>>5847977>>5848219the game is a prequel. Lain was a real biological human at the same age as the show. Her suicide is what removed her human body and a part of her continued into the Wired. She was then found by Emeri as some fragment iirc. She is basically a digital homunculus in the Anime until she realizes shes a goddess, which is only achieved by the mass belief of others.
The most important dialog in the anime is her telling Eremi that "What if you were just a stand in God for the real one" not totally verbatim but as close as I can remember. Its why it ends with her deleting herself entirely from the aspect of even being remembered or recognized, but still in the background doing what she can to keep peace. She is basically a digital messiah who sacrificed herself for the greater good and stability. Lain in the Anime is nothing more than a piece of executable software inside an 8th grade girl. She was a vessel who became aware and its own thing.