Iron

Able to control the neuro currents precisely and integrates the mechanical arm with the nerves to achieve sophisticated and powerful combat effects.

Awakened at the late Mania stage. Speculated to have taken extreme measures to suppress the spread of contamination and became a Sinner after successfully stopped any further increase in the M value.

Examination found severe erosion and a small skin patch of Corrupt-like mutation spots. But the subject's mental state is found normal and even more rational than normal people. The reason for the contradiction in the test results is unknown.

The SALVA Hospital is the only shelter and medical help provider in Syndicate, but it is also feared because of the rumors of its unauthorized neuromodulation. The subject is found to abuse special power to harbor, gather Mania patients, hide the identity of a Sinner, which disregards the MBCC laws and regulations and bring Syndicate high contamination risk. Immediate arrest and confinement is recommended.

When she ran her own clinic, the subject applied radical treatments on Mania patients. The treatments did not receive a medical ethic rating but have indeed proved considerably effective. After joining the MBCC, the subject seems to have become less obsessed with such high-risk treatments and now focuses on treating injured patients with her excellent surgical skills instead. With her reliable and highly effective medical expertise, she receives unanimous praise from all staff and Sinners for her services in the Bureau.

The MBCC sent troops to SALVA after suppressing the Syndicate incident. The arrest was difficult and only succeeded after a bloody battle. Fortunately, the subject was merciful, and no one was sacrificed.

Born in a prestigious family of healthcare professionals in Eastside, the subject has a father who is a famous doctor. As a "genius neurosurgeon" who graduated from Banyan Medical College, the subject refused the invitations from all the major hospitals in Eastside and insisted on going to Syndicate to heal Mania.

When the subject first arrived at Syndicate, Zoya extended a lucrative offer and invited the subject to join the Legion. Yet, the subject didn't identify with Zoya's idea of fighting violence with violence, and turned down the offer. The subject then founded SALVA, the only neutral organization, and handpicked talents to fight alongside for the same cause.

Affected and tortured by Mania, Iron ran into Anne, a nurse in Eastside who had come to ask for help. To remain calm and heal the patient Anne had brought to her, Iron decided to chop off her own left arm to prevent the marking from spreading to her heart, and to use the pain to keep her awake. After that event, the subject became a Sinner.

Iron regards the Chief with utter contempt for destroying SALVA. Despite this, and despite the fact that she calls the FAC incompetent for their handling of Mania, she believes that the Chief will push for the kind of cooperation necessary to solve the crisis. Surprisingly, the Chief produces a letter from the FAC, asking for formal collaboration with Iron to find a cure. Iron rejects the offer. Based on what she saw from them in Syndicate, she refuses to believe that the FAC would actually follow up on their promise. She intends to continue research on her own, regardless of funding, facilities, or colleagues, staring gravely at her mechanical arm.

The Chief counters with a report on Iron's own M-values, already far above the norm at her time of arrest. They posit what might happen to Iron if she were to lose the protection of the Shackles, and Iron snaps, saying that she already told Anne that she would lobotomize herself before she became a Corruptor. Believing that the Shackles are the best hope for curing Mania, Iron says that she won't allow any harm to befall them. The Chief apologizes, but doesn't drop the point entirely: they are concerned about Iron's long-term health. Iron insists that as a medical doctor, she is more than capable of managing her own symptoms.

The Chief vows to force the FAC into sincerity. Iron smiles, stating that after all the years of SALVA nurses calling her stubborn behind her back, she seems to have finally met her match.

It went on a lot smoother than expected. Iron is not unwilling to cooperate; it's just that she has doubts about the FAC's sincerity and determination. As for anything else irrelevant to the "treatment research," she doesn't care about them at all, not even... her own Mania situation. After the interrogation, the adjutant asked Iron to keep the FAC's commands and physical examination report for now. Iron didn't want to waste time arguing, so she took two documents only to throw them into a garbage can the moment she left the room.

The Chief and their guards are caught up in a small-scale outbreak while attempting to protect civilians and are rescued by the FAC's 6th Squadron, led by Captain Claire. Claire is minorly injured by a Corruptor during the attack, and although her and her unit manage to defeat them, she is soon infected with Mania. As the Chief contemplates stabilizing her with the Shackles, Iron arrives on the scene to stop them. Although initially put off by her ties with FAC, she treats Claire, ascertaining that the only way to save her life is to lobotomize her. The Chief asks Claire if she would want to live despite knowing the side effects, and Claire, turning to look at her anxious comrades, says that they're waiting for her to return. As Iron performs the operation, the Chief overhears the other members of the squadron react to seeing her Sinner abilities, quickly reaching a state of collective distrust.

Iron is not phased by their response. The Chief calls the squadron over after the surgery is complete, and one by one they blame Iron for what's become of their captain, not willing to believe that she would choose this life for herself. Iron tosses a scalpel near Claire's body, offering them the chance to give her a so-called honorable death, and one them takes it and rushes Iron instead. The Chief intervenes and tries to persuade them that this was indeed Claire's wishes, but the squadron's perception of Iron is set in stone. As a resigned Iron pulls the Chief away, they call her a monster. At this, she smiles, seemingly caught up in a brief moment of reminiscence.

To return to her teammates, Claire decided to have an inhumane operation. Her teammates quarreled with the doctor because on the one hand they wanted to respect their leader's choice, but on the other hand they wanted to save her dignity. As a bystander, it can be hard for you to tell if today's event is right or wrong. Things are more complicated than that. As for Iron, she clearly senses the friendship and bond shared between the FAC 6th Squadron's members. Will Iron stop hating the FAC so much after this? What is hidden under that smile on her face? And why did she make you watch the surgery?

The Chief sees a montage of Iron's past, with Iron narrating the scenes as they play out. It begins with her valedictorian speech at Banyan Medical College, where she had already begun to acquire a negative reputation. In it, she slandered Eastside's doctors for abandoning Syndicate, imploring them to treat Mania as humanity's problem, not just one that affects the poor. Next, a series of memories from after she opened her first clinic in Syndicate, in which she learned the hard way about how the cycle of violence perpetuated the Mania crisis. She refused Zoya's personal offer to join The Legion, not wishing to make matters worse. Zoya didn't press her, but she appreciated that the attacks on her clinic declined after her visit. Eventually, Iron contracted Mania herself, forced to lock herself within the clinic while she learned how to mitigate it. She describes how her anger spiked, how in between lapses of consciousness she would attempt to do harm to others. At the nadir of her symptoms, Anne arrived at her door, desperate to treat a patient named Paige who had just mutated into a Corruptor. Realizing that they had nowhere else to go, Iron amputated her own arm, the source of the corruption on her body, and invited them in. That was the night she became a Sinner. In the aftermath, she reopened the clinic under the name SALVA, and as lobotomized patients began to trickle out, she acquired her reputation among the gangs as a monster.

In the car on the way back to the Bureau, just after the incident with the 6th Squadron, Iron is once again staring longingly at her robotic arm. She denies being upset by how she was treated, saying that she prefers being a cold, unfeeling monster to an indecisive human held back by warmth. The Chief refutes this, saying that it's because Iron is full of warmth that she works so hard to save others. Iron doesn't deny this, and the Chief continues, saying that despite Iron's insistence on the contrary, there will surely be doctors who will join the FAC to fight Mania. Iron comments that the Chief reminds her of her younger self, only luckier and with more friends, and the Chief replies that Iron now has a friend of her own. Iron shows a rare moment of sincere appreciation, then warns the Chief that it will take much more than saving a roomful of lives to save all of Syndicate.

The night you returned to the MBCC, the Shackles' mind link seemed to show you fragments of Iron's past memories. They are about curing Syndicate, the mechanical arm, and the "monsters"... Eventually, Iron backed down on her terms of working with the FAC, eliminating the Mania and protecting civilians in exchange for clinical experiment data. This is one small step for the partnership, but one giant leap for DisCity to survive this disaster.

Despite frequently nagging patients to have a healthy diet and lifestyle, Iron lives a very unhealthy lifestyle and often stays up late and even all night to study new medical treatments. Her diet is often time-saving fast food.

The experience in stitching wounds makes Iron excellent at embroidery, which is the only household skill she is good at. She can "just about look after herself" in life outside the operating room.

In the face of the worsening Mania crisis in DisCity, the subject cannot bear to see any idlers in the MBCC. Any slackers would be severely reprimanded and dragged to help with the medical department.

Teaches the Chief Mania-related medical knowledge with almost coercion. Often sulks at night when the Chief fails to answer her questions correctly.

[Iron looks at the Sinners and sighs.]

Iron: When are you going to take action and rein in these Sinners?

Chief: ......

• Prompt: I thought they're behaving themselves here?
• Iron: Behave? This place is basically a smaller version of Syndicate!
• Iron: 😐

• Prompt: Sorry, I should've done better with the management.
• Iron: ...It's not entirely your fault. If we must blame someone... blame the Mania.
• Iron: 😐

[Iron leaves the operating room.]

Iron: If there's something on your mind, speak up. Let's not waste each other's precious time.

Chief: ......

• Prompt: May I see the frontal lobe that you cut off?
• Iron: Sure. But when you are on a tour, please refrain from giving tour comments.
• Iron: 😥

• Prompt: Is the operation a success?
• Iron: You already know the answer. She'll recover very soon. It's just... she will lose some precious things.
• Iron: 😐

⚠ Eliminate the Root Cause

Iron gave her thoughts regarding how people can easily get hurt while training.

System Notifications: Multiple Sinners got hurt while training because they didn't warm up first. Iron demands new courses that teach people the basics of health and self-care. And such courses must be compulsory.

• Prompt: Maybe it's better to not set the course as mandatory...

⚠ Supporting Academic Debate

Someone seems to be quarreling in the Hypnotherapy Room.

System Notifications: Iron suspects hypnosis to be pseudoscience, so she insists on observing the biological nerve signals of a patient, and gets into a verbal fight with the hypnotist.

• Prompt: Leave things be

⚠ Urging

Iron seems to have a problem with the Bureau's productivity.

System Notifications: Iron's experiments are consuming much more potions than what the greenhouse can produce. She is displeased by the Bureau's low production capacity.

• Prompt: Alright, alright, We're on it.

⚠⚠ Comparative Experiment

Iron sent you a message.

System Notifications: Chief, you've got a new notification.

Iron: I need you in the Training Room.

Chief: Oh? It's about time you leave the operating table.

Iron: Time is of the essence when it comes to Mania experiments. I will not waste my time and energy on anything that is irrelevant to medicine.

Chief: Then why are you here...?

Iron: This is part of the experiment.

Iron: I want to know how much Mania is empowering our physical conditions.

Chief: How may I be of help?

Iron: We have enough empowered samples. Now, all we need is the data of a control group.

Iron: Physiques, strength, and speed are all below average. There are only a few people in the Bureau who are so physically weak.

• Prompt: You're not talking about me, are you?
• Prompt: So who's the person you're talking about?

Iron: Spare me your excuses, [player name].

Iron: Now, you will do sit-ups for one minute. Begin.

⚠⚠ Use of Confinement Cell

Iron seems a bit discontent.

System Notifications: Every time the Training Room becomes available, many Sinners will go to the medical department and ask the doctors there for fake prescriptions. Iron doesn't like this at all.

Iron: On one hand, they are wasting medical resources and my time.

Iron: And on the other...

Iron: Most of them are perfectly healthy except for having Mania.

Chief: I know that they probably just want an excuse to not attend the training.

Iron: I think the hypnosis alone is no longer enough to motivate them.

Iron: It's time to activate the Confinement Cell.

• Prompt: What do you want?
• Prompt: We can talk about this!

Iron: Don't try to stop me.

Iron: Today, I will root out their laziness!

⚠⚠ Work Hard, Play Hard

It seems Iron wants to speak with you.

System Notifications: Nobody expected to see Iron in the Recreation Area.

Iron: Chief, hello. Have you done all your tasks?

Iron: Have you caught all the Sinners that have been running wild out there?

Iron: Have you taken care of the violent conflicts in Syndicate?

Chief: ...No.

Iron: And you still have the mood for entertainment?

• Prompt: I thought you're taking a break too.
• Prompt: You are in no place to accuse me.

Iron: Huh. You think I would be idling around and slacking off like you?

Iron: I had been in the operating room for twenty-eight hours, and then...

Iron: The head nurse kicked me out.

Chief: ...

Chief: We owe you.

⚠⚠⚠ Physician, Heal Thyself

Despite being an expert in wellness, Iron rarely follows her own health advice.

System Notifications: You have received five complaints on your desk from Sinner Iron. Please address them promptly.

• Prompt: Check the Complaint Tickets

Chief: Time to check out how Iron's expertise has exposed the quackery in Faye's latest beauty and wellness lineup...

Chief: So, hyaluronic acid, L-carnitine, and "macromolecular" water are nothing but fancy pseudoscience buzzwords? Seems Faye's going to take a hit in her profits again.

System Notifications: Faye, trying to meet the beauty and wellness demands of the Sinners, often brings in these "new-age" health products now and then. Sadly, they never stick around for long—Iron's complaints get them yanked off the shelves in no time.

Chief: Honestly, I'm pretty tired of Iron preaching the same old tune, "Stay healthy with just some exercise, enough sleep, and a healthy diet. Forget the fancy supplements, unless you're actually sick..."

• Prompt: Head to the Cafeteria for Some Fries.

Chief: Sadly, the crushing burden of work and our all-too-human lack of willpower make it tough to say no to midnight snacks... like I'm doing right now. On the other hand, grabbing health supplements is a no-brainer in comparison.

Iron: You're just getting to the cafeteria after a day's grind? Looks like those hell-raisers Sinners in the Bureau have really piled on the work for you.

Iron: I guess it goes without saying that it's important to balance work and play. If you work yourself sick and end up on my doorstep, trust me, I'll take "good" care of you.

System Notifications: And talk about timing! Just as you're pulling out a batch of greasy fries from the air fryer, there Iron is, appearing like a ghost right behind you.

Chief: Oh no, if she sees me munching on this junk in the dead of night, I'm definitely getting a lecture...

System Notifications: But as you're wallowing in guilt, you can't help but notice what Iron's holding—a bowl of instant noodles that's as far from healthy as it gets, not even an egg or a sprig of broccoli in sight.

• Prompt: High EQ reply
• Chief: I'll do my best to keep out of your hair. Treating myself to some "Happy-Go-Lucky Fried Chicken" is part of my work-life balance routine.
• Iron: Well, rare treat or regular indulgence, your blood tests will spill the beans about your lipid and cholesterol levels.
• Chief: All of a sudden, this fried chicken doesn't smell as good as it used to...
• Iron: What's there to fear? I'm not about to turn you into a monk who shuns worldly pleasures. The choices we make about food and lifestyle are really just a trade-off—like how I chose quick fixes over nutritious, flavorful meals.
• Iron: It's a choice, whether to trade health for work or fun. I just want you to remember that, when you're making these choices, a lot of people depend on you to be healthy, and they care about your well-being.
• Chief: You've got a point. But Iron, it's the same with you—while you're deep in treating Mania and buried in your medical studies, remember that it's not just Anne and me, but a whole bunch of people who need you.
• Iron: Heh, you don't have to tell me that. Finished my meal, I'm heading out now.

• Prompt: Low EQ reply
• Chief: Hey Doc, are those instant noodles any good?
• Iron: No need to prod, I'm not eating this for the flavor. With energy bars off the shelves, this is the best bet for keeping hunger at bay.
• Chief: ...So, is it any good?
• Iron: ...Yeah, it's decent enough.
• System Notifications: Five minutes on, there you were, sitting together in the cafeteria, each with your own midnight snack. Iron's bowl of noodles boasted an extra two eggs and a dash of greens.
• Chief: You know, eating's one of the top ways to happiness for us humans. Since we're gonna eat regardless, why not make this meal our downtime in the whole work-play mix? Iron, your thoughts?
• Iron: When did you become the one to give me advice? Just because you tossed in a couple of eggs and some veggies?
• Chief: Hey, they're a tasty and nutritious combo—totally makes the cut in my book.

Clothing specially tailored for Syndicate's environment.

No. 3 frontal lobectomy, chief surgeon: Iron.