I originally posted this on the Recursion forum because that is where my character is, but maybe it is better suited here?
Okay, as I’m what amounts to a complete and utter newbie to the lore of the Matrix, I’m absolutely full of questions. I’m not sure the questions below are in any special order beyond off the top of my head, but I DID make an attempt to search out the answers from various fan websites and these forums before posting. So please be gentle if the next thread over explains everything and I somehow missed it.
1. Mega City is where the current game environment is located obviously, but is it the actual total supposed expanse of the Matrix? I’m trying to figure out if the Matrix is a global simulation of the entire Earth circa 2100 or just Mega City, with boundaries no one ever questioned for some reason like the movie Dark City. Or is the whole world simulated, visiting Paris and New York and Moscow is possible, and we just suspend our disbelief as players about not being able to go there for the same reasons we have to in any other game where real estate of the fantasy world is limited by development time and technology?
2. RSI are the visual representation of how our characters perceive themselves, right? So do they age or change at all based on any changes the operator is undergoing in the real world? Is that up to the redpill at all, or is the RSI mostly a subconscious manifestation?
3. Once a person becomes a redpill, gets unplugged, and starts jacking back in as an operator for their faction, what changes actually happen where their ability to relate to bluepills and the world they knew is concerned? The redpill knows the truth, but the bluepill isn’t any wiser. Is there any reason a redpill couldn’t carry on like normal with bluepills if they desired to? If they had family and friends, could they still safely carry on with those family and friends if they wanted to?
4. Another question on the same train of thought, what other in-Matrix changes take place for a redpill as far as their former bluepill lives are concerned? Yesterday, they had a bluepill identity, a job, financial responsibilities, maybe property, and so on. Today they’re awakened to the truth and living on a hovercraft. Do they still have access to all that stuff in the Matrix if they desired? Are the changes forced on them by their new status in the Matrix or is it just usually by choice?
5. Once again on the same track, without understanding all the details of the current state of affairs, what is the general idea of what each faction is generally working toward? What is the general view of each major faction toward the Matrix and how it should be interacted with or even lived in by their redpills? It occurs to me that a hovercraft crew might be annoyed by a crew member that wants to jack in and hold onto parts of their old life, because that is just wasted time taken away from furthering the mission of the faction. Or maybe not?
6. I saw a reference somewhere to a place called Abaddon? It seemed to infer that it might be some kind of Merovingian follower’s holding in the real world? Like New Zion, but for Merovingian types?
7. I’ve seen a thread or two about where non-Zionist redpills live outside of the Matrix, with a suggestion that the Machinists might live in barracks outside the Machine City, but there wasn’t much about where the Merovingians might live beyond their hovercrafts. I guess a Merovingian aligned hovercraft visiting New Zion is out of the question too, right?
8. My vague recollection was that if you die in the Matrix, you die in real life on the hovercraft too. What is the explanation for why our redpills survive defeat and are able to come back?
That’s probably enough for now, though I’m sure I’ll be back for more. Thanks so much for any responses and helpful guidance ahead of time!