WE'LL MAKE THEM LISTEN.

So, you know how in Portal 2, when Wheatley takes over control of the facility and gets exposed to the euphoria after a test is completed which drives the AI in charge of the place to do more tests? I think Squip is more or less the same way. Let me explain. When something goes right or according to plan, the Squip gets this look of pleasure or euphoria. It’s pretty clear to see. When things are going wrong, eventually, Squip panics and starts getting things back on objective. Correct objective = satisfaction = euphoria. However, Squip’s primary objective wasn’t to take over the world with control of the Squips, I believe. Not at first, at least. They start off small, but I think much like Wheatley, the user becomes immune to the small doses like any other drug and it starts to become more large scale. I think the reasoning for the objective, specifically in The Play (going from “even if I have to take over the entire student body” to “even if I have to take over the world”) changed from off-Bway to on, is because like... We have the evidence that correcting or achieving an objective has some sort of physical achievement for him, right? Squip gets more desperate to have that feeling again once he starts to gain immunity. So he does it again. And again. And again. B-way Squip KNOWS how to get it, too. Positive reinforcement. “Way to go slugger”. Detracting from the reality of the situation, projecting it onto something or someone else. ( Sync Up specifically, “you were always quite the loser, Jeremy” -> “Christine is BEGGING for assistance, Jeremy” ). That shift begins during Sync Up. It starts to become less about Jeremy since Squip has already sort of pushed Jeremy into the ground and made him into someone essentially mindless. It’s not about Jeremy. He isn’t the main character anymore, the Pitiful Children -- the SQUIP is. The feeling of satisfaction, if he makes JEREMY’S primary objective HIS primary objective -- the more people who get Squipped = a better chance of widespread success and euphoria. “Let’s save Christine, helping her will help you. While we’re doing it, let’s save Jenna. Why not the whole school, too? You’re helping them help you, Jeremy! My job will be easier if I hold all the strings! Look at how great of a team we are! You can feel this joy, too!” Which is why, when Squip gets blocked at the end of the show, he pulls out all the stops. Voice modulation. Desperation. Now Squip KNOWS what it’s like to crave something, some sort of feeling, and with that comes desperation not because of the objective but the Pavlovian satisfaction HE gets from achieving an objective itself. He’s sinister but he’s also sinister and addicted to something that can only last for so long - and that’s his danger AND his downfall. 

I think that’s also why he blocks Michael. Not because Michael isn’t necessary to the objective, but because Michael forces Jeremy to use his brain and consider that the Squip IS holding all the strings. Without Michael, Jeremy is a streamline directly to satisfaction for Squip, which is why he continues with Jeremy despite being told by Squip that he’s “difficult” and even at times useless. More to work on with Jeremy = more euphoria. 

Michael asks Jeremy “millions of people on Earth, do you ever wonder what the Squip wants with you?” Here’s the thing, I think I have the answer. Jeremy is willing to be whatever gets him close to his objective, including changing his own objective. Jeremy is the perfect puppet because he’s so desperate that he doesn’t see that he’s lost his way because he’s so intent on like... Listening to this thing he paid for that is sure to help.

Once Pitiful Children happens, Jeremy’s changed his objective. It’s no longer about Christine, not anymore, it’s about whatever Squip tells him it’s about, which I think is why the Squip is so unsatisfied at the end aside from being blocked from having control over Jeremy. Squip is left without the euphoria of completing the ultimate objective because it’s not his objective anymore. Nothing is.

Another important thing to point out is that when Squip panics and leads Jeremy away from Christine, that’s when the seed starts being planted to get the satisfaction some other place. If he has basically infinite knowledge based on probability he should know that Christine, currently, would not take a Squip but continued to “help” Jeremy regardless, for the FEELING. And I think that’s exactly what it is. I think it’s for the feeling. In the beginning of the musical, Squip is about the facts. This leads to xyz. Numbers. Probability. 0s and 1s. But eventually, he appeals to pathos due to his own being able to feel, because Squip is “a learning computer”. From “human interaction is governed by rules” to “Christine is BEGGING for assistance, Jeremy”, “let’s save the PITIFUL children”. Pathos, pathos, pathos. That’s another reason why Squip says “IF I HAVE TO TAKE OVER THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE” instead of the student boy. He’s losing. He’s LOSING, and he’s a computer. He can’t account for human error... Can he?