lol,I enjoy the answers they come up with when I ask them about the mark there's no end to what they’ll say. It's something I learned to expect that they would just come up with any answer. The preterist are completely different when I ask them about the mark they most time change the subject,ignore it but if they try to answer it it's like watching them walk past a fun-house mirror. I was in a think tank type email group a few years ago where we discussed the very issue and we came up with 20-30 questions to ask.lol,but no ones ever got past the first so I don’t see any reason to complicate it any further.
Just like the virgin birth, I can't "conceive" of it - but accept it, no need to explain it. It does not affect my reasoning on the scriptures.
But first you need to define the beast.
Can you do that?