NPCs (non-playable characters)

I’ve heard that not every individual on earth has a singular soul. Some are what’s called non-player/playable characters. These are like the fillers in society that become our catalysts for our own development based on interactions. My question is: true or false? If there are NPCs, is it one collective consciousness or a hive mind that influences/manages them all? Are they part of Earths design or have they been manipulated by the matrix to instill certain low vibrational interactions (ie: the Karen’s of the world). Can they be programmed or manipulated? How do we know who we are interacting with and does it even matter? As a side note my son who’s 16 is the one who first brought this up as it was his observation in his high school. That only a certain percentage of kids seem to be “real” and engaged. The rest feel zombie like, they don’t stand out and don’t interact with others really… or roles such as gas station attendant, grocer, garbage man, those on a bus or subway are often just fillers.