Federal Bureau of Control

Federal Bureau of Control
Formed	200+ years ago
Headquarters	Oldest House Manhattan, New York, New York, U.S.
Motto	Invenio, Investigatio, Imperium
Goals	To contain, study, and control paranatural items and phenomena
Director	Jesse Faden

“	Our mission is to expand the limits of human understanding and contain those elements we cannot yet control.	”
— Zachariah Trench

The Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) is a clandestine United States government organization that deals with phenomena which lie outside of scientific understanding (referred to as paranatural phenomena). The agency's main goal is to investigate, contain, and study elements which violate the laws of our reality, all while keeping the public safe from these elements. Their headquarters is the Oldest House, a location in New York City which exists outside of our ordinary reality.

The FBC takes it upon itself to contain, study, and ultimately gain control over pararnatural elements. This entails the investigation of Altered World Events, and the containment of anomalous Altered Items, ordinary objects that have been acted upon by otherwordly forces. While the FBC justifies its actions as protecting the United States and humanity from hostile forces, the organization has been implied to have ulterior motives, described as morally ambiguous and "sometimes downright amoral" in its methods and goals.

Jesse Faden is the current Director of the Federal Bureau of Control. The position was previously held by Zachariah Trench.

History

File:The Oldest House (2).png

The Oldest House, headquarters of the FBC.

It is unknown when the Federal Bureau of Control was created, though Zachariah Trench has stated the FBC has existed for "centuries." The agency's true purpose and goals are a mystery; its ostensible objective is to protect the United States and the world from unknown forces by containing, studying, and controlling these forces. The FBC is the U.S. government division responsible for investigating "paranatural' phenomena - objects, places, or elements which violate the known laws of reality and exist outside of scientific comprehension. As the existence of said phenomena is not publicly known, it is likely the FBC keeps this fact a highly protected secret in the interest of their goal of national safety.

It is unknown whether the FBC's jurisdiction extends beyond U.S. borders or if other nations have equivalent paranatural investigation agencies. As per their primary goal, the FBC seeks out paranatural phenomena across the country and possibly the world, studying these elements and attempting to contain them to the best of their abilities. Among the phenomena investigated by the FBC are Altered World Events (AWEs), wherein the laws of our reality are violated by forces seemingly originating from alternate dimensions. Ordinary objects can be affected by paranatural forces, and are referred to as Altered Items and contained by the FBC. Certain Altered Items called Objects of Power are capable of causing AWEs. The Bureau's leadership itself is dictated by an individual's connection to these Objects of Power - the Service Weapon, a transforming gun owned by the FBC, "chooses" its wielder who is henceforth regarded as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control.

In 1964, while investigating an AWE case in the New York City subway tunnels, the FBC discovered the Oldest House. Referred to as a "Place of Power," this shifting location existed outside of the normal laws of reality, being far larger on the inside than the outside. The Oldest House contained numerous rooms connecting to alternate dimensions, referred to by the Bureau as "Thresholds." The FBC deemed the Oldest House an optimal location for containing Altered Items and Objects of Power and converted the site into its National Safety Headquarters. The FBC learned to manipulate the Oldest House using paranatural rituals based on synchronistic connections; by doing so, they created Control Points and relatively stable areas of the building meant for research and containment. The Oldest House was divided into sectors separated by Firebreaks, which were intended to protect the building in the case of a catastrophic breach of containment.

Such a breach occurred in the 21st century when the Oldest House was suddenly invaded by an otherworldly force known only as "the Hiss." The Hiss quickly took over most of the Oldest House, possessing Bureau agents and making them its slaves, and killing then-Director Zachariah Trench. The Service Weapon fell into the hands of Jesse Faden, a civilian who had only just arrived at the Oldest House seeking answers about a paranatural event in her past. Jesse was immediately made the new Director and tasked with defeating the Hiss in order to regain control of the Oldest House.

Purpose & Goals

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Zachariah Trench speaks to Jesse Faden about rituals

The Federal Bureau of Control's true purpose is unknown. While its ostensible objective is to defend national security and normalcy by containing unpredictable forces, it has on multiple occasions been implied to be much more sinister in its true goals and motivations, described as morally ambiguous and "sometimes downright amoral." Evidence from across the Oldest House suggests that human experimentation and cruelty are carried out by the Bureau in order to further its understanding of unknown forces. The organization is also obsessed with "control" over paranatural elements, seemingly intending to not only contain these forces but also use them for its own purposes.

The FBC is a scientific organization that seeks an understanding of paranatural phenomena through objective, empirical research. However, these methodologies may not always apply, as paranatural phenomena seem to gravitate to the human mind and thus tend to be highly subjective and ambiguous. Additionally, the nature of the paranatural to defy physics and even logic suggests these forces may not be comprehensible or controllable. Nonetheless, the FBC focuses its efforts on control of these forces, developing rituals and studying Altered Items and Objects of Power with the intent of learning to control unexplainable forces. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Control is selected specifically due to their ability to control Objects of Power.

“	...choosing a Director tied to all Objects of Power, in terms of who controls them.	”
— Casper Darling

The Federal Bureau of Control also has an unknown association with the Astral Plane, an alternate dimension that is said to have an intrinsic connection to the Oldest House. The Black Pyramid, an anomalous object that exists within the Astral Plane, appears on the emblem of the FBC and is catalyzed by rituals to control shifts in the Oldest House. Jesse Faden described herself as the Pyramid's "servant," though the meaning of this is unknown. It is possible, though not proven, that the Black Pyramid is itself obeyed by the Bureau and acts as the controlling force the Bureau strives to empower.

Divisions & Departments

• Office of the Director
• Central Research Sector
  • Dimensional Sciences
  • Parapsychology Division
    • Hypnosis Lab
    • Parakinesiology
    • Astral Plane Research
• Containment Sector
  • Panopticon
• Ritual Division
• Department of Unhuman Affairs

Known Members

• Jesse Faden - Director
• Dr. Casper Darling - Head of Research
• Helen Marshall
• Emily Pope
• Frederick Langston - Panopticon Supervison
• Phillip

Former Members

• Zachariah Trench† - Director
• Malcolm Rooney† - Head of Security

Trivia

• The Federal Bureau of Control is partly inspired by the SCP Foundation, a fictional organization from an eponymous online collaborative fiction project. Like the FBC, the SCP Foundation is a morally ambiguous global organization responsible for containing items which violate the laws of reality. The format of the FBC's containment files for Altered Items is directly based on the SCP Foundation's SCP containment files, beginning with an item's classification number followed by "containment procedures" and then a description of the object and its supernatural effect.
• An Easter egg in the video game Quantum Break (a title by Control developer Remedy Entertainment) mentions a "Bureau of Altered World Events." This organization is said to have had ties with Monarch Solutions, the antagonist organization of Quantum Break.