DEPARTMENT of EXTRA-NORMAL OPERATIONS (DEO)

The Department of Extra-Normal Operations, or DEO for short, is a federal government agency tasked with monitoring and enforcement of metahuman activity in the United States.

HISTORY

The DEO is the successor to the Department of Metahuman Resources, which was disbanded after the event of the Janus Directive and the revelations of the manipulations of the AI Omega in American metahuman policy. The DEO's sister organization, the Department of Metahuman Affairs, is primarily concerned with government policy concerning metahuman activity while the DEO takes a more active day-to-day role conducting investigations, monitoring threats, and engaging in enforcement activities related to metahumans (similar to how the FBI operates with criminal activity in the United States). The existence of the DEO was not widely known during the initial period after its inception, but over time the general public has become more and more aware of the agency.

ORGANIZATION

The DEO answers to the Secretary of Metahuman Affairs, a cabinet position initially held by Sarge Steel but later by Amanda Waller, who was appointed to the position by President Lex Luthor. Under the Secretary is the Senior Director of the DEO, a post currently held by veteran intelligence operative King Faraday. Under Faraday there are several Regional Directors, each responsible for a different geographic region of the United States. The most well-known, at least within metahuman and law enforcement circles, is the director for the Northeast region, a metahuman named Mister Bones who had a brief career as a supervillain before reforming and later being recruited by the DEO's predecessor agency. The director for the Pacific Northwest region is a mysterious woman who is simply referred to as The Director. The DEO's main headquarters is located in New York City, with regional headquarters located in each of the eight regions and field offices in most major American cities.

In addition to the regular investigative and enforcement divisions, the DEO has several other branches involved in different areas of metahuman activity. One such division of the DEO is responsible for the running and oversight of federal penitentiaries that are tasked exclusively with dealing with metahuman prisoners like Slabside, Belle Reve, Iron Heights, and Stronghold. It also has a degree of oversight and shared responsibility over prisons under state and local jurisdiction that deal with metahuman prisoners, or the increasingly few facilities that deal with mixed populations of regular and metahuman criminals. Another division is the National Metahuman Research Foundation, which supports research in metahuman biology and in technologies related to metahuman abilities, especially those that might prove beneficial in the enforcement and containment of metahuman threats. This support includes funding for both public sector organizations like universities and other agencies at any level of government, and private sector groups such as S.T.A.R. Labs.

The DEO has several specialized enforcement arms to supplement the more conventional operatives. These include Checkmate, which was reorganized as a sub-division of the DEO after the Janus Directive; the All-Purpose Enforcement Squad (APES) that liaises with other federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies; and several regional units like the Pacific Northwest's Meta-SWAT team. Kept top secret is the Bureau of Amplified Animals, a sub-division tasked specifically with dealing with non-human metas, specifically terrestrial animals that have been endowed with super-normal abilities.

BUREAU of AMPLIFIED ANIMALS

Operating from an office complex hidden underneath the National Zoo in Washington, DC the Bureau of Amplified Animals is a secret sub-division of the Department of Extra-normal Operations that deals with monitoring and dealing with animals possessing super-normal abilities. The Bureau is staffed almost entirely with animals that have gained human-level or higher intelligence, with the only human employees being those who are sensitive or attuned to these enhanced animals sufficiently to be able communicate with the ones who have not developed the ability to speak.

The Bureau has operatives across the United States, most of whom are indistinguishable from normal animals and who remain undercover in zoos and as pets. The Bureau's ranks were greatly increased when the super-gorilla Grodd enhanced the intelligence of a large number of domestic animals in an effort to use them as an army to attack humanity. The plot was foiled and these animals were recruited into the Bureau.

The Chief Investigator of the Bureau is Bobo, the Detective Chimp, and one of its more notable agents is Rex the Wonder Dog.

The DIRECTOR

PERSONAL DATA

• Alter Ego: Classified

HISTORY

Little is known about the woman who is the DEO's Regional Director for the Pacific Northwest Region. It is suspected she has a background in espionage and possibly worked for King Faraday previously as an agent of the CBI. Her first known work for the DEO was a stint as the Department's liaison to the New York-based hero team Justice Incorporated during the brief period in time that the group was under DEO control. Even then she was going by the codename "The Director". A few months after this she was named Regional Director of the Pacific Northwest Region of the DEO.

The Director's right-hand woman in the region is Lt. Colonel Susan Forrest, a decorated officer who served as a field agent in both the CBI and Checkmate. She is a skilled tactician and combat leader and is in overall command of all DEO Checkmate troops in the Pacific Northwest Region. She reports directly to The Director and is also responsible for assigning missions to the Meta-SWAT team.

POWERS & WEAPONS

As a veteran intelligence agent, the Director is will versed in espionage techniques as well as a variety of armed and unarmed combat techniques. While primarily an administrator at present, she is trained in the use of all standard DEO weapons and vehicles, and likely in most of the non-standard equipment the agency also has at its disposal.

The Director is an attractive woman who appears to be in her late-thirties. Her dry, sardonic wit masks a sharp intellect, and The Director uses both to keep adversaries and even allies guessing just what cards she's really holding in any given situation.