[Coldsaturn]

What makes me think that Caleb faked the whole memory-wipe out is that very same sentence from the end of the last chapter "we can't access the chip's records of Caleb's memories."
Which can be read to mean that the chip can't complete its process because how can it wipe out memories it can't access? That part of his brain is sealed off, out of the chip's control. If the chip could get in there and delete his memories, then the seal would be no more.
It could also mean (if I stretch how I can read the sentence) that it does in fact wipe out his memories but then he blocks their transfer/access to Lucius, but if he lost his memories how would he actually know he needed to do that? He'd have to retrain himself every single time on his objectives. And following what he says of his plans during Kahli, he can't risk missing a step. Losing all his memories on a semi-regular basis would be extremely dangerous, too many unknown variables I fear.

MC actually losing her memories and having to recover them gradually could be perfectly explained by the fact that she doesn't have a black hole in her brain protecting her from the chip's effect.

- That galaxy eye has been theorized to hell and back in the fandom. It could be something/someone we already know, it could be something that is explained or introduced later by infold.
As of now I think the only LI who is known to have an aether core (fragment) in him is Sylus.

[ChicletPrime]

huh. okay. that is a very logical chain and only a bit of stretching.

do you think that's a plot hole? in that the story as presented says Caleb lost his memories and then regained them over three days, but then gave that explanation about the chip's record being inaccessible to Prof Lufthausen, and nobody back at Infold said "hey, wait a minute...".

i like the watsonian house of cards you've built there, its very elegant but i find it a tad emotionally unsatisfying as i was really digging the whole "Caleb! You don't remember me?!" angst.

however i can already feel my brain just incorporating that and in about 48 hours it will be as if i thought of it first :P

i have only just started the Kahli playthrough with Caleb, i will comment on that elsewhere, but i will opine briefly that X-02 Experimental Weapon is fucking AH-MAZING.

[Coldsaturn]

I could have thought about a plot hole if it was about a piece of info contained in the myth against another in another card or main story. Inside the myth itself? I don't think I've ever seen the writers fumble, they tend to be very careful and deliberate with their wording (when they're not jumping through fire rings to avoid the pseudo-incest allegations).
When Caleb tells me he doesn't remember me and then I find out from a third party narration that the chip can't actually do the wipe out, what comes automatically to me is "Oh so he lied"
Maybe I'm quick to think that because I'm so used to Rafayel gaslighting MC every two days lol

I totally get you on the fact that the temporary amnesia trope would fall a bit flat because of it. I still dig it a lot because it would perfectly parallel how they're both treating each other: Caleb lies to MC by making her think he doesn't remember anything (or if we buy into the fact that at the beginning he's confused or whatever, he definitely remembers by the time they're at the amusement park and starts pretending he still hasn't recovered his memories), and MC lies to Caleb by telling him that their relationship is way more romantically developed than it actually is. And he can't call her on her bluff because he would automatically out himself too.

I still might be entirely wrong though! This is what sounds more convincing to me, but I'm a sucker for temporary-amnesia and would be just as happy if it turned out that this dude is somehow reprogramming himself to fall in love with MC every single time he loses his past.

- X-02 has the most insane oath attack too, on top of being overall a thing of beauty.
(fun fact: the choice of the name of my MC is because when I joined the game Caleb's limited myth was the ongoing banner and I still hadn't thought about a proper name and didn't want to think too long because I just wanted to jump in so I saw Decoherence's trailer, went "Oh, Nier Automata vibes" and rolled with it lol)

[ChicletPrime]

okay, i've had about two hours to kind of think about this and its really starting to sound fantastic in my head. the echoes are starting to harmonize in the empty space between my ears.

i have another question though -- if the small part of Caleb's brain is under ward, and that part you are theorizing is ALL his memories and not just the ones pertaining to his meimei, what is the chip actually controlling? do we even know? his introductory trailer has text that says "23rd neural control experiment" while he's hanging in the void, but if we're tossing out memory control, what else is there about "neurons"? body modification for faster / better / stronger like the Winter Soldier? combat programming for same? adding to memories / implanting false ones?

the implied "full modification" would be an mostly/entirely cybernetic body which i presume would lead to Fallen Cosmos in the far distant future, if the chip and the arm are linked together and functioning as some sort of bodily override.

further speculation -- did he develop this black-hole-in-my-brain defense as a child, due to EVER's experiments? is there any information anywhere in an anecdote or something that gives a timeframe for when evol manifests? girlfriend has always been special because of her heart/partial aether core (which i am admittedly presuming she was born with, and that it was NOT acquired during the Chronorift as originally presented), but why did EVER pick up Caleb? 

again, his trailer has "they are the optimal weapon for destroying one another" and "this experiment is never to be restarted", which i am pretty sure we can peg to Josephine's research since Prof Ludmilla is still experimenting on his "obtained" asset anyways. so Caleb has something special about him as well and has since he was a child, which all the way up to this point I just blindly took on faith was his evol, but now i'm rethinking it.

although... hang on.
/goes and watches Fallen Cosmos again

okay, so.. Caleb says "we're from the same source".  same soul, split apart? same aether core / fragment, as yet unrevealed?  something else in the Decoherence myth that I just don't know about yet because i haven't seen it?

sorry, i do spin wheels on this most of the time.

okay, back to the main part of this which i got distracted from with questions.  i still do think that the initial reaction was legit - if you've ever fainted or been under anaesthesia, waking up afterwards is a bizarre landscape of fuzz. you haven't lost memory, but you sure aren't accessing them for a little while. i would like to believe that's what happened to Caleb - the sheer amount of static that went through the chip and for that little bit of time after he woke up, it was all murky. but then the memories began building themselves again rapidly as his evol ate the overlay so that even by later that same day he was probably mostly functioning again. fog of war-ish?

and the girlfriend is being obsessive over him, hiding stuff she doesn't want him to see, telling him things he knows aren't exactly true from his perspective, but this is what he's always hoped for, dreamed of, wished into existence. she's scared for him and also repeating his behaviours back at him and that has to feel some kind of pleasing. soothing even over an area that's scraped sensitive.

and when he gets her to admit that she wants more from him on the train, that he can act under that guise of anonymity in some sense, only to lose it all when he has her chip dissolved? 

ow. painful. that hurts even worse, doesn't it?

re/2B E -- that is DELIGHTFUL.  i have been pushed at Nier Automata a number of times as a game i *must* play but i just haven't gotten there.  FFXIV has a raid series based on it and its one of my top three things to do in the game, even to this day. if you ever get around to FFXIV, i don't care if we're not speaking at that point, you still have to get ahold of me so we can run it together for the first time. 

I will link you their version of "Weight of the World / Prelude" in the music thread so you can listen to it - a remix of Nier's version but FFXIV'ified and which plays at the end boss fight in.. the second raid tier? i checked, no, its the end boss of the first raid set. its one of my favorite musical things of all time, I adore it to pieces, its right up there with Inner Universe from Ghost In The Shell.

[Coldsaturn]

- "what is the chip actually controlling?"
His emotions, for one. He can't feel anything too strongly or the chip activates and gets him to reset. Normally it would mean resetting his memories (so that the trigger disappears entirely), whereas for Caleb it means he knows he needs to be extra careful the next time. The brainwashing caused by the chip would be enough to control soldiers, but with his arm we're also looking at body control in its entirety, once the project is complete. It's all controlled by the brain, after all.

- "did he develop this black-hole-in-my-brain defense as a child, due to EVER's experiments?"
I don't think he had any reason to have a black hole in his brain back then, despite everything. The chip is way more recent. Plus, I think that kind of evol control speaks of maturity. We know that Zayne already manifested his evol when he was a child, so it's entirely fair to assume that kids have it, but in a way that is difficult to control and possibly weaker.

- "why did EVER pick up Caleb?"
World Underneath texts go a bit into that.

- "we're from the same source"
Until we get more content in the main story, this sentence might be referring to Decoherence world specifically.
Writers have been careful to tie MC with each LI by something different, and they already stretched Sylus and Raf by going for the soul with one and the heart with the other. I doubt they'd do the soul again with Caleb.
But so long as we talk about the myth specifically, I can't give more details until you play it!

- "i still do think that the initial reaction was legit"
Yeah I agree with you on that! I think that's the version that puts together both your take and mine in a way that makes sense.

- "i have been pushed at Nier Automata a number of times as a game i *must* play but i just haven't gotten there"
It is a very long game, I totally get it. Back in the day I didn't even play it myself at first, I simply pulled up a complete walkthrough on youtube and strapped in for the journey. It's one of those gaming experiences that stay with you, I totally recommend it as well!
And I didn't know FFXIV had a Nier inspired raid series, that's amazing.
I'll call you when I'll finally walk into ffxiv and you'll do the same when you decide to pick up secret world legends again.

(running to listen to that song, and how dare you slap me in the face by mentioning Inner Universe out of the blue. That song took my entire spleen as hostage 20 years ago and never gave it back)