Immortality, Life, and Violence in Soulbank

Being populated by immortal Users and other denizens who can survive being derezzed has produced some attitudes towards life, death, and violence that outsiders would find strange or disturbing.

Users

For Users, being derezzed produces Drift, which can be corrected over time, but generally doesn't interfere with the average User's life much. Without a sense of loss or threat, many such Users have grown detached from the violence around them, seeing it as just another form of entertainment. This is especially true with the rise of Argon Entertainment, whose events regularly involve the risk of derezzing the contestants. More ambitious or emotionally intense Users recognize being derezzed as a serious setback, since there is a loss of self if Drift accumulates or a loss of ability with Drift correction.

Most Users have come to accept a degree of impermance of self, and make the most of their time, however they define their goals as individuals. Most are simply hedonists. The Innocent have taken this attitude to the extreme of permanent amnesia to prevent any feelings of loss or ennui so that they can indulge their impulses without distraction. Some Users seek out transcendant states of being, or seek meaning in the dreams experienced in the Resolution Queue, while others find ways to manifest as a Shade. Users known as "Post-individualists" seek to push boundaries of personhood, forming hive minds, sharing memories, or otherwise breaking the mold that their original organic existence placed on them. Some Users build a legacy of themselves through an Iterative Will, where they consciously control how their next Iteration will manifest, often leaving an agenda for their new self to follow. A rare few seek a permanent death, often finding ways to give away their UID.

AIs

For Process and Daemons, being derezzed or banished represents a much more serious threat, since they lack the Users' immortality. Process can accumulate enough bugs in their code that they are cast aside for a newer model. Lesser Daemons must appeal to The Family for their continued existence or be torn apart, bit by bit, to make a more competent and loyal Daemon. Those who live in violent regions frequently have to confront their mortality while living alongside the immortal Users who take their existence for granted.

For many AIs, obtaining a User ID is an important goal, since having one guarantees their continued existence. For many of these AIs, a UID is also alluring because it promises a life of privilege, since Administrators are hard-coded to prioritize the wishes and autonomy of any being with a UID.