The Hush or HUSH System is a technology devised by Paradeisos. Through a procedure performed by the Ring Research Institute, a Sinner's emotions are separated from their conscious mind and sent into the Deep Mania. This Sinner can thus forth remain purely rational to observe the real world while their emotional side observes the world of Mania. This capability makes the Hush one of Paradeisos's most valuable tools for measuring risks and enacting their plans across DisCity. In the game's original Chinese, the Hush is referred to as a "clean up unit", solving problems that cannot be handled by any other institution in the city-state. Although multiple Sinners may have been subjected to the emotion-severing procedure at any given time, only one holds the title of "the Hush". Upon the previous Hush's death, a replacement is chosen and granted access to the Observatorium and a Schorl. Shalom is the 7th Generation and only known Hush. However, it is known that a replacement for her has already been lined up by Paradeisos, and Hecate is or was likely also a candidate to become the Hush.
In order to facilitate this process of observation, the Hush makes use of an artificially created spiritual realm called the Observatorium. The Hush monitors the volatile currents of Mania and the shifting landscapes of reality, and reports their observations to higher authorities alongside strategies for intervention. This technology also enables the use of "super-loop" technology, which transfers messages psychically through the Deep Mania and is the only communications system capable of penetrating a Black Ring. Meanwhile, their emotional mind becomes a distinct "Manic Entity", suffering from constant mutation in the chaotic world of Deep Mania. The Hush spends 90% of their time on watch in the Observatorium, except during exceptional periods, when they may be awakened in order to directly undertake for unique tasks.
In addition to their ability to act as an observer, the Hush possesses the ability to "Mark" Sinners, though it is not clear whether this is implanted in them at the same time as their emotions are severed or whether it is given to them when they become the Hush. Marking is a lesser implementation of the same technology as the Shackles, but has "high stakes and resource consumption"; therefore, Paradeisos preferred to rely on the Shepherd Plan and their Shackles as the primary means of controlling Sinners, while the Mark was to be reserved for "exceptionally valuable Dissenters". However, the Schorl believes that by the 8th or 9th generation Hush, they will have "full Marking capabilities" and could also take on the duty of detaining Sinners.
The separation creates a corrosive effect on the Hush's consciousness that makes errors more likely as time goes on and increases the risk of their severed emotions breaking through into the Observatorium. Due to this risk, they are accompanied at all times by a Schorl which serves as a communications device, a bodyguard, and a wary supervisor. Even with this vigilance, the system is not flawless. Shalom's conditioning was broken by her first meeting with the Chief, during which the tumultuous emotions that struck her through their Shackles created a crack that gradually allowed her sealed emotions to seep back into her conscious mind.
When the Hush's usable life is complete, they are recycled and destroyed. This usage period typically last ten years, but stress, exposure to Mania, or other outside influences may speed up their rate of degradation and require intervention and early replacement. The 6th Hush prematurely reached its limits during the Eclipse Operation due to the strain of communicating through the veil of BR-000 for an extended period of time. To guard against this risk, the Hush's Schorl responds with various levels of alert to any displays of emotion. When an alert is triggered, the Schorl immediately initiates a scan of the Hush to assess their M-Value, mental stability, and other factors gauging their reliability within the system. Known alert levels are:
- Level 1: Triggered by pointlessly tapping Schorl. Shalom intentionally triggers level 1 alerts from time to time in order to tamper with the Schorl's calibrations, allowing her to hide higher levels of dysfunction.
- Level 3: Triggered by breaking out in laughter.
- Level 4: Initiated after Shalom took the Chief into the Observatorium. If Shalom acted before the Schorl completed its scan at this level, it would immediately reduce the entire area to rubble.
- Level 6: Voicing Shalom's criticisms of Paradeisos's hypocrisy and cowardice would cause a "catastrophic" level 6 alert.
Paradeisos was forced to temporarily suspend usage of the Hush system at the end of the Blockade Operation due to Shalom's "silent rebellion". With the Observatorium destroyed and no solid information on how the system was compromised, Paradeisos refrained from completing their scheduled handover of the position from Shalom to her designated successor until the Observatorium could be repaired.
◆ HUSH Elite Unit
Paradeisos's most elite special forces are the HUSH unit, a mysterious detachment of shock troops that respond directly to the Hush and enact their plans by force when manipulation of other institutions is not enough. Hush Elites wear full-body white armor, including face-obscuring helmets. The true nature of these soldiers is unknown; they are referred to as "grotesque humanoids" and are rarely shown to speak and display strangely robotic tendencies and thought patterns when they do, able to be unsettled and somewhat manipulated through the use of tricky logic. It is possible that they are at least partially robotic, or at least modified with heavy cybernetic enhancements, and they were likely subjected to some form of experimentation along the lines of the emotion-severing procedure that created the Hush. Corso remarks that although the Hush unit are strong, "it's like fighting a bunch of rocks."
When the Hush system was suspended due to Shalom's rebellion, some Hush elites went rogue, attacking the Chief of the MBCC and Rahu without orders because of her connection to Shalom. However, Rahu is also seen leading the Hush elites during the final battles against BR-002; it is likely due to her continued mental connection to Shalom, Rahu inherited some degree of the Hush's authority over the unit.