[sdwr]

I liked the line

> My parents were machines. My parents were gods. It was nothing special. I hated them.

and how the story mixes adolescence and feeling special with philosophical ramifications (hinting that focusing on the philosophical ramifications is just an adolescent attempt at feeling special?)

The narrator falls into the same trap at the end, assuming that he is the 1-in-a-million exception. He doesn't realize that everyone has the same experience, they just process it in a healthier way. AI Catcher in the Rye.

[soVeryTired]

I really enjoyed that read. Is it hinted that everyone has the experience though?

There's a week where the jewel and the brain are still paired, but the jewel is in control. The hospitals monitor that the two are similar to within tolerance, but somehow this jewel slips through the net. What makes you think there's more to it than the 'one in a million' explanation?

[sdwr]

He sets up a conspiracy theory, where the system knows he's the only one out of sync and forces him through anyway.

If you are reasonable instead of rational, the slippage that occurs within that week is fine. It's expected, as he notes, because the jewel doesn't replicate neurons constantly dying, so it can't be a "perfect" copy.

Adolescence is typified by feeling like everything is happening to "me", for the first time ever. It fits the theme to have him solipsistically dramatize a normal experience. You can see this in the last line, where he wonders if the person him ever felt as "real" as he does.

[kragen]

SPOILERS