World Creation 14: The Fuzz

Welcome to the penultimate World Creation post. Yeah, the series is almost over, brings a tear to my nonexistent eyes, etc, etc. It’s been fun, but I’m really looking forward to the series that’s going to replace it.

Enough about that, anyway. Plenty of time for wistful reflection next post–for now, let’s get down to business.

Today, I’d like to examine the institution of the Outreach Agencies.

As I mentioned quite some time ago, much of the social functions of running the Great Machine are handled by Warders, pseudo-religious agents associated with the government. This includes running a basic city watch, keeping an eye out for conspiracy, and assisting the Peacekeeping Forces with keeping down riots. All that’s needed to keep things functional on a day-to-day basis is the occasional interference of said individuals. They’re sort of like janitors; cleaning up the machinery and giving it some oil on occasion, but unqualified to deal with serious mechanical failures.

That’s where the Outreach Agencies come in.

Outreach Agencies are government-funded cells that operate throughout the Machine. They mostly recruit from the best Warders, rangers, and Peacekeepers available, ones that have demonstrated quick thinking and a cool head. These individuals are trained at one of three or four different academies in the arts of combat (armed and unarmed), tracking, clerical competency and investigation.

Outreach Agents have a few major functions:

1.) Outreach Agents act as detectives. In cases of conspiracy, organized crime, and rebellion, Outreach Agents are used to root out perpetrators and bring them to justice.

2.) Outreach Agents act as police forces. More skilled at combat than the average soldier or Warder, Outreach Agents are used in battles where quality wins over quantity.

3.) Outreach Agents are used as trackers to bring down fugitives. Outreach Agents usually have a great degree of skill in the wilderness, and can be used to track and hunt down criminals.

Outreach Agencies have a loose power structure. There are regional commanders, appointed by Councilors, who oversee operations in the area and give orders to the lower Agents when necessary. More often than not, Agents operate with some degree of autonomy, quelling minor disturbances and processing intelligence until they are called upon for a specific task or mission.

Outreach Agencies notoriously don’t get along well with Warders, even though that’s where many of them began their careers. Warders, operating on a very local level, see themselves as more tied to the community, better equipped to handle issues on their own turf. They see the requisition of Agents by community leaders as a vote of no-confidence in the local effort, and express open contempt for the so-called “professionalism” of Agents. Outreach Agents, for their part, see Warders as being glorified neighborhood watchmen with no experience, training, or skill. Warders are reluctant to help Agents, which works out fine—Agents rarely see Warders as able to contribute meaningfully. However, when things get really bad (such as a large-scale riot or a spree of vicious murders), the two groups occasionally can pull together.

That’s all for this week’s post. Next week, I’ll be answering any final questions you lot might have about the setting, so plug away in the comments if there’s anything you want closure on.


Credit where it’s due: I got some of the inspiration for the Outreach/Warder interactions from this Twenty Sided post:

Shamus Young, AKA the only blogger I actually read, is almost certainly a member of a commun-extraterrestrial sleeper cell dedicated to injecting internet users with toxic and unlawful amounts of awesomeness. If you like a single word of this site, and you haven’t seen his work, you’ve been greatly deprived.

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1 Response

  1. Phase says:

    That machine metaphor just hasn’t dryed up yet, has it.

    Hmm… Questions…
    -What sort of holidys are observed in the great machine?
    -Is there some form of banishment? Or just conventional punishment?
    -Was the previous question grammatically correct?

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