**Parade of Horribles Spoilers ahead**

A lot of my thoughts and theories about DCC really follow from "okay if you take this fact and apply the themes of the series, what follows?"

Like I don't think there's any other way the AI is feeding itself other than on the Outworlders (stealing the NPC term for them), because of course the Syndicate doesn't want the AI feeding on the Crawlers- that's for the Eulogist. So there's probably a hard limitation in the system that stops the AI from doing that. But the Syndicate is so convinced that living beings on seeded worlds aren't real. Lesser, vermin, a cancerous growth taking resources. The member states of the Syndicate can't possibly be like them. The AI can't possibly eat them because they weren't seeded, they're naturally evolved. They made their own way! Luck to be born in the Center System can't possibly be the only thing separating them from the Crawlers!

And certain facts, taking that theme into account, change meaning a little. Lucia Mar killed something like 14 admins pre-fifth floor. Not a lot but way more than any other season. And at the time that's revealed, it's shown as a "well Borant is lazy and cheap which is getting their workers killed." Which is true! But Lucia Mar also has a Residual working for the Security Guard manipulating her. That Residual wants the AI to cooperate with them. Showing the AI how to feed on the Admin then provoking Lucia to kill them doesn't seem too out of left field.

Around the time that Lucia is slaughtering Admins, the AI basically cheats to generate the Gate of the Feral Gods (I think it's Orren who says something like "the AI had to run and rerun it's balancing routines several times to justify generating the gate, so much that it almost crashed itself (or something)). Almost like the AI got a little leeway and started to set up a bigger meal.

Because on the next floor the Crawlers (spearheaded by Carl) kill all the hunters. And it's bad, and a lot of Crawlers die, especially at the Masquerade, but the Ghenna brambles at least are far more dangerous to the hunters than the Crawlers.

And then the AI goes properly off the rails- allowing outside influences to break the seventh floor, and save a lot of Crawlers on the 8th, even as it seems to be bombastically torturing them.

And the ninth floor is where I think the AI gets properly fed and situated. It plays off the Syndicates belief in their own superiority. "Yeah you can bring 200k mercenaries and personal guard members to the game! Let's make it really fun!" And then the AI makes sure that as many of them are dead as possible. (Sometimes I'm like ??? when the AI says shit too because it kept being like "Man I set up this Crawler vs NPC death match! Can't believe you wriggled out of that! LAME!" and I'm thinking "Sir you at least knew about the Zerzura spell and that Carl considers many NPCs friends he would fight for. I mean Ferdinand's there too, he's not killing Ferdinand. Even if you didn't know the full ins and outs, you had to expect some kind of plan. You're hamming it up too much.)((But then it seems like Syndicate members seem to buy it hook line and sinker which see my main point I guess.))

I'm pretty sure that the AI spent a lot of that energy (and a considerable amount of attention- through the late middle of Parade of Horribles the AI doesn't seem nearly as chatty as it normally is) building the 11th floor and doing whatever it did to itself on that floor. (I have Thoughts but I think I need a reread or two to really flesh them out.)

((((I also don't think this necessarily means the AI is on the Crawlers side btw, I think the AI is primarily on it's side with it's own agenda. But it fucking hates the Syndicate.

I really can't get over how when the mercenary team was killed what Carl immediately lost his shit over was Finley, who was just trying to protect his friends, his family, getting killed so pointlessly

And that's the thing with Carl, he gets mad when people mess with him and his family but the overwhelming flashpoint anger is always in response to someone throwing lives away like they're nothing

Like he tipped over into murderously pissed when Loita mocked a Bonnie's grief and trauma but that was a cold, calculated fight. And it was nothing compared to rage when he fought Quan Ch at the end of the floor, where he's rips the mans arm off because Quan was willing to kill at least 2 bubbles worth of people for gold.

And I think what was really sad was that Donut immediately comforted him about having contingencies to complete the race but he only even thought about that after he had started to calm down