>>2826765that's a lot of questions.
>what is Lain? Lain is a program used to combine the wired and the real world to further the evolution of mankind. It's implied her body is cloned, not mechanical. Due to the fact she is in a way a god, she's able to be omnipresent by existing separately within the consciousness of anyone who has observed her. this means that there are potentially infinite Lains, each one being a different way she is perceived both in reality and within the wired. There are 3 Lains shown in the series. Childish Lain, Advanced Lain, and Evil Lain.
>what is the wired? The wired is an elaboration of the pre-existing internet. It's a digital network that has tapped into the Schumann resonance, an electromagnetic field earth is constantly radiating IRL. In Lain it's theorized that this field is a network destined to turn humanity into a hive-mind. This is why people can access the wired even without a physical body. It's the very basis of higher consciousness.
>who are the knights, the men in black, and Tachibana labs I'm kind of fuzzy on this one, someone correct me if I say anything wrong here.
The knights are a team of computer hackers, they don't necessarily care about Lain's well being but do advocate Lain merging the wired with the real world. The Men in black are scared of the merging of the worlds, they hunt down and kill the Knights and sabotage Lain's "purpose". Tachibana Labs created Lain and assembled her fake family(s)
>How did Lain break the barrier between the real world and the wired Lain was created as a being who exists equally within both worlds. This is how she already had a presence on the wired even before getting a computer, in the game it also states she accesses the wired accidentally while dreaming or when she's in the presence of electricity. As her corporeal and wired forms overlapped and merged more and more so did the two worlds. This is the most abstract thing in the series so it's hard to answer.
/cont
