Bureau of Superheroes

The United Nations Bureau of Superheroes

By Mojo Rover

History

Up until the year 2000, superpowered fursons all over the world performed their heroic
duties in a very unorganized and haphazard fashion.  Although the world's population
appreciated their heroic activities, the large amount of unintended collateral property
damage they caused produced a financial strain on cities and insurance companies.  Legal
action against these superfurs was impossible unless their secret identities were
discovered.  The United Nations studied this situation for nearly a decade before
hammering out the Superhero Relations Act of 2000.  This international treaty signed by
nearly every world government (with the noted exception of most Arab nations, Cuba and
North Korea initially, but later they did sign on when concessions were made) placed
guidelines and restrictions on all superpowered individuals.  It's most controversial
provision was the clause requiring all superpowered fursons to register with their nation's
Bureau of Superheroes Agency.  Many of the world's superheroes chose to retire or go
underground rather than to register.  The SRA made it illegal for anyone to perform
heroic acts without Bureau registration.  Because of the popularity of many unregistered
superheroes (particularly those in Colmaton California), this provision of the SRA
remains generally not enforced in regions such as North America and Europe.
This remains a point of contention between registered and unregistered superheroes.  The
only exception to this provision is for female superfurs designated as National Heroines.
The authority of their respective nation's military and/or government govern national
Heroines so they are NOT required to register with the Bureau.

In 2008, after an incident known as the Major Panzer Crisis, an agreement
that has become known as the Colmaton Truce was signed between Western U.S.
Division Director Dyno-Donkey/Dunston Howe and Lady Liberty/Gloria Summers
representing the unregistered superheroes of Colmaton, California.  This Truce came
about as a result of the city wide chaos the death of long time German Bureau operative
Major Panzer in Colmaton.  Lady Liberty was initially charged with the crime but later
was proven innocent.  Due to the cooperation between registered and non-registered
superheroes in restoring order to Colmaton, Dyno-Donkey offered an official truce.  This
truce is essentially a 'non-aggression' pact that protects non-registered superfurs in the
city from Bureau capture PROVIDED they perform no illegal acts/crimes.  North
America Region Director Morningstar pushed ratification of the Colmaton Truce through
the U.N. Ruling Council of seven by a four to three vote.  Since then, many in the BOS
hierarchy have been watching events in Colmaton to see how well the truce is working
and how well Bureau and non-Bureau superfurs function together.  (This event is NOT
found in any current Bureau fanfics or stories.  All this occurred in the Furry Super
Yahoo RP Group but is considered 'canon' to the plot structure of all subsequent
Colmaton/Bureau stories)

Administrative Structure

The SRA also established the bureaucratic structure of the U.N.B.O.S.   The Bureau
divides the world into Regions:  North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe,
Russia and Oceania.  Each of these regions are further divided into a number self
governing Divisions, usually on national boundaries.  In larger nations (such as the
United States) those divisions are subdivided even further into districts, many
encompassing major cities (also called Metro Districts).  A number of concessions were
made to the major world powers in order to get them to sign the SRA in 2000.  For
example, Russia insisted on being it's own Region.  Although China's B.O.S. is within
the Asia region, it reserved the right to directly supervise itself, North Korea and Vietnam
(non-signatories of the SRA treaty).  The United States insisted on having a Western and
Eastern division under the authority of a larger American Division still subject to the
North American Region.  The European Union, though considered a part of the Europe
Region, is also considered an overlapping Division within it.  Most individual European
nations are Divisional structures under the E.U. "umbrella".  Each Region, Division and
Metro District has a central office and other facilities.  Divisions are free to organize
themselves further: by city, area, island or island chain.  The Central Office for the
U.N.B.O.S. is located in Geneva, Switzerland.  The Ruling Council of the B.O.S. consists
of the seven Regional Directors and is the final and absolute authority of the entire
organization.

There are a number of smaller nations who have few (or just one) B.O.S. registered
superheroes in them.  These national superheroes are basically considered 'free agents'
with little supervision within the U.N.B.O.S. structure.  One example of this situation is
New Zealand's Super Collie who operates 'on her own' in the Oceania Region.

Theoretically, since the Bureau of Superheroes is a United Nations linked organization,
all 192 nations in the UN would be eligible for BOS activity.  Currently, there are three
world nations that are NOT members of the UN:  Vatican City, Kosovo and Taiwan.
Many member nations have special circumstances which the Bureau abides by in relation
to its operations within their borders:

China:  The People's Republic of China has only one recognized superhero (Tigress
Titan) that also serves as China's National Heroine as well as the Regional Director of
the Asia BOS Region.  The 'official' government position on superpowered individuals is
that China 'has no other superpowered people except for Tigress Titan.'  China's worst
kept secret is that all other superpowered individuals in the nation are automatically
drafted into service in the People's Army and trained in secret as virtual prisoners of the
state.  As part of the special arrangement, North Korea and Vietnam are considered under
the direct protection of China's National Heroine and no outside operatives are allowed
in those countries without direct permission of the Chinese Government.

(update) - As of Summer 2015 (thanks to the events of "China's Super Dilemma" http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17596123/ ) China
has now 'officially' recognized that it indeed has thousands of superpowered fursons.
Now they've been registered with the UNBOS AND have expanded BOS bases and
operations within China.

Russia:  The Russian Federation has its own autonomous BOS Region.  No outside
operatives are permitted on Russian soil without government permission.  Any who enter
without said permission are considered trespassers and are subject to imprisonment and
summary execution.

Muslim nations:  All predominately Muslim nations (with the exceptions of Turkey and
Egypt) allow only MALE BOS agents in their territories.  NO Israeli BOS operatives are
allowed in these nations under ANY circumstances.  There is an overlapping Middle East
District that comprises the Muslim nations of Northern Africa and Western Asia which is
jointly administered by the BOS Regional Directors of Africa and Asia.

Israel:  Due to political circumstances, Israel has been placed in the European BOS
Region rather than the Asian.   Israeli BOS operatives are prohibited from all Palestinian
controlled areas with the exception of extreme emergencies.

There are a few UN member nations that have prohibited ALL Bureau activity in their
borders:  Cuba, Cyprus, Venezuela, Nepal, Bhutan and Mongolia.  Although they are
signatories of the UN Superhero Act Charter, they have enacted their right of refusal.

There is a single BOS substation in Antarctica, but it is under the direct supervision of the
BOS Ruling Council in Geneva. It is a small station HQ near the South Pole and is
currently manned by Paladin Penguin, Super Walrus and Snow Wolf.

The vast majority of the unregistered superheroes live in the United States, but there are
many in other countries.  The Registration Act is most strictly enforced in Russia, the
Middle East District and Africa.

Rules Regarding B.O.S. Operatives

Although all superpowered individuals are required to REGISTAR with the U.N. Bureau
of Superhero Relations, they are NOT required to JOIN.  Anyone who feels they are
superhero material can apply to become an official Bureau superhero, but only those who
successfully pass both the physical and written tests will be considered for Bureau
membership.

All Bureau of Superheroes operatives (except for middle and upper management and
staff) are unpaid (but covered by the Bureau's medical, liability and property damage
insurance) and therefore required to have outside employment or sources of income.  All
operatives are required to be 'on call' at all times so long as this does not jeopardize an
operative's secret identity.  Their respective Divisional Directors must approve any
outside employment.

Bureau operatives serving on missions outside of their home countries will be subject to
the governing authorities of the nations they travel in.  This includes any and all
additional local customs designated by that nation's B.O.S. or governments (in the case
of missions to non-SRA signatory nations).  For example, female operatives are
forbidden in Muslim nations (except Turkey and Egypt) and operatives visiting Japan are
subject to their Visiting Superheroes regulations.

All Bureau operatives are forbidden from profiting from their superhero identities except
for purposes of raising money for charitable causes with prior approval of their respective
Divisional Director.  All public appearances must also have prior approval.

The BOS is a non-military group of operatives/agents that prohibits ANY Bureau agent
from active participation in the Armed Forces of their home countries.  The lone
exception to this rule is the American BOS operative Ranger/Kuwanna Moore who is (in
her secret identity) active U.S. Army but is restricted to non-combat functions by her
Army superiors.

Bureau operatives receive training, akin to Basic Training in Army lingo, which is
required of all potential members.  Not everyone that applies for BOS membership gets
in.  Each operative is issued an ID card (specially coded so its unreadable/unusable if
stolen or lost) and an ID badge to wear when at HQ.

Operatives who leave the BOS are handled by a 'case by case' basis.  Those who are
considered dangerous are subject to depowering and mind-wiping.  Since the BOS is a
relatively NEW organization (established in 2000), there haven't been many retirements
yet.  Any BOS agent who wants to retire would be offered two options:  (1) placement on
the Retired/Reverse List and be subject to call-up and reactivation at the will of the
Agency or (2) voluntary depowering and/or mind-wipe.  I believe the vast majority of
retiring BOS agents will choose (1) over (2).  As for duty schedule, most District
Directors and Shift Managers have a lot of flexibility when it comes to scheduling during
NORMAL, NON-EMERGENCY circumstances.

Facilities

In each city that has a MAJOR Bureau presence, there are two structures that serve as
Headquarters.  There is an above ground building (usually a tall structure) that serves as
the 'public face' of the BOS as well as a large, secret, underground base that contains the
main Bureau HQ operations (arsenal, vehicles, air hanger, sea access for those HQ near a
major body of water, etc).  The above ground HQ has NO DIRECT ACCESS to the
secret underground base nor any mention of it in any of their records (in case the building
is captured or compromised by villains).  This HQ is where fursons would contact the
Bureau for assistance or to register (if they have superpowers) or apply to JOIN the
Bureau of Superheroes.  One can be REGISTERED as a furson with superpowers and
NOT join the Bureau of Superheroes.  The above ground HQ also has facilities to
temporarily hold supervillains to ready them for transport to more permanent super
detention places such as Galatap Prison or Bastile Island Prison in Colmaton.  The
underground secret Bureau bases have multiple, discreet and secret entrances and exits.
Sometimes, these entrances are located in 'storefront' businesses such as the Fur For All
Salon in Colmaton and Muldoon's Gym in Philadelphia.  Each of these secret entrances
have advanced retina scan security technology to prevent unauthorized entry of Non-
Bureau personnel.  The Bureau underground bases are also accessible by means of magic,
teleportation and those with dimensional powers (such as the Bureau agent Vortex).

In select cities (such as Colmaton, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Montreal, etc), there are a
number of Forward Bases.  Forward Bases are small 'safe house' facilities that serve as
secret local remote bases.  Most are restaurants (such as the Dixie Diner in Colmaton and
the Liberty Cafe in Philadelphia) where secretly actual Bureau agents work their 'day
jobs' but each of the buildings secretly contain safe rooms and small warehouse space for
storage.  Like the above ground 'public' BOS buildings, the Forward Bases have NO
DIRECT connections to their city's secret underground base.   The Forward Base concept
was invented by Western USA District Director Dunston Howe/Dyno-Donkey who
experimented with the idea of purchasing a restaurant and fixing it up as a Forward Base.
The restaurant was not only a successful secret outpost in Colmaton, but it turned a great
profit as well, making the Forward Base financially self sufficient.  The Forward Base
concept proved so successful that Bureau HQ's in other cities have or are adapting the
idea for their towns.