The Anomalous
"Someone once told me that if you imagine our universe imprinted on a piece of paper, it'd be entirely two-dimensional. Then imagine a person were capable of sticking their hand through that paper without tearing it. Wherever they placed their hand, that portion of the paper would be covered by the hand. It would be like it doesn't exist, yet we know it is still there. The anomalous effect is like the hand covering the portion of that paper. It'll distort that portion of the paper, our universe, because something is passing through it. If you live as a two-dimensional paper person, you don't know what that something is, but you know it is doing something to our world."
Anomalous Objects(AOs) are the classification for objects that are manipulated by a force beyond the bounds of our world. With our limited understanding we can't really know what it is, but we can see and study the effects of it. These objects will defy the conventional logic of our reality because they come from a different reality where the rules of our logic do not apply. The object passing through the paper analogy is the best explanation the Bureau has for explaining it. For example an AO could be like a thin wire passing through to cause a small anomalous rubber duck to float unconnected with any other anomalous object, or it could be a school bus driving through manipulating whole towns all similar in their manipulations of our reality.
Most AOs will be unconnected and fairly insignificant in their manipulation of our world. The Bureau fears the effect of a large object passing through. The tips of the manipulating small portions of our reality in coordination before the main body of it passes through, causing a widespread distortion of reality. One that we might never come from. These get a special classification: Catalyst Class.
The Bureau
Officially the Bureau of Unusual Incidents(FBU), or simply called the Bureau by its members, exists as a splinter unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigations(FBI) as a cold case unit. A cover team exists to officially represent that Bureau, but most of the agency works undercover from the public eye. The operations of the agency are centered around supporting in-field agents and teams of agents as they investigate AOs. The agent of the FBU is trained similar to the Secret Service in physical operations and investigational skills comparable to that of an average FBI agent. During training, agents are exposed to the power of some well contained AOs to experience the phenomena firsthand.
Agents are the most basic but crucial part of the Bureau. Most AOs are investigated and contained by individual agents or teams of agents dispatched. There will be events where AOs need additional resources and where agents are the open hand, Reactionary Task Forces (RTFs) will be the closed fist. They are the more militaristic portion of the Bureau. Individuals who are recruited due to military or SWAT performances will be typically assigned to this duty. Events that present increased danger of exposure, violence, or volatile reality bending the RTFs will be dispatched ahead of agents to quell dangers until a containment procedure can be enacted.
Clinical and researching staff that operate out of Bureau sites are considered Operators. This division contains Agents or RTF members who have proven their excellence and offered a promotion as an Operator. It is due to their experience with the AOs that they are more adept at developing methodology of testing, containment, and if required, destruction of AOs. While they do consider one site their homebase, they may be required to join agents and RTFs in the field to lend their expertise. Operators will typically remain as such since few positions exist above Operators. There are a few site directors, but they all answer to the Council.
The Council is the enigmatic leadership for the whole Bureau. Very little information other than direct orders passes down from the Council, but there is some information available. Aside from the Director who is a special case, each member of the Council represents a certain expertise in the Bureau, much like cabinet members in the executive branch. Thus, the members of the Council are: The Director, Head of Medical, Head of Investigations, Head of Containment, Head of Operations, and Head of Public Relations. All are considered equal, but the Director is the one with the final say.
Creating an Agent
The Bureau is selective on bringing new individuals into their ranks due to the very sensitive nature of what they work with. However, accidents happen and casualties need to be replaced. Thus, the Bureau must always be mindful of potential recruits. Most prospective agents are US citizens but under Council review, non-US citizens can be offered a position within the Bureau. Typically, all prospective individuals are recruited following one of these as a basis:
[1] They are safely anomalous and deemed too valuable by the Bureau to not utilize,
[2] They have encountered an anomalous event and have proven extreme valor in that event,
[3] Or have been in law enforcement or military career at any level with distinguished career and have little to no meaningful relationships in their life. This means you aren't married, have children, etc. As the nature of this work requires secrecy, it is easier to promote individuals who don't have intimate connections.
Prospective agents are then subject to several rounds of interviews and secretly, the Bureau will manipulate circumstances elsewhere in their lives to further examine the individual in situations that the interviews won't cover. The agent will never really know just how far the Bureau went to examine them, but the result is worth the price of admission for the Bureau. The individual might disagree. Applicants can submit candidates for review with the following forms:
AO Encounters
A section dedicated to highlighting all the anomalous objects encountered by the cast of players so far. I will add to this as we go along.
Staff Directory
For all the Bureau staff that the cast of players have met. I will also add to this as the story progresses.
What to Expect
You as players will join in as I lead the adventure into the unknown. The scope of this RP will accomplish several acts of story that will be later titled The Aphelion Event. If everyone has fun, I will look to do another RP covering more detail about this. You are free to propose ideas for AOs, characters, and plot points to me. I will think about how best to include them if we think it would be fun. However this will be mostly a narrative driven by me. I'm always open to talk about stuff, however.
Please post your characters here. I have slightly updated to the Character Sheet so please make adjustments. I will be open to up to eight players. Not all players will be with other players at all times but as GM, I will be writing the encounters for each player.
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