The Awakening

The Awakening is the process by which a mortal "sleeper agent" becomes aware of their destiny as a hunter. This occurrence may happen in different period of their life with every reincarnation. The person may live a "normal" life up to adulthood or they may be "awakened" as a child (rare). When there is a need, the Collective leadership may help this process along, but that's seen as nefarious among the Agents who covet those precious years in "limbo" and considering how violent The Awakening is for them. In order to be awakened, the Sleeper Agent must die by supernatural means. Afterwards, unless the death causes critical damage to the body, the hunter will rise--still mortal, but changed. The Awakening is part homecoming and part traumatic experience. Hunters remember all the past lives in which they were hunters. Every. Single. One. Even though that fills in the missing pieces of their eternity (they all have a nagging feeling like they are incomplete when they are "sleeping"), the weight of their duty changes their entire lives (and personalities). As a result, some leave families behind, others are haunted by past lives and some can't make sense of themselves. There are those who have embraced their fate but even some of them have become coldly indifferent to a world where they see humanity destroy itself despite any supernatural interference. Of course, there are some that seem to have everything figured out and see this as the highest calling imparted on them by whatever powers that be.




"A Hunter dies twice in their life. Once to remember and once to forget."



Most Sleeper Agents are Awakened each lifetime. On the rare occasion that they are not, they do not remember that life. This causes gaps in their memory, which is often unsettling for the hunter who wants to hold onto every moment that they were 'something else'. Hunter lives are chronicled in the archive, but those records are off-limits to them or, at times, used as incentive to carry out some objective that is even seen as horrible to them.

The first known Awakened Hunters came into existence in the 1000s and more followed (even though it is surmised that the leadership is even older). Currently, there are two sets of Awakened Hunters who leap-frog through time, ensuring that humanity always has The Collective watching over it. Every so often new souls are born into the Collective, but no one knows how that happens and why that particular person is Imbued and Awakened. The Awakened Hunters, however, can tell who is a hunter or not, no matter whether they are awakened or not. Also, the hunter retains the same physical appearance/traits in every lifetime. Some souls are "retired" and no one knows how that happens either. Souls that have committed an atrocity (double agents, for instance) are allegedly "shredded", a fate worse than anything humanly imaginable. There is no evidence to suggest that this process exists, except for the soul's sudden and permanent disappearance, which is felt by all the Hunter's.

Abilities

When the "Sleeper Agent" is killed by a supernatural, they gain some or all of the abilities of that monster within certain physical limits. Here's a list of some of the abilities that hunters can gain depending on what kills them.

Werewolf death: heightened sense of smell, super strength, heightened hearing, speed, fortitude, ability to feel when the moons thrall over the creatures is at its strongest to weakest down to the literal microseconds. They are the muscle in the Collective. Challenges: These Agents are more prone to impulse and quick to anger or violence after their Awakening.

Spectre Death: ability to blend in and remain unseen, ability to move/throw/call items to them with their mind, ability to intimidate (creep out) an opponent with their presence. They can talk to ghosts. They can talk with one another and the conversation will barely be registered unless something draws attention in their direction. Challenges: These Agents are prone to debilitating loneliness, not having their voice heard or opinions considered. They are not likely to be leaders in this incarnation.

Vampire Death: rapid healing, agility & strength, reflexes, immunity, fortitude, speed, heightened hearing, "mind control" (this manifests as giving the agent heightened suggestibility. It's not "compulsion" or direct mind control. It makes the supernatural more susceptible to suggestions that the Agent plants in a natural way. It cannot force supernaturals to kill themselves, unless they were already strongly considering it). When there is more than one of them, this suggestive ability gets stronger and harder to fight. Vampire imbued agents can communicate with one another telepathically. Challenges: These Agents are inherently cold and efficient at their jobs but have a challenging time empathizing with others, fighting feelings of detachment. Throughout history, most double agents came from this group although not all vampire imbued agents are double agents.

Demon Death: Depends on the demon. Most of these Hunters are killed or kill themselves after their Awakening as a result of what they become. There have been very few hunters that have survived a lifetime with demon-like attributes. It's a hell unto itself.

Zombie Death: Inability to feel pain (pain manifests as the variation of pressure), intimidation (gives the opponent an unavoidable feeling or fear and panic), healing ability, fortitude, regeneration, caustic blood to predators. Challenges: Agents Awakened by a zombie bite have difficulty communicating with others. This manifests either physically, like a stutter, or due to the inability to have certain social skills that allow them to communicate effectively. As a result, they have difficulty bonding with others even if it's what they most desire.


Hunter attributes

The Awakening gives agents certain attributes inherent to all hunters.

Poisonous blood: The blood of hunters is poisonous to the supernatural. Drink it or come in contact with it and will it have an effect. What effect depends on the strength of the entity, but even the strongest entity will have some noxious reaction. Symptoms can range from skin burns and sickness (akin to a snake bite, if ingested) to death. The Zombie death imbued hunter's blood is more potent, caustic and poisonous than any of the other agents and, therefore, can take down very strong opponents. It also causes the opponent to become confused and lethargic, like a zombie, making them easier to kill in the follow up. Drinking from a werewolf imbued hunter will not only cause the aforementioned poisonous attributes, but will make the victim turn on themselves with the delusions of wanted to rip their skin off. Drinking from a Spectre-Imbued hunter will also cause the victim to hallucinate themselves into another world where their greatest fears are catching up to them. It's led to madness for some who survived, lost in their visions forever. Drinking from a vampire-imbued agent is problematic for the long-term because, if the victim survives, it causes the victim to fall under the thrall of the agent and subject to his/her mind control, along with feelings of loyalty towards him/her. The agent is able to know where the supernatural being is, can call to them, know when they are being malignant, and when the bond is broken.

Immunity Tolerance: A hunter is more tolerant if bitten or scratched by a supernatural and may not turn, depending on the strength of the strain, but they may fall very ill. It depends on the hunter, their fortitude, age, lifetimes spent as a hunter. If turned, it is likely that the hunter will eventually turn back to being mortal. Those that don't? They often get killed by their own kind so that they can be reborn back into the Collective in their next life. Those that are imbued by Spectre qualities are most likely to turn. Agents imbued by Zombies are least likely to turn. The vampire imbued agents are most resistant to fighting strong infections and building stronger resistance as a result. Werewolf Imbued agents, are likely to get the most sick, especially during the full moon, when they are most likely to shed the foreign virus because their immune system kicks in on overdrive. All agents retain their personalities if they change, which makes them ideal deep cover operatives/triple agents, but it's the vampire imbued agents that excel at balancing the elements to be the most convincing and stable. It's why they are heavy used as deep cover operatives.

Auspex Blocker: Many supernaturals have the ability to see auras, read or control minds and gain information through mystical ways attributed to their species. The Awakened hunter has a Auspex Blocker which acts like wall shielding them from this gift. Mind control either is not effective or, if the supernatural is the grand-daddy of supernaturals, than the hunter will be aware that he/she is being manipulated. The impressions that the supernatural will get if they try to read them will be chaotic and nonsensical. That does not mean that the shield can't be broken, but like agents who receive training to withstand torture, The Awakened have been trained to withstand tortuous-like intrusions/breaches. Hunters are able to sense when a supernatural is around them, but it takes sleuthing to figure out what type they are and whether they are malignant (bad)

Samantha Black/Zola Hardy: Spectre-Imbued Abilities, flaws and derangments

Spectre Death: ability to blend in and remain unseen, ability to move/throw/call items to them with their mind, ability to intimidate (creep out) an opponent with their presence, causing them to paralyzed with fear for a duration. They can talk to ghosts. They can talk with one another and the conversation will not or will be barely be registered unless something draws attention in their direction. Although they have a reflection, it's muddled, see-through or just doesn't register to everyone but themselves in mirrors and on video. Some see only a shadow on tape or in mirrors or a distorted image that is unrecognizable. They can also further mess with technical equipment, essentially erasing themselves from it or causing interference. They can make objects go unseen if they touch them, so that they can be stolen unseen. The size of the object depends on the agents abilities. Additionally, the agent, depending on their abilities, can walk through some security perimeters without tripping them.

Challenges: These Agents are prone to debilitating loneliness, not having their voice heard or opinions considered. They are not likely to be leaders in this incarnation. People that they met that aren't attune in some way/or more sensitive to the supernatural world, tend to forgot that they've met them and only remember/vaguely remember meeting them (depending on the strength of their sensitivity) after multiple times. Supernaturals tend not to notice them unless the Spectre Imbued initiates first communication. However, that does not mean that they are invisible, they somehow just fail to register. To the other agents of the Collective the issue is less severe.

Regardless of their qualities, these agents, like all the rest, are mortal. And despite what's written on her profile, these agents are human.

Spectre Imbued Agents can "spend" their energy to become more memorable and "in your face" when necessary, but it takes a lot out of them. It takes twice as long for them to recharge. Like vampire-imbued agents, the less time they spend around humanity, the more "poltergeist-like" they become (callous, removed from caring about humanity, their charges). They "juice up" by protecting their charges from evil beings. Only this negates their condition for a short while (hours, days). They can also absorb excess human energy. Samantha will learn how to do that when she's singing in front of group.

Poisonous blood: The blood of hunters is poisonous to the supernatural. Drink it or come in contact with it and will it have an effect. What effect depends on the strength of the entity, but even the strongest entity will have some noxious reaction. Symptoms can range from skin burns and sickness (akin to a snake bite, if ingested) to death. Drinking from a Spectre-Imbued hunter will also cause the victim to hallucinate themselves into another world where their greatest fears are catching up to them. It's led to madness for some who survived, lost in their visions forever. The severity and duration depends on the supernatural. The Spectre Imbued Agent who has been fed from can follow the mark into their nightmare and, there, they can bend the illusion to their will and manifest whatever they need to get the job done.

Immunity Tolerance: A hunter is more tolerant if bitten or scratched by a supernatural and may not turn, depending on the strength of the strain, but they may fall very ill. It depends on the hunter, their fortitude, age, lifetimes spent as a hunter. If turned, it is likely that the hunter will eventually turn back to being mortal (again, duration depends on hunter). Those that don't? They often get killed by their own kind at the end of what would have been their natural life so that they can be reborn back into the Collective in their next life. Those that are imbued by Spectre qualities are most likely to turn, but also turn back to Spectre Imbued agents the fastest since nothing really sticks. All agents retain their personalities if they change, which makes them ideal deep cover operatives/triple agents.

Auspex Blocker: Many supernaturals have the ability to see auras, read or control minds and gain information through mystical ways attributed to their species. The Awakened hunter has a Auspex Blocker which acts like wall shielding them from this gift. Mind control either is not effective or, if the supernatural is the grand-daddy of supernaturals, than the hunter will be aware that he/she is being manipulated. The impressions that the supernatural will get if they try to read them will be chaotic and nonsensical. That does not mean that the shield can't be broken, but like agents who receive training to withstand torture, The Awakened have been trained to withstand tortuous-like intrusions/breaches. Hunters are able to sense when a supernatural is around them, but it takes sleuthing to figure out what type they are and whether they are malignant (bad).

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Samantha/Zola could make a great surveillance agent. She's basically created to gather information and she has the potential to be really good at being Spectre-Imbued. What she's not good at, however, is firearms, or fighting for that matter. Honestly, she can't hit a skyscraper with a rock. Her training in that area has been minimal.