Talk:Anna/@comment-67.181.225.233-20200504215711/@comment-38454492-20200724214558

Well, good questions, for starters. There are a few answers I can shed light on:

1. When he was speaking to Cassandra and Anna, he was not dead. He was already 'possessed' without fully knowing it yet. He was being used by the Simulacra to lure them (and particularly, Anna) in to assimilation. Anna just came in at the wrong place and wrong time, I guess Cassandra was put on the backburner for Anna and Taylor. James' soul and physical body still remained at that point, as it is not completely taken itself yet (which is the whole point of the Simulacra: keep the soul, but remove the physical body from the material world--and eventually, to get rid of the material world altogether--to help meld a hyperreal existence/image and eliminate any form of 'weakness' or negativity). The ledge scene happened already in the past, as he says it is too late for him when you are speaking, and throws a bunch of pictures at you of the place he actually died in before (off the ledge of that tall building). So basically, when you actually talk to him, at that point he is dead (if I'm confusing i'm sorry).

2. He did not jump off the ledge. Someone pushed him, most likely Anna. They agreed to meet at that place, and it's only logical deduction to assume that Anna had done it herself. You can tell it was not his choice to be thrown off the ledge as he is saying "no" and trying to do what he could to save his own life, which ended up being futile, unfortunately. You have the option to tell Anna that he either jumped, died in a way you can't tell, or that you don't know if he died or not, none of which were the case for James.

3. Anna was able to be saved only if the Simulacra could take someone else that came after her. The people who can be taken to spare Anna's physical body (SPOIIIIIILLLLLLLLERRRRRRSSSS) are either you, Taylor, or Ashley. As I said earlier, James was originally just possessed and later killed when he met up with Anna in order for the Simulacra to attain his next victim, Anna. When the creepy messages from James began (like, the "Are you saaaafe" and "you are not Aaaannaaaa"), that was the point in which he was officially deceased.