Thread:PoseidonHeir/@comment-35940789-20190506151813/@comment-35940789-20190508185747

The Simulacra (voiced by Gavin Yap) is the main antagonist of Simulacra, serving as a foil to The Player towards the end as it criticizes their every action. No matter what The Player has done, The Simulacra will find fault with their choices. James Aulner was its last victim, who warns the Player about the Simulacra by letting them know that nothing is as it seems, possibly linking to the fact that the mere definition of a simulacrum is an unsatisfactory or superficial portraiture or depiction of something (and simulacra is the plural of that).

Biography
The Simulacra is a presumably either an alien organism, or sentient machine who decided to target Anna's phone in an attempt to force The Player to make a decision between saving Anna, saving Taylor, saving both or saving neither.

Ironically, acting manipulatively is the only way to achieve the good (and presumably canon) ending, as Ashley's true feelings for Anna is sated in the meantime, however, the premise of 'Anna' accepting Ashley's love confession, as well as the Simulacra itself linking the acceptance of her confession with being told something only to find out later that it is untrue, implies that Anna is straight, so Ashley will be ultimately rejected by Anna once she finds out what actually occurred.

In-Game
The Simulacra is really only seen near the end, physically speaking, or the decision scene. The Simulacra states that it is the "new order" that resides in a hyper-realistic dimension, where pretending to be someone else is how they eradicate "worms", people who are unworthy of being a part of this reality. "I am her as she is me." The Simulacrum also states this about Taylor (and vice-versa in the end screen, but only Taylor will say this in the end screen if you achieve the Abandon All Hope ending), if you chose to kill him. The Simulacra indirectly forces the player to choose what worm to kill and who to spare, and this choice is made with the actions it took to meet the Simulacra. Based on the player's actions through the story, the Simulacra kills who it thinks your intentions were (usually requires for the player to explicitly tell the Simulacra their preference, or to persuade the Simulacra that both Taylor and Anna are worth saving). This is hinted at the game-over screen, where it asks "Is that what you intended?" A respective video plays on what happens to the worms, and then the screen shatters.

Save Either
The sparing of one life over another and forcing a stranger to make a life or death choice is a recurring theme from the developers' other hit title, Sara Is Missing. The Simulacra (Simulacrum) will, by default, grant The Player one "worm" to save, wherein they are met with a moral dilemma on whose life to spare.

Save Both
Saving both requires The Player to: The Simulacra will compliment you on your ability to decide the fate of those around you through clever misdirection, and teases that it may not be so different from The Player, as they both disregard morals to achieve power or an outcome, but for opposite purposes. If The Player says "Will I see you again?" as their last dialog option, the Simulacra will say "I am you, and you are I. We will never be separated.", likely referencing said similarities in their situation, likely as a concept akin to Yin and Yang.
 * 1) Masquerade as Anna realistically enough to not be found out early through unrealistic conversational options that wouldn't fit her personality type.
 * 2) Set up a Spark account as Ashley, and find The Simulacra acting as Anna through matching.
 * 3) Say "Can I save both?", followed by "Both of them should be saved." when the Simulacra asks them to make a choice. Choosing Anna over Taylor or vice versa either time the player is given a chance will result in the one the player chose being saved and the other being sacrificed, and stating that you wish for both to die will result in the Simulacra reprimanding the player for trying to direct reality away from their "desired result", and then telling the player to put the phone down and walk away if they truly wish to sacrifice both, after which the player will be given the option to sacrifice either Anna or Taylor, but not ask for both to live.

Save Neither
As The Player is always guaranteed to be able to save one, saving neither requires that The Player perform so indecisively that they ultimately decide to save neither. Ironically, The Player can achieve this ending by following the system 100% honestly and morally. As The Player is not timed, they will have ample time to make a choice, unlike in Sara Is Missing where an option would be defaulted to if one was not manually selected in time.

Trivia

 * Through unknown means potentially explored in a future sequel, The Simulacra was able to hijack Anna's phone, and summarily, her - as she serves as The Simulacra's host body until it decides to leave after either seeing The Player's competence in manipulation, shown through pretending to be Anna realistically enough to fool Ashley, or the Player choosing Anna over Taylor.
 * A weird blob appears in front of the Spark chat with "Anna" after the player identifies the Simulacra. This blob strangely is reminiscent of Rorschach ink blot tests. This may be suggestive of the recurring theme of illusions and “nothing being as it seems.”
 * It turns red and convulses when it sends a message, as well as reading the message out loud. It turns gray when the player needs to respond.
 * The screen is also tinted to offset red and blue filters, simulating a 3D Anaglyph. It may also read the message out loud because The Player may not be able to read the message.