@jerrytsuseer A friend read The Egg to me in July and I thought it was interesting. I wasn't consciously thinking of the story when I wrote this, but now that you mention it, I can see the common themes. And since you are interested, I was actually very impressed by Stanislaw Lem's stories in The Cyberiad, and those are what I would call the inspiration for this story. And the whole idea of the Simulation Hypothesis that I find extremely unsettling and plausible at the same time. Thanks for taking the time to read and think about this.