Official Egghead Thread

Ivotas

@Deicide said in Official Egghead Thread:

One theory I heard about the Egghead villain is that it's not any of the Vegapunks, but Punk Records itself that has acquired sentience.

I kinda like it, it's very similar to my Atlas theory (in that Atlas may want to upload itself to Punk Records and take control), but I feel there's one problem with that: the villain would be just an obstacle, not a character.

By having Atlas, Shaka or any other 'Punk be the villain, both readers and characters can feel betrayal and assign a name and face to the evil we are fighting.

If Punk Records itself is the enemy, then it's a nameless, faceless entity. It may be a powerful obstacle, but the personal side of the conflict is gone. It doesn't work as beating it would feel as good as smashing a computer to bits.

While I don't expect this to happen I do think that this a scenario that could work. I don't agree with your worries though. AI going rogue is a very popular staple in Science Fiction and it always comes down to how well said AI is portrayed. It doesn't lack personality because it's an AI but because it's badly written.

Also the worries about it being a faceless enemy can easily be overcome by giving it a monitor or something similar to have a visual appearance to the reader or, follow another trope in SF and implement the AI into an artificial body. Wasn't there this Kumabot patrolling the streets? Or better yet, the real Kuma is on his way. Download yourself into the real deal and make things even more tragic.

Either, I think it's an interesting premise that could work, without any worries of having an antagonist that lacks personality and a face.

Deicide

@Ivotas Yes, it can work, but I think in the framework of One Piece arcs it wouldn't fit very well, IMO, because of how Oda builds emotional resonance between elements.

I do like the idea of the Vegapunk Brain A.I. taking over Kuma's body. That would be super dramatic and could work.

Ivotas

@Deicide
I don't really see an issue with this. One Piece over the years has introduced so many things that one wouldn't consider to fit the actual framework until it actually get's implemented. I mean before Franky, I wouldn't have expected cyborgs to be a thing in One Piece. Yet we've come a long way from there.

I know you're talking about emotional resonance between characters specifically but the same could apply here.

Deicide

@Ivotas
It may work if the Vegapunk A.I. acts as the "sins" of the Vegapunk that need to be purged or something like that. But Oda would need to give it a hell of a personality to compensate for the lack of any preexisting relationship to anyone in the arc.

Ivotas

@Deicide
We literally just had an arc where people cannot get over a character not joining, who's been made up the fly and introduced late since Momo seemingly didn't provide effective enough emotional investment. I don't see any issue at all.

Johnny B. Decent

OK, we got to talk about Vegapunk and his sci fi underwear fetish.

electricmastro

Looks like Bonney will try to brace through it to find the answer. Hope she can last.

alt text

Deicide

Random thought:

What if the reason the rogue Vegapunk becomes a villain is because… EVERY Vegapunk is doing its own thing and hiding it from the others?

Like, the rogue found out Shaka works with the revolutionaries, Lilith sank WG ships, Edison has secret projects…

Thus the rogue sees individuality as a risk to their original purpose and the reason the WG turned against Vegapunk, so he/she decided to rectify things?

Ivotas

@Deicide said in Official Egghead Thread:

Random thought:

What if the reason the rogue Vegapunk becomes a villain is because… EVERY Vegapunk is doing its own thing and hiding it from the others?

Like, the rogue found out Shaka works with the revolutionaries, Lilith sank WG ships, Edison has secret projects…

Thus the rogue sees individuality as a risk to their original purpose and the reason the WG turned against Vegapunk, so he/she decided to rectify things?

So basically the satelites are the Warlords and the Stella is the WG? While that is an option I consider it less likely.

I myself am still iffy on the subject of Shaka being the traitor. Like if it's him, is that actually the real Shaka who just double crossed everyone OR is somebody actually posing as Shaka? I mean I know that if I would impersonate somebody of a group like the satelites, I would pick the one who has a helmet for head as I could easily hide my true identity that way. Not so easy with the other satelites.

Deicide

@Ivotas No, because in this idea, it's not Stella who is trying to put everyone else in check, but one of the Satellites finding out everyone else is doing their shit and putting everyone in jeopardy.

I'm still suspecting Atlas, so imagining it's her, it would be like this:

Atlas' projects mostly depend on Egghead-only conditions and can't be easily replicated. She expressed frustration at this.
She finds out the Government is targetting them. As she tries to understand the reasons, she finds out that everyone else has its own secret projects that put them under that situations.
- Shaka was working with the Revolutionaries
- Lilith was attacking CP ships
- Some other secrets about the others
Atlas then decides she will rectify things, so she won't need to leave Egghead and lose all her life's work, as well as cull any individuality so that situation does not repeat again. Maybe she believes she can feign her own death so she can keep working in Egghead after the government takes over, or maybe she believes she can convince the government by giving the other Vegapunks and the Straw Hats to it.

If the villain is Shaka, then it would be similar, except the motivations/objectives would be slightly different. Maybe he thinks it's an error to work under the government, so he manipulating things so they have to leave, for instance.

Ivotas

@Deicide said in Official Egghead Thread:

@Ivotas No, because in this idea, it's not Stella who is trying to put everyone else in check, but one of the Satellites finding out everyone else is doing their shit and putting everyone in jeopardy.

So pretty much like the Warlods who according to Moria are all doing their own thing with Kuma being the only one truly working for the WG (which also was not true in the end). Also the WG hasn't kept any of the Warlords in check at all. They only revoke their status once they've gotten too far like Crocodile and Doflamingo did.

Bugs

The real plot twist would be that every Satellite is a traitor and are trying to eliminate the Stella.

Ivotas

@Bugs
I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. All of the satelites are surprisingly chill consierding that they are actually tools to the Stella. In many cases in SF artificially created sentient beings turn on their creators once their ability to think (independently) develops beyond a certain threshold. And these guys are very inteligent.

But then again, their entire characterization is a bit meh to me. Like Lilith is supposed to represent the evil in Vegapunk. Ok, we've seen her getting easily angered, itching to fight, being greedy and wanting to quickly dispose of the Strawhats he considered to be hostile invaders. None of which I would consider to be metaphysically evil.

Actually, some of the things the Stella has done in the name of science than anything Lilith has done so far. I get the idea of splitting yourself up into multiple different beings for the sake of efficiency. But I don't think that the idea is executed that well, at least not with Lilith. So far the only satelite that truly serves her puprose is Eat, Crap & Sleep girl. Might aswell be her who's the traitor since she might feel more restricted in comparison to the rest.

last-exit-to-laughtale

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last-exit-to-laughtale

I do find it kinda funny that Egghead runs mostly on government funding and whoever Lilith deems fair game to rob at gunpoint, yet the non-satellite residents still have to pay to use the food replicator or get clothes even though they'd basically be paying Vegapunk with his own grant & burglary money. Really adds to the Pullman/Fordlandia/EPCOT feel I've been getting from it.

Ivotas

@last-exit-to-laughtale said in Official Egghead Thread:

I do find it kinda funny that Egghead runs mostly on government funding and whoever Lilith deems fair game to rob at gunpoint, yet the non-satellite residents still have to pay to use the food replicator or get clothes even though they'd basically be paying Vegapunk with his own grant & burglary money. Really adds to the Pullman/Fordlandia/EPCOT feel I've been getting from it.

Isn't that kinda normal. Just working somewhere doesn't mean you supposed to get everything that place provides/sells for free. Sure you there's deals, where can get discounts or some stuff even as a gift for your service. But there's always a limit to that.

Deicide

@last-exit-to-laughtale said in Official Egghead Thread:

do find it kinda funny that Egghead runs mostly on government funding and whoever Lilith deems fair game to rob at gunpoint, yet the non-satellite residents still have to pay to use the food replicator or get clothes even though they'd basically be paying Vegapunk with his own grant & burglary money. Really adds to the Pullman/Fordlandia/EPCOT feel I've been getting from it.

But that's how money works.

Food and clothes aren't produced out of thin air, they need some other basic material to be made off, and that material needs to be acquired somewhere (i.e.: paid). So Vegapunk pays whoever offers the materials (which may be someone off-island or in it), and also pays its workers, and the workers pay Vegapunk, who pays the other workers and...

I mean, nothing is free unless you get so advanced you can produce things out of thin air without any human work nor resources produced or extracted by someone else.

last-exit-to-laughtale

@Ivotas @Deicide I wasn't talking in the sense of simply paying for things, I meant that what we've been shown of Egghead so far aligns fits the bill for a classic company town. Company towns are little different than usual economics because when an employer owns and controls the shops and even the housing, then it's just all the same money being shuffled around within the same company rather than bringing in new money. Because of that, it was only useful as a control tactic by making employees completely dependent on the company town for everything while simultaneously making it nearly impossible to leave. Some would take it a step further by price-gouging to the degree that employees could only get basic necessities by starting a "tab" and accruing an endless debt with the company - a practice that inspired the song "16 Tons" - and some even took this idea far as paying their employees in what were basically Chuck E Cheese tokens just to make sure employees literally couldn't spend their money elsewhere. Most company towns became tiny authoritarian dictatorships before eventually falling apart, often violently, as a result.

Though to clarify I'm not theorizing that any of the above is going to turn out to be true for Egghead. I was more just musing that Egghead reminded me of the (in)famous examples of the concept.

Deicide

@last-exit-to-laughtale I am familiar with "company towns" as it was a fairly common problem near where I live a few years back. It's disguised slavery, in a way.

I don't think what we've seen of Egghead so far qualifies as company town, however. I mean, it could be, but I don't think that's the intention of the author. Like you said, I doubt the story will go into such details.

Ivotas

@last-exit-to-laughtale
Thanks for clarifying. Definitely not something that I had on the radar when writing my previous post. I can see your point now.

DollarScholar

Rogue Punk Records would be a very interesting villain cause it would not just be the standard sci fi AI trope, it would also be a literal manifestation of Vegapunks inner conflict which is basically a struggle over goals vs morality, his goal was always knowledge and furthering science and he was willing to aid evil organizations like the WG in order to further that goal. Now he will have to face against that part of himself, literally embodied by his own big brain.

Deicide

@DollarScholar I have a feeling the Rogue Vegapunk essentially represents this conflict just as well, except it has a face and personality.

DollarScholar

@Deicide said in Official Egghead Thread:

@DollarScholar I have a feeling the Rogue Vegapunk essentially represents this conflict just as well, except it has a face and personality.

Could be, but i think having to face off against punk records would potentially be more impactful if it leads to Vegapunk having to literally destroy or disable it. That would be a true sacrifice. PR being disabled could also potentially lead to the punks gaining "independance" as they are cut off from their connection which Stella, which would be an interesting development

Deicide

@DollarScholar I have a feeling this is how the arc will end, be it because Punk Records went rogue or because the traitor Punk takes control over it.

DollarScholar

@Deicide said in Official Egghead Thread:

@DollarScholar I have a feeling this is how the arc will end, be it because Punk Records went rogue or because the traitor Punk takes control over it.

Or because the Punks cant take it with them on their journey with Luffy and they would rather destroy it than see it fall into the hands of the WG.

last-exit-to-laughtale

@Deicide Fair enough. I'd respectfully argue that what we've seen of Egghead would meet definitely meet the general definition of a company town since it's an isolated settlement that is owned, built, and operated by an individual entrepreneur, with all the residents being employees of the same company, which in turn controls all the commerce and housing. Plus, Egghead does have a few other features that would be characteristic of company towns; such as the factories and Vegapunk's abode being at the epicenter, and a private police force in the form of Kuma Pacifista that go full Judge Dredd on your ass for accidental misdemeanors. The only thing really missing is for Zoro to ask Vegapunk where to find booze only to be told that alcohol is banned on Egghead lol.

But like you said, these are at most background elements and we haven't seen enough of the Fabriophase to know what it's like.

@DollarScholar said in Official Egghead Thread:

Rogue Punk Records would be a very interesting villain cause it would not just be the standard sci fi AI trope, it would also be a literal manifestation of Vegapunks inner conflict which is basically a struggle over goals vs morality, his goal was always knowledge and furthering science and he was willing to aid evil organizations like the WG in order to further that goal. Now he will have to face against that part of himself, literally embodied by his own big brain.

While I'm not to invested on any theory regarding a traitor right now, something that's also struck me about Vegapunk is that, looking back, he's kind of a massive flake. Everywhere it seems he's been, he's left behind a trail of discarded and half-finished inventions; communities like Baldimore talk about all the good he was planning to for them, but then never got around to actually doing before he moved on for greener pastures. Even on Egghead he not only has a whole junk heap of ideas he's given up on, the center of which is the giant robot that he says is the epitome of his true dream, and later tells Nami that he has no intention of betraying the World Government despite preparing to bail on yet another lab to avoid being assassinated. Even without a traitor, he really does seem to be his own worst enemy.

Though on the subject of destroying Punk Records... isn't PR his actual brain? Like he literally cut out his own brain, put it in a dome, and then installed a dish so it could transmit brainwaves and that's why he's still able to function with half a skull? Wouldn't destroying Punk Records theoretically be like giving Vegapunk a lobotomy, if not outright kill him, then?

Deicide

@Deicide said in Official Egghead Thread:

I think everything up to Ch 1073 was setup.

Ch 1074 is likely to go back and wrap up some world events (extremely likely to see more of Law vs BB, or even a conclusion), then we return to Egghead in full as the arc is about to pick up steam.

There's a hidden villain in Egghead manipulating things
(...)

We just learned that people on the same level of command over the Seraphim can't overrule each other. This means that the hidden villain, once he takes command over them, can't be overruled by the other 'Punks.

Nailed it! :D

Predictions for Chapters 1076 onward:

The Straw Hats are going down, HARD! Remember, everyone is using DOM Shoes that can be locked to the ground!
Strong ones like Zoro, Sanji or Jinbe can probably free themselves, but in a fight, an instant of vulnerability can be enough
To make matters worse, two of the heavy hitters, Sanji and Jinbe, are about to be defeated before they realize it.

If Stussy is on the villain's side, and I think she is, she just has to bite Jinbe by surprise, and then Sanji will be at her mercy.
S-Shark is probably the one destroying snailcams. His power allows him to quickly move throught walls, floors and ceilings.

He is probably heading for Nami, Brook and Edison next, right bellow where S-Bear and S-Hawk are.
Robin and Chopper are going to be attacked by the mastermind of this plot: ATLAS!

I wouldn't be surprised if Atlas plans to use Robin for something, be it due to her knowledge or as leverage to negotiate with the government.
I feel Luffy and Zoro will refuse to team-up with Lucci and Kaku. The CP-0 agents will probably run away amid the chaos, to be later freed somehow (Hattori?)
I won't be surprised if Luffy is telepawtated away by S-Bear, as a callback to Sabaody's tragedy.

I could see Luffy grabbing the building to not be sent to another island, but then his arms stretching so far by the impulse that he passes the dome's limits and shot down, falling to Fabriophase.
Anyway, I think we are about to see the crew defeated in a way we haven't seen in a long time. Those who are not captured will have to run and hide, before they can regroup and counter attack.

Can't wait and see where this goes next!

Also, my other predictions are still on the run:

(The villain) It attacked the CP ships, disabled the defense dome and brought Bonney to the memories. This is very likely one of the Vegapunks, and my prime suspect is Atlas.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kuma's actions are also provoked by the villain. The Revolutionaries hooked Kuma in some device to fix him, and then he went rogue. THis device was likely supplied by Shaka, but sabotaged up by the villain (if it's not Shaka himself).

I think Bonney will join the villain. The memories will leave her in a fragile state, and the villain will recruit her with promises of restoring her father.

I feel Boa Hancock is going to arrive in Egghead. We last saw her thinking of leaving her island and hearing about her Seraphim. As S-Snake is essentially a slave version of her, she will take its existence as a personal offense and seek Vegapunk.

Rayleigh will probably help her find a way to reach Egghead quickly (my bet is that there's a fast travel method between Egghead and Sabaody, since that's where Sentomaru was often stationed for Pacifista tests)

Kizaru is likely arriving only near the end of the arc.

Johnny B. Decent

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Gizmo

One thing I never posted when Green Blood was introduced was way back in Sabaody pre timeskip when Drake said the Pacifistas still bled red, I wonder if Oda knew back then about the concept of Green Blood and Drake realized these weren’t the final version of the super weapons.

Captain M

@Gizmo Whether or not this actually was the intent I love how it works in hindsight.

Deicide

The mysterious events of Egghead

Trying to track all the suspiciously weird stuff that happened in the arc so far. These may or may not be important later:

1- Lilith complains about the mecha-shark not following her orders.

2- Soon after Atlas leaves Luffy & co., a Pacifista appears to attack them.

The Pacifista stops, apparently when Bonney changes their ages. What's suspicious? Stella later commends them for finding the Iron Giant, as it shouldn't be possible.

Was the Pacifista luring them there?

3- After being plugged into a computer-like contraption, Kuma starts acting strange and runs away.

He seems to be heading to Mary Geoise.

Could the contraction have been made by Shaka and sabotaged by the mysterious villain?

4- Missing ships

Lucci mentions that, for the last 2 months, ships from CP-5, CP-7 and CP-8 went missing after leaving Egghead. The Vegapunks seemed unaware of the disappearances.

5- The Frontier Dome is deactivated during CP-0 attack.

Both Vegapunks and CP-0 are surprised by this.

6- A convenient machinery beeping brings Bonney's attention to the Paw Room

This, leading her to Kuma's memories. This both takes Bonney away from the action and leaves Stella alone and defenseless.

7- The disapperance of Vegapunk Stella.

8- The Frontier Dome stops responding to commands and stays at max power, trapping everyone on Labophase.

9- The Seraphim attack.

Bonus

I have no idea why Oda gave a whole panel and introduction to the Recycollie, but something tells me that this will be important later. Maybe the robots on the island are the villains eyes?

Johnny B. Decent

I wonder if the Iron Giant has anything to do with what's going on?

Shiebs

@Johnny-B-Decent said in Official Egghead Thread:

I wonder if the Iron Giant has anything to do with what's going on?

I’m still hoping that Luffy’s gear 5th form activates it and helps him fight off the buster call

Didn’t Vegapunk say something about needing an energy source for it, and then soon after say something about the power of the sun, and Luffy’s new form is a sun god transformation, seems like it could work

Deicide

@Johnny-B-Decent
Would be an interesting twist. I do feel it may be activated in this arc.

last-exit-to-laughtale

@Deicide said in Official Egghead Thread:

3- After being plugged into a computer-like contraption, Kuma starts acting strange and runs away.
He seems to be heading to Mary Geoise.
Could the contraction have been made by Shaka and sabotaged by the mysterious villain?

Oh, I actually have a theory about this!

So you know how one of the first things we learn about the Iron Giant is connected to the Void Century and that it was last operational when it attacked Marie Geoise 200 years ago? And that it's mentioned that the Iron Giant had an unknown objective?

Well, Shaka talked to Dragon before Kuma took off, and he seems to be the satellite who's most invested in the kingdom that created the Iron Giant. So my theory is that Kuma knows what the original Iron Giant was after - either through his time with Vegapunk, his time at Mary Geoise, or a combination of the two - and the reason Kuma agreed to be Vegapunk's subject for the Pacifista program was to eventually finish what the Iron Giant started.

Captain M

@Deicide This is a great summary of the arc's suspicious events, but despite how hard I saw you arguing against the idea in the latest chapter thread, all these points make it feel even more likely to me that the enemy is a sentient Punk Records or some other ghost in the machine.

The more weird machine behaviours we find, the harder a Vegatraitor is to justify. Characters have been kept in groups for the most part, so you need someone to be unsupervised and with access to a console for basically all these moments, as well as having the window of opportunity to slip outside and give orders to the Seraphim in the very short amount of time between their deactivation in chapter 1073 and the first attack barely a chapter later, with this also being the time Vegapunk Stella was nabbed.

We can also rule out anyone directly attacked by the rogue Seraphim. That alone covers everyone except Edison and Atlas, I'm pretty sure. Edison is in the room with the others when the Frontier Dome goes down and Atlas is out for repairs for most of these events.

It all just gets a little too tight for a human being to slip in. But something controlling everything at once from the inside, especially for things like making a random control panel beep near just the right door exactly when needed, that feels like the machines going their own way. An enemy that's tracking its prey through various local sensors or whatever other sci fi thing as a computer wouldn't need the video transponder snails it dispatched to blind Shaka either. Could be the will of the Ancient Robot seeping in through some access point, if you don't like Punk Records doing its own thing.

I think Recycollie is just Oda making a pun though.

Captain M

As a random thought, what about Kuma's real brain being the enemy manipulating the machines? Bonney, unlike Strawhats, Government operatives and Vegapunks, hasn't been attacked at all since reaching the upper lab, and (as Deicide noted) may even have been deliberately led to Kuma's memories by someone manipulating the electronics there.

The issue with this theory is that the PX III cop down below very explicitly aims at her at one point. But it's also said that it stops abruptly after she changes her group's ages. Maybe Kuma took a moment before he could seize control of the Pacifista, or maybe he doesn't quite have all his memories yet, and didn't realise who was there until she made herself a child again. In this scenario, we have to assume it's sheer luck that Luffy's group flees to the hidden junk heap and the Ancient Robot, but that's pretty standard for One Piece.

Motive is also a little bit of a problem here. Vegapunk claims that Kuma's procedure was voluntary, but he's definitely a target. Again, memory issues and a struggle for a personality stored as data to fully self-actualise could be used to handwave some erratic lashing out. Maybe he half remembers fighting the Strawhats at Thriller Bark or Sabaody, but hasn't recovered the circumstances surrounding those encounters yet.

It's a tad flimsy, but Bonney and Vegapunk talking a glitchy digital Kuma back to full awareness and his genuine self could make for a strong emotional climax to the arc.

Seafarer33

@Captain-M said in Official Egghead Thread:

As a random thought, what about Kuma's real brain being the enemy manipulating the machines? Bonney, unlike Strawhats, Government operatives and Vegapunks, hasn't been attacked at all since reaching the upper lab, and (as Deicide noted) may even have been deliberately led to Kuma's memories by someone manipulating the electronics there.

I like that notion, because an outside force (be it Kuma's consciousness, rogue Punk Records or ghost in the machine) could have a different grasp of the situation that is easier to accept than one of the Punks playing against the other 6 for no specific reason beyond "it's their personnality".

Also as you said, with every machine glitch that adds up it becomes increasingly difficult for Atlas or any one of the satellites to be a believeable perpetrator while also leaving no trace in the Vegapunks' shared collective memory. Especially if these things have been going on for several months, I think the others would eventually notice if one satellite repeatedly skipped their daily update.

Deicide

@last-exit-to-laughtale This is an interesting possibility.

I feel Shaka supplied that equipment to Dragon either to restore Kuma or give his full control to the Revolutionaries, but the traitor tampered with it and gave Kuma new directives.

I guess both theories could work together if the new directives are the same as the Iron Giant's.

@Captain-M said in Official Egghead Thread:

This is a great summary of the arc's suspicious events, but despite how hard I saw you arguing against the idea in the latest chapter thread, all these points make it feel even more likely to me that the enemy is a sentient Punk Records or some other ghost in the machine.

I'd be more open to that hypothesis if it was established that Punk Records had been established as more than storage space and were also like the nexus of Egghead's operation, being linked to everything so the Vegapunks could connect to things while plugged into Punk Records.

That to me would increase drastically the chances of the brain going rogue and taking direct control of things.

At least with how the story has portrayed Punk Records so far, it seels like it's just Stella's brain, and used just as a data center, while the controls of the island are all manual. Also, at this point at least, I don't feel like Punk Records is a separate entity from Stella himself. Sure, it was cut off physically, but they are still linked to each other via antenna. It may even die if Stella dies.

New chapters could change that perception.

I still think Atlas view of reality is a sign that she either has already done or plans to do something to make her physical body obsolete. Either way, she fits perfectly with all the mysterious events, especially since she was absent while the Labophase was under attack.

@Captain-M said in Official Egghead Thread:

I think Recycollie is just Oda making a pun though.

Maybe, but I find it weird how much attention Oda gave to it. It felt like that panel was "hey, pay attention to this little guy, I want you to remember it".

@Captain-M said in Official Egghead Thread:

As a random thought, what about Kuma's real brain being the enemy manipulating the machines?

That's another interesting theory, but for now I believe Vegapunk's respect for Kuma and his words that Kuma did not want Bonney to check his memories.

Captain M

@Deicide I guess by a similar measure that we haven't been given any on-page evidence for Punk Records being anything more than a database, there's been no hints that Atlas's repairs were a coverup for any nefarious double crossings either. If the lab assistants that had looked at her right off the shuttle had said 'it's not as bad as it looks!' or when she returned one of the other Vegaclones had said 'I didn't think that would take so long to fix' or things along those lines, that would have me wondering what she was doing in that time. But I just can't find anything that feels truly off in her timeline.

To be honest, there's not really evidence that points toward anyone at the minute, only circumstances that rule out certain people. Atlas and Punk Records just happen to be remainders in rapidly shrinking pool of suspects.

Personally, I like the rogue super AI trope more than I would a second consecutive arc with a traitor subplot. (And wouldn't Oda, with the life-size Terminator skeleton in his study just love to do a Skynet arc while he's got the chance?) But we'll just have wait and see when the story gives us more clues to work with.

Deicide

@Captain-M said in Official Egghead Thread:

I guess by a similar measure that we haven't been given any on-page evidence for Punk Records being anything more than a database, there's been no hints that Atlas's repairs were a coverup for any nefarious double crossings either

Most of my suspicion towards Atlas comes from her presentation dialogue. I find it weird how people don't place the same weight I did on it, because to me there's a lot of underlying meaning on Atlas' view on perceiving reality and manipulation of perception. To me, once someone concludes that what's "real" is based on perception alone, then that person will have no qualm to manipulate people's perceptions to her own purposes.

Seafarer33

@Deicide I see where you're going and it could work, but I don't know if Oda is ever so subtle with characters. As for me I read it as a purposely cryptic dialog meant to show readers how Vegapunk is really something else and ahead of his time. Maybe there is some foreshadowing behind the choice of words and then congrats to him.

Captain M

@Deicide If -if- Atlas turns out to be the culprit, I'll be willing to accept her dialogue as evidence in hindsight, but as Seafarer said, it just doesn't feel like Oda's character writing, at least not without some more concrete hints.

Like yeah, you could read it that way. You could also read her as someone who's just super passionate about holograms and VR. And those lines follow a whole page of impassioned ranting about the unrealised possibilities of her tech, so it's not at all like the latter interpretation would be out of character.

I guess you could also take her frustration on the previous page about the world not investing enough in technology that would make lives easier as a motive to do something drastic, but it starts to become a poorly thought-out plan if she's complaining about not having enough technicians to mass-produce automated cooking machines and then goes onto attack the handful of other people that could replicate them.

My gut feeling still just says no to the idea.

Deicide

@Captain-M said in Official Egghead Thread:

If -if- Atlas turns out to be the culprit, I'll be willing to accept her dialogue as evidence in hindsight, but as Seafarer said, it just doesn't feel like Oda's character writing, at least not without some more concrete hints.

I'm pretty sure that, it Atlas is the traitor, that dialogue will be expanded way further, because I feel her objectives are also linked to it.

Chams 0

If either Atlas or Punk Records (or a mix of both) become the big baddie of the arc, will they have a different form to fight Luffy? He never took on little girls or virtual entities before, only big brawny guys. Will Luffy's match be the Seraphim, under control of the villain, to show how strong of a weapon they are?

Deicide

@Chams-0 Atlas will probably reveal a new body.

Some crazy possibilities:

She has an entire set of body parts that makes her a giant mech or something like that.
She goes virtual and appear as holograms. That light-pushing tech will be needed to fight her hologram-body.
She made a Seraphim body for herself. Something like an Ace clone with a copy of the Nika fruit or something just as crazy.

I feel the sky is the limit for this arc.

Johnny B. Decent

What if they secretly cloned Luffy himself?

Deicide

@Johnny-B-Decent
I think an Ace clone would affect Luffy emotionally more, that's why I thought of it, but a Luffy clone would be a cool twist as well.

last-exit-to-laughtale

@Deicide I can't speak for anyone else, but I think for me a big reason I haven't been grabbed by those lines from Atlas as evidence to her being a traitor is because, while the relationship between perception and reality has been a through-line, I don't feel like it's been the over-arching theme/conflict of the current arc. Examples of this idea in practice have either been benign - like the Straw Hats walking through a illusory door - or positive - like artificial organs that could be used in medicine. The arc has even given us what's possibly the quintessential example of reality being malleable in the form of revealing that DF being the result of the people of the One Piece literally willing them into existence, complete with the framing putting the focus on Luffy as the epitome of this concept. That seems like the ultimate form of vindication.

Now I won't say there's no possibility that later chapters won't provide counter arguments to Atlas' statements later, but it hasn't gotten any of the back-and-forth some of the other themes (namely the internal conflict of Vegapunk compromising his values/true dream in the name of securing funding) brought up earlier in this arc, and perception aspects would require a lot of groundwork to catch up at this point. Especially if it's to be the core ideal of a traitor.

Deicide

@last-exit-to-laughtale I won't agree because I felt there was an underlying theme of deception all over Egghead. Maybe because I came to this arc expecting Vegapunk and the Seraphim to be enemies, so I was extra-paranoid into everything.

Some things beyond Atlas' words called my attention. For instance, for the metal door that becomes intangible, Lilith said the words "don't trust your eyes" and that stuck with me.

And, when Lucci mentioned the missing ships, I was certain it had some significance and shouldn't be ignored. (At first I thought it could be the Kuja or Blackbeard spying on the island after the evets of Amazon Lily, but then I noticed those events happened around 3 weeks prior, while ships have gone missing as far as 2 months prior).

There's also Kuma's odd behavior, which at first I thought could be the WG controlling him, but now I believe it's also part of the mastermind's plan.

In essence, I felt there was something strange about this arc and things would go south (really, should we expect the crew getting away with all 7 Vegapunks, Stussy and the Seraphim? Or that CP-0 was all opposition we would face?), so I was actively seeking any weird signs that things were not as simple as they appeared to be.