“Touch one and they all come. Otherwise, they mind their own business, staring.”
The legacy records of the adult faceling describe it as an office worker motionless at their post who reacts as a block. Today it isn’t seen in Level 0, and this entry gathers its behavior as noted by those who saw it. It has four phases that can be recognized from a distance.
The four phases
| Phase | When | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Work | Default | Every 20 to 45 seconds picks a post and walks to it |
| Transfer | When changing post | Walks at one meter per second and returns to work on reaching 40 centimeters or if stuck for three seconds |
| Gaze | You approach to 12 meters or less | All the adults in the room stop at once and stare for 2 to 4 seconds |
| Punishment | One of them is hurt | The whole chunk converges at 1.8 meters per second |
The punishment
The strike reaches two meters forty and tears away twelve points of health. Afterward it needs two and a half seconds to recover, and calm returns after forty-five seconds. Each adult holds out 30 points. In Level 4 there is no punishment and they only stare. They activate at about seventy meters and withdraw at a hundred. No more than thirty-two have ever been seen at once.
How to survive
- Don’t come within twelve meters of a room with adults. If they look, stay still and back away without turning your back on them.
- Don’t strike one. The others all come.
- If the circle closes, find a door that shuts or a shelter.
- Avoid running, because the strike is short and the circle slow.
The Children, by comparison
In the past, a young faceling (the Children) moved in a pack, stalked by sight or by hearing and gave up after about twenty seconds. For the behavior of those still seen, see Children: Stalking Along Routes.
What people say
Someone with good hearing claims the silent adult will soon speak, that there are whispers and memos pinned up at the workstations. There is also no agreement on whether the Gaze phase serves to recognize the intruder or is a way of standing guard, and some compare it to the Watcher.