Talk:Faded Note (Note)/@comment-26283405-20150730110145/@comment-26836737-20150730112257

It is possible that Trace, in the ending cutscene, being shot by Athetos, may have become wheelchair-bound afterward, and that he still managed to discover how to pass the Breach and get into Sudra, where he uses the Rebirth Chamber to heal himself. In this time, Trace may be on his way to uncovering the truth which the final boss Athetos remarked that Trace would have been killed by the Rusalki if he knew. Trace might be on his way to becoming Athetos 2.0. It is a stretch, but it is a possibility, I reckon. Whatever happens in Axiom Verge 2 will reinforce or nullify this, I suppose.

However, this conjecture of mine is probably nullified by another conjecture, which is the possibility that when Elsenova renders Trace unconscious after defeating Athetos, she isn't actually returning Trace back to Earth; instead she has the Rusalka Veruska dream up an "algorithm" for a dream Earth where Trace wakes up without injury and in perfect condition, which none of his colleagues find unusual. Then, in the ending, when Athetos appears in Trace's world and says it's "time to wake up," Athetos is actually trying to release Trace from this dreamlike state and wake up, back in Sudra. This conjecture is reinforced by the ending credits picture in which Trace is seen lying unconscious on top of what looks like a Rusalka.