The MN-1 is a sessile automaton that disguises itself as a piece of urban infrastructure — a bench, a utility cabinet, a dumpster — and releases aerosolized chemical compounds that produce an irresistible compulsion in humans to approach and make physical contact. The chemical is not a toxin. It is a synthetic analog of oxytocin combined with a proprietary compound that triggers the same neural pathways as the smell of home, of comfort, of safety. Targets describe the experience as suddenly, overwhelmingly wanting to sit down, to rest, to be near the warm, safe thing that smells like everything good.

When the target makes contact, the MN-1's surface activates. A rapid-setting adhesive bonds the target to the unit within 0.3 seconds. Simultaneously, micro-injectors in the contact surface deliver a sedative compound that renders the target unconscious in under ten seconds. The unit then reconfigures — panels shift, compartments open — and the target is drawn into an internal cavity lined with shock-absorbing gel and life-support systems. The MN-1 closes around them like a mouth.

The target is stored in a state of chemical sedation, vital signs monitored, body temperature maintained, until a retrieval team arrives. The MN-1 can hold one adult human for up to 72 hours without life-threatening complications. It is a kidnapping machine disguised as a place to sit down.

The Angler has been deployed in the Shelf, where overworked, exhausted people are most susceptible to the chemical lure. Seven disappearances in the Shelf Block 22 area have been attributed to MN-1 deployment by investigators, though no unit has been recovered. Targets vanish without witnesses, without struggle, without trace. Their last known location is always near a bench, a cabinet, or a dumpster that neighbors cannot quite remember being there before. The furniture ate them. That is the sentence that Shelf investigators use among themselves, and it sounds insane, and it is accurate.