The Bureau (F1.5)

> [Load complete Suppression Bureau database]

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> [ACCESS DENIED]

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> [Input password: Will The Hours Raise Their Armies Of The Strange Against Us Once More?]

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> [PROCESSING...]

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> [ACCESS GRANTED, LOADING DATABASE...]

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> [WELCOME, DIRECTOR.]

> [WELCOME TO THE INTERHISTORICAL FEDERATION OF SANCTUARY AGAINST THE OCCULT]

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Mission

[Recovered excerpt from a speech by the First Director]

"Some have questioned our means. Our resources. Today, i am going to explain why our uses do not go against our Cause.

But what IS the Cause, you ask? Our purpose, my purpose, is simple.

We desire a mortal realm free from the chaotic meddling of the Hours. Unbound from their petty wars and incomprehensible pursuits that claim thousands of lives a day. A mundane world, in which we are no longer terrorized by escaped summons or merciless cultists.

We will achieve this goal by any means necessary, be it diving into the Invisible Arts ourselves, or even working with the Hours themselves if necessary. For such a massive task, we must understand that nothing, nothing at all is off the table. We will strike fear into the cultists, and destroy all the occult material that we do not take for ourselves. We will obliterate all those who stand in our way, be it mortals, Long or even Names.

There will be sacrifices. There will be costs. There will be times where we will wonder if we are, truly, a force of good. But in those dark times, we will look upon the world blighted by divine corruption, where many are sacrificed and many are transformed and many unready minds are lost, and we will understand that what we are doing is right.

We will protect the world we know, one step at a time. Our work will never be complete, but it will, always, be necessary."

Living Directors

There are many Directors, but there is also one Director. Once a Director assumes, they surrender their identity to the Bureau and become one of its faceless lords. They see through each other's eyes and read each other's emotions, and walk and speak in perfect sync when in groups. There is one per History, though they have been known to meet in person during dire times. They are forbidden from seeking Longhood, and are to remain mortal until they decide to retire.

History II

[Accessing personnel file...]

CODENAME: [ATHENA]

Basic Appearance:

History III

CODENAME: [BASTET]

The Third Director

Stealthy as a panther, ferocious as a tiger. One of the most lethal hunters to have ever joined the Suppression Bureau - and now, he rules it.

7

5

Basic Appearance: Director B is often described as being androgynous, and never showing a preference to how he desires to be addressed. He appears to be about the same age as N, and is often said to look "innocent".

• Taller than N, but still quite short.
• White, with a pinkish hue to his skin.
• Short, spiky light blonde hair, with a ginger hue. Typically styled covering one eye. Has thin eyebrows.
• Has a very tiny scar over the bridge of his nose.
• His face is dotted with large, irregular reddish freckles all over.
• His body is covered in flowery tattoos - Two sakura branches at his shoulders, and one massive tree on his back, with roots resembling tentacles.
• Has two tiny piercings under his lip, both to his left, and he wears golden chain earrings.
• Director B's most defining characteristics are, however, his feline ones - He is unwilling to explain exactly how he got them, but claims he was born with them, and that his lineage is "Beyond cursed". A few examples of these are:

• A pair of rounded cat ears, which are usually hidden by a hat.
• A pair of pointed beast-ears
• A long, fluffy tail, usually obscured by a long coat.
• A set of sharp, semi-retractable claws on both hands, which he doesn't hide.
• Storm-grey feline eyes.
• Visible sharp teeth.

He usually wears a cream-coloured suit and generally has a preference for wearing lighter colours.

Characteristics: B is the second most vulnerable Director but also one of the most valuable - Chosen for his unmatched efficacy as a cult-hunter, little can escape his gaze. B is moderate in most positions, subtly leaning against use of occult measures by the Bureau (Citing their risks, and his cursed bloodline as an example), and against the Founder. He is, however, more flexible on these ideas than N. His branch of the Bureau is far more aggressive than it is defensive, and keeps an extensive vault of occult loot in containment from expedition sites and cult headquarters. He is also known for being very direct - When something of personal interest catches his eye, he prefers to see it for himself, and will sometimes head on cases and expeditions in person (With an army of guards at his side, of course). Sites he has been to are marked by claw marks with too many fingers for a tiger to have made them.

Funnily enough, he also has feline habits - Every piece of furniture in his office must be claw-proofed, and he is said to often knock over anything left in the open. He is otherwise completely human, though.

History IV

[Accessing personnel file...]

CODENAME: [NOTARIKON]

The Fourth Director

As aggressive as he is authoritative. Anywhere he goes, a trail of fallen Long and burned books inevitably follows.

7

5

Basic Appearance:

Director N is described as being the youngest out of all the other Directors, appearance-wise, just barely looking twenty, at most.

• Is remarkably short, even for his apparent age.
• Pale, with a golden hue to his skin.
• Short blonde hair, usually to the side.
• Not a single beard-hair.
• Ocean-blue eyes, mottled with darker, brownish stripes.
• A fading scar in the middle of his face, across his nose.
• Many facial piercings in black, including:

• A plain nosering, to his left.
• A double lip-ring, also to his left.
• Double ear piercings on both sides, symmetrical and with crosses, with the lower one being inverted.

He nearly always wears the same red suit, with a pitch-black shirt and matching shoes.

Characteristics: Director N is one of the most controversial figures of the Bureau. A brilliant man, who invented the inter-historical communication line at the ripe age of seventeen. It is said he completely changed since then, though, and it shows. He is one of the most paranoid figures among the Directors, hater of all Long, Names and all the supernatural. He demands that occultists' dream-journals be burned - not just confiscated -, and is obsessed about very specific details, such as allowing NO information about the Histories to the public, even fiction that might suggest such an idea to exist. He despises the Founder, and believes everybody to be a potential traitor. He often corrects people in the strangest of details, such as the date of an extremely minor astronomical event, or the time in which a political figure was assassinated. Some believe him to be manipulated by an outside force, though the Director Council staunchly opposes such an idea, and defends Notarikon's antics, as unusual as they might be. They do, however, often counter-correct his thoughts, to his dismay.

He is also known for being constantly angry, and breaking office desks.

History V

[Accessing personnel file...]

CODENAME: [FREYJA]

The Fifth Director

Tactician. Mystic. Longslayer. They say every pen she has ever written with is secretly a gun, that she keeps an entire legion's arsenal under her coat, and every maid in the entire city of Paris is an agent of hers!

7

5

Basic Appearance:

Freyja is unique - though ultimately human - looking. She is immediately recognisable, and she wants very much to be noticed.

• Extremely tall, towering over the other Directors - even Athena.
• Tan skin, with many lighter spots from vitiligo.
• Long, straight wine-red hair.
• Lime-green eyes.
• Arms and legs are covered with tattoos, mostly of constellations, stars, line-drawings and fluffy poems.
• Always wearing a hat of some kind, and glasses.
• Wears a necklace with two lightly-warded black gems.
• Is the only Director to wear black. Has once been described as appearing "As if she were mourning her future enemies".

Description: Formerly Special Agent #013 "Longslayer", more of a warrior than an inspector. Possibly the most public of the Directors, and widely feared by occultists. No Long dares utter her name in the open. There are many rumours about her, most of which are untrue, or just plain impossible.

The Fifth History is a warzone, in which Freyja is a general - she keeps herself under absurd amounts of security (Which is often more afraid of her than the threats they defend her from), and will take every possible measure to prevent further chaos, even if it means partaking in its creation. A supporter of "using evil to fight evil", she considers herself a rebel mystic as well.

Her primary weakness is her inability to resist challenge.

History VI

There is no Sixth Director. There was never a Sixth Director.