Been thinking about Cyboogie (and what it means for Han-Tyumi). Getting a bit rambly here, this isnt well organized.
It's made pretty clear that Han's brain/nervous system are the only human part left of him after his augmentation. The nervous system is widely known to be the hub of conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings. It controls movement and maintains bodily equilibrium. Most relevantly, it processes sensory input from the rest of the body, and it interprets experience into emotions that can be felt within the body. It sends out hormones that cause changes in heart rate, nausea or "butterflies" in the stomach, shakiness of the limbs, crying, all manifestations of emotion that ultimately help to work through it.
So what happens when a mind is separated from its body? How do you process your emotions?
These lines in particular stand out to me:
But was it a consciousness can?
Bouncy-ball thoughts in his cerebration
A "consciousness can", with "bouncy-ball thoughts". Han's brain is in a very lonely position-- he does not have a body that will give emotional feedback. His "heart", for example, is not really a heart, and it might not speed up in response to stress. He might not get comfort from the usual soothing activities, either, without skin to be touched, without a mouth to eat comfort food. The brain must process emotion all on its own. I imagine this manifests as something like intrusive thoughts, or "thought spirals". Endless feedback loops within the mind, because it cannot be processed outside of the mind. He cannot regulate his own emotions without a human body!
I also want to bring up a specific body part: the digestive system! It's something I havent looked into closely yet, but the gut is often referred to as the "second brain"-- a healthy gut is extremely important in regulating mood! Thus, lacking a gut is likely the biggest problem for him in terms of his depression. Is it any wonder that he would fixate on it later? To get back in touch with it would be to have access to a huge component of emotion that he has been missing.
All of this to say.... I think being a brain in a machine body would be a similar kind of torture to solitary confinement or sensory deprivation.
Cyboogie, lump in his throat
Palpitations and nausea ensue
Cyboogie's chorophobia
Terminal error vascular tissue
Verse 3 shows him having feelings in body parts he absolutely does not have anymore. It could be metaphorical, but I like to imagine they are phantom sensations made by a psychology desparate for physical release. It is known that social and sensory isolation has an extremely damaging effect on the mind, and Han's brain is deprived in a very fundamental sort of way... His psychological symptoms are pretty much his equivalent of an animal pacing its cage.
He's obviously very lonely in a literal way as well... Verse 1 seems to imply that he was one of the first people to be augmented, since it was such a "cause for celebration". And there wasnt anyone equipped to help him deal with his emotional distress, either. He has no choice but to retreat into his mind. I think this is reflected with how wordy he is in Murder of the Universe... His long monologues make him come off as someone who thinks a lot, who lives primarily within his own head. That makes sense, when he has lived isolated from others, and isolated from his own body. If he's not much more than a brain, then his brain must be working overtime!
I hope that all makes sense.
