Man, from the Golden Room scenes on, I was basically in a state of mental hyperventilation, with my brain going, 'ohmygodohmygodwhatthefuckishappeningWHATTHEFUCKISGOINGOOOONNNN??!!' but I was all like, 'shut the fuck up and finish the goddamned book , stupid brain!' Then I finished it, slept, woke back up, and started dissecting. It was all crazy, and the fact that we see him first, then don't see him, then get the flashback as to what happened...lots of mental gymnastics going on. His confirmation that it was a hologram was very nice of him, I thought, seeing as how he can be pretty cagey in his answers.