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Mark Sarang
Mark Sarang
Born
September 21, 2061
Korea
Died
July 12, 2103
Aged 41
Theta, PATHOS-II
Status
Deceased
Nationality
Korea Korean
Signature
Mark Sarang - Signature

Actor Tim Watson

Mark Sarang was a Korean reconnaissance professional employed by Carthage Industries. He served as the Intelligence Analyst on PATHOS-II, stationed at Theta.

In SOMA, he committed suicide after having proposed the "Continuity" belief that widely affected the ARK project and deluded multiple Theta personnel.

Biography[]

As per Korean naming conventions, Mark Sarang's family name would be Mark and his given name would be Sarang. However, it is possible that this wasn't considered by Frictional Games during the development of SOMA, and he was just given a standard Western-styled name.

On March 7, 2102, Mark Sarang received a classified message from the supervisory board of Carthage Industries, complimenting Sarang's success in making the WAU a station-wide presence. The letter suggested that Sarang explore and understand the WAU by any means necessary, and insisted that Johan Ross being able to "steer and study" the WAU from Alpha without interference was contingent on accomplishing that suggestion. The letter allowed Sarang to contact Julia Dahl at Omicron to "forcefully eliminate any opposition" in case of an emergency. Mark Sarang was one of three crew members at PATHOS-II working directly for Carthage, along with Johan Ross and Julia Dahl. This information was kept secret from the other crew members.

On July 9, 2103, Sarang was interviewed by Catherine Chun regarding his expectations toward the ARK project. Sarang believed death could be cheated, in that "we can go on living through the reality of continuity." He viewed human consciousness as an entity that transcends a physical body, and that an individual's original consciousness could transfer to the computer simulation in the ARK if they died immediately after the scan or just before it finished, a notion Catherine deemed impossible. After the interview, he focused on developing this theory, which he named the "Continuity".

Sarang noticed and took pictures of the unusual mutations caused by leaking structure gel in and around Theta. Some of these pictures can be found in his room at Theta. Scribblings on them reveal Sarang's inability to explain why the WAU was organizing these mutations.

On July 12, 2103, during his brain scan for the ARK-project, Sarang committed suicide using chewing gum containing cyanide salts. He suffered sudden cardiac arrest and was rushed to the infirmary, but was declared dead shortly thereafter.[1] He left a recording and notes that revealed that his purpose was to ensure that his virtual self, living in the ARK, was the only remnant of his consciousness.

His ideas caused other PATHOS-II personnel to commit suicide during or shortly after the brain scanning process, which led John Strohmeier to prematurely end the ARK-project.

In SOMA[]

While venturing through Theta facility, Simon Jarrett can access Sarang's dormitory where he can find computer logs, voice recordings and notes, mostly about his ideas over his "Continuity" theory.

Dialogue[]

ARK Interview

  • The idea is just incredible, by every definition, it really makes you think about what it means to be human.

  • Beyond the basics, beyond the superficial, I'm convinced there's something with even greater value.

  • You have provided a platform which is not necessarily restricted to our digital progeny, but a means of actual survival.

  • It's my sincerest belief that we can go on living, through the reality of continuity.

Audiolog Recording

  • Did you know that the human body consists of up to 75 trillion individual cells? They typically don't stay with us 'til we die, some live a few days, while others live a few years.

  • We're not affected by their short lifespans, as they're replaced by new cells that help sustain our bodies.

  • I don't think anyone would argue that we ever lose our persona due to this process, yet we are clearly in a constant state of transformation.

  • Then how do we remain the same?

  • A continuous flow of thought and perception keeps an unbroken chain of continuity that we know as our self.

  • Our conscious mind is not the pattern of our brain, but a continuous emergent entity based on that pattern.

  • When Dr. Chun populates the ARK she is capturing a moment of our existence and placing it inside the digital world.

  • Soon you and your digital you will grow apart due to diverging experiences, but for a tiny window, you are the very same.

  • With unbroken continuity it will live on, a fulfilling life no doubt, no less real than the one from which it was plucked.

  • Now remember, you are not your body, you are the emergent entity, that entity just happens to occupy two places at once for a while.

  • If you took away your body, you would simply be the only one you can be, the you inside the ARK.

  • Let your body die, and continue on in the digital paradise among the stars.


Behind the Scenes[]

Sarang, Love in Korean, is a reference to the Korean-American lunar harvesting facility Sarang Station from the movie Moon by Duncan Jones, a film that deals with some similar subjects as SOMA.

Gallery[]

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References[]

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