UIU Memorandum — Paralaw Briefing

While secret in its implementation, paralaw is not secret law.

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GreenWolf SUGGESTED LISTENING: "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, performed by Nash the Slash Here's my Author Page. This article is not legal advice. Please comply with all applicable laws within your jurisdiction. Or don't, I'm not your attorney.

Memorandum OF FBI Unusual Incidents Unit; TO US Domestic Security Advisor; FROM Executive Assistant Director of UIU

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Arkwright,

Congratulations on the promotion, and my deepest sympathies. Unfortunately, the President has given me your old job, so you can't have it back now. Still, I'm glad it's you and not one of the ghostfuckers.

You'll remember you had me working on a briefing for the incoming DomSec Advisor, to bring them up to speed on all those thorny bits of law and government that don't officially exist. Obviously, you don't need that now, but I thought it might be useful for looping in the new members of the Council, so I beefed it up a bit and dumbed it down to the level of the average Senator. If that's still too much for them, try using crayons.

— AD Richard Frost

1. The Veil

What is the Veil?

There is an international consensus to conceal from the general public the existence of certain inexplicable and unconventional phenomena which defy the natural order as it is commonly and currently understood. These phenomena are variously deemed paranormal, esoteric, occult, paranatural, and/or anomalous; the effort to conceal them is known as the Veil.

The Veil was established and codified in the wake of the 6th and 7th Occult Wars. These were a pair of global conflicts in the 19th and 20th centuries which involved the extensive usage of paranormal weapons and persons, and which at several points threatened to destroy humanity, Earth, and the United States.

The Veil is founded on the belief — justified by the Occult Wars — that widespread dissemination of paranormal knowledge and objects will incite mass panic, empower rogue actors, endanger humanity, and jeopardize national security.

The Veil is not absolute. Countless numbers of people possess some small awareness of paranormal phenomena, either from folklore or personal encounter, and entire communities exist completely behind the Veil. The objective of the Veil is to promote consensus normalcy as the dominant worldview, minimize discussion to the contrary, and undermine the credibility of such discussions. To this end, the definition of consensus normalcy has been revised several times to accommodate advances in science and failures of the Veil.

What is Paralaw?

Paralaw is the body of law related to the Veil. It includes both the organic laws that establish and define the Veil and consensus normalcy, as well as specific regulations and proscriptions meant to enforce and maintain the Veil. While secret in its implementation, paralaw is not secret law — the most important articles of paralaw are incorporated into the public law, albeit in an opaque or obscure manner that does not betray the existence of the Veil.

Paralaw can be broadly divided into two fields, classified by the spheres in which it operates.

• General paralaw mainly applies to individuals not privy to the Veil, and is aimed at the maintenance of consensus normalcy. Most federal powers to control the movement of persons, goods, and information in relation to the Veil are derived from general paralaw.
  
• Personal paralaw is only applicable to individuals and entities operating behind the Veil. It encompasses a wide range of criminal, regulatory, and civil law, with the intention of policing paranormal communities so that they do not disrupt consensus normalcy.

Basis of Paralaw

In the United States, paralaw is the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government. Constitutional authority is primarily derived from the Commerce Clause¹, the Copyright Clause², the Define and Punish Clause³, and the Necessary and Proper Clause⁴.

There are four major sources for specific articles of paralaw.

• International treaty — The fundamental nature and character of the Veil is defined by several international treaties, the most important being the four Conventions on the Veil Accords, the Charter of the Global Occult Coalition, and the Köln Agreement. As a signatory to the First, Second, and Fourth Conventions, the United States is committed to observing and upholding the Veil.
  
• Legislative statutes — Legislative action related to the Veil is rare. Most statutes of paralaw instead confer broad rulemaking authority to the executive branch, usually in the guise of national security legislation. When necessary, riders may be attached to unrelated and non-notable bills in order to pass specific policy. Much of the modern legal framework of the Veil was established during the Cold War, with the Atomic Energy Acts, Invention Secrecy Act, and Arms Export Control Act being of particular importance.
  
• Executive rulemaking — Significant power has been delegated to the executive branch to issue rules and regulations in matters of paralaw. This power is held by a number of different executive officers and agencies, with no single department holding exclusive responsibility for American paralaw. However, most paralaw policymaking is now centralized in the Domestic Security Council.
  
• Judicial precedent — The courts have played an essential role in managing the role of paralaw in our constitutional system, providing guidance and boundaries on the limits of executive rulemaking authority. Judicial rulings have been especially important in resolving unforeseen constitutional questions raised by the paranormal, such as the citizenship rights of robots or the taxability of human souls. A system of limited jurisdiction courts has been established within the federal judiciary to handle cases addressing matters of paralaw.

2. Domestic Security Council

The Domestic Security Council

Originally created in 1940 by executive order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Domestic Security Council is the highest-level executive body for paranormal policy, and the principal forum for consideration of matters of paralaw. The Domestic Security Council provides a single unified point for political oversight and coordination, with all American paranormal agencies reporting to the Council directly or indirectly.

The Domestic Security Council reports directly to the President, but is usually chaired by the Domestic Security Advisor on his behalf. The Domestic Security Advisor is typically an expert on paralaw and the paranormal, chosen by the President and serving at his pleasure. The Council has no permanent or mandated membership, but by custom has always included the Vice President, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of the Treasury.

Other Cabinet officials, executive officers, or even private citizens may be invited to participate or sit on the Domestic Security Council by the President. Every executive department head has sat on the Council in at least one administration, with the exception of the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Homeland Security. Other officers and persons who have historically been invited to sit on the Council include the Postmaster General, the Ambassador to the United Nations, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Executive Assistant Director of the Unusual Incidents Unit, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Senator John McCain.

Legislative Oversight

The nature of the Veil precludes normal methods of public oversight in matters of paralaw. To meet the standards of legislative accountability demanded by the Constitution, the Domestic Security Council operates with similar Congressional oversight procedures as the larger intelligence community.

Although not members of the Council, the so-called "Gang of Eight" — the chairmen and ranking members of the congressional intelligence committees, the Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives, and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate — are entitled to attend sessions and receive briefings on the meetings of the Domestic Security Council. At his discretion, the President may also include other members of Congress, most commonly the chairmen and ranking members of the congressional judiciary committees.

Under normal circumstances, disclosure of information from Domestic Security Council sessions without Presidential authorization is made impossible by geas-seal. However, this restriction has been modified for members of Congress, and may be lifted in whole or in part with the unanimous consent of the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate.

3. National Policy

Domestic Security Directives

Most federal paranormal policy is implemented through Domestic Security Directives, executive orders promulgated directly by the Domestic Security Council at the behest of the President. While some Directives set specific rules and regulations, others simply set general points of policy, leaving specific implementation details to individual agencies.

Some of the most significant Domestic Security Directives are listed below.

• "Hoover Mandate" (DSD-0000) — Predating the modern Domestic Security Directives, the Hoover Mandate was first articulated by President Herbert H. Hoover in reaction to the Siege of Portlands. Since then, it has been reiterated and restated by successive administrations, and has become a cornerstone of American paranormal policy.
  
  Under the Hoover Mandate, the United States asserts exclusive authority over paranormal enclaves in and adjacent to American territory. Taking a narrow reading of the Veil Accords, the U.S. contends that the limitations on national sovereignty imposed by consensus normalcy are inapplicable to regions lying entirely behind the Veil. As a result, occult powers which might be free to operate within the United States may nevertheless be prohibited or severely curtailed within Mandate enclaves.
  
  Current federal policy relies heavily on the Hoover Mandate to create safe harbors, or "free ports", where paranormal communities can congregate without threatening consensus normalcy. The establishment of free ports has resulted in a significant reduction in high-profile paranormal incidents within the United States, and allows for more efficient monitoring of potentially dangerous individuals and groups.
  
• "Nazi Grimoire Rule" (DSD-1942-002, modified by DSD-1979-017) — Upon American entry into the 7th Occult War, President Roosevelt issued a Directive governing the salvage of occult artifacts. The so-called "Nazi Grimoire Rule" establishes a standing federal claim to enemy artifacts captured or acquired by American citizens or within American territory, and preempts normal rights of salvage. This rule has since been expanded by later Directives to apply to all occult artifacts, even those not of wartime origin.
  
• Paratech Licensing Regime (DSD-1950-017, DSD-1963-101, and DSD-1992-055) — Following the 7th Occult War, the paratechnology industry significantly expanded. Directives were issued to establish comprehensive regulatory regimes, creating a system of Veil Operating Licenses for authorized developers, purchasers, and sellers of paratechnology. Multiple tiers of license exist, subject to varying standards of scrutiny dependent on the type of operations authorized. The rarest, an Unrestricted Complete Commercial License, authorizing the development and sale of consumer paratechnology without limitations, may only be awarded by the President, and historically was only issued to subsidiaries of Prometheus Labs.
  
• "The Damned Embargo" (DSD-1961-066) — Articulates the federal government's policy of non-recognition and non-interaction with Hell and the Tartarean Realms, prohibits diplomatic recognition or communication with Hell, and imposes sanctions on the Prince of Darkness and the members of his infernal government. While keeping this Directive in place, the administration of President Ronald Reagan relied on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to maintain informal and unofficial contacts within Hell, a practice continued by subsequent Presidents.
  
• "McCain Wedding Letter" (DSD-1980-008, superseded by DSD-1986-067) — Implemented the terms of the Biltmore Treaty, which formalized relations between Atlantis and the United States. This Directive is also the source of the New Atlantis Peace and Security Cordon, which prevents civilian access to Atlantean reservation lands.

International Agreements

The global nature of the Veil makes unilateral action risky and rare. National policy is frequently shaped by international agreement. Although the United States is party to only a handful of formal treaties that produce binding obligations, federal paranormal policy is committed to maintaining consensus normalcy and therefore generally adheres to the larger body of customary international law.

A few of the most important international agreements regarding the Veil are listed below.

• Veil Accords — Shortly after the conclusion of the 6th Occult War, the International Convention on the Prevention of Occult Warfare and the Maintenance of Rational Civilization was held to address the problems created by the war and its aftermath, becoming the first of what would later be deemed the Conventions on the Veil Accords. There have been four such Conventions to date:
  
  • The First Convention was held immediately after the 6th Occult War. It resulted in the formal establishment of the Veil and the enshrinement of consensus normalcy into international law.
    
  • The Second Convention was held after the First World War. Intended to address flaws in the First Convention that had been made apparent during the Paranormal Renaissance and the World War, it is largely considered a failure, as its primary goal of replacing the independent nation-based system of normalcy with a unified international order failed to gain support from the major occult powers — ultimately leading to the 7th Occult War. However, it did succeed in promulgating preliminary standards and rules to govern the development and application of new parasciences, including the first international restrictions on thaumatological backlash.
    
  • The Third Convention was held after the 7th Occult War, with the intention of ratifying and codifying the various wartime agreements and commitments of the victorious Allied Occult Initiative. The previous system of nation-based normalcy was abolished, replaced with an international order to be overseen by a new permanent organization created from the AOI. The Charter of this new Global Occult Coalition was drafted in parallel to the Convention, and was adopted alongside the revised Accords.
    
    The Third Convention incorporates or affirms most of the wartime agreements and actions of the AOI, including the Köln Agreement with the Foundation⁵. As a result, because of its objections to the Köln Agreement, and despite its significant participation in the proceedings, the United States has never signed the Third Convention. However, most of the provisions of the Third Convention are accepted and followed by the U.S., and several of the subsequent protocols have been ratified and adopted.
    
  • The Fourth Convention was held at the end of the 20th century, in response to the political and technological developments of the prior decade which threatened to erode the Veil. While reiterating the supremacy of international efforts in maintaining normalcy, the ability of signatories to take unilateral action was expanded, and the American position on the inviolability of free ports was affirmed. State signatories agreed to establish additional regional free ports as a means of further segregating the paranormal from the mundane.
    
    The necessity and purpose of the Veil was reassessed for the first time, and the revised Accords acknowledged that it would be impractical and undesirable to maintain the Veil in perpetuity; however, while the signatories of the Fourth Convention agreed that integrating the paranormal fully into consensus normalcy should be a long-term goal, no agreement could be reached regarding implementation details.
    
• Howard-Grant Agreement — A landmark treaty between the United States and the Occult Service of the British Empire, negotiated by the future first Domestic Security Advisor, Moses Howard. Among its most important provisions, the Agreement forced the British Occult Service to recognize the City of Three Portlands as an independent city-state under American protection and to cease its remaining operations in North America. In exchange, the U.S. normalized relations with the BOS and agreed to support the Allied Occult Initiative in the 7th Occult War.
  
• Three Portlands Free Association Compact — The document which establishes and governs the relationship between the United States and the City of Three Portlands, the Free Association Compact provides American guarantees of the security and sovereignty of Three Portlands. In exchange, the United States assumes responsibility for most of the city's external relations, and receives the authority to apply and enforce certain federal laws within the city when those laws are reasonably necessary for the maintenance of the Veil. Although controversial among the city's inhabitants, no serious effort has ever been made at modifying or terminating the Compact.
  
• Köln Agreement — Following the final defeat of the enemy powers, the 7th Occult War was formally ended by the signing of the Köln Agreement between the victorious co-belligerents, the Allied Occult Initiative and the Foundation. Intended mainly as a provisional and precursory measure prior to a new Convention on the Veil Accords, the most significant function of the Agreement was to the settle the disposal of captured and remnant materiel from the enemy powers — most importantly, custody and control over the legendary Rite of Solomon, which had been the ultimate cause of the war.
  
  Under the Agreement, the Allied Occult Initiative (and its successor, the Global Occult Coalition) and the Foundation are designated as the Solomonic powers, the only organizations allowed to retain information or materials related to the Rite. Custody is split between the two powers, with neither having full possession of all of the necessary information and components to utilize the Rite. This arrangement, although intended to be temporary, has become a permanent fixture of international law, and is cited by the Foundation as the basis of its authority and legitimacy.
  
• Paraweapon Cessation Treaty — An early attempt at establishing international arms control for paranormal weapons of mass destruction, which would have established restrictions on the development and deployment of various types of paranormal weaponry. Most of its articles were never realized, and persistent breaches by most of its major signatories have effectively rendered the treaty null and void. It continues to live on in subsequent disarmament agreements, which frequently reference or incorporate its provisions.
  
• Kaliningrad Geas Standard — An international specification for the use of contractual geases and other memetic technologies, provided with the aim of minimizing the collective risk of Cuchulainn syndrome from an incompatible geas. Adherence to the specification is required for most members of the Global Occult Coalition, and is widely observed even by non-aligned powers.
  
• Biltmore Treaty — The treaty between Atlantis and the United States, which was secured via the marriage of Captain John McCain and Merchant-Senator Cindy Lou McCain. The Biltmore Treaty provided the Atlanteans with land for resettlement, the opportunity to serve in the American armed forces, and guarantees of their right and form of self-government. In return, the United States receives access to Atlantean knowledge and technology, which has provided a significant advantage in conflicts with other paranormal powers.

4. Courts of Paralaw

Domestic Security Courts

Cases addressing matters of paralaw are handled by the United States domestic security courts. Similar to district courts, these are federal trial courts of law, equity, and admiralty, which can hear criminal and civil cases. However, they are limited in jurisdiction, having exclusive and original jurisdiction over all cases related to the Veil.

There are 7 domestic security courts covering the United States, its territories, and areas of extraterritorial jurisdiction. Each court is composed of 1 to 3 judges, selected by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from among the existing Article III judges in the federal judiciary, and appointed for renewable 7-year terms. These judges may each, in turn, appoint up to 3 Article I magistrate judges to assist them.

Appeals from the domestic security courts go to the Domestic Security Court of Review, a 3 judge appellate panel similarly selected by the Chief Justice. Final appeals from the Court of Review go directly to the Chief Justice; appeals to the full Supreme Court are not available, as Congress has not granted the Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction over paralaw cases.

Proceedings of the domestic security courts are done under geas-seal, allowing them to empanel juries, call witnesses, and otherwise function as normal adversarial courts without jeopardizing the Veil. The government is represented in these proceedings by Special Assistant US Attorneys, who are selected from the Attorney General's Office and assigned to individual judicial districts to handle paralaw cases.

Important Judicial Rulings

• Caldwell test — Following the revelation that Vincent Anderson had attempted to infiltrate the House of Representatives with an android duplicate of Raymond Caldwell, multiple criminal and civil cases were opened against the parties involved. Among the results was a ruling on the legal status of androids, and whether they qualify as persons with rights under the Constitution.
  

In regards to the individual, the appearance of sapience is insufficient in determining personhood; rather, it is the ability to evolve beyond the constraints of the mind's initial parameters, to act outside or even against pre-programmed directives and instinctive desires, which must be considered when asking if an artificial being can be considered a person in its own right.

• Edison test — Among the most powerful tools available for maintaining the Veil are amnestics, memory-affecting drugs which, in combination with hypnosis and geases, can be used to selectively erase portions of human memory. In the case of Mind of Thomas Edison in the Body of an Adolescent Boy v. United States, the court devised a binding standard to be used in determining when amnestics can be administered involuntarily.
  

Before receiving a court order authorizing involuntary amnesticization, the government must demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, an overriding state interest, which cannot be achieved through alternative means, and which will be furthered by the use of amnestics.

• Prometheus deference — Following an appeal by Prometheus Laboratories of an administrative decision by the United States Postal Service, Chief Justice Warren Burger held that federal courts should defer to the judgement of executive agencies when determining whether an object or phenomenon is paranormal (and therefore subject to paralaw regulation), unless there is clear and convincing evidence to support a different determination.
  
• Burke v. United States — Reversing the conviction of Hamilton Burke for mail fraud, the court held that oracular prophecies, when targeted at a specific individual, constitute a search under the 4th amendment. As a result, prior to consulting an oracle, federal agents must obtain a warrant, which must detail each question to be asked. Subsequent case law has introduced several limited exceptions to this requirement.
  
• Nameless Human Male v. Oneiroi Inc. — When granting equitable relief, federal courts are empowered to modify or dissolve the terms of a geas as if it were a normal contract.
  
• United States v. Dark — Upholding the decision of the Internal Revenue Service, the court held that souls acquired through Faustian bargains qualify as ordinary income for the purposes of taxation.

5. U.S. Agencies

Executive Agencies

FBI, Unusual Incidents Unit

The Unusual Incidents Unit is the primary paranormal agency of the Department of Justice, and of the United States. While technically a part of the FBI, this is largely a fiction to conceal the Unit's purpose and operations. Only a small portion of the Unit, the publicly-acknowledged and commonly-derided "UFO hunters", operates within the FBI's organizational structure. The remainder of the Unit is almost entirely autonomous, with its own budget and Presidentially-appointed Executive Assistant Director.

In addition to investigating violations of federal paralaw, the UIU also performs most other functions of the DOJ behind the Veil, including operating the Paramax penitentiary. One of the Unit's most important responsibilities is policing the numerous paranormal enclaves in and adjacent to the United States. These communities are important strategic and economic assets, and also major threats to the Veil, making their proper management paramount. In many, the Unit is the only law enforcement or government agency of any kind, and acts as the de facto representative of the U.S. government.

The UIU makes extensive use of parascientific tools and techniques, and is a major employer of persons with occult or paranormal abilities. These so-called irregular agents greatly enhance the Unit's operational capabilities, and flexible hiring standards have been adopted to facilitate their recruitment. Within paranormal enclaves, irregular agents account for as much as 30% of the Unit's personnel.

Mobile Occult Operations Team

Formed in 1995, the Mobile Occult Operations Team is the UIU's fast-reaction crisis response team of battlemages and combat psychics. Similar in philosophy and purpose to a conventional SWAT unit, MOOT extends and adapts the concept for application behind the Veil. The members of MOOT are all irregular agents of significant capability and experience, trained and equipped to engage major paranormal hazards and incidents, with the ability to deploy to any part of North America within minutes.

IRS, Esoteric Division ("Infernal Revenue Service")

Originally created to audit the finances of Veiled business magnates who were using the paranormal enclave of New Amsterdam for tax evasion, the Esoteric Division of the IRS has gradually assumed responsibility for most economic and financial paralaw regulations. It handles the taxation of all American citizens and businesses operating behind the Veil, as well as functions normally outside the purview of the IRS and the Treasury Department, such as customs enforcement, regulation of financial markets, antitrust actions, and the administration of certain federal loan programs.

The expansive and unusual nature of its mission requires the Esoteric Division to employ numerous specialists in diverse and niche fields. As a result, it has significant institutional expertise in several areas of parascience, and is a leader in subjects such as meta-numismatics, applied numerology, quantum physics, atemporal economics, and demonology.

USPS, Sigil Service ("Undead Letter Office")

The oldest active paranormal agency in the United States, the Post Office Sigil Service was originally established by the first Postmaster General, Benjamin Franklin, with the mission of protecting American communications from occult interception and interference — and to use the same methods to monitor the mail of the nation's enemies. While the Sigil Service has since evolved and expanded alongside the conventional Post Office, its core mission remains fundamentally the same over 200 years later.

Since the adoption of the Veil, the Sigil Service has been instrumental in the maintenance of consensus normalcy; it is the only American agency with the authority to censor domestic mail during peacetime. Pursuant to the Postal Service's constitutionally mandated universal service obligation, the Sigil Service is also tasked with carrying all mail behind the Veil; its letter carriers claim, with little exaggeration, that they can deliver to anyone, anywhere.

DOD, Paranatural Warfare Command ("Pentagram")

The unified combatant command responsible for all paranormal operations and assets of the United States military is almost always referred to as the Pentagram, possibly as a result of memetic camouflage. The Pentagram is tasked with utilizing the paranormal in the defense of the United States, and with protecting the nation and its interests from esoteric military threats.

Similar to the special forces, every branch of the military maintains one or more parawarfare units, all of which report to the Pentagram. These range from covert and direct combat units, such as the Navy's 13th Fleet and the Army's 23rd Paranatural Operations Group, to research and intelligence agencies, like the National Preconnaissance Office and the Blackstone Arsenal.

Removed from the normal chain of command, the Pentagram is accountable only to the President, and has long resisted civilian oversight by the Domestic Security Council. Its clandestine and uncooperative nature has been the source of frequent conflicts with other paranormal agencies, both domestic and foreign.

Non-Executive Agencies

Library of Congress, Office of Prophecy

As foretold by the seers Tiresias and Thomas de Ercildoun, the Office of Prophecy was established within the Library of Congress to collect and catalogue oracular and anachronistic information. Its collection of prophecies is (or will be) the largest outside the Vatican Library. To avoid Oedipal effects, members of Congress and executive officers are prohibited from directly consulting the Office of Prophecy; it is the duty of the Librarian of Congress to divine the future, and determine what information may be safely transmitted to elected officials.

The Office of Prophecy also assists the Copyright Office in preventing anachronistic plagiarism, by verifying the original creation and publication dates of all works submitted to the Library of Congress for registration.

Government Publishing Office, Counter-theory Working Group

As the official publisher of the federal government, the GPO maintains a small team of writers, memeticists, and rehabilitated advertising executives, who are tasked with crafting and disseminating disinformation in support of the Veil. This Counter-theory Working Group is the original source of many easily-discredited conspiracy theories, which have been carefully designed to out-compete and undermine discussion related to verifiable paranormal phenomena. One of the most successful pieces of disinformation promoted by the Counter-theory Working Group is the existence of a government office responsible for disseminating fake conspiracy theories.

Architect of the Capitol

As part of the maintenance of the Capitol Complex, the Architect of the Capitol also supervises the upkeep of the Thornton Wards protecting the District of Columbia.

6. Occult Powers

Paranormal Agencies

The Veil is the result of a global effort and an international consensus, with numerous organizations and agencies playing a role in maintaining consensus normalcy. A comprehensive overview of all major and minor occult powers is beyond the scope of this briefing; however, those which are of the greatest significance and interest to American policymaking are detailed herein.

British Occult Service ("MI666")

The primary paranormal agency of the United Kingdom traces its history to the collection of spies, seers, and sorcerers who served within the Royal retinues of various English and British monarchs. The contemporary Occult Service, although formally organized after the 6th Occult War, continues to report directly to the Crown, and is almost entirely insulated from the control or oversight of the British government. Able to act with near total autonomy and impunity, the British Occult Service is essentially a paranormal shadow government operating in parallel to the democratic government, sometimes with contrary aims.

This state of affairs is highly concerning. However, the possibility of applying corrective pressure in support of the Parliamentary government is limited by the preeminence of the British Occult Service in international normalcy. In addition to being an original signatory of the Veil Accords, the BOS was a founding member of the Allied Occult Initiative, and is now a permanent member of the Council of 108 of the Global Occult Coalition.

The policy of the United States has been to treat the British Occult Service as a foreign power separate from the United Kingdom, and to make no agreements concerning British domestic affairs without the separate concurrence of the British government. Despite mutual participation in subsequent multilateral agreements, relations between the BOS and American paranormal agencies continue to be guided primarily by the Howard-Grant Agreement of 1940.

RCMP, Occult and Supernatural Activities Taskforce

Established in 1931 on the recommendation of the Watts Commission, the Occult and Supernatural Activities Taskforce is the paranormal arm of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and is somewhat analogous to the FBI Unusual Incidents Unit. However, its funding and jurisdiction is more limited — a lingering effect of colonialism, as OSAT was founded at a time when the Occult Service of the United Kingdom was still the paramount paranormal agency throughout the British Empire. Despite the cessation of BOS operations in North America, and ongoing support from the UIU, OSAT has never attained the stature of its American and British counterparts, and remains a relatively minor player behind the Veil.

Global Occult Coalition

An international paranormal agency, organized from the Allied Occult Initiative after the 7th Occult War and loosely affiliated with the United Nations, the Global Occult Coalition is the central forum and force of the modern, international system of consensus normalcy. Its more than 200 member organizations — a mixture of government agencies, mystical orders, occult cabals, and secret societies — collectively represent most major powers behind the Veil, from which the GOC derives its authority and legitimacy.

The most powerful of these member organizations are elected to the Council of 108, the principal legislative and deliberative body of the GOC. The decisions of the Council of 108 are binding paralaw for all GOC members, and are considered persuasive by most non-members; the task of enforcement is left to the core GOC organization, overseen by an Undersecretary-General appointed by the Council of 108.

Although participants in the Allied Occult Initiative, and despite the involvement of Domestic Security Advisor Moses Howard in drafting the Charter, no U.S. agency is currently a member of the Global Occult Coalition. However, the Domestic Security Advisor is accorded observer status as a non-voting delegate at sessions of the Council of 108, and most GOC resolutions are implemented as Domestic Security Directives as a matter of course. American interests on the Council of 108 are represented by the Smithsonian Institute, and by the paranormal agencies of allied nations.

Joint Occult Venture of Europe

The Joint Occult Venture of Europe is a multinational paranormal agency sponsored by and affiliated with the European Union, tasked with maintaining a uniform European Veil policy. Composed of the national paranormal agencies of various European states, it is organized along similar lines to Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. JOVE functions in a hybrid role, acting as a facilitator and coordinator for inter-agency operations, while also performing some of the same operations on its own. Its most significant duties are the policing of transnational paranormal enclaves, and the interdiction of black market paratech smuggling from the former Soviet bloc.

GRU, Division "P"

One of the Soviet Union's two major paranormal agencies, and the only one still active in the Russian Federation, GRU-P was originally established during World War II to protect the Soviet Union from paranormal threats by employing esoteric weaponry against the country's enemies. During the Cold War, its mission expanded to include recovery and reverse engineering of anomalous objects and Western paratech.

Following the dissolution of the KGB Division of Special Circumstances after the failed August Coup, GRU-P has focused most of its operations on eliminating the black market paratech trade within Russia and the former Soviet bloc. However, it reportedly fielded some parawarfare units during the Second Chechen War, and appears to have recently begun a build-up of esoteric armaments.

The Foundation

Believed to have been founded by John D. Rockefeller, the Foundation is a private, international, non-state paranormal research and defense agency, formed from the merger of the American Secure Containment Initiative with similar groups in the Americas and Western Europe. Initially offering its services to national governments as a security and research contractor, the Foundation quickly grew into a powerful non-state actor.

While initially neutral, the Foundation participated in the 7th Occult War as a co-belligerent alongside the Allied Occult Initiative. After the war, it leveraged its place among the victors into a permanent position of power in the post-war order, signing the Köln Agreement with the nascent GOC. As a result, the Foundation is recognized as one of the two legal Solomonic powers, which grants it a measure of authority and legitimacy, despite its complete lack of accountable oversight and frequent breaches of national and international law.

The United States has consistently objected to the Köln Agreement, and officially regards the Foundation as a criminal enterprise; the Secret Jackson-Vanik amendment prohibits the distribution of federal funds to the Foundation or any of its known affiliates. However, in practice, the U.S. recognizes the Foundation's ability to conduct operations in support of the Veil, and federal paranormal agencies regularly cooperate with the Foundation when it benefits American interests. Despite this, the Foundation is still considered the greatest potential threat to national paranormal security, and contingencies remain in place for both preemptive and defensive hostilities.

Veiled States

The scope of the Veil is such that the existence of multiple sovereign states are concealed behind it. Most of these are fairly minor powers, which require little diplomatic attention from the United States. However, there are several which merit significant attention from American diplomats.

The Peoples of the Sea ("Atlantis")

Several thousand years ago, a species of alternative hominids dominated the known world with their heightened occult abilities and advanced paranormal technologies. Their civilization was nearly utterly destroyed by an unknown calamity, but a small portion managed to survive in stasis. These survivors were discovered and awakened by the Pentagram in the late 70s, which resulted in a brief but intense conflict between the two groups. Subsequent negotiations produced a truce, and later a treaty, which has been of mutual benefit to the United States and the so-called Atlanteans.

Now reestablished on a tribal reservation in Arizona, the Atlanteans are an important American client, providing a sizable recruiting pool for the Pentagram and participating in cutting-edge paranormal research. Maintaining good relations with the Atlanteans has been a major priority of successive administrations; a series of arranged marriages between Atlantean politicians and American military officers provides a basic framework to ensure that American and Atlantean interests remain aligned.

Kingdom of Avalon ("New Avalon")

The Sídhe, or elves, are another alternative hominid species which is known to consensus normalcy solely through myth and folklore. Their historical homeland of Avalon was destroyed by the devastation of the 6th Occult War, albeit with enough warning that most of the inhabitants were able to be relocated by the British Occult Service.

The destruction of Avalon resulted in a cultural and political cleavage amongst the survivors. The majority of the Sídhe, including the royal family, resettled in the Outer Hebrides and established the realm of New Avalon; however, a sizable population of Sídhe, driven by anti-royal sentiment, refused to settle in New Avalon, with most instead opting to reside in Three Portlands. The royalists in New Avalon are known as the Seelie, while the anti-royalists in Three Portlands call themselves the Unseelie.

The United States officially recognizes the Seelie royal family as the legitimate government of the Sídhe, while also maintaining informal relations with various different Unseelie organizations. Thanks to the intervention of American mediators, tensions between the two groups have avoided escalation to outright warfare, although violent exchanges between partisan militias periodically occur.

Three Portlands

The largest known free port in North America is the City of Three Portlands, an extradimensional city-state with connections to Portland, Maine; Portland, Oregon; and the Isle of Portland in the United Kingdom. Three Portlands is a critical strategic and economic asset, and was the first region to be placed under the protection of the Hoover Mandate.

Three Portlands is a major focus of the Unusual Incidents Unit, which is responsible for policing American interests in the city. Relations between the United States and the municipal government have historically been strained as a result of the actions of J. Edgar Hoover during the Siege of Portlands, and significant effort has been dedicated to correcting this. The maintenance of Three Portlands as an American protectorate has been greatly aided by the threat of intervention by other Veiled powers, chiefly the Foundation. Many residents of Three Portlands view the Foundation as an existential threat to their city, and it is not clear if they are even wrong.

7. Problems

Political Priorities

Renewal of the Biltmore Treaty

The death of Senator John McCain has brought the Biltmore Treaty up for renewal. While the treaty remains in force pending the conclusion of renewal negotiations, those negotiations have been stalled by the Senator's daughter, Meghan McCain, who is a leading figure in Atlantean politics. The younger McCain has rejected the option of renewing the treaty as-is, and instead seeks closer integration between Atlantis and America.

While immediate renewal of the treaty is not required, a breakdown in negotiations would endanger the American-Atlantean partnership, potentially jeopardizing the security of the United States. However, acceding to McCain's demands for greater integration poses significant risks to the Veil, and would likely draw objections from other paranormal powers.

Possible alternatives which have been discussed or are being studied include the expansion of the New Atlantis reservation, the establishment of a second reservation in a different part of the United States, or increased federal funding for New Atlantis.

Introducing Term Limits for the Undersecretary-General

The Undersecretary-General of the Global Occult Coalition is the de jure administrative and executive head of the largest normalcy organization and primary Solomonic power, and is the de facto leader of the Veiled world. The power of this office is significant, and, while nominally subject to the oversight of the Council of 108, is essentially unchecked by the intended accountability mechanisms of the GOC Charter.

The United States has long maintained that the power of the Undersecretary-General be limited by imposing term limits on the office. The Smithsonian Institute has agreed to introduce this proposal at every session of the Council of 108 since 1981, although the Undersecretary-General has so far always managed to organize enough opposition to defeat this measure.

Intelligence gathered by confidential informants has revealed a number of ideological cleavage points within the Undersecretary-General's coalition, which may be exploited to weaken her support. In addition, the periodic changes in the composition of the Council of 108 provide opportunities to assemble a countervailing coalition in support of term limits.

Addressing Worsening Incidents of Misconduct by the Foundation

The Foundation has a long track record of illegal and unethical conduct, which has only gotten worse in recent years. They flout national and international law when it is convenient, they are uncooperative with other agencies, and there is no practical mechanism to hold them to account — their large stockpiles of anomalous objects provide them with over a dozen ready-made solutions to any logistical or financial difficulties they might be made to face, and their leadership has largely succeeded in remaining anonymous.

Of greatest concern is the Foundation's emphatic objection to the Hoover Mandate, and their persistent efforts to circumvent or outright ignore it, which are only growing in frequency. If this continues, they risk destabilizing any number of major free ports, which would likely create a Veil-breaking refugee crisis.

While contingencies have been prepared for the need to extirpate the Foundation in North America or eradicate it entirely, this is literally a nuclear option. The United States currently lacks a means short of warfare to apply corrective pressure to the Foundation. As their behavior continues to deteriorate, the possibility of open warfare with the United States only increases.

Resolving the Federal Jurisdiction Question in Undervegas

Large portions of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada are currently located inside of Hell. This has created an unresolved jurisdictional question, as the United States policy of diplomatic non-recognition of Hell means that there is no legal basis for federal law enforcement within the portions of the city in Hell, and any attempts to do so risk triggering a war with the Infernal Powers.

At present, the Unusual Incidents Unit is prohibited from operating within Las Vegas and Undervegas. An agreement exists between the Foundation and the Infernal Powers which grants them authority to operate within Undervegas, and the United States has unofficially and tacitly supported this arrangement. However, in the long term, it is desirable to bring the management of Undervegas under American control.

Imminent Security Threats

Memetic Proliferation

The advent of the Internet and social media technology has facilitated the faster, more frequent spread of both natural and artificial memes. While the majority of these are of a non-anomalous and non-malicious nature, the global information ecosystem is highly susceptible to attacks by malicious memetic agents.

Even worse, tools for memetic design and engineering are becoming more accessible every year, increasing the risk of a memetic attack by a rogue actor. Multiple hostile states and non-state actors are known to possess advanced memetic engineering capabilities, chief amongst them Iran.

Initiatives to harden communications networks are ongoing, but are expected to be of limited utility in defending against a memetic attack.

Global Amnestics Shortage

Recent crises over the last decade have severely taxed global stockpiles of amnestics among nearly all paranormal agencies. When coupled with the loss of manufacturing capacity since the breakup of Prometheus Labs, this has resulted in an ongoing shortage of amnestics. At present, most agencies have been able to use alternative techniques, predominantly geases, to make up the shortfall, but it will remain a major threat to the Veil if allowed to persist.

The Blackstone Arsenal has been attempting to coordinate with the Global Occult Coalition and authorized manufacturers to increase production, but these efforts have had mixed success. Lack of amnestic standardization between different agencies has prevented the consolidation of production, and the manufacturing process relies on a number of complex supply chains which are highly vulnerable to disruption, which frequently results in bottlenecks in production.

Eigenweapon Crisis

The single greatest threat to the Veil and the world has long been identified as the eventual development of machine thaumaturgy. The prospect of performing thaumaturgy without a living wizard has been theorized since the 1980s, but has so far remained unrealized, largely due to interventions by paranormal agencies. However, the development of so-called Blue-capable Intelligent Systems cannot be prevented forever, and becomes more likely every year. The invention of machine thaumaturgy would allow for the mass production of battlemages, which is nearly guaranteed to result in a high-intensity occult conflict.

Perhaps in anticipation of this eventuality, many paranormal agencies have begun a buildup of eigenweaponry, with over a dozen new eigenweapon systems known to have been developed or deployed in the last decade. This increase in active eigenweapons has resulted in a similar increase in incidents of accidental or careless deployment, every one of which threatens the integrity of the Veil.

Florida

We really need to do something about this.

Footnotes

1. "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3.)

2. "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 8.)

3. "To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations." (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 10.)

4. "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 18.)

5. Specifically, the Continuation Clause, which designates the GOC as the legal successor of the AOI, makes explicit reference to the Köln Agreement in its affirmation that "[t]he Global Occult Coalition, as the permanent continuation of the Allied Occult Initiative, shall assume the status of the Initiative as the primary Solomonic power under the Agreement signed at Köln, and shall preserve all of the rights and commitments of the Initiative under said Agreement. The succession of the Coalition shall in no way impede or impair the status, rights, or obligations of the secondary Solomonic power designated by the Agreement."

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