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"Alphabet Inquisition" is an informal term used to describe government agencies, especially those in the United States, whose agents run the risk of encountering blankbodies in their line of work, but who are not broadly aware of vampirism to the same extent as the orgs of the Second Inquisition proper.

History[]

The Alphabet Inquisition as a concept is arguably the precursor concept from which all modern government orgs arise. Agents of these groups stumbling upon something they weren't meant to find is one of the most common sources of Hunters of all stripes, and their backgrounds make discovery of each other easier than normal.

The original Project Twilight came about from such agents sharing their limited discoveries, and the NSA - arguably the prime example of an Alphabet Inquisition organization - was on the front line for many of the discoveries that led to American orgs like FIRSTLIGHT being formed and collected into the Second Inquisition as it now exists.

Operations[]

While FIRSTLIGHT is a conspiracy within a conspiracy, not every vampire hunter in the US government (USG) knows it exists or operates under its control. As the Camarilla hunkers down, their precious Masquerade has all but collapsed in some parts of the United States. This has created a scattered awakening to the truth about vampires within various departments of the USG. Disorganized, unsure and poorly informed, these vampire hunters can not bring the same kind of trouble to bear against a coterie but they are often more in tune with their local community and dealing with them too harshly could attract the attention of “real” hunters.

Many independent Hunter cells form partially or entirely within local groups of susceptible agencies, acting parallel to their public duties. Especially large and interconnected agencies may even play host to entire orgs within their ranks, as is the case with ECLIPSE.

Common Alphabet Inquisition agencies[]

ICE[]

Heavily militarized and able to freely operate on both sides of the US border, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is an organization deeply penetrated by FIRSTLIGHT conspirators because of its focus on transnational crimes, but ICE has grown so large that even FIRSTLIGHT is unaware that they’re not the only ones using ICE resources to hunt for vampires.

DEA[]

Another agency penetrated by FIRSTLIGHT loyalists, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a strange mixture within the USG, combining both paramilitary and intelligence gathering expertise. While similar to ICE in that its mandate concerns illegal material crossing over the US border, the DEAs singular focus on illegal drugs has also allowed it to expand its operations into over sixty foreign countries where narcotics and other illegal drugs are either produced or trafficked. Unlike ICE, the DEA has a corporate culture more focused on criminal investigation as opposed to kinetic operations and corrections.

CDC[]

While it would seem that an organization concerned with biohazards and contagious threats would have more than its fair share of vampire hunters, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is a relatively small and underfunded agency that sits outside the USG’s military-intelligence complex. The few independent vampire hunters that do operate out of the CDC have formed a secret working group of researchers known as ECLIPSE.

References[]

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