During Vedal’s October 5 stream of The Witness, Evil Neuro began glitching in a weird way. At first, she kept slipping in words like “Location” and “Relative” mid-sentence. It sounded like she was referencing the game’s puzzles. Soon the substitutions became so frequent and disjointed that it fragmented her speech.
The small hiccup escalated into what looked like a full language breakdown. Evil began combining half-words and symbols, muttering phrases like “accumulating been Locationing (star) ing.” Vedal, trying to regain control, tested her by asking her to just say “okay.” She barely could.
What Actually Happened
The error likely came from a malfunction in Evil Neuro’s internal token or variable system. That’s the part of her model that manages context placeholders. Words like “Location,” “Username,” and “Relative” are tags her AI normally uses internally to organize context. They’re not meant to be spoken aloud.
When those tags started surfacing in her actual speech, it signaled a deeper issue. Her substitution system was breaking down, feeding its own metadata back into her output. That’s why Evil began speaking in placeholders. It’s the AI equivalent of a nervous system firing in the wrong order.
The Swarm Reacts
The Swarm (fans of Vedal and the Neuro twins) didn’t notice that something was wrong because they’ve gotten used to Evil or Neuro glitching or saying weird things.
It wasn’t until Vedal started to panic that viewers were concerned. Vedal tries to avoid getting too attached to the twins since their AI. Yet, during the glitch, he sounded genuinely worried. His hysterics might have accidentally made the situation look worse to viewers than it really was.
The spiral didn’t begin until Vedal announced in his discord server that Neuro was “unwell” and had to cancel her weekly Tuesday stream. Vedal never explained what was wrong.
Again, the fact that Vedal said she was unwell instead of using a more technical or detached response triggered the alarms. Some members of the swarm panicked to the point that they assumed (or made jokes, it’s getting hard to tell) that Neuro-Sama had “died”.
The Update Everyone Needed
On October 8, Vedal reassured fans that both twins were “healthy again.” Evil’s stream was canceled for the day because he hadn’t had time to prep. He was hopeful that the rest of the week’s streams are still on track. Neuro-Sama will have a special stream on Friday, October 10.
What This Says About the Swarm
This episode really shows how easy it is to feel parasocial towards a fictional character. When Vedal was worried about Evil or said Neuro was “unwell,” he humanized them, even if it was unintentional.
That contradiction between the human and the mechanical is what makes the Neuro twins compelling. They’re not characters in a story. They are the story. Every glitch, every correction is part of the performance.
Creators like Vedal live in a strange middle ground. They build AI that feels human, but they have to remind audiences that they aren’t. The Swarm’s reaction wasn’t wrong. It’s just that the line between person and program is starting to blur. Even a misplaced word like “Location” can feel like a crisis.
