Dark Times and the Treaty of New York
Published: 2006-04-22
Updated
:  2007-05-12

The next few decades were a time of almost constant crisis.  Wars large and small occurred all over the planet.  Even the largest, wealthiest nation-states suffered internal conflict.  Meanwhile, the uncontrolled growth of industrial civilization was disrupting the planet's ecological balance, leading to climate change and the destruction of wild ecosystems everywhere.  Eventually, the major nations of Terra realized that their survival depended on closer cooperation.  The Treaty of New York (signed in -2499) placed much of the military force of the most important nations under the direct control of the United Nations.  The UN had up to this point been a simple forum for for international debate, with no real power of its own.  Now, the "great powers" of Terra granted it significant authority, and began to use it as a tool for managing the conflicts and crises of the time.

(GURPS Traveller:  Rim of Fire page 39)

The first two decades of the 21st century were a turbulent time.  The Greater Depression had destroyed the world's economy, environmental depredation had rendered large areas completely uninhabitable, and wars raged all over the globe.  The powers-that-be were extremely slow in catching onto the cause of these problems, but when they did, they took steps to rectify the situation. 

The Treaty of New York was ostensibly ratified to "manage conflicts and crises of the time" — and, on the surface that is precisely what it did.  However, a secret clause in the treaty established an international pool of resources to combat the Dark Masters, now recognized to be the menace behind the world's problems.  Only a handful of the leaders who signed the treaty knew of the existence of the secret clause, and none of the legislative bodies that ratified the treaty were aware of the clause (which begs the question of the legality of the document).  The vast majority of humanity remained blissfully ignorant of the existence of the Dark Ones or their minions and the leadership of the UN felt it should be kept that way to avoid "unnecessary complications."

Over the next few decades the UN, through the offices of its Special Investigative Task Force went about secretly but systematically hunting down Dark Minions and eradicating demonground — the latter under the auspices of "environmental cleanup."  By 2050, as mankind established bases throughout the Solar System, this mission was wrapping up.  However, like all bureaucracies, SITF did not cease once its mission was completed.  Under the Terran Confederation it morphed into the Bureau of Special Investigations, a title it retained under the Rule of Man.  During this period it investigated possible Dark Minion infiltrations and maintained several secret Empathic research institutes to train minion hunters.

BSI's budget was hidden in among various law enforcement and "black" programs.  For centuries it managed to maintain its secret despite attempts by politicians, journalists and conspiracy theorists to divine its existence.   Its death knell finally came in -1776 (2742 CE) with the collapse of the Rule of Man.  However, numerous local minion-hunting organizations can trace their lineage directly from BSI.