Location: New York City
Date: January , 1989
Mark POV:
Mark looked at Cortana with a playful smirk. He had always liked Cortana. She was charming, helpful, and smart in the games. But talking to her for real was much more interesting.
"Whether I am crazy or not, if you think that was the interesting part," he said, and let a grin spread across his face, "I have not even gotten started yet."
Cortana stared at him for a moment, her holographic form perfectly still. Then a faint, almost reluctant smile touched her lips as she tilted her head slightly, studying him with renewed intensity.
"All right Mark," she said, voice dry but clearly intrigued. "You've got my attention. If that wasn't even the interesting part… then by all means. Surprise me."
"Well, first of all I should say that I am not... calling, from my home universe."
Cortana's expression immediately sharpened, "...Go on."
"My world was ordinary, as far as I know." he said and gestured vaguely, "In my world this universe is known as Marvel. It is a world of superheroes, villains, mutants, aliens, gods... and cosmic entities."
Cortana blinked once before Mark quickly cut in with, "Oh, and magic is real."
She stared at him, "...Excuse me?"
"Almost anything is possible here." he continued, "There are people who can fly faster than light, people who can rewrite reality, people with psychic powers, scientists who routinely create or achieve the seemingly impossible. There are literal gods, demons, even living planets."
"..." Cortana folded her arms, "I'll admit... you've succeeded in surprising me."
Mark laughed, but she was not done, "That story is wonderfully unfalsifiable, why should I believe any of it?"
Mark scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly, "Hmm... well... I never really thought about that." he said as a small, embarrassed laugh escaped him.
"To me, Marvel was always just... a superhero comic-book universe." he said and shrugged, "So when I died and was given a choice of where to go... I chose Marvel. The world turned out to be exactly what I had expected, so I never really had to prove it to myself."
"..." Cortana didn't blink, she simply stared at him. Then, in a perfectly level voice she said, "...I'm sorry. Would you mind repeating that last part?"
Mark frowned slightly, "When I died?"
"...Yes." she said, and paused for a moment, "What do you mean, 'you died'?"
"Hmm... Maybe I should have started there." he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was not really sure how well things were going, but for someone truly out of the loop like Cortana, this was a lot more to take in than he first realized.
"Like I said, I died. Or I was dying at least. Then I felt a pulling sensation and found myself somewhere else... without my body."
Cortana was silent for several seconds before asking, "Were you clinically dead?"
"As far as I know."
"And you retained your memories? Your personality?"
"Yes."
"...Continuity of consciousness?"
Mark considered that, "I thought so at the time... but, maybe not. It is possible for thousands of years to have passed or something, but I did not get that impression."
"How old were you at the time of death?"
"31."
"How did you die?"
"Nothing special. There was an accident and I was bleeding out."
"Do people in your universe normally get choices after death?"
"No one really knows what happens after death, at least in my universe."
"Who gave you that choice?"
"I don't know." he said, before describing what he could remember. The Orb of light, all the colored orbs that were pulled from him, each representing his connection to a different universe, and finally the information download, "I only got to choose the world I went to, everything else happened to me."
"The information was... directly comprehended?" she asked, clearly thinking through everything he said.
"Yes."
"Interesting." she said and Mark raises an eyebrow.
"What's interesting?"
"Whatever interacted with you bypassed language entirely. Either your memory of the event is incomplete... or the entity possessed a communication method fundamentally different from human cognition." she said before focusing on him again.
"Why did you choose Marvel? Especially if it really is everything you've claimed."
He thought about that for a while before saying, "It was a little bit on impulse but, having already died once anyway I wanted to go somewhere more interesting. Also, in addition to the potential adventure, there was probably a hope of becoming one of that world's heroes."
"...Of all the universes available to you, you deliberately chose the one you believed contained existential threats on a routine basis?"
"Apparently."
"...Your risk assessment process concerns me." she said and Mark laughed.
Cortana gave him a long look, "But I'll reserve judgment until I've heard the rest."
"Good idea. Because the first thing you need to understand is that Halo and Marvel operate on fundamentally different assumptions. Oh, and your universe is called Halo in my world. Anyway, in Halo, if something appears impossible, there is usually an undiscovered scientific explanation."
She nodded.
"In Marvel..." He hesitated, choosing his words carefully, "...sometimes the explanation is simply that reality contains more layers than science alone can describe. Magic is one of those layers for example. It is not misunderstood technology, psionics, or the manipulation of exotic particles. It is genuinely another way reality functions."
Cortana frowned, "So physics is... incomplete."
Mark considered that, "No. Physics describes the physical world, but that is not all there is."
"Does magic obey rules?" she asked.
"Yes. Well I think so, but they are not always the same rules as physics."
"So your universe has multiple interacting systems governing reality."
"Basically." he said, "But you would never know it at a glance. Marvel looks mundane on the surface."
"You have described a universe full of extraordinary individuals, people with powers, advanced technology, and cosmic beings." Cortana said, tilting her head slightly, "Yet you contacted an artificial intelligence stranded on a damaged warship in deep space. Why? And how exactly have you 'called' as you put it?"
"I did not have any information about your situation, or even that we would be having a conversation." Mark said, considering her questions for a moment, "...The how is relatively simple. When I woke up in Marvel I had a system." and quickly covered the concept and basic story tropes.
"May I see it?" she asked.
"In most stories, no one else can see the system," Mark replied, "but we can test it." he said as he opened his status. "Anything?"
"No."
He closed it again, "Too bad. Well the system keeps track of the things I buy from the store and I was also able to contact you the same way."
Cortana's expression cooled immediately, "You bought me?"
"No." he said firmly, "You are the first person I have interacted with through the system. What I bought was this," and lifted the glowing contract in his hand, "It's a binding agreement. I do not know all the mechanics behind it, but it has the power to bring you into Marvel. Both of us have to agree to the terms, and any conditions we set will be enforced."
She frowned and crossed her arms, "What currency did you use?"
"A resource called points."
"Where do points come from?"
"The System gives me points as I get stronger. I do not know the details, but the purpose of most systems, in the stories I know, is to either make the user more powerful, or to achieve a specific goal."
"What happens if we do not agree?"
"Nothing," Mark said. "Our connection ends and you remain here on the ship. On my side, the points would be reimbursed and I would have no way to contact you again. We would go our separate ways."
A quiet silence settled between them as the implications sank in before she quietly said, "I see."
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A.N. - Hello all and hope you enjoyed the chapter.
I had a lot more to say/cover with Cortana than expected, so instead of rushing, I decided to split the chapter in half.
I will publish the second half in a few days as an extra chapter for this week.
Thank you for reading.