Layer Seven: Genesis

The God of the Wired. Yomoda Chisa had told Lain about a god existing in the Wired in her email; whispers of a real deity (or the next thing to it) filled the Wired. A being so omniscient in the Wired that there were actually people who woshipped him; the Knights of the Eastern Calculus were among his "elite" worshippers. But who was Masami Eiri, and how did he become the self proclaimed "God of the Wired"?

At first, Eiri had worked with Tachibana Labs. During that time, he began to have visions of a world where people would be able to connect without devices or external technology; people would simply be able to enter the Wired. As he became more and more obsessed with his vision, he slipped some programming into the 7th protocol, which at that time, Tachibana Labs was just perfecting. The programming he inserted allowed him to enter the Wired fully, and began the breakdown of the barrier between the real and Wired world. Tachibana had learned of Eiri's tampering with the 7th protocol, and immediately fired him. But by then, it was too late -- already disgruntled by the lack of interest that Tachibana showed in his idea, he committed suicide so that he could enter the Wired fully.

Within the Wired, Eiri is nothing short of a god; he has people who take him as the real god, and those who believe in his teachings. He is also aware of Lain's presence; he knows that she was created to correct the programming that he had inserted into the 7th protocol, and that she had the power to delete him. Eiri began speaking to Lain, explaining his theories to her -- Lain had thought it was God who was speaking to her. But when he begins to tell her that she wasn't meant to exist in the real world, and that her body was just a parcel of ribosomes, Lain begins to doubt her existence. Eiri's tactics were simple; if he could get her to doubt herself, and leave humanity, she would abandon her body and flee to the Wired. He led Lain to believe that he created her, and that because he created her, she should love him as he loves her. When Lain's family leaves, and Alice won't talk to Lain, Eiri uses her uncertainty and tells Lain that only he loves her. Ultimately, it is Lain's love for Alice that defeats Eiri -- in the final confrontation, she bluntly states Eiri's one weakness. Eiri's reasoning was that he had given Lain existence, and that he was a god, capable of anything. But, if Eiri's claims were true.. then who created Eiri? Someone from above, at a higher consciousness must have created him as well. It is this realization that defeats Eiri. Unable to accept the thought of a higher power above him, he melts away, and tries to kill Lain and Alice. Ironically, Eiri was killed a barrage of computer parts, the ones that were all over Lain's room.

In the end, when Lain resets the world, Masami Eiri once again becomes a disgruntled worker, who is seen walking and muttering to himself about quitting work. Although, this time, Eiri wouldn't taint the 7th protocol; in truth, the memory of the "God of the Wired" was erased, so he never really existed at all...

(( back to external connections ))

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