There's more to it than that...
Nagari is, after all, used by several parties of significance as a surveillance system.
I was under the impression that while not destroying the immersion, due to the fact that the Nagari plot device is compatible with the insane* warped dimensions of Transcend, its main purpose was to give this other mod a nod of respect and establish Laporte's mindstate as being as insane as the Transcendent character and as lost (both "geographically", but also metaphysically) as Sunder (the pilot) was.
You seem to give the hint there's "more to this". Well, I believe you but I haven't played Transcend for a long long time and I can't really replay that boring mod again. Great story, I remember the whole experience well, but boy that was even more boring than 2001.
* Insane is the wrong word here. More like "possessed", or turned into a deamon creature, an horrendous zombie like creature that shatters the nagari network, shatters the entire structure of reality and the narrative goes bonkers with it.