Leadership | Marcus Raith | Founded | 2011 |
Type | Government | Headquarters | The Long Lines Building, Manhattan Exclusion Zone, New York |
Status | Active | ||
Contact | Manhattan | ||
Reputation | The Office of External Investigations is a clandestine branch of the Department of the Exterior. The OEI masquerades as investigators into celestial phenomenon, such as space debris, cosmic weather interference, and other mundane fields. Even other government branches are kept in the dark on the OEI's true purpose. |
The OEI began as an arm of the Department of Evolved Affairs in 2011 under the Mitchell Administration and was then known as the Department of External Strategies. The DES was formed to investigate the spatiotemporal anomaly that occurred in Natazhat, Alaska on November 8th, 2011. The DES also investigated reports from DHS regarding the activity of potential time travel following the capture of Hiro Nakamura. During the Civil War, the DES disbanded and its research halted.
In 2015, Marcus Raith approached President Raymond Praeger about the reformation of the DES to investigate spatiotemporal anomalies within the United States, primarily focusing on the risk of time travel. The Department of the Exterior was created as a shield to hide this clandestine group's operations, and thus the Office of External Investigations was formed. In December of 2018 following an experiment by SESA and Raytech that attempted to bridge two dimensions together resulting in the unexpected release of war machines from another timeline, the OEI's budget was dramatically expanded and Director Raith given carte blanche to understand this new phenomenon. Since this time, the Office of External Investigations has extensively researched extra-dimensional phenomenon and built a roster of secret agents dedicated to this cause.
The OEI's goal is twofold: understand the risks of interdimensional travel while keeping its existence a secret, and defending this timeline against extra-dimensional threats.
Additional Info
Organization Structure
The OEI is led by its Director, who reports directly to the President and his cabinet. Below the Director is the Deputy-Director of Logistics, to whom two branches of the OEI: Secret and Covert, report.
Leadership
- Executive Oversight: Christine Dowe
- Director: Marcus Raith
- Deputy-Director Kristopher Voss
Secret Agents
Secret Agents are codename-only operatives of the OEI. Their existence is usually tied to an extra-dimensional or temporal phenomenon and as such their true identities are usually unknown, even within their own organization. They are often-times the most well-informed or senior members of the OEI by nature of having lived through many of the most closely-guarded events in history. OEI's Secret Agents are led by a single senior agent who reports to the Director. Secret agents frequently work in field with Covert agents.
Covert Agents
Covert Agents are the front-line of the OEI's operations into extra-dimensional and temporal investigations and operate in the field under the auspices of the Department of the Exterior. They are the most commonly seen field agents and collectively report to the Deputy-Director. These agents often partner with one-another or Secret agents in the field as necessary. They are often given compartmentalized information and are not always privy to phenomenon outside of their immediate assignments.
- Agent Michel Fabian Harris
- Agent Marlon Toussaint
- Agent Beatrix Reeves
- Agent Emmeline Sommerfield
Remote Office
In mid-2020 the Office of External Investigations successfully made contact with a parallel dimension with significantly more advanced technological understanding of extradimensional activity. Through this connection, the OEI formed a relationship with that dimension's government and with the advisement of cabinet advisors, joined forces to better understand their universe. The "Remote Office" is a closely-guarded secret of the OEI, and has doubled their roster of agents. Though who the identities of all the OEI agents within the Remote Office is unknown.
Relations With Other Organizations
When interfacing with other government agencies, the OEI maintains their masquerade as investigating space-related phenomenon. However, upper-echelon government operatives are aware that the OEI serves an intelligence-related role within the US Government, though they are unaware of its true details. As such, the OEI is given considerable latitude and jurisdiction to intercede in any and all investigations led by other governmental groups. The OEI can requisition the aid of employees from any government organization by working from leadership levels downward. The OEI tries to minimalize this use of their influence as if often-times draws undue attention to their work.
With civilians, OEI agents often state they work for "the government" and do not directly identify themselves (nor are they legally compelled to). However, if a situation can be defused by some transparency, an OEI agent will indicate they work for the Department of the Exterior and stick to their role as investigating space-related phenomenon unless otherwise permitted by senior leadership to allow a civilian access to classified information.