Cassia

Her special power can extract fragrances from the human body and make special perfumes that make those who smell them happy, invigorated, and have everlasting youth. A slight tweak to the recipe can also quickly weaken people and make them unwell.

The subject's caregiver was infected with Mania and became Corruptor-like, so the subject suffered Mania corruption through daily contact with him. Her powers were then awakened by extreme stress.

She shows no outward abnormalities, but the severe Mania contamination has greatly affected her mental state, amplifying her fears, paranoia, and other extreme emotions. Coupled with her eccentric upbringing, she developed a highly distorted worldview.

Eastside's most mysterious perfumer. No one has ever seen what she looks like. Rumor has it that her perfumes can bring everlasting youth, which makes them popular among the rich and famous. Investigations suggest that she may be spreading Mania and abducting members of the public, and must be detained immediately.

Thanks to the Chief's patient teaching and management, the subject's understanding of societal norms has significantly improved, and the distorted views caused by her eccentric upbringing have been somewhat corrected. While living at the Bureau, she no longer exhibits extreme behaviors, and regularly receives psychological treatment and engages in normal perfume-making activities.

Due to her intentional spreading of Mania and suspected involvement in many disappearances over the years, the subject was personally arrested by the MBCC Chief at the perfume gala she hosted.

The subject was adopted by a wealthy collector in Eastside when she was very young. Because of her beautiful appearance and extraordinary sense of smell, she was favored and lived a privileged life. After the collector's death, she inherited all his wealth as the only heir.

The subject refuses to admit that her actions violate the law. In her view, spreading Mania perfume isn't harmful to others, but rather a generous act of kindness. Those lucky enough to use them have a chance of getting an even greater honor: becoming the inspiration for her next perfume.

After witnessing her foster father's atrocities, the subject awakened her special power in extreme horror, which traumatized her sense of smell: she now constantly smells an unbearable stench. The reason she started making perfumes was to soothe her own mental state. However, her perfumes' scent never lasts long enough, so she has always longed to create an "Immortal Fragrance" that will never fade.

After finding samples of perfumes that contain traces of Mania, the Public Security Bureau sends the Chief files for numerous missing person’s cases. Although each case is unsolved, they all are regarding beautiful women, and each missing woman has a name that matches with a discovered perfume. The PSB is also unable to determine the identity of the perfumer who created them, but they provide the Chief with an invitation to a gala where the offending perfumes will be sold. There, the Chief overhears gossip that there will be an auction for a perfume that can grant eternal youth. They are approached by an investigative journalist named Lucas; his daughter is one of the missing women, but he hasn’t yet found a perfume with her name.

The Shackles activate suddenly and point the Chief towards Cassia, whom they find in the process of using her ability on a sleeping woman. The Chief quickly Shackles her and takes her atomizer, which seems to be the medium through which Cassia activates her power. To their surprise Cassia appears unconcerned about her arrest, only demanding the return of her perfume. Through the Shackles, the Chief senses no emotions whatsoever from her, leaving them unsettled and uncertain about the interrogation to come.

At the perfume gala, you not only meet Lucas, an investigative journalist claiming to be a victim’s father, but also shackle Cassia and prevent new victims from appearing. The photo of Lucas’s daughter is not only a clue, but also a father’s prayer. You will carry it with you as you formally interrogate the perfumer.

After half an hour of interrogation, the Chief has failed to get any information from Cassia besides her name. Any other question is met with total indifference and complaints about the smell in the interrogation room. However, Cassia’s condition rapidly deteriorates, ultimately leading to an emotional breakdown that forces the Chief to stabilize her with the Shackles. This evokes a sudden change in her demeanor, as Cassia begins to praise the Chief’s fragrance and cooperate with their questioning. Cassia explains that she possesses a supernaturally strong sense of smell, able to even discern the scents of different people. When she broke down before, she had remembered the smell of blood from a traumatic incident in her past, which she says is imprinted on her mind and follows her constantly unless she uses her ability to create a special perfume that keeps it at bay. She is enamored with the Shackles, which apparently transmit the Chief’s scent and are capable of driving away the bloody smell.

Taking advantage of Cassia’s new attitude, the Chief resumes questioning her about the disappearances. Cassia confirms that her perfumes are inspired by the body scents of the missing women, but insists that she would have no reason to harm them. The Chief shows her a picture of Lucas’s daughter, Fleur, but Cassia has no recollection of her appearance. However, the Chief pushes deeper, and detects through the Shackles that Cassia is having an emotional response to the memory of a perfume with her name. Although Cassia is not forthcoming with answers, the Chief demands to be taken to the perfumery where she stores her scents.

Your shackles successfully soothe Cassia’s indescribable fear. She changes her attitude and begins to cooperate with your questioning. However, when you test Cassia with the name and photo of Lucas’s daughter Fleur, her reaction is somewhat suspicious. You decide to take her to the perfume room to further investigate.

Cassia shows the Chief around her perfumery. Although she is proud of the fragrances she has created from the missing women, she must still continue to search for more ingredients because the women's scents always fade quickly. She begins to rave about the Chief’s fragrance, which she believes is the perfect ingredient for her to reach the pinnacle of her craft. Lucas suddenly breaks into the perfumery, having tailed the Chief and Cassia there. He demands to know what happened to Fleur, and Cassia recounts a story from her youth: Cassia was the adopted daughter of a sadistic man who collected beautiful women. Without understanding the consequences of her actions, Cassia had lured Fleur from her home in the city’s slums to the Collector’s house. There Fleur was imprisoned, and when she tried to escape, she was murdered by the Collector. The smell of Fleur’s blood traumatized the youngCassia, but it also awakened her as a Sinner. Cassia turned Fleur’s fragrance into a perfume and used its Mania power to preserve her beauty (and thus her life, from the Collector’s wrath) until the Collector died.

Horrified by this revelation, Lucas drops the bottle containing Fleur’s perfume, shattering it. Cassia confesses that all this time, she has been trying to make a perfume that can replicate Fleur's power; with the last of Fleur’s perfume now gone, Cassia flies into a rage, forcing the Chief to subdue her with the Shackles again. The Chief asks why she continued to help the Collector even after seeing his true colors, but Cassia fails to understand the fault in her complicity, believing that her actions are vindicated by the fact that she needed to use their scents in order to survive in that house. The Chief regrets that Cassia’s upbringing has made her both a perpetrator and a victim, but resolves that she will require strict control and reeducation to save. Cassia refuses to concede that she must stop harming people, and presents an ultimatum that she will only stop if the Chief lets her create a perfect perfume from their own scent. The Chief refuses, countering that they will use the Shackles regularly to prevent future breakdowns from her psychosis. Though Cassia doesn’t accept this outcome, she is powerless to resist it.

The Chief has a final conversation with Lucas and apologizes that they can’t even allow him to keep the remains of Fleur’s perfume, as it is contaminated with Mania. Lucas recounts that Fleur was always happy to help anybody in need. He believes that she would still be happy that she helped Cassia even after her death, and that because of her sacrifice nobody else would need to suffer again. Alone in her room at the MBCC, Cassia luxuriates in the smell of a mysterious perfume made from a strand of black hair.

Lucas, who suddenly barged in, finds the perfume named “Fleur.” You learn from Cassia about what happened to Fleur, and about her own dark past. Lost lives can’t be saved, but at least you can break the cycle and try to remove Cassia’s darkness.

The subject is passionate about collecting glass bottles of various styles. After the Supply Office tabulated her procurement list, it was discovered that she purchased bottles with plant and flower designs the most, followed by animal and insect designs.

The subject has extremely high standards for perfume quality, and will start over if there is the slightest imperfection in the perfume-making process. One day, she was spotted dumping perfume into the sewage treatment pool, claiming they were flawed waste materials that were no different from sewage.

During her detention, the subject kept a low profile and hardly participated in social activities with other Sinners. However, she showed an extraordinary interest in specific people, expressing her admiration and approval by imagining and describing their scents. Without exception, all of these people have beautiful appearances.

The subject regularly receives psychological counseling and rehabilitation from the Chief. During these sessions, she has repeatedly expressed her wish to make perfume inspired by the Chief, but has not been granted permission.

[Cassia is browsing perfume reviews online in the Recreation Area.]

Cassia: The scent of perfume is becoming more complex, more industrialized, almost covering up the pure scent... Even the reviews are filled with an unpleasant industrial smell...

Chief: ......

• Prompt: Everyone has different tastes in perfume. Don't mind them.
• Cassia: How piteous... I hope they're fortunate enough to experience the purest fragrance in the world. Mmm....
• Cassia: 😫

• Prompt: Your perfumes aren't available anymore. They are probably talking about fakes.
• Cassia: Even if they could replicate the scent of my perfume, they'd probably emit a terrible stench themselves.
• Cassia: 😥

[Cassia receives another invitation to be a judge at a beauty pageant.]

Cassia: If I have to pick the best perfume material... ahem, I mean, the best beauty, I must be there in person...

Chief: ......

• Prompt: I understand. I'll go with you.
• Cassia: Then I think you should be the ultimate champion!
• Cassia: 😏😏

• Prompt: After your way too close "assessment" on every contestant last time, they still want you back?
• Cassia: That's because the organizers know very well that the scores I give are the most convincing...
• Cassia: 😉

⚠ Side Effects

Cassia finds hypnotherapy to be ineffective.

System Notifications: A few hit-and-miss hypnosis treatments later, it turns out that while hypnosis can kind of perk up Cassia's spirits, it dulls her sense of smell in the process. And that's a no-go for her.

• Prompt: Time to look into other treatments.

⚠ Terror Strike

When beauty calls, one can hardly say no.

System Notifications: Horror flicks at the Recreation Area just got way scarier. Turns out, Enfer's been on a quest to study fear in all its forms and got Cassia to whip up a special perfume that cranks up the fear factor, sneaking a few spritzes in during showtime.

• Prompt: Hey, no scaring folks for fun, and definitely no aiding and abetting the tormentors.

⚠ Ulterior Motive

Rooms near Cassia are suddenly in high demand.

System Notifications: Suddenly, there's a rush of Sinners clamoring for rooms near Cassia's place. A bit of digging reveals why: the fragrance Cassia gives off while training has the power to make people more beautiful. They're all flocking to her, eager for a whiff of beauty.

• Prompt: Firmly reject

⚠⚠ Vanished Cake

A keen sense of smell can not only assist in fragrance creation but also solve cases.

System Notifications: The intense work stint is over, and you drop your files, eager for a snack break. The cafeteria lady promised a little cake tucked away in the fridge, a bit of sugary healing for your soul.

Chief: Where's the cake? It should be right here, on this shelf, in a box with my name on it.

Hella: Why the long face gazing into the fridge?

• Prompt: Ask

Chief: Looking for my cake. It was supposed to be right here. You're always here buttering up the cafeteria lady for snacks, have you seen anyone swipe it?

Hella: That little thing? Wouldn't even fill me up in two bites—who would... cough I mean, nope, didn't see anything!

Chief: Guess the cake bandit's gonna get away with it, huh...

System Notifications: Just then, you notice Cassia, who is casually passing by among the group of Sinners who have come to watch the commotion. Thinking of her sensitive sense of smell, you have an idea.

• Prompt: Call out to her

Chief: Cassia! Can you help me out here?

Cassia: Need something? It's a bit too smelly for me here... I'd like to leave if that's okay.

Chief: Help me find out who took it, and you're free to go. You can tell who's got that fresh cake smell, right? The same one from last night's dessert.

Cassia: Scent of cake? Are you talking about that blend of creamy smoothness and sweet sugariness?

Cassia: If that's what you're after... there's a fresh layer of it on this girl right here. It's tangled up with a lively citrus scent... chaotic, yet not off-putting...

Hella: Oops, just remembered I've got things to do, gotta dash, don't bother!

Chief: I had a hunch it was you, Hella!

⚠⚠ Perfume Formulas

Cassia seems to have lost a very important diary.

System Notifications: Recently, the Sinner Cassia started moving in patterns that set off alarm bells. She's suspected of bribing someone on the inside. We need to look into this, pronto.

• Prompt: View detailed report

Chief: On XX/XX, Cassia was caught whispering to several workers for hours on end, handing them mysterious parcels with nothing but sticky notes attached...

Chief: Cassia, about this incident, is there anything you'd like to clear up?

Cassia: All I did was lose something. I've enlisted their help to find it.

Chief: So you're saying the sticky notes described what you lost, and the parcels were their finder's fee? That could make sense.

Chief: But why not just report it to the lost and found office?

Cassia: It's too important to me. I didn't want just anyone without appreciation for its value snooping through my personal matters.

• Prompt: Check out Cassia's missing item notice.

Chief: A diary with gold-trimmed covers, carrying a strong whiff of fancy perfume, about an inch or so thick...

Chief: I swear I've seen it before.

System Notifications: You pass the diary you picked up to Cassia and watch as she excitedly flips through it with an intensity that's rare for her. You find yourself wondering, what's in there that's got her so fired up?

Cassia: Hamel One... Enfer Two... Yes! It's all here, not a single page gone. My beloved perfume formulas are intact; nothing's missing...

Chief: A collection of perfume formulas? I see, it's not a diary, but a notebook for jotting down fragrance inspirations.

⚠⚠⚠ Every Gain Has Its Way

Cassia has been fitting in a lot more recently.

System Notifications: Cassia, a perfumer who's all in when it comes to her craft, usually couldn't care less about anything that doesn't involve fragrances or spices, and she's not one for social butterflies either. But recently, there's been a noticeable change in her.

• Prompt: Greet Cassia

Chief: Cassia? There you are again. Have you been cozying up with the team recently?

Cassia: Not at all.

Chief: Well, I've spotted you mingling with the staff quite a bit these days.

Cassia: Just a trade, nothing more.

Chief: Trade? Hold up, what are you holding?

Cassia: Just a few spices.

• Prompt: Take the bag from Cassia's hand

Chief: Blue hair... You've been greasing palms to get a lock of Hamel's hair, haven't you?

Cassia: Is that a problem? We're just swapping favors here, and nobody's getting hurt.

Cassia: Hair isn't the best for perfumery, sure... but letting Hamel's lyrically refined scent go uncollected? That'd be a crime against artistry...

• Prompt: Take a hard stance
• Cassia: I'm lost. I haven't violated any policies, nor have I used any of the "unorthodox" spices you've banned...
• Cassia: In this haven of fine spices, resorting to hair is a compromise on my part... Denying that is akin to stripping away my very breath...
• Chief: Let's go to my office, Cassia. The things you're missing, I'll lay them out for you, step by step.

• Prompt: Strike a compromise
• Cassia: So, getting their approval is the key? Got it. I'm sure they won't turn me down...
• Cassia: Heh, looks like my spice cabinet will soon be stocked with some irresistibly premium scents... Can't wait...
• Chief: Cassia, hold on, what's with the scissors?
• System Notifications: As you watch Cassia stride off, it hits you that something's off.
• Chief: That's not the way to Hamel's place; you've got it mixed up, that leads to Adela's quarters—

The neat and elegant dress that Cassia often wears while concocting fragrances.

Fragrant, passionate, pure, vibrant... It's been a while since I've smelled such a special scent.