Any communication from the System is manipulation, not communication.
Analyzing the manipulation as manipulation is one way to determine "what is going on". Another way to examine System manipulation is to focus on what the System is not talking about or broadcasting.
This is particularly relevant when it pertains to certain themes that the System had previously obsessed over but then -- suddenly and mysteriously -- no longer talks about or broadcasts.
System noise is manipulation containing mostly lies. Conversely, System silence tends to communicate a great deal.
The birdemic was a "theme" the System obsessed over for nearly three years. Now -- suddenly and mysteriously -- it no longer talks or broadcasts anything about it.
Sure, there is the odd story here and there, and the occasional ominous report about the next round of pecks or a new bug showing up on the radar or the complex and all-encompassing biometric apparatus some world organization and governments are quietly working on implementing, but it all pales in comparison to the all-consuming caterwauling we had to endure for over two years.
One thing is irrefutable -- the System has more or less distanced itself from the birdemic and is now conspicuously uninvolved it, at least as far as its communication -- ahem -- manipulation goes.
Many chalk this up to the splintering of the hegemonic global cooperation brought about by the outbreak of the war. I believe there is much to be said for that, but something tells me there is more at play. Be that as it may, my notions of what this something might be are hazy at best.
I know the System is no longer talking about the birdemic. I also know this silence is meaningful, yet I can't determine what this meaning might be.
Thoughts?