Aka: “The CPB” or “The Bureau”
Current relationship with Equinox: Allies
Equinox’s American cousins were founded in 1948 following an event in which the United States Air Force made first contact with a paranatural entity – the fallout of which would publicly become known as the “Roswell Incident”. In the aftermath of that event and wanting to learn more about the threats posed by paranatural phenomena, the United States agreed to share information on the event with the UK government in return for intelligence and assistance in setting up its own intelligence agency specialising in the paranatural. Equinox quickly made contact and in the aftermath the Central Paranatural Bureau was born.
The Bureau’s goal is to “examine phenomena which are inimical to normalcy within the United States and arrange for its resolution”, a goal which, at first, coincided nicely with Equinox’s own. Particularly during the 1960s it was acknowledged by both groups that they shared a special relationship and the two groups worked closely to rapidly respond to and resolve paranatural incidents in their respective countries – providing additional manpower or intelligence wherever it was needed.
At the turn of the Millennium however, things quickly changed. Following the disappearance of every man, woman and child from Mystic, Connecticut, the Bureau began to take a hard line stance on the paranatural. Despite being a founding member of the UNAC, the Bureau quickly became dissatisfied at the speed of the investigation and while continuing to remain and support both the UNAC and Equinox, it began to take matters into its own hands.
By 2015, the word “resolution” had quickly become a byword for “destruction”. Rather than allow harmless paranatural phenomena and individuals to survive, the Bureau began a two decade long purge of the strange and supernatural. Where it was unable to identify how a paranatural phenomena could be terminated, it often made use of prisoners on death-row as unwilling test subjects in an attempt to better understand how it could be destroyed. For the first time too, the Bureau saw fit to target paranatural phenomena outside the United States, arguing such phenomena posed a threat to the country and its people. This was something that both Equinox and the UNAC heavily disagreed with but were powerless to stop as the Bureau received increased funding drawdown from the United State’s extensive military budget.
By 2025, the relationship between Equinox and the Bureau has never been more unstable. While both groups continue to exchange information with one another, there is an uneasy understanding between the two groups that, whatever information is shared, may be used for purposes which neither inherently agrees with. Still, neither party is willing to cut off ties with the other – both are founding members of the UNAC and both agree that the protection of their people must be upheld as a matter of priority. The difference is the means as to how that is achieved. Whether either side will meet an appropriate middle ground, remains to be seen…
References and Inspiration:
The Central Parantural Bureau is aesthetically inspired by the Federal Bureau of Control from Control. They are otherwise inspired by Task Force Valkyrie from Hunter: The Vigil, Delta Green from the Delta Green TTRPG and both the SCP Foundation (on a bad day) and Global Occult Coalition from the SCP Wiki.