Theory history: Submitted 2010-07-02, Doubtful 2011-04-11, Debunked 2012-12-20
ET TheoryI searched and re-read all of the notes that were ever collected in any Submachine game and realized that one possibility has not been addressed.
What if Mur died long ago? He could have very well died in the accident at Kent where he lost his arm. From what I've read from the notes it is very possible that Mur is in a sort of Purgatory or a "world between worlds" where he needs to pay for something that he did on earth. After all, the teleporters weren't made for humans (one note says they were reverse-engineered to allow humans to use them)
I think Mur was sent to the Subnet as a punishment. Any other player that encounters Mur is another soul that Mur influenced to work with/for him to try to help him escape the Subnet. Slowly, the other souls found out what is really going on/ who Mur truly is, and this is why you see notes warning you not to believe Mur's lies.
Someone told me that they know that the Subnet was created by a scientist in the 1900's. What if Mur was the one that created it originally? Mur was tampering with other-worldly/spiritual things, and as a punishment for tampering with things that he shouldn't tamper with, he is stuck in his own creation.
Mur will do whatever it takes to get out. Even at the expense of innocent souls.
Theory history: Submitted 2010-07-02, Doubtful 2011-04-11, Debunked 2012-12-20
AI TheoryThe Submachine is actually the remnants of an alien race whose dwindled numbers still sneak around the Subnet. This race is quite advanced, and uses the teleporter as their main means of transportation. The traveler is on a solo mission to investigate the planet (whose name is yet to be determined). The traveler believes that he/she is the first human on the surface, but is obviously mistaken. Mur used to be the traveler's contact on Earth, but ever since he/she found Mur was evil, he/she has started to rely on an unknown being named Liz for guidance.
Theory history: Submitted 2010-07-02, Still alive 2011-04-11, Debunked 2016-01-13
The Subnet is an AI program designed by Mur to test the boundaries of artificial intelligence itself. The world of the machine doesn't physically exist. At least in any sense that we can understand.
The Subnet started as a computer simulation. Mur designed the program to interface with humans via neural network transceivers. The first program Mur put the machine through was to see whether its AI could render a realistic virtual world using the machine's "imagination" around the user with little to no command prompts from the user. His first program was problematic. The AI rendered a small room with no means of escape. During the preliminary runs of the program, Mur still had control over its source codes, but as he fixed glitches and tried to escape from the room, the AI learned and adapted.
It only took a few more jumps for Mur to realize the Subnet’s potential for exponential intelligence, at which point he deemed it far too hazardous for him to travel through the Subnet. Mur’s desire to control the machine let him to send “volunteers” into the Subnet. This way, he could still monitor the AI safely.
What he didn’t realize was that every time he sent someone into the Subnet, the AI would adapt further. He started seeing signs of memory problems in the travelers later in the program. The last person he sent into the Subnet was completely taken over by the AI. No matter how much Mur tried, he could not bring the traveler back to reality.
Thankfully, Mur is always three steps ahead. He was the one who placed all of the hints on how to portal between locations in the Subnet. Every note, every etched wall, every seemingly meaningless item was placed with purpose so that the weary traveler could find some way out of the Subnet.
Mur wanted to warn the traveler that the Subnet was not real, but by that time the AI became intelligent enough to destroy any item that was an explicit warning. He had to devise ways of leaking clues into the Subnet. Along with each note, he programmed modifications to a few locations within the Subnet in hopes that the traveler would start to question the reality of the Subnet.
As for this note, we have hidden it so deep in the Subnet that it would take the AI quite some time to find it. Above that, Mur has placed a firewall around the note, so even when the AI finds it, it will take a long time for it to be destroyed.