Sweepers

Overview	Episode 1

“	It is becoming clear that the night is no longer ours alone.	”
–Lyla

The Sweepers are mysterious beings which roam the Backstreets at night, disposing of humans both alive and dead and leaving nothing in their wake. They dominate the Night in the Backstreets, the period from 3:13 to 4:34 AM, with a fearsome reputation as unstoppable monsters. Because of this, they are accepted as a natural phenomenon of the the City.

The Sweepers of Nest L, caught in the conflict over their hunting ground, become the eighteenth group of Guests to enter the Library. Their reception takes up the first slot of the leftmost column of Urban Nightmare.

Composition

Character	Description
Valerie	Valerie is the most cautious of the group, preferring to go the Library in order to save their kin rather than face the Index. They're skinnier than other Sweepers, their mask has a single eye, and their hooks are more curved.
Lyla	Lyla is the most determined to fight, having lost much of their family in attacks to their dens. Their body is more bulkier and taller than the other Sweepers along with carrying two red tanks. Their mask features an eye slit, and they use a pair of long spikes in place of hooks.
Anton	Anton, whom Lyla calls "uncle", is the most reserved of the Sweepers and stutters while speaking. Their body is similar to that of a regular Sweeper, except for possessing a third eye and also appearing to be slightly larger (visible in their combat sprites.)
Sweeper	A common Sweeper, sporting a dark protective suit with a face resembling a gas mask. Wields two hooks.

Story

Episode 1

The Sweepers being attacked by powerful foes.

Pre-Battle

Anton, Valerie and Lyla are shown conversing in a Sweeper den, speaking in their language, unintelligible to normal humans. The scene cuts away to Roland and Angela. Roland complains that humans cannot understand Sweeper language without an interpreter. Angela interjects that she can translate what they're saying, as long as it has the form of a language, much to Roland's surprise.

Now translated, the three Sweepers talk about how their families have fallen in rough times due to the recent conflicts over Nest L. The mist surrounding Nest L is reducing their vision, and some fellow Sweepers have entered it and never returned. They are keeping the news of trouble secret from their leader, "Mother," because as Valerie explains, Mother would immediately bring the Sweepers to wage an uncertain war against The Index at great cost to their families. Lyla believes that they must act because if the Index has truly betrayed them and Mother is not warned quickly enough, they will inevitably starve to death. Anton agrees with her. Valerie emphathizes but continues advocating for caution.

Lyla angrily lists how the Sweepers have suffered in recent times: A week ago, The Carnival raided several dens, eating many of their families. Five days ago, L'heure du Loup invaded Lyla's younger sibling's den and killed two families. Three days ago, a Proxy of the Index killed their neighbors, and two days ago, the Puppeteer took Lyla's children. Valerie agrees that all those incidents happened during nighttime, proving that they have lost their dominance over the nighttime of Nest L, and that this is more than enough reason to tell Mother.

When Anton questions why Valerie was arguing even though they are in agreement, Valerie retorts that a full-fledged war against the Index would cause them to lose even more of their dens, and that they must persevere on their own. Valerie believes they must go to the Library, explaining that with the books of groups affiliated to The Thumb and the Index, they could confirm whether the Index had betrayed the Sweepers and provide relief to their neighbors. Valerie tells Lyla and Anton to rally their neighbors and enter the Library together, also telling them to make sure their children are safe while they are gone. They will protect their families with their own hands.

Back inside the Library, Roland is surprised to see Sweepers are intelligent enough to communicate fluently and organize a society. Angela adds that she expected them to be coarser in their speech. Roland recalls a time when he hired an interpreter at an exorbitant price to try and talk to the Sweepers, and seeing them being so talkative, laments that he got ripped off. Angela asks if the Sweepers are really family, with Roland answering that it's probably symbolic, much like the titles Syndicates use. He advises Angela not to look into the Sweepers too deeply because they are far too common in the City, and he believes they have little to do with the freedom she seeks.

At the entrance, Angela greets the Sweepers as guests. Valerie asks her if she is part of their family, seeing as they can only speak with other family members. Impressed, Lyla points out that the Library is a place unlike any other, and it's their first time having a conversation with anyone that isn't their family. Irritated at them talking about family over and over, Angela asks them to "Stop with that rubbish". Lyla apologizes, stating that they're here for the books. Valeria asks Angela if she knows anything about the mist surrounding L Corp's nest, with her dryly replying that they'd have to find out in the books.

Post-Battle

After the Sweepers are routed, Roland notes their persistence, with Angela wondering what could've made them so desperate. He explains that the most he could tell was that they were losing their territory, and tried to make a deal of some sort to maintain their position. When Angela asks if they'd ever get to know more, he points out that she seems weirdly fixated on the Sweepers. And when she replies that "something about them smelled suspicious," Roland jokingly retorts that the Sweepers do have an awful smell, much to Angela's annoyance. He also teases her for letting her intuition speak for her, which she had never done before.

Background

“	Wherever there is trash, they’ll always be on time to gather it up. It’s a symbiotic relationship, so to speak. We’re too busy to take care of all the dregs.	”
–Garion, Lobotomy Corporation Day 45 Story

Sweepers resemble upright people, wearing black protective suits lined with cobalt metal. Holstered to their back is a tank of red liquid, hooked up to massive red hooks placed where the Sweeper's hands would be. They have red, robotic eyes, and according to Roland, they also emit an awful smell. Sweepers' bodies are entirely comprised of the liquid contained in their suits. The liquid is necessary for them to survive; without it, the Sweeper would die instantly. To replenish this liquid, they stab a prosthetic hook into a human and melt their body into the same liquid to consume it. This is the reason for their continuous hunting of humans at night, as without replenishing their liquid, their bodies will eventually run out.

The Sweepers' menacing appearances and actions lead to them being viewed as monstrous, unintelligent creatures. However, they are highly social and intelligent. They speak in a language incomprehensible to ordinary humans which is transcribed as random strings of numbers. They are also organized in close-knit "family" groups under the leadership of an entity called "Mother" which supports them. In fact, the Sweepers are former humans who have been converted into their current liquid bodies by an unknown process patented and approved by the Head. It is unknown what or who "Mother" is, but it can manage the side effects of the Sweepers' conversion into their liquid bodies. Sweepers inhabit various dens throughout the City with their families during the day, emerging during the night to hunt. This is a conscious rule the Sweepers set for themselves in order to be seen as a natural force of the City rather than a threat to public safety.

The Night in the Backstreets is an 80-minute block of time where the Sweepers freely emerge in massive numbers into the Backstreets and wipe them clean, consuming any living humans and corpses they find. They are so numerous that their movement is like one continuous wave, where any Sweepers which are killed are simply replaced by others, seemingly endless. At this time, the Sweepers also ignore the bonds of their "families"; even if their relatives are killed they will continue to surge forwards, and they will even consume the bodies of their fallen. This is why denizens of the Backstreets live in fear of the night and stay indoors; it is their only guaranteed safehouse during the night, as the Sweepers obey the City's taboo of keeping residential areas untouched during the night.

However, it is possible to stay outside during the Night in the Backstreets and survive the Sweepers provided one is strong enough to defend themselves from the onslaught. According to Moses, the Sweepers emerge in three separate waves, and breaking through all three will guarantee safety. Even so, this is a highly dangerous task. Not even a Grade 1 Fixer can readily take on a single wave of Sweepers and emerge unscathed.

The actions of Sweepers are not always unwanted. Their cleansing of bodies during the Night in the Backstreets makes them a convenient form of corpse disposal for criminals and other groups seeking to get rid of a victim. Meanwhile, the Head can also order the Sweepers to convene and conduct their activities during daytime. As seen in Lobotomy Corporation, the Arbiter Garion used Sweepers to clean up remaining loose ends in the Nest of the former H Corp. after she had destroyed it; given that the scene is set under daylight, this is presumably an instance of the Head mandating the Sweepers to appear.

Outside of the City, Sweepers are also known to inhabit the Outskirts.

Key Page stories

Anton’s Page

Our body is composed of liquid. Liquid is the substance that fuels our body. While humans maintain their form with the shell they call flesh and skin, we maintain our form with the suit we wear. If this liquid runs out, we will stop dead in place. Therefore, the liquid must always be filled, which is the reason we dine. This liquid is what constitutes and moves our body, but we also use the liquid to sweep the streets and dine. The method is simple. When we embed a hook connected to the fuel tank on our back into a human, they melt like a liquid. Then we consume that liquid to refuel. Without this shell, we would deform and spill on the ground like them. The liquid is patented with the approval of the Head; you must change your body to become like us if you wish to join our family. Do not worry about side effects. Mother will give you all the assistance you need. We all could safely become a family thanks to her.

Valerie’s Page

The Backstreets are our main stage of activity at night. When night falls, our world unfolds. At regular intervals, we start marching from the perimeter of a Nest and sweep everything as we move forward. Even if someone stands in our way, and attacks us… Even if a powerful Fixer kills a Sweeper next to us who was our family, we pay no heed and continue onward. Like a wave of water, we sweep everything in our way, except for those who are strong enough to resist it. From an edge of a Nest to the opposite end, we march without break for 80 minutes until the ‘Night in the Backstreets’ ends.

Lyla’s Page

That is correct. We are conscious of the attention of people during the daytime. We practice caution. It would be a public nuisance to show up in broad daylight and cause a ruckus, and we have a set of rules that we abide to. Of course, if the Head demands our service, we must assemble, day or night. Oh, and I believe there is a small misunderstanding between us. It is not by the will of us Sweepers that the night in the Backstreets has become a time when no deed is forbidden. Does it appear to you that every denizen of the Backstreets disapproves of the rules? ‘Anyone is allowed to commit terrible acts at night, and there is nowhere to complain to if you are victimized.’ While this means terrible things can happen to you at night, it also means that you are free to be the perpetrator of such a deed yourself. In fact, we do not see much benefit from the freedom of the nighttime, other than being allowed to dine all we want.

A Sweeper’s Page

If the ‘Night in the Backstreets’ were to be gone, the Backstreets will fall into even worse chaos than before. In other words, the Night in the Backstreets is the rein that keeps this place in check. Because the Night exists, people here show the least amount of human decency. Here’s an example. You come home at the end of a hellish day. Dragging your weary body to the sofa, you hope to get a small break lying on the couch and watching cheap entertainment shows. But guess what happens. Some crazy jerk upstairs turns up their speakerphone’s volume to the max and makes obnoxious noises that make your ceiling shake. Too bad, there goes your peaceful respite. You can’t stand the noise that’s getting to your head, so you decide to ask your neighbor to please be considerate and lower the volume. You want to talk this over without a fight, so you battle the furious urge a million times before you go upstairs. But then our unfriendly neighbor gives you a baffling reply when you confront them. I need some free time for myself too, I have gripes with my neighbors that I just live with, so you should do the same. Why make a huge fuss about the noise when it isn’t even too loud, blah blah… Talking out of their ass. What can you do, though? Barely keeping your boiling anger inside, you go back down to your house, covering your ears with a pillow and yelling curse words as you try to sleep. Even if you told your landlord about it, they’d shrug off your complaint and smile like a saint, so there’s no use speaking up about it. That’s when the Night of the Backstreets comes into play. First off, you block the entrance to that shithead’s house before they return. Anything works; you could weld the door, use wooden planks, padlock the door, or whatever. Ensure that they can’t enter their own house by any means, and go back to your home. Some time later, they’ll come back to find that the door to their house has been sealed shut; they’ll struggle with the door before giving up. And they’ll make a serious face as though they’re trying to think of who could’ve done this ridiculous prank to them. Once they realize that it couldn’t possibly have been anyone else’s doing but yours, it’ll be too late. Because you’ll be behind them, bashing their head in with a brick or some heavy object. Killing them right now would obviously break the rules, so you drag them to your house and enjoy a quiet rest. When the clock hits 3 AM, you drag the little shit outside and throw it in the middle of a relatively large street. You return to your home before it’s too late and watch the scene from the window. The time is 3:13 AM; Sweepers crawl out of the dark and sweep the streets clean, collecting all the trash including that noise pollutant.

Battle Symbols

There are three Battle Symbols associated with this guest group; see their reception page for more info.

Gallery

• 

  Valerie
• 

  Lyla
• 

  Anton

Trivia

• The Sweepers were first introduced in Lobotomy Corporation, appearing as the Ordeal of Indigo Noon.
• Valerie and Lyla resemble two of the Sweeper variants that appear in Lobotomy Corporation.