I totally agree with the hoping it's just real corruption. I think the majority are in the same boat about that. Aside from being a cop out, there's just absolutely no weight in it.
But anyway...just to temper my urge for this game and have some fun looking to it's roots, I took some time and tried to theorize on whether there will be mind control or not,.....or I am just in denial LMFAO! I'm gonna go from the original comic to the current premise of game.
1. Here's a snippet of the 1st page of the comic. It's basically a news article setting up the story. So she's basically a teacher helping ingenious tribes learn English, and there's no mention of any device or tease that would cause her corruption. We all know eventually, that device would be the statue...and thus easy mind control happened.
2. Here's the very first summary of Awakening way back in Sept 2022. Now we have a new storyline device - the moonflower. Very different premise compared to the original comic. Obviously the game is in it's infancy and remember this was just a teaser.
3. Since the teaser back in 2022, the premise of Awakening has significantly changed. Because of the surprise release of Tenants, Awakening was used as a post-credits teaser. As we all know, Awakening is now connected with Tenants and entails Dr. Claire, with her husband, to find a cure. There is no mention of the moonflower in the post-game credit, all it states is that they are both leaving the safety of quarantine on a journey to find a cure amidst the outbreak. But it's safe to assume the moonflower or some native item will be the catalyst to her corruption.
And this why I am still on the fence on whether there will be mind-control, or not. The moonflower is no longer as arbitrary as the statue in the comic. The reason for the Claire to be there is for the moonflower. But it can still go many ways.
A) Will the moonflower be the device to cause her corruption? Maybe mind control or something that gets her hornier over time.
B) Will the moonflower be a trophy or end-goal device? For instance, will she start doing things on her own accord (like, duh, ultimately having sex with the tribe), to achieve the goal...then eventually true netorare corruption.
C) Will mind control and true netorare be available as multiple paths, since this is a game?
In the end, I think having so much weight, like finding a cure to help end a zombie apocalypse is such an outrageous yet amazing premise for netorare. Claire (and her husband) will have to do what it takes to basically save the world. So, there would be no need for mind control right???
Sorry if this is much, but like I said, just having fun with. It's also pretty awesome to see the evolution of the project.