The Centre

The Centre is a clandestine organization dedicated to the continuation of research and development, scientific progress and the upkeep of vital technologies that will ultimately aid in the reconstruction and restoration of Earth in the wake of the destructive atomic war of the mid-21st century.

The current Director of the Centre, since 1 January 2346, is Doctor Marcus L. Blackwood. The youngest person to ever lead the Centre - ascending to the administrator post at the age of 35 - he is a cunning and capable leader figure who is focused on fulfilling the Centre's mission even in the devastated world of modern times, and to protect mankind from the terrors that dwell in the shadows as they attempt to rebuild civilization.

Declaration of Purpose
Mankind in its present state has been around for a quarter of a million years, yet only the last 5,000 have been of any significance.

''So, what did we do for nearly 250,000 years? We huddled in caves and around small fires, fearful of the things that we didn't understand. It was more than explaining why the sun came up, it was the mystery of enormous birds with heads of men and rocks that came to life. So we called them 'gods' and 'demons', begged them to spare us, and prayed for salvation.''

''In time, their numbers dwindled and ours rose. The world began to make more sense when there were fewer things to fear, yet the unexplained can never truly go away, as if the universe demands the absurd and impossible. Mankind must not go back to hiding in fear. No one else will protect us, and we must stand up for ourselves.''

''While the rest of mankind dwells in the light, we must stand in the darkness to fight it, contain it, and shield it from the eyes of the public, so that others may live in a sane and rational world. Atomic war may have ravaged this planet, but we endure, and humanity will endure. This is not something that we will compromise on. It is something for which we must accept nothing but total success.''

Penned by Dr. M. L. Blackwood, Director, 18 November 2347

Mission Statement
''We secure. We contain. We protect.''

History
The Centre was founded in 1935 after a meeting between Franklin D. Roosevelt of the Union States, Stanley Baldwin of the United Kingdom, Albert Lebrun of France, Chiang Kai-Shek of China and Vyacheslav Molotov of the Soviet Union. Gathering to discuss a spate of events which had happened within a few days of each other in late 1934, one in each country represented, the national leaders were concerned that long-suppressed knowledge they held that spoke of serious activities in times long past and the concern those days seemed to be returning, even as the world began to slowly destabilize towards world war.

Proposed by FDR and named by Stanley Baldwin, the Centre - it has never had any other name - would be clandestinely funded and supported by all five nations but in no way directly or actively connected. Indeed, the Centre would operate above jurisdiction of any nation, in the shadows between national authorities, focused on identifying and containing unusual dangers that threatened all of world civilization. To this end, each nation rolled its ultra-secret investigations and research units together to form the first official incarnation of the Centre in secretive executive orders collectively signed on 1 August 1935.

During the course of World War 2, the Centre would tangle repeatedly with the special agents of both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, as those two states attempted to gain control of several dangerous assets that they hoped would help them in their war efforts. A particular incident between the Centre and agents of the Nazi Paranormal Research Division occurred in 1942 when Centre agents attempted to extract PCP-217 from Heidelberg Castle, where Nazi scientists were attempting to replicate it as a biological weapon for use against Allied forces. This incident would result in the death of several prominent German scientists and thankfully brought the Nazi bioweapons program to a sudden halt when Hitler, angry at the wasted resources and lost scientists, cut funding for the group performing the research.

The Centre would later in 1944 sieze the only prototype of a highly advanced Nazi artillery cannon known now as PCP-044, thereby preventing the Italians and Germans from the chance to mass produce the weapon The conclusion of the war found large quantities of reports in both German and Italian hands which regularly spoke of a "mysterious third party" that had repeatedly infiltrated their military bases and stole numerous pieces of vital and irreplaceable technology A limited number of officials in both nations were quietly hunted down and terminated by the Centre following the surrender of Japan, under cover of the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal, in order to prevent the theories of these officials from becoming public knowledge.

During the Cold War, the Centre had to make repeated entries into Soviet territory and also into Eastern Europe after numerous Assets as they were identified and located. In spite of the original agreement which was signed between FDR and Stalin in 1935, the USSR under Nikita Khrushchev was very hostile towards the Centre. On several occasions, KGB operatives made active efforts to identify and tensions among the senior leadership grew as KGB agents sent to investigate the organization turned up dead or simply disappeared. In 1964, the OS3 Committee decided to "modify" Soviet politics in favor of Khrushchev's rivals and he was ultimately replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, who maintained his distance from the secretive organization.

The Centre similarly maintained a very quiet and very subtle closeness with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been aware of the organization during the battles in Europe during the latter half of World War 2. Many questions arose as to the possibility of Centre involvement in issues buried in the chaos of the Korean War and the Vietnam War, though it's long been rumored there was collusion between the organization and the Nixon Administration. Some individuals among the Centre's own membership whispered that the organization was responsible for the death of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover under guise of cardiovascular trouble.

In the interim between the end of the Cold War between the US and China, the near-collapse of the People's Republic of China gave the US and USSR a wide berth to operate internationally and led to a warming of relations between the two countries and ultimately saw them normalize friendly trade and diplomatic relations. The Centre became detached from international affairs during this period. They began researching ancient Aztec and Mayan rituals and also several ancient Asian traditions. It was also during this period that the Centre began to quietly spread word to various groups worldwide of the necessity to prepare for what it believed would ultimately be a war that would go atomic.

The Last Great War
The summer of 2012 was when the international situation began to disintegrate as it seemed that the PRC was finally on the verge of total collapse. A very short-lived war between it and the USSR that lasted from February to May of 2011 had broken the Chinese military badly, and had fractured its command structure and its links with the Party leadership. Several military units went rogue, weakening the nation further as entire units of troops simply walked away from their duties and staked their claims elsewhere. A general embargo of goods into and out of the nation from the USSR in January 2012, the European Alliance in February and the USA in April drove the Chinese to desperation. In August of that year, they expelled the ambassadors of those nations and withdrew from the United Nations, closing their borders.

The fall of 2012 was a dangerously silent one as the world kept a tight watch on China while simultaneously making preparations for any sudden actions. The USA, EA and USSR had been making emergency preparations for civil evacuations during this time, though they fell behind the Centre in shifting personnel to heavily fortified and hardened underground facilities meant to provide long-term shelter.

Some ten million people between the USA, USSR and EA were moved quietly into the Bastion shelters in December 2012 and the complexes sealed until further notice. The Centre likewise moved from its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland to the heavily fortified underground complex known as East One, located in the mountains of Tennessee just north of the city of Chattanooga. There, the S3 Council and other administration and their families settled in with the organization's central computer network and critical assets and awaited whatever would come.

That end came in May of 2013. At 0445, the Chinese began to launch atomic weaponry at key targets in the USA, USSR and EA. Periphery targets in South America and Africa were also struck. The Atlantic powers responded in kind, and over the next eight hours, 8.9 billion people died in the atomic fury that consumed the Earth. As the people in the Bastion bunkers carried on efficient lives, tended by the reclamation systems and safe against the nuclear holocaust outside. During this time, however, the Centre began sending out heavily-armed and radiation-geared teams to monitor threats that had begun to manifest as the world died an atomic death.

Modern Times
As mankind began to slowly emerge from the Bastion bunkers nearly 210 years after the Last Great War, the Centre likewise began to send out more patrols and scouting parties. The organization found increasing traces of paranormal activity and supernatural manifestations in a wide variety of locations and items that were caught up in the immense waves of death and destruction that scoured the world. The leadership of the organization, passed down to successive generations according to a pre-determined plan, has acknowledged its daunting task and is doing all it can to help humanity rebuild.

Director
This individual is the leader of the entirety of the Centre and all its personnel and operations. There is nobody within the organization who has the level of absolute access that this person does, and those who hold this post do so with the strict understanding that they must maintain the Centre's mission and its strict secrecy. This is done through deployment of trusted subordinates, maintenance of extensive security systems, and the uncompromising enforcement of all security, safety and containment protocols.

OS3 Committee
The Operations Committee, Security Three is the council of senior officers who are the advisors and operational coordinators appointed by the Director. They assist him or her in their duties and enact their dictates. Similarly, the Committee serves as a review and oversight board for the regulation of paranormal subjects the Centre maintains containment of.

A member of the Committee is appointed personally by the Director upon the death or retirement of a previous member, and serves at the pleasure of the Director or until death or retirement.

Departments
The Centre is broken down into several departments, each of which focuses on a sphere of interests which fall in the perview of the organization's duties and functions. These departments are as follows -


 * Biosciences Department


 * Chemical Department


 * General Sciences Department


 * Industrial Services Department


 * Public Safety Maintenance Department


 * Space Research Department


 * Urban Development Department


 * Weapons Development Department

Site Coordinators
Throughout the continental United States, the Centre maintains several facilities which are the dedicated homes of the containment of the Paranormal Assets which have been acquired and isolated by the organization. Formally referenced as Centre Operations Sites, and in all Centre records with the system of a number consisting of one to three digits, there are a classified number of these complexes. Each one is overseen by an official known as the Site Coordinator. This official is responsible for the facility, the personnel assigned there, all equipment and materials kept and employed there, and the integrity of the containment systems for all PCPs held within.

Project Management
Each Asset which is cleared by Containment Command for any sort of research and development, testing or analysis becomes the responsibility of a cleared and authorized Project Manager and his or her team of specialists for the duration of the project. Each individual holding this title is capable of serving in the study and scientific analysis of most any PCP within Centre custody, when and if the need or desire arises.

Specialists
All baseline personnel employed by the Centre are known as specialists, and are capable of assisting in the execution of a vast array of duties in the study of assets, the upkeep of regular Centre duties and much progression of extant research operations.