Metanth & Vigil Information

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Now, you are certainly wondering what a metanth is, hmm? A metanth is a human who is capable of transforming him- or herself into an animal. It is not just any animal, though, but one animal, specifically one that speaks to some part of that person’s personality or character. Know Harry Potter? Like a Patronus or animagus form. Know The Golden Compass? Like the daemon. Only extreme events could cause this person to change the animal form, though normally the person is influenced by the animal rather than the other way around and, in old age, becomes more and more like the creature.

A metanth will first shift any time between the ages of thirteen and twenty-five, though after twenty, it is unlikely that a person will end up shifting. It has been known to happen, though, with the oldest case being twenty-five. The average ages for it are fifteen to seventeen. The shifting is never affected by moon or anything. Each person's shifting experience is unique, though it normally is painful for the first few times and is triggered by strong emotions, fear, and adrenaline. With practice, it can be controlled, though half-shifts are rather impossible, unless you are partial to the idea of being trapped in a bestial, twisted form for the rest of your probably short life. Shifts are often slow in the beginning, but, as with everything, grow quicker with practice.

In animal form, metanths retain their human thoughts and emotions, though cannot communicate telepathically. They can only use what their animal form has available, so, clearly, it is easier for similar creatures to communicate than dissimilar ones; we rarely witness birds and cats joking jovially, don't we? But dogs and wolves, they can get along and be just peachy. Logical, right?

There have been rare cases known in which the metanth’s animal form morphs and changes into something else over a period of time; for example, if a zebra became a horse, then the form was known to have its stripes fade and its tail and mane grow out, as well as a change in anatomy – so when shifted in animal form, it looked as though the metanth were a crossbreed between a horse and a zebra. It sometimes occurs. There has been no recorded case of a metanth stuck in one of these middle ground animal forms, but that is not to say that it has never happened.

The only time that a metanth's animal form is not a real, truly existing, or very recently made extinct (aka, existed in 2013, though polar bears are very much extinct in 2083, for instance), animal is when it is changing animal forms, if that is happening, through the process mentioned in the above paragraph.

What happens when a metanth remains in animal form for such an extended period of time as at least a year is unknown because it has never been recorded. If you should like to test it out yourself, well, then, please, let Netherfield Associates know what changes you may experience. It is for the good of all.


And you might be curious about the vigils! They are anyone who works for Netherfield Associates as their private, well, watchers, in the division of the corporation called Vigilance. They keep vigil and protect Tanner Hill, and so the rest of the world, through their work with the metanths. They are not always violent, but sometimes their jobs require them to use force. Their training begins when they are teenagers, though they are officially vigils when they turn eighteen and take the oath. What the oath says, now, that's a secret, and some say it's different for every vigil so that nobody can infiltrate the organization. The Vigilance HQ is underground and protected by a great deal of security; there is an elevator to the connection tunnels in the main Netherfields Associates office building, if a clearance card is used, followed by the insertion of the correct code and an accepted retinal scan.

Metanths can be vigils. They will take the title of vigil rather than metanth, but those who shift have been known to try to help the city rather than just wander about it. They are quite welcome. After all, metanths are people, too, according to the one law of being a species (the production of fertile offspring).

Vigils can have perfectly normal lives and perfectly normal jobs. It is just that when they are called to act, they must. Sort of like... the CIA. But not really.

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VIGIL RANKS

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Vigilance as a corporate branch has its own names for ranks. All ranks are paid a salary unless stated otherwise. Now, these aren't officially recorded anywhere that any government could obtain them, but they exist in meticulously organized and updated form. They can be a little complicated, so let's get the big vocab down first, and then explain by putting down a list and go further in depth.

An operative is anyone who works for Vigilance who is not one of the top-ranked positions. This is what people normally mean when they say "vigil".
An acolyte is a person in training to become an agent. There are four levels of acolytes. When referring to an acolyte group, the word is capitalized, but when talking about them in general, it is lowercase. Examples will be shown below.
There are many jobs for agents, who are the operatives who go out into the field. When an agent specializes in one of these jobs, that agent is called an Elite.
An educator teaches acolytes, and often is made into a mentor, which is an educator with a specific acolyte or group of acolytes to watch over and tutor.

Ranking-wise, from top to bottom, here are the titles:

Now, what do these mean?

Well, the CEO is self-explanatory, and then some. It is the head of the company, the Tanner running the entire operation. If the Big Boss is bothered or comes downstairs, you might want to hide. The CEO normally does the most important dealings and knows all of the most important classified information.

The president is the second in command and does more of the leg work for dealing with outside influences. The president has to make sure that nobody knows what truly is going on inside Vigilance. Much of its anonymity rests with the president.

The vice-president does a great deal of internal organizing and also works as the president's aid in dealing with situations. The vice-president might just have the crappiest job because, if there are any mistakes, they will probably fall on the vice-president. The vice-president also gives assignments, or at least tends to design them (or the vice-president's assistant does).

The headmaster/mistress is the top ranking operative, and there can be only one. This person is in charge of the Acolyte Program: the headmaster/mistress assigns mentors, training and education schedules, and specific missions for acolytes. In addition, the headmaster/mistress evaluates all acolytes frequently to decide on advancement.

The operatives split into several groups. There are agents, suppliers, and processors. An agent is anyone who goes into the field, and there are several jobs and subgroups for agent. A supplier is anyone who works in the technology branch for Vigilance, either full-time or part-time, scientist or just general techie. A processor is an average paperwork corporate drone who tends to work in the main East Side offices. Sometimes, a sleeper agent can pose as a processor. Processors also are what the janitorial, kitchen, and general grunt staff of the Vigilance HQ is called.

There are four accountants, who fall into the category of processor, who work as secretaries, accountants, and personal aids for the top four ranking vigils. They know a lot and tend to do almost all of the paperwork.

Agents are the average foot soldiers for Vigilance, and they're the ones most people think of as vigils. Agents can either be Elite or can do whatever they're assigned to do. The categories are sleeper, gatherer, hunter, and educator. There also are interviewers. A sleeper agent is one who is waiting to be called upon to take action, and is almost constantly working at infiltrating; sleepers have targets. A gatherer agent is a collector of information in the field. A hunter agent is one who has a target that must be acquired or killed. An educator agent is one who teaches acolytes and acts as a mentor. An educator agent also scouts for and aids recruitment. An educator agent can work as any other kind of agent at any time in addition to the educator work. An Elite agent of any kind, such as an Elite Hunter, will do only that job after passing many, many tests. Occasionally, an agent is promoted to Elite without request. They are fairly few because they do only one thing and that is not pragmatic for a corporation.

Acolytes are those training to become full agents. There are different categories for acolytes that vary depending on age and skill. Normally, they are recruited at a very young age in order to allow the indoctrination to occur. Acolytes are never paid. Meyer University is also used to recruit acolytes, though the college-age and the younger acolytes are trained separately for the most part. Some educators may be mentors to both younger and college-age acolytes. Acolytes cannot be kicked out of the program after being promoted beyond the Gray/Black stage (though that isn't to say that there aren't other ways of getting rid of them). Acolyte categories are differentiated by colors which are on both their company-supplied jackets, white with sleeve/shoulder stripes of their color (reused and so asked to be kept pristine), as well as a color block on their official Vigilance ID. Lower ranked acolytes are often used to supplement the kitchen and janitorial staff or as messengers and delivery boys/girls.

[/b] -- Ages 13-15, mostly just an initiate who is being tested for compatibility with the Vigil Program. Tasks include additional classroom work as well as general fitness. Gray Acolytes never accompany real agents into the field, though may sometimes have model situations (very, very, very simple models) in the classroom. The college-age version is Black.
Red -- Ages 15-16, second level acolytes. Now, basic techniques, social and physical, for dealing with people, hiding information, etc. are taught. Also includes increased psychological training for endurance and keenness. Red Acolytes, however, can still work as errand folks. They occasionally go into the field with agents on the simplest of jobs. The college-age version is Orange.
Purple -- Ages 16-17. Third level acolytes, they continue a more intense training but also begin going into the field with real agents slightly more regularly. These still are only on fairly moderate jobs, things that aren’t big deals; sometimes they train with agents, usually younger agents, or Aquas or the older students. The college-age version is Magenta.
Aqua -- Ages 17-end. The fourth and final level. When training, they train at agent level and they accompany agents on both difficult and less difficult jobs. They can be almost a partner more than an apprentice; it is the final year. Many die as an Aqua Acolyte. The college-age version is the same. Aqua just happens to be the company's color![/ul]

There also is the interviewer position. This position is not a permanent group or a category of agent. Both agents and Purple/Magenta and Aqua Acolytes can be interviewers. It is based on a contract-by-contract basis and there is no extra pay, or even pay at all if the interviewer was not previously involved, for an interviewer. The interviewer acts as, to be perfectly blunt and crass, an interrogator. The interviewer may use any and all methods to achieve the set goals.

Agents and acolytes are frequently made parts of squads, which are small task-force groups meant to complete a single assignment or a series of assignments. Sometimes squads are reused, but other times they are dismissed after the job and sent on their separate ways. Squads normally have military-code or Greek-alphabet names, chosen either by the squad leader or the vice-president (or the VP's accountant), who is chosen for the position by, normally, the vice-president or the squad leader, if the squad leader is given permission. Acolytes are chosen for squads by the headmaster/mistress and frequently are accompanied by their mentors as part of the group. The vice-president, of the vice-president's accountant, sends a form down to the headmaster/mistress requesting a certain number of a certain level of acolyte. Being on a particular squad can unlock higher levels of classification or access to certain information, but that is revoked after the squad's assignment is completed.

The job openings number as such for Vigilance:

[/b] CEO, President, Vice-President, Headmaster/mistress, CEO Accountant, President Accountant, Vice-President Accountant, Headmaster/mistress Accountant
Unlimited Agents, Suppliers, Processors, Acolytes
Varying, depending on statistics, Educators, as well as the other agent categories
Varying, depending on assignments, Squads, Interviewers
Few Elite agents[/ul]


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