The cytoverse is one of the simulations in Perfect State (semi-serious)

[king of nowhere]

No, I don't actually belive this; it would make the whole conflict meaningless. "it was all a simulation", just like "it was all a dream", is not a good plot twist to pull on after a whole book, much less four. But it would just EXPLAIN SO MUCH!

In perfect state, real humans have an advantage over the "machineborn". they have something they can do and everyone else in their world cannot. The protagonist could use a certain magic, and he was the only one who could in his world. the woman could see stuff about social patterns, and everyone else in her world could not.

Well, in the cytoverse we have the supremacy, treating every "lesser race" like crap, and then they get all aghast when those races react with aggression, or try to steal from them.It's like this whole extremely advanced star-spanning civilization, with scientists, philosophers, and thinkers from thousands of planets, is completely unable to grasp the basic concept that most sapients - heck, even a lot of the smarter animals - will reciprocate the way they are treated. even somebody extremely enlightened like Cuna, who spent her life trying to bridge the gap and is willing to speak to a member of the "human scourge", never makes the connection between human aggression and the way they are treated.

What's more likely? That in those thousands of planets, among trillions of sapient beings, nobody - absolutely nobody - stumbled upon this connection? Or that they cannot make the connection because they are not real people and they are artificially blocked from solving the plot for the protagonist?

As I said, it's not going to be the case for meta-literary reasons, but it would certainly explain things.

 

On the other hand, Spensa being able to make the connection would point to her being the one "liveborn" in her world, but she had way too much emotional trauma in her youth for this to be her perfect state. This seems a solid rebuke based on in-universe reasons