THE AUTHORISED
VERSION.

01 / Incident zero

BEFORE THERE WAS ORDER,
THERE WAS HELL.

The Second World War did not end with nuclear weapons. It ended with a portal to Hell. What followed was not a conflict between nations, but a catastrophe that threatened the continued existence of our species.

Cities fell silent. Civilian institutions collapsed. Almost half of humanity died before the breach was contained. The names of those responsible remain disputed. The consequences do not.

The old world had the freedom to make mistakes.
It did not have the means to survive them.

02 / Emergency consolidation

ONE SPECIES.
ONE AUTHORITY.

In the crisis, surviving governments pooled their armed forces, intelligence networks and occult research. The resulting organisation was called the Cortex.

Working under unified command, humanity sealed the breach, contained the immediate threat and began the work of reconstruction. The Cortex made possible what isolated governments could not.

Some have questioned the continuation of emergency powers after the emergency. The Cortex reminds citizens that the conditions which made those powers necessary have not ceased to exist.

03 / Continuity of civil life

NORMAL LIFE.
UNDER SUPERVISION.

This is a modern world of schools, offices, shops, apartments and ordinary working lives. It is also a world of checkpoints, public warnings, state records and people who do not return from questioning.

The supernatural is public knowledge. It is taught, discussed and feared. Concealment is not a harmless eccentricity. Citizens are expected to report what they cannot explain.

Your identification confirms that you belong. Your travel history confirms that you have nothing to conceal. Your cooperation confirms that the system is working.

04 / Civic preparedness

VIGILANCE IS
A LEARNED RESPONSIBILITY.

The Academy of Civic Integration offers education and care to young supernatural people. Its Civic Educators teach that independent supernatural life is dangerous and that obedience is the route to belonging.

Lessons, counselling, discipline and rewards all serve the same purpose: to produce Cortex sympathisers and loyalists. The college, dormitories and attached clinic are instruments of that policy.

Security begins with a shared understanding.

05 / Anomalous populations

THEY DO NOT ALWAYS
LOOK DIFFERENT.

Vampires, werewolves, faeborn, demonborn, angelborn and demigods exist among the general population. Some cooperate with authority. Others evade it.

The Cortex assesses power, not assurances. A claim to be harmless, helpful or divinely ordained does not place a subject beyond scrutiny. No relationship, occupation or public reputation is sufficient grounds to disregard a credible report.

06 / Unauthorised association

ASSEMBLY WITHOUT APPROVAL
IS NOT COMMUNITY.

Unregistered societies create competing loyalties. They conceal individuals, acquire resources and interfere with the lawful administration of territory. Citizens should avoid assisting such groups, regardless of the language of solidarity in which their activities are described.

There is no approved alternative to Cortex protection.