One necessity in a simulation is that the simulants — us, in this case — are so configured as not to be able to escape their situation; not easily, anyway. We are thus configured, but it’s Maya, the intelligence of fear, doing it to us, not a bunch of alien overlord assholes or Gameboys run amok. Maya’s manipulation of our code is not an impenetrable barrier to awakening because we are able to see it, understand it and compensate for it. She doesn’t confine us, she tricks us into confining ourselves. We can set ourselves free by seeing through the trick.

“Abracadabra, handcuffs gone!”

“Gosh, oh mighty Wizard, where did they go?”

“They were never really there, cherub.”