HYPNOS

With the population of Tamers continuing to reach all-time record highs, many civilians are left woefully unprotected from the growing hostilities expressed by each of the major coalitions that seek to dominate Tokyo's underground. Given the destruction left behind by the Virus years ago, it stands with clear reason that the Digimon themselves now pose as much of a danger to the human world, perhaps even more than the Virus ever did.

From the shadows of obscurity, a clandestine agency of special operatives have emerged to provide for mankind what the Digimon have proven unable to: safety and security. It is their *raison d'être*, their *modus operandi*, their sole purpose for coming forward as the self-professed defenders of human world interests. Those who oppose this logic are, inevitably, complicit with humanity's ultimate suicide.

They call themselves: HYPNOS.

## Information

Rumored to have been created through many backdoor policies and supposed connections within the Japanese government itself, HYPNOS is an organization dedicated to the surveillance, study, and prevention of digital realization in the human world. Using highly advanced military technology unavailable to any other country in the world, this agency has earned a reputation for secrecy and subterfuge, appearing wherever a Digimon emerges only to vanish the moment it is dispatched. Joining HYPNOS is a privilege reserved only for those above 20 years old, the national age of majority, as this clandestine operation seeks to minimize and eventually eliminate any youth involvement in the containment and removal of Digimon threats.

Unlike the other factions that fight for supremacy over all of Tokyo, Hypnos has made it perfectly clear that they do not share in their collective ignorance towards the possibility of a second outbreak, a belief they pursue as if this were rooted in fact on account of how severely the Virus affected the course of human history. To this same end, extensive care is placed into monitoring the city for any signs of Digimon activity; when a threat is discovered, preemptive action is always taken to secure it, and anyone attempting to aid a renegade in this fashion will be held in contempt of collusion with the enemy.

It should be made transparent that HYPNOS is neither heartless nor cruel in this regard; by no means are they the supposed monsters that many newer and less-experienced Tamers perceive them to be. However, their conviction towards sustaining humankind's interests above those of the Digimon's means they are invariably at odds with the idea of a peaceful coexistence between both species. They reason that continued attempts to sustain this uneasy alliance will make way for a potential threat that is significantly worse than the Virus — one that will have no compunctions about destroying them both.

Repeated investments in experimental technologies and their continued research into the effects of the Virus have given HYPNOS room to work on a potential "Anti-Virus" program that could one day be used to secure the human world's defense from any threat that dares to cross over. However, progress on such an ambitious has reached something of an impasse on account of the ethical concerns it raises among those with sympathetic ties to the Digimon.

## Traits

### [ DATA BANK ]

An experimental quantum molecular conversion drive is installed into the Digivice, allowing the trait holder to convert their Digimon partner into raw data for upload and safekeeping within its memory until they are needed; a simple press of a button realizes their partner back into physical form. This trait can only be activated twice per thread.

### [ BIGGER THREAT ]

HYPNOS is always prepared to do what is right, even when others refuse to see reason. When entering combat, the trait holder becomes the target of all aggressive actions for three turns; during this period, any damage taken from enemy attacks and moves are reduced by one grade lower than their listed Damage Scales for every enemy that targets them, and their own attacks and effects have their listed Damage Scales raised by one grade for every enemy currently present in battle.

### [ BRAIN SCRAMBLER ]

A nickname given to the "neural inhibition and cognitive correction device", a peculiar piece of technology the size of a pen that isolates electrical impulses in the brain, specifically those regarding memory. Up to three times per thread, the trait holder may use this device to place its target/s under a state of hypnosis, rendering them highly susceptible to suggestion and false memory implantation as if affected by the Charm condition; those immune to such an effect are also immune to this trait.