Containment Procedure

• At every Anomalous event, there will be an unidentified Anomaly or set of Anomalies.
• They will need identifying and cordoning off for safety before they can be investigated.
• Investigating the Anomaly (or Anomalies) [or Anomalous Incident] forms the majority of the event, during which reports should be given to guide what happens next.
• By the end of the event, all Anomalies either need to be “contained” (taken away or otherwise held in a confined space) or “neutralised” (destroyed or otherwise no longer present on the site).
• An “Incident Lead” must be identified within the first Status Report: they will be responsible for keeping investigators informed, summarising the investigation status at key points, and wrapping up the investigation.

Every Anomalous Incident that the Foundation responds to will require staff to identify, investigate, and “handle” the Anomaly in some way. To achieve this, several distinct steps are helpfully identified in most copies of the Employee Handbook.

Upon arrival at an Incident Site, the first task for Investigators is to assess what anomalous activity is taking place and to mark any areas of concern for further investigation. At the sort of Incidents that require a response team, it is likely that there will be one or more locations of concern across the site that should be marked out and monitored.

Each Incident will require differing steps but in general an Anomalous Incident is considered “Identified” using the following tools:

• Locating and isolating any anomalous objects and quarantining the area with hazard tape.
• Locating the boundaries of any anomalous locations and quarantining the area with hazard tape.
• Locating any individuals who have been affected by anomalous presence and ensuring they do not leave the area.

Once an Anomalous Incident has been Identified, steps should be taken to investigate and properly contain it.

XX-21 "Yellow Tape" has proven particularly effective when setting up quarantine areas, though not all Employee Handbooks agree that it should be trusted.

Staff also note that initial Identification is important, but that as a situation evolves – particularly for more complex Anomalous Incidents involving multiple interacting Anomalies – it is likely that further Identification will prove necessary and as such, further Identification Procedure should be followed.

OC Note: Tape placed IC is there IC. Any effects or meanings of different types of tape will be made clear with the prop, and all required tape will be provided.

A team of Foundation Staff are dispatched to respond to reports of “hauntings” at a sixth form college which has resulted in the death of the headteacher. Upon arrival, psychosensitive equipment alerts them to an area that is under the influence of anomalous powers so they mark the classroom as a hazardous area with tape. They speak to college staff and after cross-referencing stories it becomes clear that one of them is lying about their whereabouts at the point of the death, so all of them are taken into the custody of the Security team. Finally, they realise that the trophies in the entry hall have been turning to watch them throughout their time at the Incident Site, so the entry hall is also quarantined as a hazardous area. Confident that nothing else is anomalous for now, they are able to start work on determining what exactly is going on.

Shortly after arrival at a site, an area that is confirmed to not be subject to any uncategorised anomalous influences will be set out as a “Base Camp”. This area is usually selected by the Advance Team who will set up tents for Field Mechanics and shelter, though they may sometimes require assistance clearing the area.

Once the area has been cleared, XX-21 "Yellow Tape" should be used by Field Staff to prevent anomalous incursions within the demarcated area, with the side effect that it also prevents violent actions being taken within its boundaries. Any such attempts fail; blows do not land and shots fired miss their marks. That said, the Anomaly does nothing to lessen the related emotions.

OC Note: This area will be clearly marked with tape distinct from that used by Yellow Tape. Characters are aware of the boundary and in this area you cannot take or deal damage or effect calls. Refs will avoid instructing hostile NPCs or creatures to attempt to enter base camp, though strange effects may still breach the boundary.

Before arrival at the haunted sixth form college, the Advance Team arrived and set up marquees to shelter the staff and provide a location for the necessary equipment for Investigation. Shortly after establishing this, an incursion of haunted footballs attacked them and they took cover inside the marquees until the main Response Team arrived and cleared the area. Once the haunted footballs were cleared, the Advance Team were able to establish the base camp, using Yellow Tape to surround the key areas.

Once a Base Camp has been established and preliminary identification has occurred for an Incident, Staff are expected to commence Investigation, both on any identified Anomalies and the area at large. Given that there are usually multiple interacting Anomalies at the sort of Incidents Staff are called to, this can take some time and require multiple teams to work in tandem to ensure everything is fully investigated.

Forms of investigation can include but are not limited to:

• Tinkering with strange objects
• Investigating Anomalies on the site
• Searching for similarities between anomalous occurrences
• Responding to Incursions and Excursions
• Attempting Conference with powerful anomalies
• Recover and reading relevant documentation
• Research
• Analysis
• Psychometry
• Wild and baseless theorising

Investigation should be reported back to Management at regular intervals (detailed below) via Status Reports.

OC Note: Investigation essentially covers the majority of things Characters can do to understand what is going on. It will uncover a large and interconnected mystery and all Characters should expect to be involved in different aspects of it to a greater or lesser degree. As such, we won't provide an example since it would essentially be a play-by-play of a whole imaginary event!

Status Reports are expected by Management at a regular cadence in order to update the Foundation on the progress of an Investigation. These ask for information on how the situation is developing, the number and type of all as yet identified Anomalies present at the Incident Site, any workplace injuries, and any requests for aid.

Status Reports are to be submitted by Line Managers on site, including at least the Incident Lead, and at least one must be submitted by the following times at each event:

• Friday Midnight (an Incident Lead must be identified within this Report)
• Saturday 2pm
• Saturday 6pm
• Saturday 10pm
• Sunday 1pm

OC Note: We will use Status Reports to help inform what we're doing in the next “phase” of the event. That's not to say you can't return one soaked in blood and scrawled on in crayon, but we will interpret what we can. Forms for these are provided.

The exact nature of Handling will usually become apparent as Investigation proceeds, but Handling can usually be achieved (to a greater or lesser extent depending on the particulars of an Anomaly), through Containment or Neutralisation. Often over the course of responding to an Incident, multiple Anomalies will need to be dealt with in order to Handle the Incident fully.

Containment is usually preferable to Neutralisation, but for Anomalies that cannot be Contained, Neutralisation may be necessary. For Anomalies that cannot be either Contained or Neutralised, a full report should still be logged with the Archive.

To consider an Anomaly 'Contained' either the Anomaly has been safely removed to be contained and readied for transport to the Foundation, or the Anomaly's influence has been restricted to a definable area that can be controlled or monitored by Foundation Staff.

The exact means of Containment will vary from Anomaly to Anomaly, but for all X-, Y-, and Z-Category Anomalies a series of sufficiently effective steps should be identified.

Contained Anomalies must be categorised for logging in the Archive.

Neutralisation requires that the Anomaly has either been destroyed or rendered otherwise incapable of presenting a threat of any kind to those around it, such as being removed from the Site or prevented from influencing it. The exact method of neutralising an Anomaly will become apparent over the course of its Investigation, and will vary greatly from Anomaly to Anomaly.

Neutralised Anomalies do not need necessarily to be categorised but the Archival Assistants appreciate it if they can be.

After extensive investigation of the sports trophies in the entry hall, investigators determined that they were having a strange influence on the equipment needed for the relevant sports. This explained the aggressive footballs and hostile basketballs. Since they could be isolated by removing them to a location far away from any balls, they were classified as Z-Category Anomalies and packed into boxes for transport to the Foundation.

On the other hand, it became apparent that the effects of the supposedly haunted classroom were actually the manifestation of a hostile anomalous force beneath the school that was feeding into a general sense of malaise and unease. Initial attempts to mediate with the Anomaly were unsuccessful and it started to manifest hostile incursions of ghostly students whenever it was disturbed. Unable to simply close the whole college over this, investigators at the suggestion of Blue Triangle looked further into what lay below the school and found a boiler room not listed on maps in which lay a furnace that was animatedly devouring old textbooks. They were forced to destroy the furnace by flooding the boiler room, in addition to extracting and destroying the textbooks with quote-unquote “better” fire provided by Red Circle. This neutralised the threat, and manifestations inside the college ceased.

It is the responsibility of Staff at Field Incidents to maintain the Security of the situation. The Staff who are deployed will not necessarily be the best equipped to handle a situation, but vast numbers of Security Staff cannot usually be spared by the Foundation. Those from the Security Department are encouraged to take charge and arrange secondment and training to ensure a Field Incident remains safe and secure from outside interference.

Each Incident requires the selection of an “Incident Lead” by agreement of Line Managers present. This individual, who does not themselves need any specific Authorisation, is responsible for ensuring the Field Team are kept up to date with developments. In particular, they will be provided with copies of all submitted Status Reports and a summary from Foundation Headquarters and expected to provide a summary to all Staff present. Once the Incident is resolved, they are also expected to provide a summary to all Staff before they leave the Incident Site.

Organising Staff to be present for Incident Lead briefings will be assisted by the Field Moderation Team.