About the meaning of the ending of the game. (Spoilers)

[Flashbang Guy]

Did the end of the game have something to do with artificial intelligence and AI that was trying to escape? What are your thoughts and opinions about the ending of the game I am curious.

[michelzinn]

Develeper answered this same question a while ago,its open to interpretation.
all we can do is theorize about it

[Sebascova]

You can get help interpreting if you go to the library in aquanet :O

[Hatsodoom]

Yah I couldn't piece the books in the Aquanet together very well honestly. Maybe next time I'll write them down and try to put them in some comprehensible order. Honestly the ending was the one thing about the game I didn't like. Maybe patch in a new ending that requires you to find another item and get the highest ranking?

Update: Okay I went back and looked at the books and here's some stuff I think. The Architect, the person who created Natem, crafted an assisstant named Zero-chan to help run Natem and create new content for it. I also believe the Architect is the Phisher for three reasons. 1 is he's able to alter things in Natem at will, as seen at the end of the Aqua Net. 2 is that one of the books says that the Architect got access to "???????", likely the Innernet. Lastly and more importantly, aside from you he's the only one who made it to Innernet. Not only that but he got there before you.

As for Zero-chan she's either one or both of two entities. Her 3rd protocol is to "guide users to the core". At the end you follow that floating fall of light with no name to the final drop that takes you to the realistic scene where you shut down Natem. (Least that's what I gather from it.) She could also be the staticy entity labeled Error that you see if both the Aqua Net and the Innernet. The Onee-chan's likely serve her to some extent which is why they guide you to her in addition to how "some broken things are not meant to be fixed". As a side-note, Onee-chan is likely based upon the Architect's girlfriend/wife, considering she appears in the realistic setting. (Also considering the poster and the dakimakura, she may be famous, like an idol or something.)

As for the book which speaks of creating a site for viruses to grow, not quite sure. It's possible, judging by implications made by another book, that Zero-chan got infected or corrupted. (The one that speaks of the possibility of "her" getting hijacked.) Whatever the case Zero-chan likely knew that Natem was beyond repair or saving and knew it has to be shutdown. As for why you're the one who pulled it off well, I'm not sure. Some people suggest two people created Natem. If that's the case then the player is one of them, providing some explanation as to why the first Onee-chan at the start thinks she recognizes you. The other creator might be the "Error" entity, hard to say.

You can interpret the lore almost any way you want, but clearly it goes in a certain direction. The player is either very important to the lore, or someone who just got lucky. It's interesting to think about. I stand firm on my suggestion of an alternate ending. Exploration-based games like this can thrive on that sort of thing.

Update: I might be on the right track with Zero-chan and the Onee-chans. Retalked to the captain and admin in the love cruise and they state that "she", likely Zero-chan and the Onee-chans are linked, products of the same intent they say.

[eva02soul]

There are books in there that talk about how most likely Zero-chan created a site that allows viruses to propogate and spread into the larger internet, and a lot of the books reference somebody wanting to make direct alterations to a construct (probably Onii-chan) which the other member is against due to it leading to another Zero-chan. You also login to an account already made for you at the start of the game with a five-letter password (possibly admin), and there is the discussion of the two devs of the Natem system splitting up over differences.

What I think is that you are playing one of the devs that split, and attempting to backdoor into the old program that Zero-chan built herself, which can then backdoor into the server core. (if you tab on the big triangle screen, you can see you're actually in Natem's core system) From there, they shut it down. The realistic area could be a representation of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ place that Natem or zero-chan or both was first made, hence her appearing on the screen.

The reasons behind why you're shutting it down are more of a mystery beyond taking a moral high-ground, and they don't really seem touched on all that much in the game.

[Hatsodoom]

Hm, I had considered two creators with one of them splitting off and you playing as that one. I'm not so sure about the being on the screen at the end, but I suppose it is entirely up to interpretation. As for why its being shut down well the Onee-chan that you talk to after getting the last camera upgrade states that "some broken things are not meant to be fixed". This suggests that Natem is so corrupted that it has to be shut down, that it's beyond repair. I think it's fun though to throw around these kinds of ideas. I'm not normally one for plot or lore that's mostly up to individual interpretation, but this game kinda makes it work.

[cangopi]

I'm kinda late to the discussion but adding to lazarus' post, the orb of light does have a name, φ (greek letter phi), maybe it's related to sigma (Σ), which is mentioned by Admin and Socrates. On a side note the second to the last area in the game, styx, is probably a reference to a river and deity in greek mythology of the same name which is supposed to form the boundary between earth and the underworld.

[michelzinn]

Originally posted by cangopi:

I'm kinda late to the discussion but adding to lazarus' post, the orb of light does have a name, φ (greek letter phi), maybe it's related to sigma (Σ), which is mentioned by Admin and Socrates. On a side note the second to the last area in the game, styx, is probably a reference to a river and deity in greek mythology of the same name which is supposed to form the boundary between earth and the underworld.

never thought of that,im considering replaying the game.
it was a blast back then