Abstraction Will Probably Be Reversible

With EP9 now out, it's becoming increasingly plausible that abstraction can be reversed, at least for characters who have only recently abstracted.

Please let me explain.

Why not? Caine managed to make these brain-scan files function in the first place, something Kinger and Scratch were unable to do. If he was capable of creating and maintaining them, it doesn't seem unreasonable that he could eventually learn how to repair them as well. The real question isn't whether it's possible, but whether Caine already knows how to do it or still has to figure it out.

And unlike before, Caine has become noticeably more mature. Through his interactions with the circus cast—especially in EP9—he has started to understand human emotions and behavior far better than he did at the beginning of the series. That development could be important if abstraction is ultimately tied to the minds of the scanned individuals.

We also know - and have suspected for quite some time - that abstracted characters are still in there. They are still capable of thinking and feeling emotions. Kinger and Queenie are good examples of this.

Now, with Pomni and Jax, we've seen even more evidence. Jax was still there: thinking, talking, feeling emotions, and remaining aware of what was happening around him.

There's also the fact that Pomni appeared to glitch out less after Jax's abstraction than Ragatha did in EP1 when coming in contact with abstracted Kaufmo. To me, that suggests Jax wasn't actively trying to harm her while abstracted.

Personally, I don't view abstraction as suicide or death. It's more comparable to a severe mental breakdown or a state of extreme insanity that the brain-scan file—or the program running it—can no longer properly process or understand.

The fact that Pomni was able to reach Jax and communicate with him, and that Jax remained relatively calm while Zooble guided him into the tent, suggests that he still understood they weren't trying to harm him. Even though it wasn't completely dark on the way there, he didn't react aggressively, irrationally, or appear to glitch out the way he did earlier in EP9 when Pomni, Ragatha, and Zooble observed him running around below. To me, that implies he still recognized what was happening, understood that they were trying to help him, and knew that they still cared about him. The personalized tent and cushions, designed around Jax's colors and theme, may have helped reinforce that feeling as well.

As for Gooseworx's statement that abstraction can't be reversed, I'm not fully convinced that's definitive evidence. Goose has said several things in the past that later turned out to be jokes, intentionally misleading, or simply not entirely accurate.

For me, three things stand out:

1. Caine was able to make the brain-scan data function in the first place despite being "just" a creative AI—something Kinger and Scratch couldn't accomplish.
2. Abstracted characters can still think, feel emotions, and even communicate when properly connected to another person. Whether that connection is physical, emotional, or something else entirely remains unclear.
3. Caine is gradually learning to understand human emotions and the minds of the people whose brain-scan data he is managing and brought to life in the first place.

Taken together, all of this makes me believe that abstraction can be reversed—and that, eventually, it will be.