I don’t know how to tell you this, but Luigi Mangione may have just proven that we’re living in a simulation 

In an era where day dreamers had been hoping for Back to the Future becoming a reality, we instead have a failing healthcare system and its alleged controversial vigilante whose past is painting the desolate, dystopian truth of the Matrix. I thought we were already there with Donald Trump becoming the president despite his 88 criminal offenses, but now, we’ve damning evidence.

So far, the majority of the American population has found it hard to see Luigi Mangione, the alleged suspect in the murder of CEO of United Healthcare Brian Thompson, as a criminal deserving punishment reserved for murderers in the U.S. The dollars by concerned citizens (with harrowing experiences of how the system failed them) to fulfill the goal of $200k for his legal battles continues to steadily climb, reflecting that in the eyes of America, Luigi’s actions are a “sacrifice” to awaken the sleeping conscience of the people.

But not everyone is satisfied with this perception and thus it became paramount to connect some very unnerving dots courtesy of Mangione’s seemingly eerie digital footprint that makes it look very much like he ain’t some vigilante, but the puppet of the creator of this simulation who has been pulling the threads, including the one leading to his ultimate arrest.

But this very viral and rather enticing 286 conspiracy theory already has its loopholes. It does point out a few new points — the number of post on Mangione’s X page is 286 — as well as connects them to facts like how the last three digits of his home address in Maryland are, coincidentally, 286, but the inconsistencies are there — how the distance between the McDonald’s where he was apprehended and the crime scene was 279 miles, not 286.

Obviously, this tiny error has done little to change the other glaring connections and has failed to thwart conspiracy theorists from adding even more neon-bordered foundations to Mangione’s — and potentially everyone’s — Matrix-like existence.

Evidently, the cousin of Mangione who has 286 followers on X, also won by 28.6% votes.

The rabbit hole goes deeper…

And while there are a few voices opting to live in the land of logic…

… everyone else is ready to jump straight into the idea that we live in a controlled simulation.

On a normal day, deep-diving into the possibility of us living in a hyper-realistic video game or simulation controlled by some higher intelligence or future civilization is one mind-bending, fun activity. But these days, when reality seems too glitchy and corrupted to be embraced with ease and conspiracy theorists are backing up their claims with startling (and undeniable) facts? We live in a world where elitists reign on the exploitation of the common man, and those in power easily fool the ones betrayed by the very system that swore to protect them. Maybe we are the pawns in a grand simulation running a crazy experiment — it makes it easier to explain exactly why we continue to put the lifeline of our existence in hands that have time and again used us for their gain.