So, the general idea that i was getting after reading these theories and playing the game again was that, you have free will in the begining- but when the mermaid kills you, and injects the mind control hive mind nanobots or whatever is inside that tube that gets connected to your stomach, you then become a drone. And your goal from there is to free the hivemind. BUT the cornfield alternate ending is far before then, and when he disconnects the hive mind he goes limp... So even in the begining he's a drone? so why then cant he breathe underwater in the begining and why was the mermaid drowning you and using the tube nessisary....

I was thinking about this and i think i figured it out. first this is important, The 'drones' arent actually people. but husks made from human dna that function and can be controlled. How do i know this? well 3 reasons; 1) There is a section (i dont remember where, sorry) where limbs fall from somewhere. one was a leg, another just a torso with arms and some other disconnected limbs. BUt theyre active, like a lizards tail or a snakes head, the limbs are flopping around. 2) the cronenberg humanoids before the final act. when we first come across the antigravity roof water, there are humanoids suspended upside down in the water and when we return gravity they fall and we control them. theyre not like other drones however, they have deformed heads, and extra limbs and factors that would kill a normal person. this is also in that tank that the blob is first seen in, those rooms around it have humanoids that are messed up, missing heads, bleeding, odd deformities but clearly still walking and functioning. 3) the drones fall really far and have things happen to them that should but dont kill them. a height that would kill you, they just fall and get back up unphased.

So if the drones arent 'alive' like people but are rather just biological husks to be controlled, and therefore cant 'die' (but can be destroyed by burning or other means) than why can the boy die... and yet still be a drone that gets deactivated before the mermaid ever injects him with the mind control stuff. it could be that the boy is a hybrid... Think about it. People use human dna to make mindless clones, kids are rare, people are around the drones all day, they touch them, breathe the same air, someone lets a dog attack and get their blood in their mouths, they lick the people. somehow their altered DNA gets inside the people. (this is a medical fact by the way that exposure to other species alters your DNA) and then someone has a kid and they have drone dna in them... So the kid can die by drowning but cant survive without the hive mind. maybe he has free will but his natural 'gut feelings' are to do what the hive mind says. hes clearly on a mission even in the begining, but maybe like us, he doesnt know why or where hes headed, but hes drawn tword it. and when hes drowned, he loses that free will human aspect and is turned into a drone. I dont think a person who dies can be made into a drone, it think only this boy can because hes possibly a hybrid. this is also evidenced by the dead man we use as weight to open the door to the 'sonic waves' area. at this point we can control drones without the helmet and if the drones that fall are dead people, why cant we control this dead man, but instead need to manually drag his body onto the pad.

Idk, i could be way off but it makes the most sense to me, the tones of the boy being around only drones, than only people, while having characteristics of both feel like hes the first hybrid.