#but makes it just as painful knowing Pixekai was doomed to be destroyed from the beginning

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To anyone that's somehow still alive in the Micromon fandom, do I have some news for you. For just the simple price of $0.99 (or just looking in the wiki), the game already gives away plenty of hints about the state of Pixekai and how much of a impact Black Root plays in the story (among other things).

Major spoilers for Micromon (and slight spoilers for Nexomon 1) and enjoy the typical rants/theories below:

First up, Pixekai as a whole and the Growtown Accident. While Nexomon mentions in passing that Pixekai (Project) was a digital doomsday bunker for humans should Omnicron be revived and destroy the world (mainly uploading their minds and creating digital avatars), the only people that are aware it's a digital world are Malk, Leah, Zeth, Cyborg, and that random guy Edward who gives you a side quest about player costumes (also the Legion members, but that'll be mentioned later). Besides that, everyone else the MC meet are all happy and cheerful (to an extent) and go about life just like any other person despite a vast majority being fabricated humans.

But of course, not everything was sunshine and rainbows before. While the exact date/year when Vaithe destroyed Growtown is unknown (a town known for Micromon breeding and was the original entryway for humans to be imported into the program), its impact on Pixekai led to a blockade only accessible to S-ranked tamers and even a firewall cutting off the (clearly irradiated) forest wasteland known as Ground Zero. Despite the obvious assumption that everyone in Growtown was killed from the disaster (literally half of Pixekai's population lore-wise), it is later revealed that Cyborg was one of Growtown's residents 1-2 years pre-incident; and even when she wasn't in the blast zone, her avatar and voicebox was badly damaged and was hunting down Black Root for being a possible cause (which is true, but for a completely "normal" reason). Another survivor is Lavinne ("The Punisher") who vowed to kill Vaithe for destroying Growtown (not true) and Malk for essentially creating the hostile environment that currently plagues Pixekai (rampaging Micromon, natural disasters, and making the Growtown residents destroy themselves with a power source that drains their own energy); but it's somewhat implied that he was cut off from Pixekai all that time that since he only shows up after MC repairs the bridge to Ground Zero. But while the bleak humor of Malk playing dumb about his involvement in Growtown's fallout with Leah (since they used to be scientists before and possibly worked together situating ported humans into Pixekai), looking back on his extremely thinly-veiled hints show a terrifying amount of foresight to not say too much and kept stringing the MC along about becoming a S-rank tamer and (possibly) planning ahead on silencing the two known victims that might reveal too much about the real truth.

Malk: It's such a shame Growtown got destroyed like that. While we have some rumors that Vaithe was the cause, there were no survivors to tell that harrowing tale in full. MC, later meeting Cyborg: But what abou- Also Malk, wiping out Growtown's stragglers to create a world-ending digi-nuke: -Like I said, there were no survivors...

While I'll give the game credit for fleshing out the Legion instead of making them pseudo-Elite Four, it's kinda interesting knowing that they're the beta players of Project Pixekai (ie. the first humans) and had their own dreams fulfilled in the digital world, possibly with their own input on what they wanted they couldn't be fulfilled in real life. Even their respective region might connect to their previous life in Nexomon too, though their past may be foggy depending on how long they've been in the program (or Leah tampering with their memories after their "rebellion" (re: trying to stop her from destroying Pixekai from the inside-out)), but they also mention being unable to return the real world either from their original bodies dying from the transfer or years after until the main story, or they were supposed to be erased when the project was patched out (implied/mentioned in battle gauntlet). Slider (Navia): Slider was ported into Pixekai when he was 4 (mentioned by npc at Navia arena) and has a older sister Angelica to reign him in, but he mostly spends his time goofing off or napping, likely lived in Palmaya but (obviously) lived most of his life in Pixekai. Lethar (Magma): Was suffering from health problems at a young age (maybe lived at Ignitia, mentions similar pollution problem in Magma), but was given medicine by Moonborn to heal him (also has a absent father, but it's not fully explained); was known as the rough-and-tough leader of Magma with his trusty Dinoto and Diroaster. Moonborn (Aera): The wife of Aera's chief and adoptive grandparents of the Tornado Twins Aria and Aaron (different to Captain Aaron); possibly lived in Khan's Jungle or Hidden Village due to her magic abilities, spirituality, and skills in medicine. It also might be implied in the gauntlet that her human husband might've died when she was younger so she wanted to have a family for herself in Pixekai (Also her husband giving/making a special incense the first day they met and reminding her of her younger days falling in love with him T_T). Jade (Mineralia): The daughter of head miner Lincoln and rival to lover/fiance to the headstrong goofball Aiden, also considered the strongest Legion member and is obsessed with Micromon battles and protecting the peace with brute force (might've lived in Frozen Tundra or Solus Deserst since they also specialize in mining too). While the initial age when she was ported is iffy, since Lincoln mentions her past mom naming her after the most precious jewel in their lives (and her hair being all green when younger), but she also mentions how "Our time ran out a long time ago, but we (the Legion) loved being here. We had lives here that we couldn't have back in the real world"...So I'm guessing she was in Pixekai when she was a teen/mid-teen and Lincoln was implanted with false memories about her childhood. Ouch :'(

While I initially thought the main antagonists (and Cyborg) were the only ones aware of the real world, it turns out all of Black Root knew that Pixekai isn't as it seems...To varying results, of course. While most of the grunts were either too brainwashed from diving into the Mainframe on Leah's command (or Captain Aaron knowing more as second-in-command), I kinda like the added context that they can freely teleport around because they exploit Pixekai's code (which is rarely shown from non-BR characters or Legion members) as opposed to Malk programming B002 to teleport to specific points in the world (with a fee of 300 coins one way). Also cool to know that Black Root got the name because of the root folder/root directory of Pixekai's mainframe to have nearly absolute power in the program and cause crimes on purpose. But with that revelation also gives way to Leah's motivations for escaping Pixekai: to live a free and fulfilling life outside of code and to give her son Zeth a happier life that she worked so hard to provide...After creating a rogue organization from the ground up and going crazy from evil Mainframe experiments, of course. But even her execution of the plan is still lacking, since she has no real information on why humans created Pixekai in the first place (same for Malk), and her main plan of capturing Vaithe from the Mainframe requires a pure organic human (ie. the MC) "for some reason" since they're the only one that won't get their brain fried and turn into a braindead husk.

Despite all the lore dump, it brings me back to the whole twist of Malk being self-aware since the beginning and plotting to destroy Pixekai and escape into the organic world for vengeance...Again, he and Leah had no idea that they were coded into a bunker program and have little to zero info on how much shit humanity are in right now cause of Omnicron and his kids. While there's not a specific date/time when both of them became self-aware, but Malk later learned the truth about the project in full after he escaped and adjusted to real life (see Malk's revenge rant here and here), already plotting to destroy the real world too so his vengeance will finally be complete since all humans are corrupted in his eyes.

And what better person(?) to turn to for more information about humanity's weaknesses is Metta/Nexolord; eventually becoming mentor and student to learn about the world around them (Malk learning about Nexomon and Metta w. human behavior/psychology), while also preparing a massive middle finger in the form of a world-ending doggo for giving both of them a shitty life in general.

And you know this kids game was made in 2014, right?