The Hiss

Template:Standard character

“	I'd like to tell you about a dream I had last night. In my dream, the Hiss had broken free of this prison, this... house. At first, many people thought it was horrifying. But also... many people wanted to welcome the Hiss in.	”
— Dylan Faden, Control Story Trailer

The Hiss is a hostile paranatural force of resonance that invaded the Oldest House on October 29, 2019, resulting in the near-destruction of the Federal Bureau of Control. Originating from an alternate dimension, the Hiss influenced FBC Director Zachariah Trench into unleashing it using the Slide Projector Object of Power. The Hiss's source of resonance was cut off by Jesse Faden when she deactivated the Projector; however, the possessed Hiss agents still lingered in the Oldest House, continuing to pose a major threat.

Nature

The Hiss, like Polaris, are a self-propagating signal of interdimensional resonance. The Hiss is aggressive and virulent, described by Jesse as 'an earworm that you can't get out of your head'. The resonance of the Hiss can manifest as physical phenomena, forming strong barriers that can even stop bullets. It is unknown if the Hiss has a central point of transmission or amplification like the Hedron entity, or if the Hiss are a pervasive element throughout their home dimension. Only Hedron and Polaris, a resonance-based intelligence which was the source of Hedron's own resonance, are capable of protecting living things from Hiss infection and driving off Hiss contamination in paranatural objects. It is unclear whether the Hiss is an intelligent being, or merely a viral signal, a compulsion to spread which uses those it infects to provide strategic actions to aid the propagation of the signal. All of the Hiss behavior could, simply, be nothing but a complex instinct to propagate that is encoded into the signal and thus those overtaken by it.

Most people when possessed by the Hiss signal float in the air, endlessly repeating the Hiss incantation. It is unclear if this form of Hiss agent is otherwise harmless or if they are direct vectors for the signal's spread. Individuals with combat capacity whom the Hiss overtakes often retain mobile, and are able to attack the uninfected with the same skill they had as normal people. Individuals possessed by the Hiss lose their hair and experience violent physical deformation, leading Pope to theorize that the Hiss resonance can rearrange and modify the genetic and cellular structures of the body at the molecular scale. Despite often fatal physical distortion, these agents survive and are capable of using powerful paranatural abilities comparable to that of Jesse herself.

The motivations or ultimate goals of the Hiss are wholly unclear. It exhibits a pervasive hostility toward nearly all life, particularly the agents of the FBC, and by its nature corrupts all things that it encounters, including paranatural objects, the Oldest House, and the natural laws of reality. However, Dylan Faden and Zachariah Trench - the only known individuals to be influenced by the Hiss and retain their individual sentience - viewed the Hiss as positive, and regarded the Hedron and Polaris as greater threats. Dylan implied that speaking the words of the Hiss' incantation is a pleasurable experience, and stated that the Hiss liberated him and showed him the true nature of reality "behind the poster." Trench, meanwhile, viewed the Hiss as a necessary solution to what he perceived to be an enormous threat posed by Polaris.

History

The Hiss originates from an alternate dimension which could be reached via one of the slides connected to the Slide Projector Object of Power from Ordinary, Wisconsin. During the Ordinary AWE, Jesse Faden burned all but one of the slides (Slidescape-36), and the Projector was contained by the FBC. Zachariah Trench kept one of the burned slides. As exploration of Slidescape-36 was carried out under the supervision of Casper Darling, Trench, attending one of the expeditions, fell under the influence of the Hiss. When Darling returned the Hedron from Slidescape-36 and began to produce HRAs, Trench, fearing Hedron would take over the entire Bureau, unleashed the Hiss upon the Oldest House on October 29, 2019. The Hiss nearly destroyed the entire Bureau, possessing its agents, the topography of the Oldest House, and numerous Altered Items and Objects of Power. An external lockdown was placed in effect, cutting off the building's sectors from one another.

The Hedron, sensing the danger, telepathically called out to Jesse Faden and summoned her to the Oldest House to defeat the Hiss. Trench committed suicide shortly after Jesse's arrival, and, interacting with the Service Weapon, she was made the new Director by the Board. Binding with several Objects of Power and communicating with the Board through the Hotline OOP, Jesse was able to reconnect the sectors and defeat most of the Hiss, freeing the Altered Items and Objects of Power under its influence through Polaris. Dylan Faden fell under the Hiss's influence as well and became an agent of it, entering the Astral Plane and attempting to take over the Board. The Hiss also destroyed the Hedron, nearly resulting in the destruction of the Bureau as Polaris's resonance faltered; however, Jesse was able to become the new source of Polaris resonance and saved the Bureau, cleansing the Board and Dylan of the Hiss. The Hiss remained in the Oldest House, but Jesse and the other agents resolved to defeat it in order to remove the lockdown.

Trivia

• The Hiss has numerous similarities to the Dark Presence, the antagonist of Control developer Remedy Entertainment's previous title Alan Wake. Both are unseen, bodiless, otherworldly supernatural forces capable of possessing objects and living things, turning them into their slaves.

Related achievements-trophies

Icon	Name	Description	Gamer Score	Trophy
File:Interdimensional Defender.png	Interdimensional Defender	Killed 1000 Hiss	30	Silver

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