Jax torments her. Zooble is vulnerable when they snap. Pomni when she's confused, etc. Ragatha is an exception because deep down, she's just as guarded as he is, but in a positive "emotionally drained preschool teacher" kind of way.
I honestly think that whatever happened to the characters outside of the circus will be left entirely up to viewer interpretation because there is no way we're gonna find this all out without ep 9 being just a 30 minute long infodump.
I could be going out of a limb here but yeah. My 2 cents.
