"Space-Time Transformation complete. Entered Dead Space plane. Begin scanning."
"Warning: Dead Space plane mission beginning. Main Quest: Acquire 'Marker' DNA evolution code, and remain sane while under mental corruption until the mission is completed."
"Optional quest: Acquire a 'Marker.' Acquire any kind of high-tech data unavailable on home Earth, that is, acquire data regarding 'Stasis,''Kinesis,''suit technology,''pulse rifle technology,''spacefaring technology,''matured reverse-engineering technology,' etc."
"Urgent Quest: Unknown."
"Allotted Quest Time: 72 hours. Remark: Dimensional travel mechanism cooldown duration, 36 hours. Failure Penalty: Host access reduced by one level."
Zhang Heng heard the prompts from the Dimensional Star system when he opened his eyes again.
"Holy sh**!" Zhang Heng felt like kicking something. "You want me to go to work under the influence of a Marker?"
There were 12 Markers in the games, divided into black ones and red ones. There were pirated versions out there calling these constructs "Corona," but regardless of whether they were called Markers or Coronas, the terms actually meant the same thing.
He had learned from the Dead Space data quite a while ago that when normal humans entered the vicinity of influence of a Marker, they would most likely be mentally corrupted. Such corruption was far more terrifying than biological infection from the T-Virus, as the corruption by the Markers was done on a mental level. Once a person became corrupted, their cerebral cortex would go haywire, resulting in mental breakdowns. Such people would be turned into beings often referred to as necromorphs, or some other term, which were considered neither living nor dead when said individuals eventually died.
Names are of no importance here. One way or another, those things were way harder to deal with than the zombies from Resident Evil, and they would definitely trump zombies in terms of raw numbers too!
Zombies were just walking dead, driven only by instinct when the human brain died, but things were different with necromorphs. They were truly monsters that resulted from mutations of the human genome. Worse still, there were many kinds of necromorphs. There were ranged types and melee types, as well as offensive types and support types. Some necromorphs were so terrifying that even the likes of lickers and tyrants from the Resident Evil series couldn't begin to compare.
"One would already be taking their life into their own hands if they were to run into such monsters, and now you're telling me to go about my business under the influence of the Markers? Damn, you're really trying very, very hard to kill me, aren't you?"
"No other way to go around it, I guess. No negotiating terms with the quests given by the system after all."
However, the prompts from the system had yet to end. Further prompts popped up. "Warning! Warning! Quest support system under interference from unknown radiation and is unable to operate normally. Please be aware."
Zhang Heng was stunned. Quest support system? Do you mean Yurianne? Unknown radiation? Are you talking about the Markers?
He tensed right away and tried to summon Yurianne. There was no response at all.
He had no choice but to start looking around, finding himself in a room that seemed to be made out of metal. Also in the room were a number of technological constructs that he was unable to even begin to understand. There was even a computer built into a metallic table.
However, when he saw something like a cabinet with green light glittering from within, his eyes gleamed.
He recognized that thing as the supply depot—the place where players of the games gained all manner of upgraded items for fighting the monsters, which served the conventional functions of game shops. If there was one sign that marked how advanced human civilization had become in that plane, it was how electrical systems like that continued to work even when the civilization that built them was no more.
There was, without a doubt, no way that one could see ammunition dropping out of killed monsters in real life. As such, that place was indeed purely a supply depot. Zhang Heng went up to it and pushed the buttons, and an image created by something resembling 3D printing technology appeared.
There was a human silhouette on the image and a label that said "equip." Zhang Heng put his backpack on the ground and pushed yet another button. The cabinet before him opened right away, revealing a platform that a human could stand on.
Zhang Heng was elated as he stepped into the cabinet, feeling rather uneasy. The doors of the cabinet then shut. Countless mechanical arms began to work on Zhang Heng's body.
He emerged from the cabinet about a minute later. He then found himself clad in a layer of black, thin metallic material with green neon strip lights signifying energy levels on his back. That was the suit that the main character in the game wore, and it was a very powerful Earth Government Security Suit.
Zhang Heng reached out and felt around what he was wearing for a bit, finding that the suit didn't restrict his movements in any way. He knew well enough that the suit was very resilient and completely airtight. There was all manner of auxiliary systems installed within, which technically made it an exoskeletal armor containing a level of technology that far surpassed the legendary mechas.
According to what he knew about the suit, it had a number of advanced systems installed in it—barometric balance technology (enabling the wearer to move in a vacuum), stasis technology (the technology responsible for the stasis ability, altering the passage of time for biological beings and nonbiological entities around it in-game), kinesis technology (the technology responsible for the kinesis ability, enabling one to amplify their mental powers to move objects telekinetically in-game), exoskeleton technology (amplifying the wearer's strength and agility by a significant margin), and others like gravitational and self-repair systems.
All the technologies found in that suit alone were leaps and bounds ahead of those of his native world. Any single one of them brought back home would have sent people into a frenzy.
However, that suit of armor itself was far from good enough. The gaps in technological development meant that humans back in his world wouldn't be able to absorb all that technology. As such, he realized that he needed to find corresponding data regarding all the technology he was wearing before he could stand a chance of replicating them all.
Due to having crammed all there was to know about the plane, Zhang Heng knew a lot about the functionalities of that suit he was wearing. He looked at a cup on the table before him and furrowed his brow. A humming sound was heard, and the cup appeared before his eyes, moving at a speed that the naked eye couldn't discern, hovering in midair.
That was the "kinesis" ability found in the games.
Zhang Heng was elated when he saw that ability at work. He then checked out the other feature available to the suit—an ability called stasis.
The ability could slow down the speed of any entity, biological or non-biological alike, making it seem like they were moving in slow motion. The game never gave a clear answer as to what made that piece of technology work, but Zhang Heng speculated that it was an applied form of advanced quantum technology.
He then walked up to the table and tried to figure out how to make use of the computer before him. It was fortunate that the computer was easy to use. The more advanced a piece of technology became, the cleaner and simpler their interface became, after all. He was able to confirm his current location within just a few minutes—a military base somewhere in the Americas on Earth.
But, unfortunately, the computer wasn't some kind of core computer, and it couldn't even connect to networks outside. It nonetheless showed the time and date, which said that the current month and year to be May 2512.
Zhang Heng thought for a bit, realizing that the current time was about half a year to a year after 'Dead Space 3' ended if his memory served him correctly. He was unable to help but frown at that thought, with a bad feeling welling in him all of a sudden. He then asked Yurianne in reflex, "Is my current location under the influence of a Marker?"
Yurianne did not answer. She didn't even react at all.
He was stunned for a bit, before recalling that Yurianne was unable to show herself where he was at the moment. He realized just how more difficult his quest had just become.
The system was able to transport him into the inner reaches of the Umbrella Corporation when he went on a mission in the Resident Evil plane, with the T-Virus easily within reach. Despite that, however, two life-and-death situations broke out before he was able to narrowly make it through. At the moment, the difficulty of his current mission had just gotten a lot higher than that.
Zhang Heng took a deep breath and said, with a troubled look on his face, "Seems like this particular quest isn't gonna be easy after all…"