Markku Siltanen
Markku "Mark" Siltanen is a structural analyst and engineer employed by the National Consulting Group, and the protagonist of INFRA.
| Character of INFRA | |
 | |
| General | |
|---|---|
| Name | Markku "Mark" Siltanen |
| Status | Alive |
| Gender | Male |
| Appearances | All of INFRA |
| Voiced by | Gabor Bakonyi |
| Job | |
| Company | National Consulting Group |
| Position | Structural Analyst |
Biography
Mark's personal life is largely unknown, he was presumably born in Finland and currently resides somewhere in Stalburg.
At the start of INFRA on August 8th, 2016, Markku Siltanen is 36 years old, is employed by National Consulting Group, and has his own personal office on the 8th floor of the Alcista building.
Personality and skills
Mark has a notably dry and sarcastic personality, but is well-liked by most of his co-workers and boss, who describe him as "someone who gets things done". Like most Finnish people, Mark has a taste for beer, especially Osmo Olut. His drinking however also causes Carla Diethart to dislike him. Mark is incredibly calm during his journey, and reacts to most hinderances during his journey with mild annoyance. He only expresses panic when in life threatening situations. Mark's personality is also dependent on the player's actions and effort to help others and complete his job.
Story
Mark was assigned to survey critical infrastructure around the Hammer Valley Dam and the nearby Bergmann Water Tunnels. Along his journey he frequently is in contact with his boss, Paul Lauwens, to report on his findings. During his inspections, he notes that the infrastructure is in very poor condition, and inadvertly causes one of the Bergmann tunnels to collapse, causing a chain-reaction. After finishing his inspection targets, he tries to contact Paul again, but has no signal, and must traverse the Stalburg Steel factory to reactivate a cell transceiver. He contacts Paul again, who became worried after Mark didn't check in for some time, and directs him to the Pitheath Water Treatment Plant to inquire about the state of water pressure in the Bergmann tunnels.
After reaching the water treatment plant, Mark finds the building is totally empty, and the water pressure monitor is reporting that water flow has stopped in most of the tunnels. Paul becomes more worried, and directs Mark to come back to the NCG offices via the metro station to determine their next course of action.
Mark's journey back to the office is time after time interrupted by the crumbling tunnels around Stalburg which nearly kills him on several occasions. Mark walks a great distance through most of Stalburg's underground infrastructure before eventually returning to Alcista building near Point Elias. At this time, most of the city's powerplants have failed putting Stalburg in a blackout, and the Two Gorges Dam has collapsed. He meets with his co-workers again, and is assigned by Paul to drive to the Black Rock Nuclear Power Plant in anticipation that the floodwave from the dam might put the powerplant at risk.
The road to his new inspection target is interrupted by a roadblock, and he hikes through Turnip Hill and its surroundings until reaching the nuclear power plant. Paul and his co-workers have already arrived, and found that most of the powerplant is flooded, and everyone has evacuated, save for the manager, who agrees to help them try to prevent the reactor from melting down.
Depending on Mark's actions, he can fail to stop the meltdown, or succeed in saving Stalburg to everyone's relief. The amount of photos and corruption evidence he has will determine the epilogue.
Relationships
Paul Lauwens
Mark is friendly with Paul, and shares a good enough relationship with him that Paul tolerates Mark making fun of him during the introductory briefing. Mark is more professional during his journey however, and complains about the dangerous routes Paul sends him through.
Mark is only ever seriously critical of Paul when it's revealed Paul is associated with the S.N.W. conspiracy. Although by the epilogue it's apparent Mark forgave Paul after he expressed regret over his choices.
Trivia
- Mark's reflection can never been seen in mirrors. This is a common occurrence in first-person Source games, and is referenced by a sticky note on a mirror in the first ending saying "You're a vampire, Mark".
- Mark's full appearance however is visible on the "The Engineer" poster seen in-game in office and business. This is an edited version of a full picture of Mark in the NCG's conference room posted on the game's ModDB page.
- Mark's voice was originally much more rough and gravely, an update on March 14th, 2016 added an entire new set of voicelines to make Mark sound smoother and easier to understand.
- Despite Mark's presumably Finnish heritage, he has a notably thick Hungarian accent. This is because his voice actor, Gabor Bakonyi, is Hungarian, but could also suggest Mark is of mixed race.