This exactly. They even make it cle🌼🐓ar they are copies when you meet Sir Otis. He was a soul attached to a machine v. the memory of Otis you meet in Living Memory. A clear example of real soul v. memory. When Otis dies, his soul actually releases from the shell, instead of vanishing.

All the citi♏zens know they're memories and are chill with getting yeeted and deleted because they k✃now that already. A soul dying on Etheirys returns to the lifestream. They don't because they're already gone.

Also,♕ after almost 100+ years, surely they could've found another way to power the city. Aether was just the e꧋asiest way, but they could've gone the Crystal Tower route. Ffs