While it is possible to address Branches alone, many Hosts benefit from the support that Adjuncts can offer. Adjuncts can increase the success rates, typically by strengthening defenses, increasing firepower, or even serving as a distraction. Adjuncts can be classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary.
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Primary and secondary Adjuncts are queued during staging via physical touch, while tertiary Adjuncts are brought in during staging by a Vice extending its tracks to include those in the staging radius. Adjuncts are admitted to the Branch Domain after the Host has entered, typically based on the point in time they joined the queue during staging. For example, those who joined the queue shortly after staging begun will be admitted to the Branch Domain shortly after the Host and quit a bit before those who joined toward the end of staging. Learn more about the staging phase of a Branch in Branch Phases or learn more about The Admission Process below.
Primary and secondary Adjuncts must maintain contact with the Host during both staging and production. Due to their lack of contact, tertiary Adjuncts are often self-dismissed from Branches. During an active Branch, Adjuncts contribute to the Branch in both the corporeal realm and the metaphysical realm. In the corporeal realm, Adjuncts maintain physical contact with the Host and transmit a steady supply of AV to the Host to bolster their internal AV levels. In the metaphysical realm, Adjuncts spar against the Vice’s exhibition and work to damage or destroy its core. As of now, our current understanding is that the events in both these realms mirror the other, so if an Adjunct increases their AV output in the corporeal realm, their patch may hit harder in the metaphysical realm.
Adjuncts can have effects on active Branches in multiple ways, and their proximity to the Host can affect their impact and abilities within the Branch Domain. Secondary and primary Adjuncts have similar admission procedures, and their distinction is typically more semantic and used to distinguish relationships in a CVRS patient’s chart, though there are some minor physiological differences between the tiers.
Tertiary Adjuncts are a relatively rare phenomenon, typically unassuming strangers brought into Branches by a Vice to throw off the Host and increase energy consumption if a Vice is confident in reaching dispersion. Without anthropomorphizing these creatures, many consider tertiary Adjuncts as “hostages”, wherein they use these people to distract the Host or raise the stakes. This theory is likely held because tertiary Adjuncts often tend to be young children or those who cannot fend for themselves. Vices seem to target children in these instances, as they are more susceptible to being admitted and not being able to self-dismiss from Branches as easily as adults can.
As stated, tertiary Adjuncts are not common. These Adjuncts are typically only associated with specific Vice classifications, such as Theta Vices, or intelligent, calculating Vices, as the act of queuing and maintaining a connection with tertiary Adjuncts is quite energy-intensive.
In order to admit a tertiary Adjunct to the queue, the Vice extends its external tracks--called stolons--to latch on to those within the staging radius. This connection is weak during staging and can be easily lost, so Vices tend to employ this tactic moments before production. After these Adjuncts are admitted to the Branch Domain, their connection is somewhat solidified, though still relatively easy to break free from, which often occurs before the Branch is addressed. Tertiary Adjuncts cannot summon patches in the Branch Domain due to this weak connection and their distance from the Host. A Vice is also capable of easily dismissing a tertiary Adjunct if they become too much of a threat.
Secondary Adjuncts are the most common, spanning anywhere from someone who is attending a Host's Branch for the first time to people who have been admitted to many. These Adjuncts are intentionally brought into Branches via physical touch while the Branch is being staged. Secondary Adjuncts are capable of summoning patches and are less likely to be dismissed than tertiary Adjuncts, though it is still possible for those who are less experienced. The more often a secondary Adjunct is brought in to aid in addressing Branches, the stronger the connection becomes, and the less likely they are to be dismissed.
Secondary Adjuncts are often used in CVRS care services, with the majority of agents that are brought in to aid in addressing Branches being secondary Adjuncts. Their ability to address Branches is no different than primary Adjuncts, and Branches can be committed or even rescinded by secondary Adjuncts.
Though the number varies between Hosts, after a secondary Adjunct has made several contributions to the success of Branches, be it analyzing the Branch Policy or facilitating commits, they are reclassified as a primary Adjunct. The number of Branches an Adjunct has been admitted to does not determine their classification; rather, their connection to the Host and situational awareness within the Branch Domain sets these Adjuncts apart. Generally, secondary Adjuncts have a less established connection--often emotional--with the Host. This can result in greater disorientation or increased difficulty in gaining their footing in a Host’s Branch Domain. While the distinction between the two tiers cannot be measured, it can certainly be felt by both the Adjunct and the Host.
Primary Adjuncts have regularly aided in committing Branches for a Host and have a firm grasp of its Branch Policy. Because of this, primary Adjuncts are less common, but they are invaluable during Branches and rescission, especially. Many Vice Management Administrators quickly become a primary Adjunct for their patients after thorough analysis of their Branch Policy.
Due to their stronger connection, Primary Adjuncts are more difficult to dismiss, receive a boost to their patch's efficacy, and have a higher success rate when forcing entry with a Bypass. Trust and confidence are integral in setting primary Adjuncts apart and play a large role in bolstering their connection to the Host during Branches. Because of this bond, primary Adjuncts are often able to perform fringe actions with the Host, such as merging patches, forcing entry, and even summoning reformed Vices in the Branch Domain more easily. AV also flows more freely between a Host and their primary Adjunct, resulting in a higher level of AV being accepted.
This tier is often reserved for those who have a personal relationship with the Host. Partners, close friends, family members, and even trusted CVRS agents are typically the ones awarded this distinction. Those who remain secondary Adjuncts, however, should not be offended, as this distinction has no implications about an Adjunct’s ability to perform their duties.
While not common in everyday Branches, CVRS utilizes pseudo Adjuncts to observe Branches from a distance and document Vice behavior and Branch properties. Solutions Architects in particular are brought in to detect weaknesses in a Vice's exhibition and pick up on patterns in early Branches, relaying this information to Vice Management Administrators and Branch Administrators.
These agents are able to join Branches via proximity, using a modified Bypass with a lower electrical charge. This lower charge and their lack of contact with the Host result in a fairly weak but nearly undetectable presence in the Branch Domain. Most Vices do not notice a pseudo Adjunct's presence in the Branch Domain as their visage is often nearly transparent and amorphous. Agents do not have a direct impact on the Branch and are only able to communicate with the primary and secondary Adjuncts or external agents using a MobiComm.
As opposed to Adjuncts on the ground, pseudo Adjuncts are able to manipulate their location to freely choose their viewpoint. This allows Solutions Architects and Research agents the ability to view the Branch from multiple vantage points and observe the details that those on the ground may not be able to see. Because of their weak connection, pseudo Adjuncts typically see the Branch Domain as more of an overlay that transposes the happenings of the two realms. They often remark that the metaphysical realm seems to happen in real time, while the corporeal realm happens in slow motion. Branch Analysts have made great strides in Branch research using this technique, as they are able to observe both realms simultaneously and log happenings to help document the time differences between these realms.
After an extended period, a pseudo Adjunct’s connection can become disorienting, and an agent make take a temporary break to ground themself by self-dismissing. They can easily be re-admitted to the Branch as a pseudo Adjunct by using the same admission method of forcing entry with a Bypass. Vices who do manage to notice pseudo Adjuncts dismiss them by retracting or severing the tract that connects them.
The process of admitting primary and secondary Adjuncts to a Branch is not unlike a queue, where making contact with the Host is similar to reserving one's space in line. Adjuncts are admitted to the Branch Domain in the same order they were added to the queue during staging, with a 1:4 ratio for wait times. That is to say, if an Adjunct joined the queue 15 seconds into staging, they would be admitted roughly a minute after the Host is admitted to the Branch Domain.
If contact is interrupted, the Adjunct is sent to the back of the queue and must re-reserve their space in line. If the Branch is somehow committed or rescinded while an Adjunct is in the queue, they are simply dismissed from the Branch. Adjuncts can be admitted simultaneously if contact was made at the same time, though primary Adjuncts tend to be given priority and may arrive a split second sooner.
If an unpredictable Branch has been initiated and all Adjuncts do not have time to make contact with the Host, making contact with each other will suffice, so long as at least one Adjunct is in contact with the Host. Doing so creates an exponentially staggered queuing effect of bringing in Adjuncts, where Adjuncts that are two or three times removed from the Host can take up to an hour of in-Branch time to be brought in.
The key to Branch admission lies in making direct physical contact with the Host. At Branch initiation, the tightly-packed, neutrally-charged VN making up the tracks of a Vice’s network are electrified, temporarily exuding a positive charge. This compromises the track structure as the molecules repel each other and allows the VG previously stored in the tracks to leech into the Host’s bloodstream. If a person makes contact during this time, the human body acts as a conductor and expands the positively-charged electromagnetic field to include them. Breaking contact removes the flow of electricity and dismisses the Adjunct from the queue during staging, or from the Branch Domain during production.
The chart below shows how the number of secondary Adjuncts present in the Branch Domain increases the chances of success. The higher the threat level, the more Adjuncts required for higher rates of success. This increased rate of success extends to both committing and rescinding Branches.
| Number of Secondary Adjuncts | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5+ | ||
| Threat Level | ||||||
| Low | +42% | +56% | +63% | +67.2% | +70% | |
| Medium | +21% | +28% | +31.5% | +33.6% | +35% | |
| High | +14% | +18.66% | +21% | +22.4% | +23.33% | |
| Critical | +10.5% | +14% | +15.75% | +16.8% | +17.5% | |
Primary Adjuncts tend to affect the above percentages, typically adding a buff of 1.3x. For example, if you have a Vice with a low threat level and one p!Adjunct, your chances of success increase by 54.6% instead of 42%. Likewise, if you have a Vice with a high threat level and two Adjuncts, one primary, the other secondary, your chances of success increase by 22.86% instead of 18.66%.