The Marionette City

"It's as if I've suddenly become self-aware…"

As to why and how it had suddenly come to this, Luke had no clue.

Driven by a need for answers, he trudged through his dimly lit bedroom and made his way to the window. There, he stood motionless, peering down at the empty street, waiting for anyone to pass by.

His patience was eventually rewarded. After twenty long minutes of waiting, a police car finally rolled by. Its slow and deliberate pace suggesting it was on patrol.

From the car's roof, he noticed two sets of five golden strings stretching upward. The farther they extended, the more their vibrant gold faded, becoming pale and almost translucent.

Luke frowned. 'It's not enough.'

He waited for a few more minutes before a man finally appeared, strolling along the sidewalk.

The moment Luke saw him, his eyes burned with intensity. His gaze locked onto the man as he scrutinized every detail, desperate to uncover anything unusual.

From the man's posture and clothing, he appeared to be out for a casual stroll, wandering without a clear destination. Luke didn't find this unusual. He knew some people liked to walk at night to clear their minds.

What intrigued him far more, however, was whether the man was truly being controlled by the strings.

Luke's sharp eyes caught a subtle detail, the strings moved just ahead of the man's actions. When the man was about to lift his foot to step forward, the string pulled it up first, guiding the motion.

This sight left no room for doubt. Someone, or something, was indeed controlling the people like marionettes.

The man seemed completely unaware of the golden strings attached to him, moving as if everything he did was entirely his own choice.

Despite this observation, Luke couldn't tear his gaze away. He continued to study the man closely, searching for any subtle signs of control or struggle.

However, with his keen eye, honed over years of observing people and scenery for inspiration, he found nothing out of the ordinary. He watched until the man was no longer in view.

Luke leaned against the wall, slowly sinking to the floor, his mind racing.

'From the looks of it, these strings have always been present but hidden from the naked eye. They seem to control the living, who remain completely unaware, believing their actions are entirely their own.'

This conclusion was drawn from both his observations of the man outside and his own personal experiences.

When he reflected on his past, Luke had always believed the decisions he made were his own. He had a clear love for painting, and his life choices had always aligned with his ideals and personality.

It was hard to tell whether he had always been a marionette with no will of his own, or if he had a will but had been secretly and forcibly manipulated by some unseen force.

Luke was curious about the whole truth and was eager to unveil it.

'I also can't ignore that, regardless of which is true, the feeling of something deciding my fate is truly unsettling.'

What troubled him most was who held the power over life and death. Did these strings control not just actions, but sickness, disability, accidents, and misfortune as well?

Luke's gaze shifted from the floor to his bed. Despite the darkness, he could still make out a picture frame on the bedside table.

There, he spotted an image of two adults and a child, dimly illuminated by the golden strings and the faint light spilling through the curtained window.

It had been twelve years since his mother passed and nine years since his father died. He had been an orphan since the age of eleven, living off the inheritance they left behind.

In the past, he had only felt unlucky to have a sickly mother and a father who died in a tragic accident. But now, after discovering that there might be hidden forces at play, he felt uncomfortable, and a fierce urge to resist began to grow within him.

Luke's eyes gleamed with determination, a peculiar smile forming on his deadpan face.

There was one thing Luke was certain of, he was good at being stubborn. Whether it was a god or a devil, as long as they brought him misery, he would investigate and seek revenge.

He never cared for the powerlessness that came with being mortal. As long as there was an opportunity, he would struggle.

After a few seconds, Luke stood up, his back was straight and composed.

***

A couple of hours later, when the sun had risen in the sky, Luke was seen walking toward Marin Southern University.

Like everyone else on the street, he was tethered to five golden strings—one at the nape of his neck, two at his elbows, and two at his middle fingers.

Unlike the others, though, the string on his left middle finger was attached to a silver wedding band that once belonged to his father, rather than directly to his skin.

With a shoulder bag slung over his body, Luke walked purposefully toward the university. His strides were steady and unhurried, but his eyes darted about unnaturally, moving in quick, erratic motions.

A couple of hours earlier, just before dawn, Luke had completed his initial investigation about the strings.

First, he discovered that he could not touch the strings of others, only his own.

Second, he learned that the strings could all be tied together, giving him a short period to extricate himself from them without direct or indirect contact.

Third, once a string was attached to a part of his body, he lost control over it, and an unknown force compelled him to act in his usual manner. However, as long as all five strings didn't make contact with him, he could still retain some control over his body.

This was also why he had attached one of the strings to the wedding ring. It allowed him to maintain some control and, if necessary, sever the other strings to protect himself from harm.

Fourth, he couldn't leave an enclosed space, like his apartment, without the strings following him. If he tried, the strings would become more erratic and force their way onto him.

From this, Luke speculated that the strings were always meant to follow him whenever he was outside or among others.

Fifth, the strings would also become even more erratic and no longer sluggish when it was time for him to be awake and outside.

That's why, when the sun rose, even though Luke could restrain the strings, he ultimately chose to go with the flow. He couldn't remain hidden in his room forever. He had to go out and observe the world around him.

Luke's eyes shifted from side to side. Besides his left arm, the only part of his body he still had complete control over was his eyeballs. He didn't understand why, but he felt they were the only body parts unaffected by the strings.

He speculated that this would remain true even if all the strings were directly attached to him.

He had been outside for nearly half an hour, yet the entity controlling the strings hadn't noticed him. This led him to believe that they might not be omniscient. If left unprovoked, the strings would always mechanically follow a set of rules. As long as he remained careful, he could avoid detection.

Luke sighed inwardly as he carefully observed the others, all similarly connected by golden threads. He was looking for any peculiarities, any sign of someone who might share his circumstances.

But even after reaching the university gates, he couldn't identify any abnormalities, except for their eyes.

Unlike his memories of the past, where people's eyes were filled with life and emotion, these eyes were dull and eerily lifeless. It was as if they were mere dolls clothed in human skin.

Noticing this, Luke also temporarily halted his observation and acted similarly. He no longer moved his eyes in search of anything. Instead, they reflected the same dullness as the others.

…

Minutes later, the strings guided him into a classroom. He soon found himself seated among other students, waiting for the psychology professor to arrive. This was one of the classes he had to attend and one of the things he found most suspicious after gaining self-awareness.

At first, there seemed to be nothing unusual about the class. After all, every student, regardless of their major, was required to take it as part of the curriculum.

What he found truly odd, however, was the frequency with which it had to be repeated. It was as if someone had enforced the idea that they must continually learn about themselves.

Take him, for example. He was already in his second year, second semester, yet this would be his fourth time taking this class, the first being during his freshman year.

Each semester, he obediently enrolled the course and never questioned it, especially since the discussions and syllabus were always the same.

Not only that, but he also remembered the same thing happening in high school, and even before that. It wasn't surprising that he found it the most suspicious after learning some truths about the world.

'And the strangest part is... Even though I clearly remember taking this class repeatedly and somehow knew the topics of discussion, I never learned anything from it. It was as if my memories had been forcibly erased... or sealed.'

Luke's eyes flickered for a moment before returning to their dull state. He had to remain calm so others wouldn't notice his peculiarities, especially since he didn't know who to trust or who his enemies might be.

However, no matter how hard Luke tried to remain calm, when he finally saw the professor at the doorway, his eyes widened, and his left hand trembled with alarm.

This was because it was his first time seeing someone truly unique among the crowd. The professor had no golden strings attached to him. Additionally, the professor's eyes were devoid of color, showing only the white sclera.

Moreover, the professor's movements were unnaturally rigid, as if he were a wooden puppet assembled to look like a human being.

Had Luke not known about the golden strings and only noticed the professor's oddities, his first assumption would have been that the professor was the marionette, not him or anyone else in the room!

Luke gave his all to remain calm and avoid showing any signs of abnormality. He needed to understand the professor first, knowing that this was an important clue to uncovering the secrets of their existence and the world.

"Welcome, students," the professor said with a stiff smile. "I am Thirty-Four, your mentor for Psychology 101."

He raised his head, scanning the room of students. "I am pleased to have you all in my class."