The Book of Knots - Jags

Book of Knots - Factions
96
The Aliens
Something that is both Top Secret Specially Compartmented Information
and not subject to debate is that human-based mutations have been
uncovered. The number of people who have information on this (all
Puritan and Military) is minuscule and everyone means to keep it that
way. The belief is that certain external governments and agencies have
several substantial leads in genetic engineering that have created “nonviable”
forms of human life and are using their allegedly enhanced
intelligence to work on projects in the United States (and other nations).
This is such secret knowledge that if Puritan encounters actual live
“Aliens” (the Greens and Grays) they can get help from elite special
forces units to help with the clean-up. No Alien, nor their human
keepers, have ever been captured alive (Puritan may have gotten some,
the military never have) and this remains a mystery to the small group of
the government that knows about it.
Tests have been conclusive though: none of this is from outer space.
None of the technology captured (brains in tanks, mental-stunners,
experimental aircraft, etc.) is anything approaching a spaceship.
Oversight
A powerful group of Senators and Representative sit on the Oversight
committee. They are responsible for protecting the funding and
operations of Puritan. They are Puritan Operatives and understand the
necessity for its existence and its secrecy.
Philosophy and Motives
Puritan is in the role of the Inquisitor. The top-level members believe in
the philosophy of amputation. They would prefer to sterilize someone
(or even a community) than try to manage it. When they have found
members of the Underground who might have a chance of spreading
Infection, they have eradicated them, without regard for the level of
knowledge of each member. After all, the person pegged as “the new
guy” might really be one of the Upper Echelon members there to observe
or guide the group when necessary.
They have an uneasy relation with their own Infected members (and it’s
not an uncommon case). Operatives undergoing an Episode may create
publicity problems: their Reflections, acting as grim (or sometimes
funny) parodies of investigators create Men In Black legends. But these
same agents are often better equipped to actually deal with Whirls or
monsters than the un-Infected.
There is a secret training base in a decommissioned Minute Man nuclear
missile silo that provides special training and evaluation for members
who are Infected. Usually these people are heavily monitored and often
segregated. In some cases, if they are believed to become unstable, they