Department of Integrated Services
The Department of Integrated Services is the only U.S. federal department entirely staffed and run by people with The Talent. The stated mission of the DIS is to oversee the use of "extraordinary means" (i.e., magic) and to enforce the Broad Pearl Code.
This mission includes law enforcement, education, transportation, health, military affairs, etc., and for this reason, the DIS's oversight bleeds into the affairs of other U.S. federal departments. Indeed, an organizational chart of the DIS looks like a shadow government of the United States. There are sub-departments of State, Justice, Education, Health, Transportation, Commerce--all the U.S. cabinet-level departments--as well as their sub-departments and subsidiaries.
In addition to having their own sub-departments to oversee various aspects of the Talented United States, the DIS places Talented personnel in mundane U.S. departments and services to work there. Sometimes, these mages form their own units. For example, there may be an entire unit of mages in the CIA who report both to their CIA superiors and to the DIS. In other cases, mages "pass" and work alongside regular people; there are also mixed units, where mundane people who know about magic work knowingly alongside mages. In the military, this practice created the Embedded Mages.
The Department of Integrated Services operates without checks or balances. The Department and its various sub-departments craft and recommend all laws governing magic and The Talent ; this is one of its stated functions in the Broad Pearl Code. It also oversees magical law enforcement. They appoint their own Secretary, because usually the U.S. President does not have The Talent and cannot make an informed decision. Furthermore, other U.S. governmental agencies do not know of the existence of magic--and tend not to believe it when told. Therefore, the U.S. law enforcement and oversight agencies have no power over the DIS. The Department makes its own rules and polices itself--or not, if the current Secretary lacks scruples or ethics.
Locations
The main offices of the Department on Integrated Services is located in Washington, D.C. There are dedicated DIS units working in the Pentagon, the CIA, the DIA, the Department of Defense, and the CDC as well. The main regional offices of the DIS are located in the regional capitals: Boston (Northeast), Nashville (Southeast), Chicago (Upper Midwest), Austin (Lower Midwest), Boulder (Rockies), Portland (Northwest), and San Diego (Southwest). In Nashville, the Department of Integrated Services is located in a nondescript, generic brick building with a flat roof and large, glass windows. It is hidden in plain sight among the other mundane government buildings downtown near Rosa L. Parks Avenue and Metro Center, and is difficult to distinguish from other government offices. The sign out front reads, "Department of Integrated Services," but no one outside of the Talented community knows what that means.Structure
The Department of Integrated Services has several sub-departments and agencies. The structure looks like a shadow government of the United States. The DIS also includes the MFBI and all magical law enforcement agencies.
History
The Department of Integrated Services was created by the Broad Pearl Code in 1791. The first Secretary was Temperance Hawthorne (sister of Clarity Bell), but because of eighteenth and nineteenth century gender norms, her Deputy Secretary, John de Vries, generally handled interactions with mundane U.S. departments and officials.
Founding Date
1791
Type
Governmental, Department
Alternative Names
DIS, the Department
Leader
Leader Title
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