Overview
The Framework Against Catastrophe, commonly known as the FAC, is the military branch of the DisCity government responsible for all matters pertaining to Mania. Founded in the wake of the DisSea Explosion, it is the largest official institution in DisCity with over ten thousand armed personnel. (citation: Sumire interrogation, phase 1) Unlike the Public Security Bureau, the FAC focuses on defense, with less of an appetite for offensive measures. The corruption of the Public Security Bureau also has not reached the FAC; 036 says that the FAC won't be fooled into becoming pawns in a political game, and doesn't station its troops just to stand in someone's way. Its only job is to fight Mania and prevent a catastrophe that could exterminate humanity. As such, the FAC bypasses conventional city government and reports directly to Paradeisos.
However, that does not mean the FAC has its hands entirely clean of other forms of corruption. In Wendy's interrogation, it is revealed that orphans from The Rust are often recruited into contamination cleanup squads, and are treated as somewhat disposable as compared to the elite mechanized units of the FAC. Wendy's old unit, the Undertakers, were underequipped and never given any protective gear despite their proximity to contamination sources while on cleanup duty for Corruptors. This led to Wendy's old squad captain resorting to selling Corruptor remains to corpse dealers in order to fund their activities and keep the team equipped. The relevant files for the Undertakers were sealed at some point in the past, covering up the existence of a dark period in the FAC's past activities.
The FAC is also active in information control campaigns due to the fact that even the knowledge of Black Rings' existence can have detrimental effects on people. For this reason, the FAC operates under a Code of Confidentiality. Supplemental Clause 74 of the Code allows 036 to divulge classified information about Black Rings during the events at Keylan Square, and requires him to assume accountability for any consequences thus incurred. To this end, the FAC also works with Banyan Medical System. After crises such as the Witching Hour, Banyan psychiatrists erase the memories of the survivors to prevent future mental contamination. The FAC also sometimes performs memory-wiping procedures on the families of Sinners, referred to as the Affiliate Protection Program. Although once a compulsory part of the Sinner apprehension policy, due to its severe side effects on the human body (which are not elaborated upon), the FAC no longer resorts to that so long as the individuals abide by a Non-Disclosure Agreement regarding their Sinner relative.
In addition to the minds of the public, the FAC considers the suppression of their own minds to be fundamental to their operations (5-9). To resist Mania, one must have an extremely rational mind, and so FAC soldiers are trained to develop extreme control over their emotions. 036 says that one must be able to rationally accept the deaths of their fellows in order to fight for the FAC. This training also contributes to the FAC's near-fanatical devotion to their cause; as their failure could mean the extinction of mankind, FAC soldiers will unflinchingly fight to the last man even in a losing battle. Critics of the FAC characterize this tendency as a love for meaningless sacrifices.
The FAC rarely recruits from Syndicate. The organization is also known for having a particularly ruthless approach to Sinners, but following the disastrous Ten Days of Rustfire in March of N.F. 113, the presumed death of the Chief and the neutralization of the Minos Bureau of Crisis Control as an effective organization, the FAC began to recruit Sinners for special higher-level operations.
Technology and Equipment
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The FAC is heavily equipped with Hypercube-derived anti-Mania technology. FAC soldiers' personal equipment includes heavy armor, anti-Mania bullets that are designed for use against Corruptors (and are able to weaken Sinners) and personal Mania blockers. They also wield melee weaponry, such as 036's ax. At larger scale, the FAC possesses enormous portable towers that use Hypercubes to project anti-Mania barriers, which they use to contain severe Mania outbreaks, as well as enormous armored vehicles with tremendous firepower that are employed in defense of the DisSea Surveillance Zone.
After "the war" (cite: Wendy, making it difficult to know what conflict she is referring to, but likely the DisSea Explosion), the FAC developed technology that uses "genetic branding" and engraves an individual's blood ions into the metal of their dog tags. The stated purpose of this technology is to make their corpses easier to identify.