It was all right in our faces, I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. What is VR if not a mere infantile form of the matrix as we saw it in the movies? Maria showing up in Microsoft's VR ad cemented my theory on what I believe they had/have in store for us.
VR would have imprisoned very many people if their plans had been fully realized.
>Bill releases covid-19
>Introduces vaccine that would wipe out most of humanity
>The rest would be unknowingly imprisoned in an ultra realistic VR world
>The literal matrix
>The devil is their god in the matrix
People are unwittingly beta testing the matrix via VR games/headsets, none the wiser that it would've eventually led to their demise.