Central Investigation and Discovery Agency (CIDA) WIP

OVERVIEW:

How do you explain the monster of Loch Ness, or the crash landing of UFOs? How do you show proof of Bigfoot or dragons or aliens? How do you explain the discovery of strange artifacts that have absolutely no business being found where they are found?

You don't. CIDA does.

The Central Investigation and Discovery Agency, or CIDA, is an organization created in the 1940s that investigates a variety of tales and stories to determine if there is any validity to them, and if so, to decide how to handle that proof. They exist with complete autonomy from any world government, though many countries harbor their agents and even provide funding on certain projects. Many times they work alongside police and military forces uncover mysterious relics, unknown texts, even strange people in the pursuit of knowledge and public safety.

Discretion is almost always paramount; the public would riot if they knew most of what CIDA had recovered in its brief stint in time. They use a variety of methods to conceal their presence from the public eye, ranging from sophisticated cloaking technology to simple distractions and misdirection. An increase in general knowledge and understanding exists in every agent, helping them to see the bigger picture rather than getting to narrowed and focused on what is going on right that moment.

HISTORY OF CIDA:

Originally CIDA existed as a group of scientists and researchers. Pioneers of their fields, actually, paving the way for many of the technologies that we, now, enjoy. While there were a few popular names associated with CIDA (perhaps Albert Einstein being the most notable), most of them the world had never even heard of. They collectively employed their resources and knowledge to the discovery and study of these objects of unknown origin. What began as a small operation of just a few people steadily grew over the years, eventually reaching a steady population of about 3500 men and women in the 1980's.

In 1974, CIDA experienced its first monumental scientific breakthrough, one that would distinguish them from any other conspiracy theorist and government agency. While digging in the ice on Bouvet Island, a team discovered a metallic capsule buried under layers upon layers of permafrost. An extensive project began to dig out the capsule, a feat which took four days of solid drilling. The ice build up around the object was extremely dense and difficult to burrow through, but when it was finally excavated, it was loaded up on a chopper and flown to a site in Antarctica for further study.

The five years that followed proved to be the most exciting time in CIDA's brief history. Samples collected and analyzed determined that the capsule's exterior was made of a metal that can only be found in minute amounts in craters left by crashing asteroids. It was also not solid; sensors revealed that the metal was a shell, and that there was hollow space inside.

Getting through the shell proved to be problematic. Extremely resistant to just about everything that could be thrown at it. Eventually, however, researchers finally managed to pull the shell apart and reveal its unknown innards. What they found has been classified so deeply that only two people are still alive that contain that knowledge, each of which is kept absolutely secluded from the rest of the world. The only evidence that exists is in paper format, and is kept in a filing cabinet inside the home of both persons, rigged to be destroyed instantly should the dwelling ever be compromised.

Case File:
Subject: Emily Blake
Location: Mesa, AZ.

On September 24th, 1968, a missing person's report was filed for 14 year old Emily Blake by her parents, Richard and Jeanann Blake. The young woman had been playing in the back yard with her younger siblings, Lewis and Casper. Then, without a trace, Emily was gone. An extensive search began, beginning at the girl's home, but would reveal a disturbing lack of evidence. Her footprints literally stopped, the last of which was only halfway complete, as if she had disappeared mid-stride.

Then, on the same date in 1982, a young woman matching Emily's description suddenly turned up at a gas station, looking disoriented, confused, and quite afraid. Authorities arrived and brought the woman back to the station, where she gave the following statement:

"I don't know what happened. I was playing with my brothers in the yard, then all of the sudden, I wasn't at home anymore. Everything looked... weird... like I was dreaming. But my house was different. The yard was different. There were houses I didn't recognize, so I ran. Now i'm here and I don't know what happened."

After comparing photographs to the scene of her disappearance, it is believed that Emily somehow disappeared from that very spot, only to reappear in the exact same place, as if nothing had happened. But in that blink of an eye, 24 years had passed that she could not account for.

Emily is currently being held in a CIDA facility in Arizona. She has not aged a single day since she was found.

Case File:
Subject: John LaRose
Location: Annecy, France

The last time John's family saw or spoke to him was on his 21st birthday. After a party in the home of his parents, Lisa and George, John went with his siblings to a local sports bar for drinks and a UFC broadcast. The mood was good. There were no reported confrontations of any kind. In fact, bartender Kenny Duncan went on record stating that the atmosphere was probably the most friendly that he'd seen since starting work there two years prior.

Before the first bout of the main event began, John excused himself to the restroom after consuming copious amounts of beer. When he returned, the mood in the bar suddenly changed. Where once there was laughter and excitement, there were insults and aggression. Fists began to fly, and before anyone could blink, the whole bar was involved in one massive brawl, including many of the staff.

Out of 42 people 18 of them were dead, another 20 were seriously injured. A select few hid or ran from the fight and managed to escape with minor injuries. Only John emerged completely unscathed, which was odd, considering that he wandered around the center of the room as the brawl continued.

When pulled aside and questioned, John simply looked at the detectives with a wide grin on his face, never speaking a word to them, neither confirming nor denying any involvement in the fight. Without warning, two officers were dead, having shot each other after a very brief brawl, and John was nowhere to be found.

Two weeks later, John was spotted leaving a deli in Brunswick shortly before the entire building erupted into flames, killing the owner and his wife, who had been trapped in the apartment above, after which he disappeared again. LaRose was finally picked up Luxembourg after turning a gun range into a slaughterhouse, again emerging from the blood and ashes without a scratch. That time, however, CIDA was waiting for him, and took him into custody after tranquilizing him.

Currently John LaRose is being held in an undisclosed location, and receives zero contact with anyone. He is monitored remotely from a security station several floors above, where he sits silently, the same smile still chiseled on his lips.

Case File:
Subject: Unknown
Location: West Virginia wilderness

In 2015, police in West Virginia were baffled by a sudden, sharp increase in missing persons reports. The number of people reported missing within a 4 month period had shot up to almost 10 times the average number of reported cases, which was, needless to say, quite alarming. Not only that, but every disappearance was very similar to the others: each victim had disappeared at night, and there was never a single clue as to where they had gone. Those missing shared no other traits, and seemed to be chosen completely at random.

On August 9th, state police and federal marshals were called to a grizzly scene. It is reported that a hunter and his son were looking for a bear when they were suddenly assaulted by a horrifying stench. They stated that they searched briefly for the cause of the odor but could not stomach it long enough to identify its source. Initially they had written it off as a rotting animal carcass, but their experience as hunters allowed them to see that there were no predator tracks anywhere in the vicinity of the smell, leading them to suspect foul play.

When emergency crews arrived, they traced the odor to a cave, inside of which were over 50 human corpses, all of which were in different states of decay. Many had been mutilated, having been relieved of a variety of organs and bones, while others showed signs of being eaten, probably while the victim was still alive. Autopsies successfully identified each and every person who had gone missing, according to the standard profile that tied them all together, though there were more remains that had not been reported missing at that time.

What is most distressing about the entire ordeal is that the person or thing responsible for this heinous act was never found. No track lead in or out of the cave, and there were no signs that they had been covered up. With the exception of the location itself, the killer made no attempt to mask their passing. Whatever killed them, it is still missing, and while most people suspect that the media has trumped up the reports to increase their followings, many of the locals have taken extreme measures to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

Since the scene's discovery, no other missing persons reports have been filed matching the profile of the others.