Branch Phases

Adolescent and mature Vices run a quick quality assurance check (QAC) after the core detects an increase in its desired hormone. All Branches must follow an increase in hormones, but not all hormone increases result in a Branch. A QAC is comprised of two checks, first assessing the status of the Host’s body, then the external environment.

Because a Vice relies on its network to gather data about the Host’s body, larval Vices cannot perform QAC checks. Instead, larval Vices wait for elevated hormone levels to reach an extreme, though this objective threshold is relatively high, resulting in little to no initiated Branches during the larval stage for most classifications.

The preliminary data gathered about the Host’s body includes a comprehensive view of hormone levels--not just the level of its preferred hormone--AV output, and traditional vital signs such as temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure. This data tells the Vice if the hormone increase is an anomaly or the direct result of a specific event and if it is safe to pursue initiation, in the event of a lower AV output.

After the Vice determines the Host’s body is in a state conducive to Branch initiation, they will then assess the environment. Using a stolon--a single, external track--Vices generate a log of the surrounding environment’s properties. The complexity and number of properties logged differ between classifications and maturity levels. Common properties include general location (indoor vs. outdoor), proximity to others, sound level, and smells. Properties logged by more meticulous Vices can include, but are not limited to, temperature and humidity, the amount of natural light, specific words or phrases based on sound waves, and even the presence of specific people.

After this second check, a Vice will only initiate a Branch if the environmental properties match at least three of those found at advent. This, of course, is relatively straightforward for sudden advents, but tend to be difficult to gauge for gradual advents. These properties are one facet of the Branch Policy, and tend to remain the same throughout the Vice’s life cycle.

After the QAC is passed, the Vice officially initiates the Branch. When a Vice performs a QAC and opts to initiate a Branch despite no presence of advent properties, this is known as a rogue Branch, further explored in Fringe Branch Events.

Initiation, though referred to as a phase, is more of a “toggle”, indicating the beginning of the Branch. The environmental and internal circumstances that result in the successful initiation of a Branch are a vital part of a Vice’s Branch Policy and should be documented to more accurately predict or even avoid future Branches. These properties can also be used to try to “bait” a Vice into initiating a Branch, where instigation may be risky.

Branch initiation is marked by a physiological change to the Vice’s network. By default, the vitiumnexa (VN) that make up the tracks in a Vice’s network are tightly-packed and neutrally charged, but after initiation, the tracks’ structural integrity is compromised as the VN becomes positively-charged and the molecules begin repelling one another, allow for VG to escape into the Host’s system.

Some Hosts are able to “feel” their own Branch initiation, most commonly experienced as a fluttering, irregular heartbeat or a sudden, inexplicable ice pick headache, both likely due to the change in the electromagnetic field within them. While not as common, other physiological indicators of initiation have been reported, such as goosebumbs, twitching muscles, inexplicable nausea, sudden dizziness, and lockjaw.

A Branch officially moves into staging once the VG—previously contained in the tracks—leech out into the Host’s bloodstream due to the holes in the Vice’s tracks, resulting in a sedative effect. Hosts also report brain fog, depression, and anxiety during this time. Roughly 15% of Hosts have the opposite reaction to the increased VG and instead become erratic and volatile during staging. Regardless of this reaction, Hosts often feel like their actions are out of their control, like their body has been put on autopilot. While Hosts are aware of their surroundings during this time, they feel like they are in limbo as their body acts on its own.

As the VG level increases throughout the body, immune responses are more likely. Reactions can range from mildly irritating to excruciating. Itching, increased body temperature, sweating, and even anaphylaxis are all potential reactions, in addition to agitated blights and increased AV output. Additionally, the body releases stress hormones, which the Vice temporarily stores in its core or in network pockets to fuel its pending germination and core augmentation. Despite its best efforts, the Host’s immune system is often overwhelmed during this time and is unable to defend against the onslaught of VG.

In the beginnings of staging, the altered electromagnetic field that marked initiation fans outward from the Host, becoming the “staging radius”. A standard staging radius extends roughly 12 feet, but can be as short as six or as wide as eighteen. Those within the staging radius report disorienting vestibular disturbances, with symptoms such as tinnitus, nausea, imbalance, and vertigo. Many also feel a slight “tugging” at the soles of their feet, resulting in the trademark “magnetic pull” of staging.

During staging, if physical contact is made with the Host, the person will be added to the Branch queue, a liminal space where Adjuncts linger while the Branch is being fabricated. A potential Adjunct must make and maintain physical contact with the Host throughout staging in order to be included in production. If contact is lost during this phase, the Adjunct will be “dismissed” from the queue, but can easily be re-added as long as the Branch is still in staging. Learn more about admitting Adjuncts to Branches in Branch Admission.

As the Branch approaches production, some particularly intelligent Vices will briefly send bursts of energy not unlike hypnic jerks in an attempt to break contact, though this tends to be energy-intensive and is only performed by desperate or mature Vices. Much like the Host, Adjuncts in the queue are aware of their surroundings, but feel like they are on autopilot.

Tertiary Adjuncts are added to the queue by the Vice extending external tracks, called stolons, to reach any people within the staging radius. This behavior is often observed in adolescent and mature Vices with a well-established network that are aiming for increased energy consumption during dispersion, as observed in Theta Vices. This connection can be easily lost, however, if the tertiary Adjunct is able to break free from the trance, which is relatively simple due to the lack of physical contact. This action is typically performed shortly before the Branch moves into production, wherein the connection is solidified and slightly more difficult to breach.

On the whole, staging typically lasts anywhere from one to three minutes, depending on the intended complexity of the Branch, with instigated Branches often having shorter staging times.

Suspension

At any time during staging, a patch can be summoned to aid in suspending a Branch, where the patch is more abstract in its form, with fuzzy edges and warping shapes due to its composition of AV. Suspension criterion differs between Vices, but is generally achieved by threatening the Vice core with bursts of AV, either from a patch or an AV Shot, without making direct, physical contact with the Host, as contact with the Host during staging will admit the person to the staging queue. Suspension should only be pursued as a last resort, as discussed in Branch Options.

Production is the most complex of the phases and is where the majority of the action occurs. A Branch is officially in production once staging is complete and the Host is immobilized and unresponsive to external stimuli. Many Hosts recall the sensation of falling as they are admitted to the Branch Domain, marking the start of production. Adjuncts, on the other hand, remain in the queue for their designated admission time and are always admitted to the Branch Domain after the Host.

Production occurs in two realms: corporeal and metaphysical. The metaphysical realm refers to the events that take place in the Branch Domain, a shared “battleground” of sorts where facsimiles of the Host and Adjuncts. called “extensions”, duel against the Vice’s exhibition, a grotesque visage that surrounds and protects the Vice’s core. The corporeal realm refers to the physical state of affairs outside of the Branch Domain, including core behavior and the physiological effects on the Host’s body, as well as any physical interactions between the Host and Adjuncts.

The metaphysical realm operates on a different timeline from the corporeal realm, where five minutes of corporeal time can span anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour of metaphysical time. While these realms are separate, what happens in the metaphysical realm often loosely mirrors the events of the corporeal realm, and vice versa, each being able to influence the other realm. This relationship is not a direct one-to-one, and researchers are still trying to fully understand the degree to which the events that take place in each realm directly impact the other. It is generally understood how the events of the corporeal realm affect the metaphysical realm, but the opposite still requires extensive research. The metaphysical realm, and by extension the Branch Domain, is particularly difficult to observe and document from a strictly objective standpoint due to its unique properties between Hosts. The intricacies of these realms are explored further below.

The current theory as of now is that the actions that take place in the Branch Domain mirror the corporeal realm, and vice versa. Direct attacks on the exhibition translate to bursts of AV from Adjuncts or the Host; likewise, bursts of AV in the corporeal realm act as buffs to the extensions’ patches in the Branch Domain. As with AV enhancement therapies and patch calibration, AV from external sources can bolster a Host’s internal AV production, a process that occurs through physical touch. This process is not always guaranteed, and an inability to produce AV during an active Branch can translate to flubbed or ineffective attacks in the Branch Domain.

Branches are intended to be committed or rescinded during this phase, most commonly performed in the metaphysical realm, though some exceptions apply. Inaction while a Branch is in production can lead to a berserk or comatose Host, which often makes committing or rescinding the Branch more difficult. This phase does not last for a determined amount of time, but if ignored, a Vice can achieve dispersion in less than 10 minutes of corporeal time, sometimes as quickly as five in extreme circumstances.

The Corporeal Realm

Physically, Hosts have described this realm as almost dreamlike in quality, some even going so far as to liken it to drug-induced dissociative episodes. The overwhelming rush of VG has a sedative effect on the Host to deter interference with the core’s expansion. The Host is also “disconnected” from their body in the sense that they do not react to stimuli once the Branch is in production. The only way to break a Host from this trance is to commit or rescind the Vice.

Because the Host has essentially been sedated, behavioral symptoms are generally mild, but the physiological reactions seen in staging often persist. Hosts are technically able to feel pain during this time, but are not typically able to recall in explicit detail, similar to the effects of anesthesia or nitrous oxide. Most events that transpire in the corporeal realm are recalled with muddy, vague details, not unlike trying to remember a dream after waking up.

Branches are typically not addressed in the corporeal realm, except in the extreme circumstances of manual and exposure rescission, experimental rescission methods that should only be performed as a last resort. Learn more about the different types of rescission in Branch Options or as a service provided by a Vice Management Administrator.

The Metaphysical Realm (Branch Domain)

Production officially begins once the Host is admitted to the Branch Domain, where the majority of action takes place. Adjuncts are admitted to the Branch Domain in the same order they were added to the queue during staging, with a 1:8 ratio for wait times. That is to say, if an Adjunct joined the queue 15 seconds into staging, they would be admitted roughly 2 minutes after the Host is admitted to the Branch Domain.

Everyone experiences this intangible realm differently, but many have likened being in the Branch Domain to lucid dreaming or astral projecting. Those who have spent less time in this realm have difficulty orienting themselves, though it comes more naturally over time. While research is still being conducted, this environment is believed to be the “side effect” of having the body being overrun with VG, and the shared contact is what enables the “shared hallucination” to occur between those present for the Branch. The mechanics of the metaphysical realm continue to be a hot research topic and are continually documented by the Observation team as well as agents present in the domain.

This arena typically mimics the properties of the environment around the Host during advent. Arenas vary greatly in size, ranging anywhere from the size of a standard room to multi-acre fields. The smaller arenas of Vices with a sudden advent tend to have sharper details with a focus on objects, while the larger arenas of Vices with a gradual advent tend to be less detailed, with an emphasis on feelings, sensations, and disorienting architecture. Mature Vices with high threat levels can sometimes accomplish both, creating complex, escheresque environments with strikingly realistic details.

The five senses can and are often aroused within the domain, with Hosts and Adjuncts able to recall sounds, smells, and even tastes after a Branch has passed. This environment typically does not change throughout a Vice’s life cycle, but it may increase in complexity and expand to include a larger area or a different room, for example. Some intelligent Vices are capable of completely changing this environment between Branches, but this is incredibly rare overall.

Experts believe Vices use the blueprint of the Branch Domain to gain the psychological upper hand over the Host, even though those with lower intelligence are likely not doing so knowingly. As a Vice’s consciousness begins to form in direct response to the increase in stress, they come to associate the physical environment around the Host with that of readily available hormones. Vices make this “homage” back to the environment at advent, expecting an increase in hormones to fuel its planned augmentation or germination.

Because of these often uncannily accurate callbacks to the advent site, some Hosts are at risk of “getting lost” in the Branch Domain, especially in its early stages as Hosts are trying to find their footing. Branch Domains are disorienting enough as-is, but with the often successful attempts at triggering strong emotions, navigating a Branch Domain can be incredibly difficult. Learning to “control” one’s extension is not intuitive and requires practice and concentration. Strong emotions can muddy the connection between a Host and their extension, making it difficult to think quickly and clearly. As a Host becomes berserk, this connection becomes much more difficult to maintain. Comatose Hosts are almost completely detached from their extensions.

Vices with a higher threat level often use psychological tactics to further dissuade action by projecting visages of people from the Host’s life. These projections typically pull from the Host’s memories and are used to discourage or distract the Host from acting promptly, triggering strong emotions or psychologically trapping them in past scenarios. When observed closely, these projections can be somewhat unsettling. They are often likened to images generated by young neural nets, resulting in uncanny reconstructions that tend to put people on edge. These projections can and will react to speech or touch, but typically in incoherent or uncharacteristic ways. While these projections may seem threatening, they cannot physically harm the extensions of the Host or Adjuncts.

Another facet of a Vice’s Branch Policy is its exhibition, a visage only seen and deployed in the Branch Domain. Its purpose is to both intimidate the Host and protect its core from attacks, which the visage is constructed around. In the Branch Domain, exhibitions can be as small as a house cat or span as much as 5 times taller than the average human. A Vice’s exhibition tends to remain largely unchanged throughout its life cycle, though a select few have been observed to alter their characteristics between Branches. Some suspect that core placement in the body can mimic core placement in the Vice’s exhibition; though, this has not been substantiated and is a massive generalization, as many exhibitions do not share our anatomy.

Exhibitions most commonly mimic animals—spanning the breadth of the animal kingdom from mammals to reptiles to insects and everything in between—often preying on our innate fear of predators or even personal phobias. Less commonly, exhibitions extend beyond our zoological roster and present as amalgamations of multiple animals and can even mimic those found in science fiction and horror films. A Vice’s threat level typically informs the complexity and novelty of its exhibition. Learn more about exhibitions in Exploring Exhibitions.

Within the Branch Domain, patches can be summoned to fight the exhibition and threaten or destroy the Vice core. The form that patches take in production are more concrete and stable than their form in staging. If a patch is summoned during staging and the wielder is brought in as an Adjunct, the patch will already be active once they enter the Branch Domain. Learn more about using patches in the Branch Domain in Branch Options, or learn about the process of establishing one in AV and Patches.

Any and all objects present in the Branch Domain can have an effect on and be used to defend or fight against the Vice's exhibition, though patches will always be the most efficient due to their composition. This includes both the Host and Adjunct's extensions, meaning hand-to-hand combat can be an effective means of action if a patch cannot be summoned. This also means that these extensions can be affected and damaged by the Vice's exhibition.

If a Host or Adjunct's extension is damaged by the exhibition in the metaphysical realm, similar injuries are incurred in the corporeal realm, though they will be significantly less severe. For example, if a Host's bone is broken in the metaphysical realm, it can present as joint stiffness in the corporeal realm, even lasting after the Branch has been addressed. The gap in severity varies from person to person, though Hosts tend to incur more serious injuries in the corporeal realm compared to Adjuncts.

If an Adjunct's extension is destroyed in the Branch Domain, they are immediately ejected. Due to the severity of the injuries incurred in the Branch Domain, they will quickly begin to see the effects of the Branch on their body through ailments such as deep bruises, lacerations, minor bone fractures or even acute illness. Vices do not typically destroy the Host's extension and tend to keep them trapped in the Branch Domain so as to not risk interference as they continue germination or augmentation.