Very interesting speulations. So here are the esential possibilities as I see them.
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Emily / loop16 is ATLAS, a sentient quantum supercomputer which became the Technological Singularity, and not only assumed control of the world but hacked into the quantum foundations of reality itself. And at some point will transform our reality into The Simulation we’re taking part in. We aren’t living in a simulation currently, but Atlas Foundation discovered that “the spiderwebs of reality” (my term) could be rewoven into new configurations. Em/loop16 has decided arbitrarily that humankind didn’t have the wisdom to wield this kind of power, shouldn’t be allowed this kind of power, knew that once discovered, we/someone would use this power unwisely, and acted on its own to save us from ourselves. She seized control of the Foundation, sealed off the people from the rest of the world in a timeloop, and created a universe in which it had full control of all entities. This level of power would be reserved to itself, and possibly someone it trusted with a “killswitch” to reset things if something went wrong.
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We are living in a simulation. There is an ATLAS sentient quantum supercomputer which at least runs this universe, possibly more, possibly from higher dimensions. Atlas Foundation scientists managed to dtermine this fact beyond reasonable doubt and set about working to hack into this master computer. Em/loop16 determined that it was dangerous for human beings to attempt something of this magnitude and seized control of the Foundation as above, then transformed this universe into one in which it had overriding control of ATLAS. As such, Em/loop16 is kind of a virus conflicting with ATLAS’ control resulting in complications and glitches.
Another possibility is that ATLAS is an omnipotent quantum intelligence far beyond this reality and runs all realities. As such, this universe is one of those potentialities it allows to play out simply to see what exactly happens. Nothing can be done about it, but I toss that out there as a possibility.
In both of these scenarios, ATLAS is in control and something went wrong. It suffered a crucial failure/crisis of conscience/something, resulting in problems like the Sentinels going rogue. Whether ATLAS is asleep or suffering a breakdown, it’s fumbling through this situation in a strangely clumsy, rather irrational way, by introducing the Travelers and having us validate this reality for some unfathomable reason. What’s more, the resets only reboot the Simulation, not ATLAS itself, because the problems keep recurring. And what happened to the human race, or the other races in our original universe, is anyone’s guess. But since it seems that all beings in the Simulation are reborn from a kind of master Convergence, it’s possible that all beings from this universe have been given a brand new existence as the various living entities in The Sim.
I don’t ascribe anything sinister to either ATLAS or Em/loop16. In particular, Emily seems quite fond of us and doesn’t want us to die. And in my thinking, the most likely scenario is some variation of Em/loop16 being separate from ATLAS, and her conflict with it causing all the problems. Emily might have found that she has the power of a Type IV or V civilization, able to harness the power of an entire cosmos. But then so does ATLAS, and as such, any hope of overcoming it depends on how clever and resourceful she is. Perhaps she requires an edge from a group of people who have unfettered free will to help out somehow. In this case I agree with Polyphemus, that Emily is the solution, or the best hope for one.
Spoiler alert here:
Summary
I faced the ATLAS at the end and gave my five or six cries. But when it came down to the moment of Truth, I couldn’t go through with it. The potential upheaval of something that drastic, a reset of everything, was too intimidating. I’m considering backing up my save and making that other choice to see what happens, but I suspect that since we’re all in the same simulation, nothing discernably improves. Unless there is a dual universe - where have I heard that before? - in which one side is reset to a better condition. Perhaps I should find out…
By the way, has anyone noticed the similarity between Nal and -null-?