#hyperfixation activated

Comment 1:

Some source (whom I'm sure you've already seen by this point) presumably decoded the name of this episode as Kinger Lies. I'm not sure the validity of that, but it's an interesting note, if true.

I have some theories.

1) That Jax knows more than everyone else. That Jax was put into the program more willingly than the rest. Perhaps he, himself, was dying which may be the reason he freaks out when offered an escape path. (A presumably dead body doesn't bode well for returning to it when the program ends. I also REALLY LIKE the idea of him being a teen. We see a school crossing sign in his flashback. It makes sense. Perhaps he's being driven to a doctor or a last ditch effort to save him via AI???)

2) That it wasn't Scratch with the brain tumor and fantastical mind, but Kinger. It just fits better with Kinger's MO to be someone to think outside of the box. Even when he first enters the circus he's on the periphery of the group and seems out of it more than the rest.

Perhaps Queenie (being an entomologist and NOT a programmer) entered so that he wouldn't be alone. Maybe this whole thing was for Kinger's benefit, not Scratch's. (Though it's fascinating how much technology owes to entomology. I just listened to a Radio Lab episode where they talked about servers being inspired by bee hives to assist in preventing website crashes due to too much traffic. Man, kinda connect to Caine's thing for bees, honestly.)

3) There is SOMETHING about Pomni's symbolism. Why does Caine get so suspicious of others treating her as a leader? Pomni's design is basically circles… dots… red and blue. Maybe there's something to her original title as XDDCC. I dunno. Spit-balling with this.

I absolutely concur that these characters are brain scans instead of people still hooked up to a machine. This episode sort of confirmed that for me when Caine said "brain files" usage in creating bodies. Files. Not memories, but files. Perhaps that's a terminology Caine knows better than files, but it's very suspect.

Also, off-topic, but how's Pomni gonna be a 25-year-old accountant? I mean, I know it's possible. But, if so, that means she is probably incredibly intelligent.

Last note: Caine's actions are unforgivable, but he is still an incredibly sympathetic character. Alex, the VA for Caine, wrote on Bsky that he played the last words as if he had a moment of clarity that he'd made a mistake before being terminated. Gut-wrenching.

Comment 2 (after someone brought in the idea of a real life person on the other end of the code instead of an entity within the program):

Though Caine does deny being responsible for the name blank. Makes absolute sense that someone on the outside is still managing the program. Especially if the characters are brain scans. Heck, it could be Scratch or Kinger or…maybe even Queenie if my theory about Kinger being the one who had the brain tumor instead of Scratch is true.

Maybe they were waiting all along for someone to access the code so they could trick them into deleting Caine. What a riot if someone in the real world has been watching the entire time.

A bit poetic if Kinger (real life) was on the other side of the computer talking to Kinger (virtual). Damn, what a mind trip.