Bureau Heads

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**The following contains major < Plot Details / Spoilers > of *Control* and its expanded media.

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## Bureau Heads

"Darling, Tommasi, Salvador. Marshall. Marshall especially, my Head of Operations. She sees right through me."

The **Bureau Heads** are the executive leadership of the Federal Bureau of Control. Each Head leads a separate department and/or sector within the Bureau, acting as senior specialists and confidants to help take on the duties of the Bureau's Director.

## Background

The Bureau Heads lead the agency as much as the Director does. They assume full control over their own department and how it operates, such as in assigning staff or establishing subdepartments. They regularly hold meetings together discussing events concerning the Bureau, and collectively they act as an advisory council for the Director, as well as for each other. Annually, the Heads assemble to conduct a review of Bureau policy.

The five most recent formal Bureau Heads prior to the Hiss invasion were Dr. Casper Darling, Head of Research; Alberto Tommasi, Head of Communications; Lin Salvador, Head of Security; Helen Marshall, Head of Operations; and William Kirklund, Head of Investigations.

### Management team

Zachariah Trench, the Director prior to the Hiss invasion, was notably close to the Bureau Heads, considering them as his most trusted confidants who knew the Bureau's secrets as well as him, if not better. By 2019, four of the five Heads (Kirklund excluded) were considered by Trench as his informal management team, trusted to be able to run the Bureau and share the burdens of the directorship. The fifth, Kirklund, had fallen out of Trench's favor in 2017 over a containment incident involving Kirklund's department, and he resigned in 2019.

The Hiss invasion ended the Trench era of the Bureau Heads. Darling disappeared, presumed to be hiding in one of his labs somewhere in the Oldest House. Tommasi, who refused to wear an HRA, was immediately killed and turned into a Hiss Elevated. Marshall took her Rangers into the Research Sector to secure the HRA Lab, while Salvador led a separate team into the Containment Sector to secure the Panopticon.

### Events of *Control*

After becoming Director, Jesse Faden discovers the fates of all the members of Trench's former team of department heads. During Unknown Caller, she fights Tommasi, who has become a Hiss-corrupted entity, though he escapes and must be defeated later in a separate encounter. She is then directed by Trench via the Hotline Object of Power to seek out his management team. During Old Boys' Club and Threshold, she helps Marshall complete her mission before Marshall gives her the information she wants and leaves for yet another task. During My Brother's Keeper, she discovers and fights Salvador, who has been corrupted and killed by the Hiss. During Polaris, she discovers that Darling has disappeared entirely, believed to have ascended to a different plane of existence. Following the events of the expansion *The Foundation*, she also finds and defeats Marshall, who was killed and corrupted by the Hiss as well.

By the end of *Control* and its expansions, nearly all of the Bureau Head positions are left unfilled. Emily Pope is promoted to Head of Research following Take Control, making her the only formal new Bureau Head. Simon Arish has also been promoted from Maintenance Security Chief, though his new position is left unspecified, and he is handling the duties of both the Head of Security (by leading the Bureau's internal defense) and the Head of Operations (by leading the Rangers.) At the end of the *AWE* expansion, Frederick Langston is offered the position of Head of Investigations, but he refuses it.

## Positions

### Head of Research

The **Head of Research** leads the Bureau's Research Sector, as well as the Research Department which operates in that sector. They are responsible for leading the department's efforts in researching Altered Items and other aspects of the paranatural world, as well as in creating the specialized technologies used by the Bureau's other operatives.

### Head of Communications

The **Head of Communications** leads the Bureau's Communications Department, based out of the Executive Sector. They lead the department's efforts in controlling public awareness of paranatural phenomena and the existence of the Bureau. They also oversee the Bureau's internal communications, training documentation, and employee service announcements. The role is the successor to the **Head of the Department of Public Knowledge and Diversions**, who led a precursor department which also handled public communications. This position is currently empty following the Hiss invasion.

\* Head of the Department of Public Knowledge and Diversions

### Head of Security

The **Head of Security** is responsible for ensuring the safety of the Bureau's employees. As such, they lead the Bureau's internal security forces and also command specialized response units like the Rangers when it is necessary for defense. They may also order other structural or operational changes as deemed necessary to protect Bureau personnel, such as moving the containment enclosure of an Object of Power. This position is currently empty following the Hiss invasion, although former Maintenance Security Chief Simon Arish is informally acting as the Bureau's security and operations leader.

### Head of Operations

The **Head of Operations** leads the Operations department, overseeing the Bureau's operational strategies and all such related information. They lead the Bureau's external response mission forces (namely the Rangers) and can also assign external operations, and they coordinate with the Research Department to develop tools and technologies for the Bureau's operatives. They are privy to many of the Bureau's most closely-guarded secrets, such as the existence of the Foundation. Their role appears to overlap with the Head of Investigations, who also commands the Bureau's external operations and AWE responses. This role is currently empty following the Hiss invasion, although former Maintenance Security Chief Simon Arish is informally acting as the Bureau's security and operations leader.

### Head of Investigations

The **Head of Investigations** leads the Investigations Sector, which oversees AWE responses and enforcement of Bureau policy. Externally, this involves tracking paracriminals, while internally, this involves ethical compliance investigations and employee background reviews. They also appear to be involved in AWE research. As such, this role's powers appear to overlap with both the Head of Research and the Head of Operations. This role is currently empty following former Head of Investigations Kirklund's resignation in 2019.

\* Interim replacement.

## References

2. ↑ Darling: Dimensional Staffing
3. ↑ Dylan Faden (Collectible)
4. ↑ Marshall: Trench's Behavior
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Management Team (Collectible)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 R4 Reports Reminder
7. ↑ Trench: Official Warning
8. ↑ Resignation Letter
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jesse Faden: *"I think I can help with that. I am making you the Head of Research, effective immediately. I want you to use everything the Bureau has, every resource, every confidential scrap of data, and find a way to keep the Hiss out for good."*Emily Pope: *"That's... Really? I mean, yes, yes, I can certainly... yes! Yes, I accept!"*(Conversation snippet from the ending of Take Control)
10. ↑ Maintenance Worker 2: *"I can't believe Arish got promoted. Who's gonna watch our backs now?"*
11. ↑ Jesse Faden: *"Hartman won't be a problem anymore, Langston. But Investigations needs someone to run it. Interested?"*Frederick Langston: *"I've seen what happens to sector heads, ma'am. No, thank you."*(Conversation snippet from the ending of It's Happening Again)
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Synchronicity
13. ↑ HRAs
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Research Sector
15. ↑ Tommasi: Willow AWE Outcome
16. ↑ Tommasi: AWE Report
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Marshall: Lockdown Distinctions
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Fan Supplement
19. ↑ Meteor Hill Supplement
20. ↑ Salvador led a group of Rangers into the Panopticon during the Hiss invasion, where they are fought alongside him as Hiss Rangers.
21. ↑ Salvador: Security Order
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Jesse Faden: *"He talked about his management team. People who knew the Bureau's secrets. Your boss, Darling. Tommasi, but he's gone, the Hiss got him. Salvador?"*Emily Pope: *"He's the Head of Security."*Jesse Faden: *"And Marshall?"*Emily Pope: *"Helen Marshall is Head of Operations. She's tough, ex-CIA. She took her rangers and went to the Research Sector to secure the HRA production. She hasn't come back."*(Conversation snippet from the ending of Unknown Caller)
23. ↑ Sealed Threshold Account
24. ↑ Marshall: AWE Investigations
25. ↑ Home Safe Tests
26. ↑ The Foundation (Collectible)
27. ↑ Director Investigation
28. ↑ Darling Investigation
29. ↑ Underhill Background
30. ↑ Resignation Letter
31. ↑ Staffing Issue