I have an "Uncle Ernie" and that's how I found out about this stock as I have mentioned on this board before. Everyone should have an Uncle Ernie ;)
I actually "met" him on here and saw some of his AABB posts on the Yahoo Message Board back in 2019. He invests for many of his family members and taught me a lot about stocks over the years.
How many naked short shares? Who knows, but would guess in the several billion range as you said. If this is the case, they will need to be bought back as I'm sure you know.