| The Ghost Corps, a subdivision of the Central Intelligence Agency, was established in 1986, two years after the Debility Act was passed. It has always been a top secret organization, its purpose to use supers--now criminalized and considered non-citizens--to conduct the business the US government couldn't officially be caught doing. Under the table as it was, it secretly expanded the CIA's purview to spying within the United States and conducting military-style operations both inside and outside of its borders, while leaving no paper trails back to the largest intelligence-gathering agency in the US, which had no jurisdiction for the actions the Ghost Corps would be taking.
The first recruits were specifically targeted from the populations already residing at the various black sites set aside for superhuman captivity. From there on, supers were intercepted in Limbo. Limbo is the temporary holding facility for the recently caught, the stage between freedom and a black site prison. Prisoners at Limbo are evaluated to be sent to "Heaven," or "Hell:" a super facility, or a super prison. Limbo also houses the child training program, dubbed the Poltergeist Program. Poltergeists are any supers aged under 18, whether born in captivity or captured young, who are raised to become agents. Upon reaching the age of majority, they transfer into one of the Ghost Corps facilities, including the largest, Purgatory. The crown jewels of the Ghost Corps are the superpowered agents and their handlers. The agents exist as deniable assets, and the handlers keep track of and control their agents' every operation. Supers are tracked and kept in line by an implant which monitors their location, vitals, and bodily functions, and establishes a pattern for what happens internally while their powers are activated. The implant is tailored to every individual super to counteract their powers, if necessary, and can be remotely activated to temporarily disable (by whatever means are most effective) the super, if the situation requires it. Supers are assigned to teams once they enter the Ghost Corps. They eat, train, and live with these teammates, as well as going on missions. However, not all missions require all of a team's members, and sometimes teammates will be temporarily assigned with another team, should the mission call for it, and if the handlers are amenable to the arrangement; the only hard and fast rule about team membership is the living arrangements. Once assigned to a team, agents are given black leather uniforms with communication devices and body cameras built in. The uniforms are all roughly the same, save for the colored accent; each team is designated by its own color. Alpha is red; Bravo is blue; Charlie is yellow; Delta is black; Echo is orange; Foxtrot is purple; Juliet is gray; Romeo is gold; Uniform is white; and Victor is green. All of the uniforms are specifically tailored to the individual super in order to accommodate the super's abilities. (For example, uniforms for supers with enhanced speed can withstand intense friction, among other attributes.) This is accomplished by a super codenamed Tailor, who does not belong to any one facility, but rather the program as a whole. He has the ability to instill attributes to inanimate objects, such as cloth. When an agent dies or is otherwise removed from Ghost Corps, it is exceedingly rare for their uniform to be reused. Uniforms are not worn in all missions, such as those with goals of infiltration, but always during training. Codenames are also required of all supers, though not of their handlers. These call signs are especially important during missions. They consist of one or two words, almost always related to the super's powers. Each agent is given the opportunity to pick their own codename, but if they cannot come up with one, or the one they choose is inappropriate, they are assigned one. All female supers are required to utilize some form birth control, such as an IUD, pill, or implant; condoms are not considered enough, but are discreetly supplied to the males for double protection. Pregnant supers are dismissed from the program. Handlers come from a variety of backgrounds, but no handler has ever been recruited off the street; they have all worked in some sort of government background, whether for the United States or, more rarely, even another country. These backgrounds include various law enforcement agencies and the military, among others. Handlers live outside of the facility, and enter through the basement of USP Haven that sits above Purgatory. While agents are out on missions, handlers man the control room of sub-basement 1 to monitor their supers' progress and provide aid and instruction, as necessary and able. These employees do not have a required uniform, but they are expected to dress professionally. They are responsible for training, as well as caring for, their supers. Only a super's handler has direct authority over them; other human staff, and even other handlers, have to go through the handler in charge of an agent. Orders from above a handler's head must also funnel through the handler, but these are rare, and usually come from the Assistant Director. Handlers are given a budget for each of their supers per month. This money can be used to buy them clothing, especially, as well as other items that cannot be found in the commissary, at the handler's discretion. Handlers may also occasionally take their assigned supers out of the facility, but they are responsible for their agents' every actions, and any infractions incurred by the super while outside of the facility fall on the handler. It's considered a risky move. Supers may not be taken to their hometowns--or neighborhoods, if they come from a large city--for obvious reasons. The Program Director for Ghost Corps is a man by the name of Isaac Hawthorne. Formerly CIA proper, he has been with the program from its inception. Director Hawthorne only occasionally visits the facilities under his command. His Assistant Director is Joseph Manning, who spends more time with handlers than his superior, and is markedly more corrupt--but very good at hiding it. |