To make the phone call was not a hard decision in itself. In fact, it had been downright simple and mindless action for Mark to perform. Just pick up the phone and click on the right number.
It was that simple in theory.
Of course, he had not taken into account the connective logic that went with such a decision at all. Mark's body had made that decision in a state of mental unrest, but he supposed he might as well live with his decisions here.
The doorbell to the clinic rang which broke Mark's concentration and he let out a heavy breath.
He was not prepared for it at all, but he had made his decision. It was time he made his peace with everything.
"Let us in?" Liam's face was the first thing that popped up when Mark opened up the door. It just did not give off a good feeling to Mark, but he could not be rude right off the bat here.
He was the one who had started everything this time after all.
"Please come in. And this is?" Liam was not alone this time. Of course, he was not. Even if this all was a hoax, which Mark was beginning to believe it was not, then of course more people would be involved.
"I thought you should know about our ace here. This is Luna, the protagonist of this game. We're borrowing his body for now" well, the person really was flashy for one thing.
The body was well built and we'll proportionately without much over bulging. The height of the building was also decent enough with tattoo markings on the neck in the shape of a dragon.
A standard tough person design if not a little on the pretty side. Mark guessed that they could have gone with the worst roose if this really was a prank. Plus, he could see this person be popular with either demographic.
A tough exterior for the male populace and the pretty face misunderstood persona for the female audience. But shouldn't there be a female protagonist too? But then again, Mark knew nothing about this whole issue.
It could be a one-person game after all. But there was one thing that really didn't sit well with his morals and he just had to ask.
"You keep mentioning using the body? What's that even OK?" Of course, that had not escaped Mark's attention at all. And it did not sound consensual at all from the position, plus not to mention ethical.
There were a few laws that were being violated here, or well, several ones. But he was not pointing that out for his own safety here. What if he was next in line?
"That thing? Don't worry, it's just a little trick from the higher-ups. Currently, our multi-purpose system is controlling his moments till he himself gets used to the controller setup. Of course, till this whole thing starts he's going to think this is all a dream but his body will be ready. He's as good as a puppet till then" Liam pushed the person a little which caused the doll-like human to get actually follow the moment.
The mechanical movements of the person made him feel much more like a doll than an actual person. It was a funny scene but a horrific concept. Should Mark point that out how not right that was? Watching the scene, it seemed like staying low was the best way to stay safe.
"Now what?" Mark asked, a little lost while everything was being discussed. This all was interesting and he was sure he would find out more about it all in the future anyway.
But he wanted to know his personal prospects. Yet, he did not know where to even start. It was almost like a lost cause.
"What do you mean? Don't you want to know more? Now we have you and the protagonist of this world, we have half the preparation done already" either Mark was not clear here or Liam was obviously avoiding the question.
Somehow, it felt like a mix of two. Plus, it somewhere did solidify in the context that there was no female mc here. Or, things were being glossed over fully.
"No, what I am asking is how does it impact the overall scene? You have given no background information at all to me, so what can I work with here? How did I die in the story? What caused the animals to mutate and those details. Can't we prevent it all from happening?" Mark asked, his voice rising.
"Hey, calm down a bit, spitfire. I don't know if I should tell you all this. Side effects can occur which would defeat our whole purpose" the guy was deflecting. Mark was not sure why but the guy really didn't want to tell him a lot.
But why after all this time? Mark felt like a lot of things that should not have been saying were already out in the open. What was so special bout his death that was such top-secret?
"Since you've already spilt the beans this far, it's better you tell me what you can" but if the guy was not going to tell the whole thing, then Mark had no other choice. He'll work with what he gets for now.
And then figure out the rest of it.
"Fine, but let me get rid of this burden first. Despite being the protagonist, he's surprisingly dull right now. His body even has a sleep schedule at 17, can you believe it?" Mark had not noticed how young the body of the so-called 'protagonist' was, but it seemed good that there was a clear development path in the youth's life.
Despite being well built, the face looked closely was rather young. Maybe the worried expression showed on his face because Liam chuckled the next second at him.
"Don't worry, for him, it's all a dream and the system will make sure he's not aware of anything right now. We'll get him right before things begin to worsen or in this case, the story will make sure he's there" their attempt to reassure Mark was not working at all.
In fact, it worried Mark a little more than before. It did not sound safe at all.
But Mark was not a martyr enough to get in between a crazy person and its prey so Luna would have to deal with it for now.
Luna opened the door and seemed to walk out on its own. There was a glow of light right at the junction of his neck and head, only visible if you were to specifically look for it.
Was that the system? It seemed unnatural enough to be something like that but it could also be a weird piece of tech Mark was not aware of. After all, Liam's world seemed advanced enough to even create a mini world.
Who knew what kind of tech they had in their world.
"Right, one thing is done. Now on to you, What do you want to know first?" Liam had his attention on Mark which made him uncomfortable but he could manage for now. To sate his curiosity, this was but a small enough price.
"You said this world is a video game right? How sure are you about it all?" Mark asked the person in front of him, still in disbelief over the whole situation.
"I guess you're still not sure even after all that but that's understandable. If you still can't believe me then you don't have to force yourself to. Just think of it as a supernatural or biological phenomenon and it'll work the same" Liam made it sound like he had actually put some thought into it.
Mark would take it like that then. At least it was an easier pill to swallow rather than thinking that his whole world was some coded data.
"Why are you here? In this world exactly? If and IF this is a video game with a virus, can't you resolve the problem from outside? Why are you even inside here? How are you even inside here?" Now that the first question had been answered the dam seemed to be broken.
Questions poured from Mark's mouth unfiltered.
"Things are 'complicated' back home. There were some problems that did not allow us to handle the matters externally so we had to take an alternate route to resolve things. We've spent too much money to let this project go to waste just like this, even with all the technical advancements made - this is our masterpiece right here" it did not escape Mark how Liam had said 'we' but the bitterness of the voice did not permit him to bring it up.
"What about the animals? Are their mutations normal? Was this something you always planned for to happen? And why save me when there are a million others who are a better alternative for saving?" That had bugged Mark for some time now.
Just what did saving a normal human being, a vet at that get them instead of say, a military person. What made him so special?
"Have you not noticed it in your encounters with the doctor? The weird thing that caused animals to obey you? Even so, the records say that your death was the first indicator of this world's end so it is worth saving you if it meant to change something significant in this world" Mark had not noticed anything and he did not know what Liam was talking about at all.
He was just an ordinary vet, but he was speechless enough to not even retaliate. Honestly, it had still not synced down yet - the whole matter with the monsters that appeared. It still felt like a dream to him, one he would wake up from any second now.
"What happens now?" Mark had more questions but he was not sure how to frame them. So, the best he could do was to save them inside his head for later and figure out how to best ask them.
"I think you should learn self-defence for the time being and to shoot a gun properly. Just for emergency cases. Even if your powers don't exist, you should know how to defend yourself" wait, that sounded really important.
"Powers?" Mark asked, his suspicion building up.
"Nothing you need to worry about for a long time now. Just rest now and I'll send you the schedule for your shooting training. Would the local police chief do it? Excellent then" Liam did not hear much after that.
He made plans, leaving Mark gobsmacked in his wake with the questions still unanswered and a burning curiosity in his mind. But he felt he needed to experiment. This encounter had given him a lot of food for thought after all.