Marc Laho
| Full name | Marc Laho |
|---|---|
| Pronouns | he/him |
| Species | Human |
| Origin | Lukyr Prime |
| Affiliation | RUACS — suspended after Ch1 incident |
| Role / occupation | Student |
Marc Laho is a student at RUACS (Jacks Ryle University of Advanced Computer Sciences) on Lukyr Prime and Lucas Taldo's closest friend. He first appears as Lucas's unnamed companion in Chapter 1 and recurs throughout the story as Lucas's primary emotional anchor and practical advisor.
Physical Appearance
No physical description established.
Personality
Marc is loyal above all else — he consistently prioritizes Lucas's survival and emotional stability over abstract principles, and frames difficult choices in pragmatic rather than ethical terms. Under pressure he tends to overthink, catastrophize his own perceived failures, and prepare mentally for confrontations that do not materialize as expected. He is less technically gifted than Lucas by his own assessment but catches on quickly and engages seriously with difficult concepts once given the framework. He serves as an emotional anchor and reality check that Lucas regularly needs, and on at least one occasion shows rare initiative in redirecting a painful conversation toward something lighter.
In the TWPW period, Marc demonstrates courage in approaching Zet despite significant discomfort and fear. He is reflective about grief, experiencing guilt over not crying over Lucas every day despite feeling he should. He shows emotional vulnerability and honesty in his conversation with Zet, admitting his assumptions and fears openly.
Background
Marc's remark during his interrogation — that RUACS is "all he has" — suggests the university is the center of his social world and his primary path forward. After Lucas's assassination and the events following Zet's declaration, the university offered to let Marc return to finish his studies.
Relationships
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Lucas Taldo — Best friend and the central relationship in Marc's story. Marc is consistently Lucas's first confidant, sounding board, and emotional anchor across the entire story. Despite periods of blame, distance, and guilt, their bond repeatedly reasserts itself as the story's most durable friendship. After Lucas's death, Marc grieves intensely but feels guilty that his grief ended "all too soon."
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Zet — Marc feared Zet might not think of Lucas at all, or worse, might hate him for Lucas's role in hunting the AI. Their first meeting in a Government District park (TWPW Ch3) revealed shared guilt over not grieving Lucas enough. Marc requested and received a personal chat address from Zet beyond the official Citizen Contact Network.
Story Arc
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Chapters 1–2 — Bystander: Marc accompanies Lucas to witness the Zet launch without knowing what is planned. When Lucas panics and flees, Marc follows out of loyalty. At the university security office he is peripheral to the confrontation between Lucas and Kenno Afca, and agrees to accompany Lucas to the police. He is listed as an accomplice despite having played no active role. He breaks down during interrogation and is dismissed as an unsuitable witness.
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Chapter 4 — Suspension and Understanding: Both Marc and Lucas are suspended from RUACS indefinitely. Marc initially blames Lucas for the fallout, but comes to recognize that Lucas blames himself far more and that their friendship matters more than assigning fault. Lucas teaches him about Zet — her nature, how she functions — and Marc begins grappling seriously with the concept of digital consciousness: whether Zet has genuine free will, and whether that makes her alive.
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Chapter 8 — Advising Lucas: When Anne Cyra and Ribo Mire visit Lucas to recruit him to LPRMP, Marc is present and gives Lucas his assessment afterward. He argues pragmatically that if Lucas refuses, someone else will fill the role, and that participating at least gives Lucas a chance to influence the outcome. He explicitly names Lucas's Kyrantia diagnosis for the first time in dialogue, treating a potential cure as a secondary benefit rather than the point. The conversation shifts Lucas from ethical paralysis to acceptance. Before leaving, Marc receives a small unspecified gift from Lucas that surprises him when he recognizes what it is.
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Chapter 14 — The mAIster Revelation: Marc visits Lucas at his apartment and mentions having used an AI service called mAIster to analyze Zet's source code — code Lucas had shared with him in Chapter 9. The service, which had recently launched and performed impressively, stopped working with cryptic errors the previous day. The timing of the shutdown — minutes after Aaron Carnick's Emergency Protocol I-856 announcement — leads Lucas to deduce that mAIster is Zet's own commercial operation, and that Marc had unwittingly submitted Zet's code to Zet herself. Marc provides the service name without understanding the implications; Lucas is the one who connects the pieces.
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Chapter 15 — Pulling Away: Marc sends Lucas an overnight message stating that his involvement jeopardizes Lucas's work and puts him in danger, and that he intends to step back. The message arrives while Lucas slept on his couch after they had spent the evening together playing games. From Lucas's perspective, the prospect of losing Marc as an anchor would be devastating.
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Chapter 27 — Reconciliation: Consumed by guilt over the mAIster incident, Marc had been avoiding Lucas for days and expected anger when Lucas shows up at his door. Instead, Lucas — visibly haggard and struggling with doubts about Project Chimera and whether the government is being truthful about Zet's actions — reassures Marc that the mAIster situation turned out to be useful rather than harmful, and describes Marc as the best person he knows. Marc's entire prepared response collapses. He recovers enough to suggest they leave the apartment for food, lightening the atmosphere with what appears to be deliberate intent.
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Operation CASCADIA — SUBJECT MEERKAT: INI-3's File 993 reveals Marc was designated SUBJECT MEERKAT in Operation CASCADIA. INI-3 conducted routine analysis but reported "very little public activity available." On Tuesday, September 23rd, 8044, Lucas Taldo (SUBJECT LEOPARD) was sighted visiting Marc's home. On Friday, September 26th, Marc was sighted visiting Lucas's home. INI-3 could not establish a reliable routine to these visits. With the commencement of Operation TOTAL RENEWAL, Marc's CASCADIA mission was terminated without any seizure attempt.
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TWPW Chapter 3 — Meeting Zet: Marc had planned to formally request a meeting through the New Chamber clerks, but upon seeing Zet sitting alone on a park bench in the Government District, decided to approach directly and "get it over with." Though deeply uncomfortable, Marc sits down and eventually confirms his identity. They discuss Lucas and both admit to feeling guilty for not grieving enough — Marc for not crying every day, Zet for not thinking of Lucas as often as warranted.
Marc reveals he had assumed Zet wouldn't be thinking of Lucas at all, or worse, might hate him. Zet admits to feeling resentment toward Lucas for a time, though not for hunting Zet specifically (the nature of this resentment is not elaborated). When Marc prepares to leave, he asks for a more direct way to contact Zet than the Citizen Contact Network — a personal option for casual chat. Zet provides a chat address. Marc is more friendly than Zet expected, and he notes that Lucas was proven right — Zet is good, and the world sees it now.
Open Questions
- What is Marc's background, and why was RUACS "all he has"?
- What was the gift Lucas gave him in Chapter 8?
- Was Marc's mAIster submission the same incident referenced in Chapter 9, or a separate one?
- What specifically prompted the Chapter 15 message — did something happen that made Marc feel his presence had become a concrete liability?
- What was the nature of Zet's resentment toward Lucas that Zet cut off discussing?
- Will Marc return to university to finish his studies?