Part 198: BCP 27 - Army in Black + Flesh Idol
X-394 is a big facility, full of mysterious creatures known as Abnormalities. Many of these Abnormalities can do very bad things if they're handled improperly, and it's vitally important that our agents know just what may happen if they're careless. What's a manager to do?
Episode 27: Army in Black + Flesh Idol
Music: trailer
Hi! I'm Paul! Just your everyday plucky employee of Lobotomy Cobotomy, here today to talk about Army in Black and Flesh Idol! Let's start with Army in Black!
Army in Black, or Army in Pink as it is also known, is a ZAYIN Abnormality which- Wait. It produces 30 PE Boxes… and when you work it, it definitely gets a -6% Overload penalty each time! It is a ZAYIN Abnormality. It deals 7 to 9 White damage per failure! AND it has a Qliphoth Counter, right up there! There aren't any ZAYIN Abnormalities with one of those! You can't possibly expect me to believe that that thing is a ZAYIN Abnormality, right?! … It is a ZAYIN Abnormality, which takes the form of a soldier inside of a pink heart.
In place of its Attachment work, it has a unique work type-Protect. Oh come on..!
When selected, this creates a unique cursor which allows us to select an agent. Isn't that interesting, Paul? Well, sure Miss Hod, but what happens when you select one?
The Army in Black breaches in a flurry of pink hearts! It… breaches. That's right! ZAYIN Abnormalities can't breach! Everyone knows that! There's no way- It is a ZAYIN Abnormality. Seriously?!
While breaching- ZAYINS don't bre-he-heach…! -Army in Black gives its target 20% additional defense, cutting the damage they take. In addition, all nearby units are healed for 12 HP and SP periodically. This healing cannot be prevented in any circumstances. This effect lasts for 2 minutes, or until the agent enters an Abnormality's containment cell.
After this is done, the Abnormality explodes and returns to containment! Explodes! It's- It is a ZAYIN Abnormality. 
There are some considerations to make when performing this, however. Firstly, the Qliphoth Counter of Army in Black will be reduced by one. Secondly, agents below level 3 should not be selected as the Protection target.
Such agents will be awed by the Abnormality, their eyes growing into pink hearts. While in this state the Army in Black's protection reduces all damage they would take by 60%, but the agent will not move and cannot be controlled. It instantly overwhelms weaker agents! It's- It is a ZAYIN Abnormality. 
You seem unwell, Paul. Perhaps you should take a break. I don't need a- ...Alright. So, Miss Hod, what else will change its Qliphoth Counter? On the breaching Abnormality. The death of 5 employees will lower its counter by 1, so please ensure a careful and methodical workday. Additionally, it is possible to lower it through Repression work, or through Bad results. That's way too much to keep track of for a- It is a ZAYIN Abnormality. 
...So, can it be brought back up? Yes! Suppressing other Abnormalities will restore its counter by 1 each. A breaching Abnormality like Scarecrow is ideal for keeping it under control. As for what happens when its counter is drained…
It turns to black, and vanishes.
At this time, four Army in Blacks appear in the corridors of various departments. ALEPH! You see?! I told you! I told you that it was- It is a ZAYIN Abnormality. 
...Paul? Forget it! I'll be in my bunk! I know a stinkin' ZAYIN from an ALEPH… I can't take this crap anymore! What?! Hey, Paul, wait!
Um… W-well anyways! Any agent who is below Level 3 that sees one of the Army in Black is immediately sent into a Murder-type panic!
Hypnotic heart-eyes, Miss Hod! That sure doesn't sound like a good thing! It's not, Paul! What's worse, any attempt to subude the agent while the Abnormality is still in the room is futile. They'll just panic again immediately until it's been suppressed.
Yowsers! I'm getting beaten like I should be, but it's not bringing me back to normal! That's because of the presence of an Army in Black! Once they spawn, they each flutter towards the main room of their department. Once there, they explode-this deals White damage to everyone within the room and lowers all the Qliphoth Counters of the department's Abnormalities by 1. And that's never good! So what's it look like? Oh, um… I-it's just their regular explosion, but in black instead of pink! So you couldn't even get footage of that? Wowsers, you're kind of terrible at this, huh Miss Hod? I-I am not! I was focused on filming you, and… I couldn't... You're right! I'm just being an ungrateful butt who can't appreciate how kind you are. I'm sorry, Miss Hod. You're the best. A-anyways! This concludes our first Abnormality today. As for our second, Flesh Idol… Oh! Let me try!
Flesh Idol is a hum-dinger of a WAW Abnormality! It's a tool, so it doesn't do much, but wowsers what it does do! The Flesh Idol is a channeling-type Abnormality, which means an agent must be sent in in order to pray to it.
Oh man! It's dealing Black damage to Corvis! It's not just Black damage, Paul! Every five seconds, the Abnormality will deal five damage in a random type-including Pale! Be careful, Manager! It can add up quickly! But what does the Idol do? That depends on how long the agent prays. If it's under twenty seconds, they immediately die. Zounds! That's no good! It gets better Paul! From 21 to 45 seconds, each time the Idol tics it also heals all agents in the facility by 5 HP. And from 46 to 90 seconds, it will heal 5 HP and SP as well! That sounds great, Miss Hod! What happens after 90 seconds?
Instant, painful death! Yowchie ouchies, THAT isn't good! Oh, that's not all!
Additionally, every Abnormality in the entire facility has its Qliphoth Counter set to 0, instantly. But THAT would mean- A total and complete breach of all Abnormalities in the entire facility at once! Very good. Remember Manager-don't ever let it hit 90 seconds! That's a surefire way to ruin a perfectly good day! Well, that's all the time we have today. Thanks for joining us! And remember… Knowledge is just pain plus observation! Have a great day!Music: Aspire
Good evening, future Managers. I… do not have words to put forward to express my sorrow over the multiple failures of protocol you've just had to bear witness to. Unfortunately, I have been informed that we are running sorely low on tape, and thus a reshoot of the episode was simply not possible. Ahem. Well, anyways. Let's discuss Flesh Idol. It cannot do anything if it isn't touched, so it is no particular problem. If you must work with it, you need only count to five. Five tics of the damage, and you are free to have the agent leave without issue. Now, Angela? Graphics.
Army in Black is an… odd case. It does not seem like it, given its statistics, its gear, its actions, and its complexity. It has the danger of an ALEPH Abnormality, and it loving the lives of those worthless clerks makes it rather problematic to keep for long periods of time. However, our data does not tell lies. Its high damage is cut by higher-level armor at the same rate as One Sin or WellCheers. Additionally, training with it has proven useless-our Level 5 agents simply are too powerful to gain much from it. After much deliberation between the Sephirot and Angela, there was only one conclusion to come to: It is a ZAYIN Abnormality. As such, it is worthless for training. Given that the ability of its healing to overcome a breakdown of our regenerators is entirely theoretical, its gear is middling at best among ALEPHs-particularly the weapon, which requires a longer setup time than most… I could not blame a Manager for simply taking it, extracting its gear, and then returning to the past to avoid dealing with it. I am not a fan of it, nor am I a fan of its flagrant flaunting of the rules which we have put forth to classify our Abnormalities. Now, if you'll pardon me, there's urgent business to attend to-I must tend to this situation and determine if we shall require another new Paul.Next time's featured Abnormality…
New Guidelines
Army in Black
Flesh Idol
New Gear
Requirements: Level 5, Prudence 5
*Not affected by Attack Speed, 2 second startup time before any attacks come out
Requirements: Level 5, Fortitude 5
New Story
Army in Black (Part 1)
Army in Black (Part 2)