A loop conversation has a distinctive structure. It begins with a complaint, moves to a generalisation, lands on a familiar conclusion, and waits for confirmation. The other person nods. The cycle resets. The diagnostic test is simple. Try to introduce a new question — something that requires actual thought rather than retrieval. Watch what happens. A real conversation will move with the question. A loop will absorb it, ignore it, or deflect it back to the original groove. This is not stupidity. Many of the people running loops are intelligent in conventional ways. But intelligence is not the same as presence. A high-functioning person on autopilot is still on autopilot. They have simply automated more of themselves. The Codex is in part a defence against drifting into this state. Loops are comforting. They are also a slow erasure of the player by the script.