Adela

Original

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ID

Basic Information

Name: Adela
No.: MBCC-S-706
Threat Assessment: S-Rank
Tendency: Umbra
Alignment: SLOTH

Birthplace: Eastside
Height: 165cm
Gender: Female
DOB: June 24

Ability: Cognition Severance
Case: Eastside Fog Alley Attack Case

Info: A Sinner adept at breaking Cores. Deals Core Damage when casting an Ultimate.

Criminal Record

An Eastside hairdresser as well as the subject of the Fog Alley urban legend. Appearing mostly in the dark alley at night, she's been accused of multiple crimes including attacking residents and obscuring their memories. Due to the nature of her ability, her victims' accounts are often dismissed as fiction. Incomplete research shows that she's victimized close to a hundred people.

—

With Chief's help, the subject has regained partial memories about the Fog Alley case. When her identity was exposed, she often severed all relationships and moved to a new place. It's believed that she aspires to the mundanity of daily life to compensate for the lack of close relationships. Through interactions with Chief, she gradually recognizes the MBCC as her new base and no longer provides her previous extreme services.

Mutation Assessment

Ability Summary

Her ability can interfere with others' minds and perception of the past. So far, the recorded direct effect is influencing or altering memories. The duration and effect of the ability depends on the subject's condition. Besides causing mental influence, her shears, made of a material stronger than regular metals, can also deal physical damage.

Awakening Signs

The reasons and exact time of power awakening is unknown. The nature of her ability severely hinders the investigation, but judging from the timeline of the spread of the Fog Alley legend, she must have already awakened for some time.

Corruption State

Although her physical appearance is normal, her physical abilities are actually far superior to those of ordinary people. It's not immediately apparent, but the subject has long been plagued by hallucinations and her memories show signs of self-interference.

Arrest Records

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During the Fog Alley case, the subject fled after severing all the witnesses' memories about her. She then repeatedly escaped the FAC's arrests and was eventually captured by Chief and brought back to the MBCC.

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The subject had repeatedly altered others' and her own memories, which seriously impacts her own mental state. It's currently impossible to verify if her obsession with the mundanity of daily life is linked to her past experiences.

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The investigation shows that the subject lived with her mother since childhood, shouldering most daily chores and tolerating her mother's negative emotions constantly. Her past with her mother could be key to her awakening.

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For her mother's happiness, the subject trimmed off both her and her mother's memories of each other. In the following years, she served her clients with her ability by cutting away their trouble-inducing memories until she was found out. She kept moving homes to protect her daily life, unintentionally spreading the urban legend surrounding her.

Performance in Serving Term

Show

Though she hasn't shown particular interest in things other than serving clients, she often keeps flowers and fragrances in her cell, calling it a trick to mask the smell of hair spray.

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The subject's highly likable character makes the Sinners and staff lower their guard and open up to her easily. After two attack attempts, the MBCC decided to hold an internal seminar to promote the importance of privacy. In response, Adela claimed that she was only trying to help them.

Show

The subject has transformed her cell into a vintage-style hair salon where she provides various services to the Sinners in the Bureau. Rumor has it that she can produce anything from her counter, and many like to test that theory for fun. But this service has soon been restricted ever since she took out a forbidden weapon from her counter.

Show

She invites Chief to an afternoon tea every week and always prepares ample treats beforehand. This is the only occasion that she insists Chief come alone as she prefers not to be disturbed by other Sinners. "Being by Chief's side is the mundane routine I dream of."

Mechanics

Skill

Trimming _{(Normal Attack)}

Adela attacks with her shears, dealing (Attack*70%-126%) Physical Damage each time.

Mad Hairdresser _(Ultimate)

Adela moves to the designated grid and deals (Attack*600%-1200%) Physical Damage and 1 Core Damage to all enemies within skill range. She then enters the [Mad Shears] state and gains 30 marks. Up to 45 marks can be stacked.
[Mad Shears]: Each time Adela deals normal attack damage to an enemy, she consumes 3 marks and additionally deals (Attack*90%-180%) Physical Damage to that enemy. This effect can deal CRIT hit and CRIT effect depends on Adela's CRIT Rate and CRIT Damage Bonus.
When all marks are used up, Adela quits the [Mad Shears] state.

Blade and Hair _{(Passive 1)}

CRIT Rate increases by 20%-40%. While the [Mad Shears] state lasts, Adela has a 50% probability of gaining 1 mark with each CRIT hit. Allied Sinners also have a 30% probability of giving Adela 1 mark whenever they deal a CRIT hit. The effect has a 1-second trigger interval.

Farewell Misgivings _{(Passive 2)}

While [Mad Shears] state lasts, for every 3 marks Adela consumes, she gains a 5%-10% CRIT Damage increase. The effect stacks up to 8 times and lasts until Adela quits the [Mad Shears] state.

Empty Alley _{(Mania Intensify)}

When no other Sinners are present within the cross area range, Adela gains a 15% CRIT Rate increase.

Shackle

1 - The Phantom in the Mist

Gains 15 extra marks when using her Ultimate.

2 - Shackles Sync I

Attack +5%.

3 - Attentive Service

Passive Skill [Blade and Hair]'s effect boosted. While [Mad Shears] state lasts, Adela has a 100% probability of gaining 2 marks with each CRIT hit. Allied Sinners also have a 60% probability of giving Adela 2 marks whenever they deal a CRIT hit. The effect has a 1-second trigger interval.

4 - Energy Overflowing

Adela gains 15 energy at the start of a battle.

5 - Shackles Sync II

Attack +5%.

Exclusive Crimebrand

Misty Alley

CRIT Damage increases by 20%-40%. New exclusive Ultimate [Fog Stealth]. Adela moves to the designated grid and attacks 5 times, each time dealing (Attack*200%-400%) Physical Damage to the enemy with the lowest HP percentage within skill range. (This will be treated as normal attack damage and CRIT hit will not be dealt) [Fog Stealth] has a 10-second cooldown time after each use and can only be used twice in every battle.

—

_{"The next customer who needs me… Where will you be…?"}

Background

The legend of Mad Shears changes location every few years. Past locations are Dorset Street, Ashby Village, and the Central Business District.

Role

Main Story

Events

The Phantom of the Mist

After the Chief is attacked and has their memory severed by Mad Shears, Adela finds them and brings them back to her apartment to recuperate. The next morning, she leaves the Chief a note to stay home and wait for her to come back from work, but is surprised when the Chief later arrives at her salon, chased by Mad Shears. She comforts them after their battle and soothes some of their worries about their lost identity. The two return to her apartment together.

The next morning, Adela again urges the Chief to stay home, but graciously understands there's no chance they will do that, and provides them with a key to her apartment. After the Chief investigates the town and her neighbors, they chat again at the salon. Adela says that she has had to move around often in her past, but is happy to have found a place that she can settle down peacefully. In Sloane Street, she has a job that she can do well and a community that makes her comfortable. The Chief expresses concern for Adela's safety in the fog, but she says that she is in no danger. The fog monsters prey on people's worries, but Adela has none. Her customers come to her and share their worries with her, but being able to help with their concerns only makes her happy. Nevertheless, the Chief leaves again to pursue Mad Shears. When they successfully recover one half of the cursed shears and are overcome by its Mania, Adela follows them to the top of the Sloane Street clock tower. She apologizes for making them carry that burden and reveals that the shears are hers. They were broken and lost during her battle with the Chief two nights before, and that with only one blade, the shears can only bring worries to life by making hair monsters, but with both blades they can cut off the worries completely. She reunites the blades, and becomes Mad Shears again.

Adela returns to severing the worries of every person in Sloane Street, until the Chief confronts her at her salon. She expresses her desire to free them from their troubles, but the Chief says that they would prefer to have Adela there to talk with them and help through their worries than to forget them. Adela rebuts that she can only soothe their troubles for a short time, but Mad Shears can solve them forever. She defeats the Chief again, but before she can complete the victory, Nightingale, Hella, and Hecate arrive at the head of a FAC task force. Their appearance draws the attention of the town, and the people of Sloane Street realize that Adela is the true identity of Mad Shears. Adela realizes that she has again lost the community that she loved, and feels worry for the first time in a long time. Distraught, Adela flees, taking only a small suitcase from her apartment before leaving town.

Interrogation

Phase 1

Show

Some time after having fled from Sloane Street, Adela is arrested at the next site where the legend of Mad Shears emerges. After attacking numerous MBCC staff, she is brought to the Chief for interrogation. Neither of them remember anything of their meeting in Sloane Street. Adela confirms that she is Mad Shears, but denies any knowledge of the places where Mad Shears has appeared or the attacks that she has committed. The Chief opens Adela’s suitcase and produces evidence of her life in all those different locations, but still can’t detect any signs that she is lying. They realize that Adela has erased her own memory as well. Adela confirms this, saying that it allows her to live freely with perfect peace of mind. In a pocket of the suitcase, the Chief also finds a rusted old key with the address 12 Dorset Street and conclude that it must be where Adela lived before becoming Mad Shears. Although Adela doesn’t understand why that’s significant, the Chief decides to take her there to investigate the beginning of the mystery.

Phase 2

Show

The Chief and Adela find 12 Dorset Street in a poor neighborhood of Eastside. Adela is skeptically bemused at the Chief's insistence on pursuing this lead, but plays along good-naturedly. The building is long-deserted, but the key works. Inside, the Chief looks around for clues while Adela habitually tidies the dusty apartment. Finding nothing to go on, the Chief resorts to more drastic measures to find answers. They hold Adela's shears, and see the thick hairs of discarded worries grow over the room. They touch the hair and are pulled into Adela's old memories. The Chief and Adela witness that Adela lived at 12 Dorset Street when she was a teenager. Her mother was irresponsible and alcoholic, clearly resentful of her lost youth and of her daughter. She pressured the young Adela to use her looks to become an actress, model, or other high-paying job so that Adela could support her, and ridiculed Adela for saying she wanted to be a hairdresser. Ultimately, Adela left home after they fought over her disapproval of her mother's new fiancé William; having been kicked out, she awakened as a Sinner, felt her hair growing, and cut it off for the first time. With the memories restored to her, Adela defends her decision to sever those worries, and tell the Chief that with them gone, both she and her mother were free to live their own lives without the burden of their codependence. She tries to leave, but the Chief produces more evidence — a recording from somebody familiar with the residents of that apartment.

Phase 3

Show

In the recording, the Chief talks with a waiter at the bar where Adela's mother used to work. The waiter tells them that her name was Mary Anne Kelly, and that she had been a promising ballerina until she became involved with a seedy man who impregnated and then abandoned her. She began working at the bar to support Adela, until she met William, a wealthy Phantom Entertainment executive. William disliked Adela, and when he proposed to Kelly, he said he would send Adela away to boarding school. The waiter recounts how Kelly rejected that idea, but the next day, when the other staff asked her about her daughter, Kelly did not remember her and never mentioned her again. Even without her memories of Adela, Kelly broke up with William shortly after.

Adela listens to the recording of the conversation impassively, as the Chief explains that they think Adela's argument with her mother was the result of miscommunication and that their difficult relationship could have been mended. However, Adela coldly replies that she's beyond caring — these memories are more like somebody else's than her own. She praises the Chief's desire to help people, but says that she has a better and faster way of resolving her troubles. The Chief is forced to use the Shackles to prevent her from erasing both their memories of these events. Connected by the Shackles, their missing memories of their time together on Sloane Street return to them. Adela weakly acquiesces to the Chief's insistence that she learn how to face her past, rather than instinctively running away, but she doesn't believe that all the memories she's lost can be regained. As she passes out, the Chief promises to find a way.

Phase 4

Show

Some time has passed, and Adela no longer attacks the MBCC staff. However, she feels restless and claustrophobic in the Bureau, so the Chief arranges for her to have a field day where she gets to work in a hair salon in Eastside. As the Chief planned, Kelly enters the salon with a planted coupon for a free haircut. She doesn't recognize Adela, but Adela knows her; she immediately understands that this was arranged by the Chief, but silently begins to work on Kelly's hair. Meanwhile, Kelly talks about she used to dismiss the value of a hairdresser, but now understands how a good haircut can put you in a good mood. She works at a nursery, and has a difficult time dealing with the young children in her charge. To both her and Adela's surprise, the Chief asks if Kelly has heard of Mad Shears, and suggests that she seek it out so that it can get rid of her worries. Kelly declines, explaining that while the children give her hell, she loves them nonetheless. She says that she sometimes feels like she used to have a daughter, but she believes that she would have made a terrible parent. As Adela finishes the haircut, Kelly begins to cry, though she can't explain why, and apologizes for saying so much. Adela speaks her first words of the encounter, and says that it's part of her job to listen to customers' troubles.

After Kelly leaves, the Chief apologizes for springing this on her, but Adela thanks them. She says that she did not understand why the Chief wanted to keep their troubles, but now the hair she has grown because of them feels less like a heavy burden than like a reassuring weight, keeping her anchored. She is excited to continue forward into the future without having to run away.

Emotion Checks

[Adela is polishing the scissors in her hand.]

Adela: You look a bit tired, is something bothering you lately?

Chief: ……

• Prompt: Are you going to cut off my worries for me?
  • Adela: Hmmm… maybe you need a hot drink more than a trim. How about black tea?
  • Adela: 😉
• Prompt: …Please put the scissors down first.
  • Adela: Relax, it's just a regular pair of scissors.
  • Adela: 😐

—

[Adela gently strokes the ends of your hair.]

Adela: What kind of hairstyle do you want this time?

Chief: ……

• Prompt: Just keep it simple. I'll leave it to you.
  • Adela: Got it. I'll take care of it~
  • Adela: 😘😘

• Prompt: What's the latest fad? Uh… thunderbolt spiral exploding hair?
  • Adela: Hmm… this look is too fashion-forward for you.
  • Adela: 😦

Supervision Events

⚠ Hair Savior

Adela has some valuable advice to give on how to choose a shampoo.

System Notifications: Adela has recommended a suitable shampoo for each hair type, and the overall scalp health has significantly improved in the Bureau.

• Prompt: Thanks, Adela!

—

⚠ Nostalgia

Adela is decorating her room.

System Notifications: Soon after joining the MBCC, Adela has transformed her room into her new hair salon. She's even recreated the decorations of her original hair salon the best she could.

• Prompt: Perhaps she's feeling nostalgic.

—

⚠⚠ Hand Cream

Inside the infirmary, the nurse is talking to Adela.

Nurse: Your wound is a little inflamed. I've cleaned it and redone the dressing. Don't forget to drop by every day to change the dressing.

Adela: I will, thank you.

Nurse: By the way, avoid water before it heals completely.

Adela: It can't get wet, I see…

System Notifications: The conversation from the infirmary grabs your attention. When you get closer, Adela happens to walk out.

• Prompt: Ask

Chief: Adela, did you get hurt?

Adela: Oh, it's nothing, just a small crack on the hand.

Adela: It'll heal soon. Please don't worry about it.

System Notifications: Adela reaches out the hand to you. There's a once-centimeter crack on her fingertip. Ointment has been applied, but it still looks a bit swollen. You also notice the skin on her hand is dry and rough.

Adela: It's a bit annoying I can't get my hand wet though. I still gotta shampoo the hair of my clients…

Chief: Why don't you take a few days off from the hair salon? Let your wound heal.

Chief: Your hand is cracked and inflamed because you shampoo too many clients' hair every day, no?

Chief: I keep a few good hand creams in my office, I'll bring them to you later. Remember to us them once your hand has healed.

Adela: Got it. Thanks, Chief. That's too nice of you.

—

⚠⚠ Handywoman

Lately, you've heard a rumor about Adela.

System Notifications: You've recently heard a rumor about Adela. She can seemingly produce anything from her counter. Out of pure curiosity, you decide to go and verify the legends about this mysterious counter.

• Prompt: See what Adela's up to

Chief: Good morning, Adela. Busy today?

System Notifications: Arriving at Adela's room, you find her humming a tune and cleaning her hair salon with a vacuum cleaner you've never seen before.

Adela: Hey, Chief. The weather's lovely today. Thinking of trying a new hairstyle?

Chief: Um… I'm quite happy with my current hairstyle. I do have a favor to ask though, can you help me?

Adela: Of course, Chief. Whatever you need, just name it.

• Prompt: Start with something simple

Chief: Um, I'm feeling like a bottle of peach juice. Have you got some by any chance?

Adela: Be right back!

System Notifications: Adela returns to her counter and you can tell from the sound that she opens a fridge. A minute later, she's back, holding a glass of fresh peach juice.

• Prompt: Let's take it up a notch

Chief: I know this sounds spontaneous, but I was also wondering if I could borrow a vinyl of the band Spaceship…

System Notifications: Before you finish, she gets behind the counter and somehow produces a record. Exactly the one you're asking for.

Chief: …Oh? Um, yeah, that's the one, thanks…

• Prompt: Alright, this is getting a bit confusing

Chief: I'm curious, is there anything you can't get from behind that counter?

Adela: Seriously, yes. These are all unwanted items left behind by my clients. They serve no purpose.

Chief: The trimmed memories, huh…

Adela: Just some worthless objects. By the way, do you still need anything else?

Chief: Ahem, no. I'm only here to check out your counter. It's indeed as fascinating as the rumor suggests.

—

⚠⚠⚠ Mother's Pendant

Adela, who's usually easygoing and chatty, is pacing in the Outdoor Activity sullenly. Something seems off.

System Notifications: Adela, who's usually easygoing and chatty, is pacing in the Outdoor Activity sullenly. Something seems off.

• Prompt: Ask if she's okay

Chief: What's going on, Adela? Is something bothering you?

Adela: Oh! It's you, Chief.

Adela: No, it's nothing serious. I'm just slightly distracted by this thing…

Chief: What is it? Would you mind telling me?

Adela: Actually…

Adela: I've had this gem pendant for years, but I only found out today that it's in fact a locket with a photo of a young woman hidden inside.

Adela: I'm sure it's nothing important, but I somehow feel like I've seen this photo before…

System Notifications: You recognize that it's Adela's mother. She's severed all her memories about her mother, including the early ones when Adela was still a child, but the related emotions surely cannot be so easily removed.

• Prompt: Just a beautiful stranger.
  • Chief: It's just an ordinary woman. Though I must say, she resembles you in some ways.
  • Adela: Oh? Now that you've said it, I do have her eyes.
  • Adela: It's just a little weird that I'm so preoccupied with this…
  • Adela: Chief, do you know why?
  • Chief: Hmm… Can't say I do.
  • Adela: Sorry for keeping you for so long. I'm sure it doesn't have any special meaning. I'll go back to work now.
  • Adela: Remember, you're always welcome at my salon, Chief.
  • System Notifications: Perhaps it's not time yet. Watching Adela return to her hair salon, humming a melody, you can't help feeling a pang.

• Prompt: Perhaps she's someone important to you.
  • Chief: She could be someone important to you. Otherwise, why would you have kept her photo for so long?
  • Adela: But… I… I'm confused…
  • Adela: She's only a stranger… Why do I feel so upset all of a sudden…
  • System Notifications: Tears suddenly begin falling from Adela's eyes for some reason even she doesn't comprehend. She seems a bit flustered at first, but soon collects herself.
  • Adela: Sorry, Chief. I'm such a mess.
  • Chief: …
  • Adela: I should head back to my room and take a rest.
  • System Notifications: Adela's steps seem particularly heavy. You watch her back and sigh softly.