False Friend
False Friends are a practical off-shoot of research conducted by the Trauma Control Group on Mort and are currently undergoing classified Department of Psychology field tests with selected Operatives and SHIVER units in and around Mort City.
Designated as a psychological stabilisation and stress management system, the False Friend, once installed in a person, acts as an imaginary companion, always there in the corner of the eye, always ready to lend a shoulder, an ear, or a word of advice or encouragment. Its steady reassuring presence can assist personnel tremendously in confronting and resisting the worst Mort and the enemies of SLA Industries have to throw at them.
Every time a character with a False Friend gains Stress, they may transfer up to 1 point of Stress to their False Friend.
Only now, with extended use under field conditions, the technology begins to reveal its shortcomings. Over time, the advice offered
gradually grows darker, the False Friend’s presence starts to feel less reassuring and more menacing. The lines between the imaginary space containing the False Friend and the physical world inhabited by its user start to break down, until, finally, the False Friend and all the divested anger, pain and nightmares coalesce into a new entity.
The False Friend has COOL 8 for purposes of resisting Stress assigned to it. Should it suffer a mental breakdown, it transforms into a Dream Entity.
As the field tests continue and things threaten to spin out of control, the False Friends may well bring the Trauma Control Group for the first time into direct contact and confrontation with the Naga 7 Division.