Character Sketch -The Group

To do:

FOREMOST: We know that the Group told the Team Captain there was something big, something more believable than an alien invasion. I need to ponder what would be the key. The obvious things, such as terrorism, may have to be it, because you don't actually "win" against the concept of terrorism.

The Group's true aim is quite simple. All they need to do is take all of these unfocused, undisciplined individuals, and aim them at a common goal. If this is done, then they will be too busy to fight amongst each other, causing further strife and chaos in a universe saturated with it. This is nothing more than a game, and a means of controlling these men and women. The genius is that they're getting them to buy in, so that there's no resistance.

There's more to be done, but I need to think more about it. This was just to get a couple more ideas down.

A thought for "super-depressed girl": She carries her sorrow like a bucket filled to the brim with water. Both hands struggling to keep it off the ground, she stumbles slowly along, sloshing out the sadness here and there, but never letting it all truly cascade out. Somewhere, she knows that if she were to let it all spill out, it would cause a mess, but at the same time, she doesn't want to cause that mess, and inconvenience everyone. Thus, she continues to carry, and wait for someone to relieve her of this burden that most people aren't even sure is a burden.

A thought for going now here fast: trust your words. They'll take you far.

Who recruited the Team Captain to the Group?

The most effective way to run a covert group, in my estimation, is to make sure it has no head, no central influence. That's really not possible, so we need to have a small cabal leading this decentralized organization, dedicated, devoted, obsessed with this power.

Delia and Jack Morrison are fraternal twins, raised in a normal environment by, shall we say, progressive parents. Their words were those, not necessarily of fear mongering, but more of expecting the worst. Staunch vegetarians, PETA supporters, members of Greenpeace, living off the grid, ready to believe in a world free of pain and suffering, Jack and Delia were raised to value all life, and to protect it at all costs. They would pray before dinner to some unlabeled energy in the sky, that helped create the plants they would soon consume. Once upon a time, the family would be called hippies. That time is now.

As they got older, and their parents started taking them on the missions, Delia and Jack started to truly believe, accepting what their parents said. However, growing up in such a homogenized environment, and being told that the worst was happening around them, started to screw with their minds. Not in a way that would drive them insane, but still enough to fundamentally set their view of the world.

Now and again, they would learn about history, and how catastrophe after catastrophe kept setting back society. After a point, they took it on themselves to try to prevent the next catastrophe. After all, with the advent of newer, better killing technologies, what could you expect but death and destruction? With the lessons they learned, they formed The Group, starting with several of the Greenpeacers and PETA members that felt those organizations didn't go far enough.

The Group is nominally headed by unpowered twins, Delia and Jack Morrison. Beyond that, they have a very flat organizational structure. Everyone else is in a tier below them, and each group is trained to operate either on its own, or as part of a group. The group is organized in cells of ten, and up to fifteen groups can operate in sync. This leads to the rough maximum of 150, the maximum number of people that a person can deal with and view as an actual human.

Until now, all of these groups were of normal humans, homo sapiens. The Group's original goal was to prepare for an inevitable destruction of the world's infrastructure due to an apocalyptic scenario, whether thermonuclear war, alien invasion, terrorism, anything. A simple, generic goal. As such, the Group is trained to deal with a multitude of threats, stockpiling, training, waiting.

The discovery of these powered individuals has changed everything. No longer content to wait for the oncoming pain and suffering, they are now taking a more active role. Delia and Jack view these powers, perhaps rightfully so, as the key to destroying the world. Thus, if they can control it, they can stave off armageddon for a little while longer.

Jack and Delia aren't necessarily well connected themselves, but there are members of The Group that are well connected. Some of these are deeply entrenched with the U.S. government, and alerted them to the presence of these new powered individuals. They've taken this information, and gone on a race against the government to find them as quickly as possible. The "strange news" sections of the internet are key to the search, and it's just a matter of who gets to whom first, and who speaks more convincingly. Let's be honest, these people are all quite imbalanced, and all they need is a kind word, a smile and a hug to feel accepted, which is what many of them want.

While the government focuses on browbeating, appeals to patriotism, and threats to friends and family, Delia and Jack focus more on convincing these people there's a mighty threat, without adding that the powers are the threat themselves. They've gathered some data, and realize that the pathological liar could be key to recruiting, if only they can find a way to get him. What they need is a person that he cannot lie to. Hence, the multiple personalities.