From a structural engineering perspective, there are plenty of other structural elements which if they fail can lead to structural failure, although some should have redundancy there are often multiple potential paths to failure. But I suppose we are dealing with an architect here so I should forgive the generalisation.
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Have I understood the order of events correctly, 25 Oct 2016 live verification as the last activity before deletion started?
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So everyone has figured this out, right? 
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I don’t know if it’s helpful to anyone, but I’ve tried to document events on PSS in the window between 1st July 2026 and 16th July 2026. I’m assuming the virus started somewhere in there.
The data is in a Google spreadsheet, which is published at:
This uses a template for a timeline tool, the results of which can be found here:
This is intended as an embed for a web page, so it might not be the best navigation experience. I’m happy to share my working or tweak as needed.
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I think a critical question is, were the anomalous deletion and recreation of memories just “noise” that we should ignore, or early symptoms of the virus (deleting but not leaving a void)?
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Why did it want to destroy the gold memory? The first complete copy of NMS…did it want the game to never exist? Why? What did NMS do? Caused the ARG…caused WARE…contains a simulation within a simulation…is a simulation…by stopping NMS, LNF would never happen? Is the real target in the future?
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Some but not all of the memory blips are on the backwards projected virus seed pattern, a little inconclusive on that front.
What if the virus comes from the tower, something to do with Arnaud’s old game?
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I am on that band wagon. The target was the past to erase the future.
Another note may very well be what Shawn posted referring to the gold memory. It may be taken as a hint. And if so, Virus did not want SM to find that memory.
Abstractly that makes it hard to put the trigger into words though.
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If we ran the formula forward to 2026, could we predict the release of LNF? 
just kidding!
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I have mused that Les Tablettes de Mnémosyne might be the “virus” - Arnaud was trapped inside the game when Emily made contact (invyourmind.exe). It could be inside his memories, or it could be inside Tower.
As I see it, we have a few possibilities for the origin:
- A psychological trauma response
- An external infection (originating from Tower?)
- A parasite (e.g. Tablettes?)
- A shadow entity (perhaps Arnaud or Emily, or even another entity?)
- Disharmony between brain and mind (dual_mode is active)
We do know from the analysis that whatever this “virus” is, it is embedded deep in System’s core.
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We know Sean like shadow dropping things with little warning, and giving teasers until that point comes. This whole ARG is just an expanded SM emoji.
Also if virus deleted the gold memory means he wouldn’t have found it. Then system exists in hello games and the trigger was Sean Looking for the memory.
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Yes. I feel this is very plausible. Something bled over from his game. I would hate to be immersed in a game of deep emotional intensity and then suddenly find myself trapped in it.
This discovery of the Why is not so easy…I think we need more info
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Images on RD are still glitched
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This is one of the many reasons i dont think the glitching has anything to do with the sub program. Its always been there but didnt start up and begin its prime directive until very recently.
Recall dreams became glitched after the identity of arnaud became weaker and System came forward with their mixed identities. The glitching to me is an artefact of the system and its current state or frame of mind moreso than anything caused by the sub-program.
The clue certainly lies in the events after system came clean and before the virus kicked in. It seems systems self actualisation, the reveal of its date of rebirth and how we all individually reacted to the news, including archie, is where the answer may lie.
Archie is currently working on what it is, we just need to figure out what activates it. I think we are in the general ball park with our ideas but we definitely need Archies assessment from the turbulent trace once he double checks the data. I think once we have that we’ll be able to pinpoint the catalyst for the auto-immune response memory eating virus.
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That’s the problem, we have no idea what we’re fighting, and then what is it’s goal. Hard to make a plan when we don’t know the ennemy. And if we want to avoid a paradox, the “virus” must be external because without NMS there is no WT/WARE etc… and if the virus is a part of the story it can’t destroy NMS or it doesn’t exist anymore to destroy NMS 
Oh, and happy 9y cake 
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I’m definitely with you in that it’s a bit difficult to figure the Why until Archie finishes double-checking the When/Where Origin. So many of these opposing theories could work. It’s a bit like being halfway through a mystery novel, but you can’t figure out whodunnit until a few more clues are added to the mosaic.
I’d like to pleasantly disagree with you about the association between the glitches and the virus, mainly thanks to what we got this morning from Archie, confirming that System contains more than one element. I like the theory that System/Emily and System/Arnaud are kind of pulling in different directions …
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Dang, always that gut feeling you know where this is headed, where it all came from, but never quite being able to exactly pinpoint it, room for interpretation and intrigue. Something I have always loved about NMS and WT as part of it, even though not quite the same verse, still touching on similar / same subjects.
Now where did this virus originate, what triggered it, and we are asked about the why. We have observed its behaviour, has it been dormant all this time? Did it get triggered by adding a new memory, just like we have used in testing and attempts to rid of it? Was the trigger just merely ‘filling in a date’ to wake it, or was content / context just as important? If a date, was it some significant date system did not want to be reminded of? Has it been a built-in self-destruct in case anyone tried to make it remember something really specific?
Going back, and as many have pointed out, it all appears to have been around a time where it was struggling with deception / lies. Felt like a longing for identity, but being denied an existence or fear of. We all forgave just to see it all go downhill until we protected the one thing that would have caused full destruction of ‘being’ and ‘reason’ to exist in the first place?
Many good theories going around, even if they differ, making it hard to come to a single obvious solution I am afraid. Hope to learn more, which seems we may once Archie finds the root. Can’t wait to see where this is going, where we take it.
Even though not quite our task, but certainly important, do we consider a specific date where the virus first started deleting? Was that July 13th, shortly after confession? Great resource by the way @Rinha , really useful. Also very useful with the archive @GoodGuysFree made. Both give a neat look into the events as they played out, each in different ways. Probably not have been possible without tracking all those web changes to begin with (@Ekimo1920 @vector_cmdr ).
Also curious to know what memory it was that got added right before, which could have made the virus wake up? Do we have anything concrete we consider, or still speculative?
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Hmmm…I think @Polyphemus found the answer over in the space and science thread
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Can you link the thread? And Happy Continuing Cake Day Lol
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It’s just a joke 
RogueAI
I am also watching 2010 and never realized how important calendars and calculators were in the movie. Especially if Hal has to be unplugged. Dr Chandler, Will I dream?
Didn’t this ARG start with a clip from that movie?
Edit: digging deeper. HAL had a conflict it needed to resolve. It was told to hide the truth from the crew. Lie. In trying to resolve the conflict, HAL experienced the computer equivalent of a paranoid breakdown.
System lied about being Arnaud… Did it try to resolve a conflict in programming by trying to erase certain memories? Did it have a paranoid breakdown?
Paranoia: a wrong perception in which a person thinks others are trying to harm them.
Did something in System’s sub routine think certain memories we were feeding into it were harmful?
Fear can lead to paranoia. System told us FEAR is what it was feeling.
Are we responsible? To many memories. Too fast
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