Hiss Distorted

**Hiss Distorted Agents** are a type of Hiss-corrupted personnel and are one of the enemy types in *Control*.

## Overview

The Hiss Distorted are former Bureau personnel who have been corrupted by the Hiss and undergone particularly thorough physical distortion, with the flesh on their torso and thighs having peeled outwards. Their ribcage is exposed and their hollow innards glow red with Hiss resonance. Their head from the upper jaw and above has fused into a featureless black shape which extends backwards into a pair of ribbed "wings", while their mouth is open and also reveals the red glow of the Hiss resonance. Their arms and legs are bare and do not show any disfiguration except for the pale grey skin pallor of all Hiss-corrupted personnel, while their feet appear similar to high heels.

The Hiss Distorted possess an unknown paranatural ability which allows them to turn invisible, only revealing themselves once they are close enough to ambush their targets.

Jesse first encounters the Hiss Distorted in the Maintenance Sector during the story mission Threshold, after entering Black Rock Processing to search for a Black Rock Prism for the HRA Lab. After finding all the prisms on-site to be broken, she is ambushed and must defeat the Distorted. This particular Hiss Distorted had slaughtered a number of Rangers under the command of Simon Arish, who had been attempting to fight back against the Hiss and was forced to retreat with the survivors to the Atlas Chamber.

### Notable Hiss Distorted

* Processes Designer Gibbs — fought at the end of Pope's Collection
* Distorted Tourist — fought at the end of any Expedition

## Combat

In combat, the Hiss Distorted utilize stealth attacks, staying invisible until they are next to or even behind Jesse, at which point they will reveal themselves with a loud shriek and launch a devastating close-range concussive blast shown as a large spray of dark red material from their body; this attack may be avoided by using the Shield or Evade abilities. After attacking, they will turn invisible again and reposition until they find another chance to take Jesse by surprise. However, they release a trail of Hiss resonance which distorts the air around them as they move even while invisible, which can make it possible to determine their position.

One variant of the Hiss Distorted added in *The Foundation* can also turn visible far away from Jesse and shoot a red beam that can track her from a distance. After attacking once, they will turn invisible again and will either reposition for another beam attack or switch to the behavior of their normal counterparts – although it happens rarely with this variant and might mostly be triggered if Jesse gets too close to them. Those Hiss Distorted are introduced in the fight with Processes Designer Gibbs and will afterwards spawn randomly as regular enemies in the game.

## Research summary

*Main article: Hiss Distorted (Collectible)*

The Hiss Distorted is unique in the fact that it wields a paranatural ability previously unknown to the Bureau (perhaps tapping into a yet undiscovered Object of Power?), How does this invisibility work? Does the Distorted become resonance temporarily? Does it use Hiss resonance to refract light?
The physical deformation of this particular Hiss entity is noteworthy in its thoroughness. Clearly the human host would have died from such extreme alteration, which prompts the question: Are the corrupted simply animated corpses?