The Great Cape Leap [Worm Soviet PRT Planquest]

You are Ekaterina Frunze, the woman who thought she knew how Soviet politics worked. This confidence was broken the moment you were informed of the death of Dmitry Vetrov. Your boss was a controversial person who constantly pushed his worldview. He believed in the "chemical ascension of man from the shackles of the flesh" and other almost religious nonsense, which was not entirely acceptable for a member of the CPSU. He disliked you a little for being too young and lacking technical education, and also for the fact that you were not born in Moscow. One way or another, he was the head of the Committee for the Supervision of Parahuman Activities, an organization that for the last ten years has been trying to figure out the causes of the appearance of parahumans. You were his deputy for political work.

The man was one of the organizers of the May 1st parade, like you, and after a hard day, he was staying with a former colleague and friend from the university for the night. Despite his shortcomings, Dmitry was a simple person who did not consider it right to deprive a departmental driver of his day off for the sake of one boss. The next day, the psychic scream resulted in the deaths of more than two hundred people within a few hours. Your current office is only two floors higher than the apartment in which he slept and in which he was killed.

In the USSR, women do not become ministers at 39 years old. You did not know a single minister under 50 years of age, and this was during the peak moments of Perestroika when positions were easily reserved for younger personnel. In a normal situation, this would be the case, but this is not a normal situation.

The old small Committee and its private scientific team were dissolved —no more petty science and organization of field research. The Party has recognized the threat to the state and wants security and control of this new and complex part of the world. All you have to do is achieve that.

Reconstruction of the Red Gate HQ [50/50][47/125]

"The guys and I weren't hired to work as cleaners at the slaughterhouse! Petrovich spent two weeks getting the smell of dried blood out of the ventilation, and on the third and fourth floors, we had to replace all the floors. The guys were on the verge of going on strike when they heard that they would also have to clean the elevator shafts. We don't want all this to stay there, do we?" Semyon Biryukov, foreman of the construction team.

The bribe amounted to five blocks of cheap cigarettes, and "expenses for party organizational activities" were written off from the account.

It was strange to work at the scene of a huge mass crime, but beyond the madness of what happened, there was a perfectly understandable logic of the Supreme Soviet. Previously, this building housed the Ministry of Transport, seventeen floors in the left wing of the massive building. Because this was a day off, most of the workers avoided injury, but the incident itself was a heavy blow. There was no reason to stay in the old place, which required almost as many resources to restore as the expansion of other locations.

You had no other places. The previously existing Committee was a fairly small organization that was engaged in collecting statistics, as well as writing a certain number of laws. Most of the work concerned the actual study of parahumans, their abilities, and their capabilities of adaptation and learning. There are only five dozen workers. This is the essence of the Committee, something created to work across industries. Now everything has changed, you are a new "branch" in the sectoral and industrial system of branches of power in the USSR.

Meanwhile, at your new headquarters, they finished cleaning up the blood, restored most of the apartments, and even put several floors into operation. However, the largest investment is the restoration of the automatic telephone exchange system and the replacement of electrical wiring with a more modern one. Because of this, more than half of the premises are under construction.

Organization of the HR department [75/100]

"I've been working twelve hours a day for the past week. I could have worked more, but I didn't have enough bed space. I had to return home and not sleep at my workplace like everyone else. It's crazy, but it reminds me of my father's stories about the first and second five-year plans. I learned more in two months than my university did in five years. Everyone feels like this is a place where they can change the world. We are building an axis on which we will turn the planet over. I just hope it doesn't tear the planet in half." Transcript of a recorded conversation between employee S. and employee A. From the report of the 1st KGB department on the state of employee morale.

You were no stranger to organizing something new. First, the Komsomol at your university had to organize boisterous and active students in Moscow. This was not a small regional city, you could not simply and easily threaten every troublemaker, and therefore you had to skillfully maneuver among the personalities of students and teaching staff.

Perestroika created new opportunities and you quickly got a job at the Moscow City Committee. Under the patronage of the city administration, dozens of rock musicians were controlled, financed, and promoted. The so-called "Rock Laboratory" became the center of the musical revolution in the USSR. You were among the curators of this project, expanding and developing the project. Only years later did you find out that these were one of Zarnitsa's first steps. Battle for minds. It was also during those years that you started touring abroad as some of the bands grew enough to tour internationally.

Given your many years of experience working with the Moscow Town Council, it was not difficult for you to find several hundred applicants for new positions. You didn't want a slow, weak, passive structure. You needed an organization where people lived to work. Who believed in the dream of a better world. And who were looking for the same people. You were looking for idealists.

And so they were thrown into the bureaucratic hell of the state system. By the end of the second month, only a third remained. More than you planned.

Due to construction work, you have gained access to an old and abandoned air defense bunker. It was right outside the wall of one of the metro stations. At this point, all you have to do is recruit a few dozen more workers and finally pull them out of the depths of Moscow's dungeons. It's harder than you think, for some reason they liked it there. Crazy people.

Help for Afghan comrades [75/75][75/75][22/75]

"Is it just me or did we just get saved by a flying tank?" On the outskirts of Kabul, a conversation between two artillery spotters.

International politics rarely concern you, except maybe the 1980 Olympics. However, back then, your experience was limited to voluntary assistance to tourist groups due to your knowledge of foreign languages. This is the first time you have seen so many foreigners in Moscow, as well as so many products on the shelves. The Politburo then heavily invested in the Olympics. Not that this would actually solve the deficit, but the country was plunged into a major holiday for several months. It was then that you saw the Afghan team. To be honest, you weren't particularly impressed by them.

You were impressed by the fact that the Afghan government lasted five years without the Soviet army. Another proof of false propaganda that this government is on bayonets. Yes, this government is supported by Soviet aid, but their opponents do not exist on pasture either. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Intelligence Service, a plan was developed to help Afghan comrades. Kabul had been under siege for months, a consistent strategy by pro-Pakistan militants. They could not win in a direct assault, but they could deplete military supplies, which, during a blockade by land, could only be supplied through transport aircraft.

A type of transport that became much less accessible after the departure of the Soviet army and its aviation, forcing the Afghan government to rely only on its own, rather meager, resources and external assistance. Initially, this really worked in favor of the Mujahideen, but at first, the flow of money from Arab countries decreased. Then the crisis happened in Iran. The US has reduced its support. There were fewer and fewer resources left and many began to talk about more active action against the communists.

They needed a victory. Initially, the idea was a pipe dream, but then two Stranger capes in Pakistan were able to obtain the identity of a high-ranking official and helped to turn the concept of the assault into reality. It took about a year and a half of preliminary work and three weeks of cape work to get it done. The "Spring" plan worked completely. On the military aid side, Afghanistan received two Tinkers from us and recruited another locally, allowing for several flying modes of transport that do not rely on fossil fuels.

The subsequent assault became a bloodbath. A frontal assault on the capital of a fortified enemy with dominance in the sky and artillery using only light infantry and armor could never succeed. The subsequent counter-offensive of the Red militia, with the support of some forces of the Afghan army, led to the lifting of the blockade of Kabul and some other large cities. The country's recovery is a long way off, but Afghanistan's strongest opposition faction will likely never recover from such a failure. In addition, Pakistan is now busy with internal political struggle, and support for the Mujahideen is declining. This is a worthy victory and no one expected that a minor youth official from Moscow would rise to become part of a world-class espionage intrigue. Your name will be remembered in the Politburo.

Creation of an informant department [98/50]

"In politics, the key is not only to achieve your goal but also to prevent your enemies from achieving theirs." Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

As part of the "Spring" project, you found yourself at several closed Politburo meetings. You were part of a large set of officials and officers who provided information on elements of the operation, but most importantly, you had access to Eduard Shevardnadze, Chairman of the Politburo. He was Gorbachev's man, a Democrat and a reformer. But he was an experienced diplomat, and he perfectly understood how to smuggle two capes under the guise of diplomats into Pakistan. In between, the conversation touched on the topic of recruiting new capes to serve for the benefit of the USSR, after which there was, ahem, controversy over the KGB's reluctance to disclose information.

Shevardnadze has long been looking for a reason to weaken the security forces a little, so, to your surprise, small conversations led to very big changes. At the next Supreme Soviet "at the initiative of the workers," the issue was raised about the lack of awareness of the population and their representatives about parahumans, as well as the sectoral and regional fragmentation of information. To correct this, under the patronage of your Ministry and the Council of Ministers, a new body was formed - the Committee of Parahuman Information. The appointment and leadership of the Committee rests with you.

Translating from bureaucratic into normal language, Shevardnadze promoted the project of an organization that has the right to have its own formal representations in all bodies of Soviet power "for the purpose of collecting information about capes." This is a framework solution for now, but the consequences are enormous. As the Committee grows, more local officials will encounter your people. Both voluntary and involuntary informants will be found. You were actually allowed to do light espionage on the topic of parahumans within the USSR. It doesn't matter that at the moment you have almost no opportunity to make a network the size of a country, it is important to deprive the KGB of the right to such a network.

Creation of an investigation department [49/50][Passable]

"In politics, there is no time for perfect solutions. You have to accept whatever works."

You do not have the best relationship with Boris Pugo, the Minister of Internal Affairs. However, after "Spring" and taking into account the unstable position of the conservative Boris, he agreed to some changes in his own Ministry. A special group of investigators will be created to work on "special" cases, which will also include a number of your specialists. In an ideal world, you would have overseen the process, but in practice, you were busy with other things. This solution is good enough to move on.

Preparation of parahuman training camps [110/125]

"There are three ways to do something: the right way, the wrong way, and the way it's done in the army." Folk wisdom.

You have arrived deep in the Moscow region. It was once an air defense base, but after Scion made nuclear ballistic missiles almost useless, the place fell into disrepair. It wasn't that hard to get a former military base for a new training camp. There were only forests and a swamp around, part of the general camouflage. Small one- or two-story buildings were almost completely hidden in the shade of trees, invisible from the air. Despite the autumn, the grass was bright green, which, on closer inspection, turned out to be painted. By your arrival, almost two hectares of lawns had been repainted from withered yellow to bright green.

Conscripts were brought in to speed up the construction efforts. Unfortunately, even this did not allow construction efforts to finish during the summer months. Free labor, not very educated, but sufficiently motivated by the fear of punishment and your promises of small "gifts" to the highest quality workers. It is clear that their commanders received much more. However, this time the factories responsible for supplying heating systems screwed up. You don't want any fuel or gas in a place where there will be a lot of parahumans, but remodeling the kitchens and showers is taking a while. They are asking for a few more months.

Creation of a department of agitation and propaganda [50/50][52/100]

"This parahuman is using literal death rays! How do you propose to give him a positive description in the article? Although... We could call him an ideal sterilizer. Yes, it'll work." Talk in the editorial office of the newspaper "Pravda".

Glasnost was a very difficult time for the weak and frankly outdated Soviet propaganda. Many years of greenhouse conditions without competition did not create a system that actually competed for people's attention, which easily pushed people away from the media and pushed them to other sources of information. Zarnitsa was incredibly active in this area, but you learned many things about what was done after the fact, seeing general traces of how this parahuman worked.

Modern Soviet newspapers and television are a completely different product. The general criterion is simple - 70/30. Most of it is good news, the rest is bad news. Most of it is about current events and less about ideology. Most of it is about economic problems, less about political scandals. Parahumans didn't fit into the genre, falling into many positions as both a good thing and a bad thing. There was no uniform policy or at least methodological recommendations in covering things.

It's time to fix this. A general booklet of about five dozen pages was written for distribution to all news organizations in the country. There was an idea of what terms to use, what topics could be cut short, the overall narrative, and how the socialist state wanted parahumans to be seen. Self-censorship will continue. Once you've described the desirable and undesirable topics, many editors themselves will correct controversial or ideologically incorrect texts into something more neutral, not wanting to attract the attention of large political bodies. Why waste energy censoring when people will do it for you? Zarnitsa was not mistaken here.

Work also began on the formation of a monthly specialized magazine on scientific publications and another one with a more popular scientific mass orientation. For now, we are looking for a publisher, because you considered the preliminary small circulation of two hundred thousand copies each month to be too small.

Formalization of the design code for Soviet capes [38/10]

"I still can't understand these Americans. Who in their right mind would dress in colored tights and go out on the street to fight drug dealers? This sounds terrible on every possible level."

You've had a lot of brainstorming sessions with your colleagues regarding the uniform issue. The Protectorate's policy was fairly consistent - no military uniforms, superheroes are not soldiers. Perhaps government workers, even officers within the police order system, but not soldiers. This is quite sad because it severely limits you. You are not the United States, custom suits look a little stupid. You should have a general style that will already change to suit the needs of individual parahumans.

One option wins:
[] Anti-camouflage military equipment. With the reduction of the threat of nuclear war, the threat of conventional physical war has not gone away. Rather, on the contrary, the war could well have been an ordinary non-nuclear one. Many countries around the world are forced to panic and increase military spending. The USSR simply does not change anything; the country has been preparing for a major non-nuclear war for the last half-century. As a result, it won't be difficult to obtain a military field uniform along with body armor and reinforced shoes. Maybe leather jackets like pilots', if the industry doesn't screw it up. However, unlike the army, the colors will be bright. You don't need to hide parahumans, just have red, blue, orange, or pink camouflage colors.
[] In spirit, but not in form. You might choose a fairly general "organized group" style. Parahumans, judging by your work experience, are quite young, and therefore the inclusion of some features of modern culture will be attractive to them. By playing the "worker militia" cards correctly, you could create looks with bandanas, simple masks, neutral or dark tones, armbands, and small but important details like badges.
[] Sports uniform. This is the simplest and most affordable option, just take several types of uniforms used by athletes and convert them into parahuman costumes. Fortunately, there are a lot of sports in the USSR, and therefore there will be a wide choice. It's cheap and will work well, but not everyone will like the limited selection of "aggressive" styles. This will push your parahumans towards greater individualism and flamboyance. Honestly, you would rather see yesterday's civilians wear a helmet and body armor instead of a sports uniform.

Exploring the world's largest parahuman threats [56/50]

"We have some problems with time here at the border. The gyroscopes in the rockets are malfunctioning and the electronics don't work well with the analog clocks. It looks like there are problems on Iran's side again. Do you allow us to launch a preemptive strike?" Headquarters of the 7th Army, Tbilisi, from communications with headquarters in Moscow.

With the help of our American colleagues, we have formed key points that are currently destabilizing entire countries and regions. Parahuman threats that can and do change the world. This would be obvious to some, but we figured it was worth pointing out some things even if they are obvious.

Scion. Golden parahuman, flying, powerful, unpredictable. It has been spotted in a variety of crisis locations, from Chernobyl to small fires. He was able to stop nuclear missiles. He has repeatedly prevented the escalation of conflicts. He rescues kittens in trees. He is unpredictable in the truest sense of the word and unstoppable. Nobody in the USSR knows what can be done with it.

Hadhayosh or Behemoth. There are still rumors, conversations, and discussions about who or what this creature is. About fourteen meters of indestructible super-strong hatred of humanity, radiation, and death. At this point, you believe that he is an anarchic parahuman of enormous power. One strike was carried out in Iran, right during the Protectorate's visit. Another one is in Brazil and now New York. It doesn't look like he'll be easy to stop.

Tetrarchy or Protectorate. The four strongest parahumans on the planet, except for two points above. All of them are Americans, all of them agreed to work for the United States. All of them can actually be killed, at least you can help make plans about it. And yet, if one of them falls into a murderous rage, entire cities or even countries will perish.

Oblivion. The powerful Shaker, a parahuman in Iran who is largely responsible for the succession crisis and the gradual degradation of the country. Capable of accelerating or slowing down time over vast areas or disrupting space-time in a concentrated manner with incredible consequences. It is a threat due to its proximity to the borders of the USSR and its obvious destructive influence on Iran. Came into consideration due to the study of Behemoth's impact points.

Wildfire. A very dangerous cape from Brazil. She has dual abilities: control and launch of powerful forest fires, and direction of fire on a macroscale of tens and hundreds of kilometers. After this, new plants appear - changed, unnatural, from the ashes of the fires. Incredibly fast-growing, invasive, aggressive and predatory. The main threat is due to the presence in the USSR, like Brazil, of huge forests that are difficult to control. Came into consideration due to the study of Behemoth's impact points.

Studying methods of keeping parahumans in custody [139/150]

"Okay, we managed to create a counter vector in case of an attempt to teleport from prison. But do we have protection in case someone tries to teleport to the prison itself?" Meeting of the technical council to prepare measures to counter parahuman activity.

You have been working for a long time on the question of how you can contain someone who can punch through a concrete wall with his hand, teleport, or simply become gas. Using a wide range of things, from lunar base projects to the help of other parahumans, you developed some projects even under Dmitriev. Now they have been evaluated and developed, modified, and duplicated. Together with the American experience, you can say that the impossible prison is possible. A place where the laws of physics are wishes, not facts. A place that is nowhere and everywhere. A place where you can control everything.

You know for sure that the United States is also working on this issue. Probably in the future, you will share your experiences and projects, but for now, the USSR was developing its own version of a cape prison. One of the requirements for joining the Protectorate was the abolition of the death penalty, so the project received high priority. This will be a huge massive complex that will be served by a large hydroelectric power station or even a nuclear power plant with integrated Tinker-tech systems that will block almost all known methods of influencing reality.

The main problem arose from a simple fact - this was not a secret study. Although parahuman science is a rather boring thing, talk of nuclear power plants has attracted unwanted public attention. People do not want this site near any large settlements, and therefore you need to allocate some time and resources to study sites as far as possible from any populated areas. In addition, this will further increase security, since even after leaving the prison, you will find yourself in the middle of a wasteland.

Creation of the Charter of the Parahuman Service [65/50]

After almost three months of work, you could say the simplest fact possible - at the moment you do not have enough practice to write the Charter. Yes, the USSR used parahumans, but it was never a system. It was an improvisation and a popular initiative. Instead, you were able to reduce the required items to a set that was closer to the American one. Some form of oath to the Soviet state and the basic moral set of the "parahuman representative of the Red Banner Protectorate named after Lenin." The question remains - which type of oath do you consider correct?

One option wins:
[X] Hard. In many ways copying the form of the army oath, this oath will be aimed at a strict system of subordination, rank, responsibility, and punishment. This will simplify the issuance of ranks and army equipment to parahumans, but not everyone will like it. (New options, reduced recruitment in progress)

[X] Soft. A rather vague version that outlines the general features of work, subordination, and responsibility. Nothing really important or terribly strict, the usual platitudes that good is good and evil is bad. Obvious communists would not like it, but civilians and non-party people will. (Additional -3/turn decline in political authority, increased recruitment per turn, new options)

[X] Party. A patriotic option, built on an oath of allegiance to communism, building a truly socialist society and helping other comrades. In fact, it binds parahumans to the USSR power system. Not a very popular solution among the general public, but understandable. (+1 USSR Support, requires work in the ideological direction, slow desertion of capes from the reserve)

[X] Diplomatic. A politically controversial option in which parahumans first of all promise to protect people regardless of borders, they promise to be valiant defenders of justice and the rule of law. Both the dove and hawk variants can be interpreted. In any case, it sounds cool and shows the direction towards international integration. (+1 US Support, requires diplomatic work, limits some radical options in the future)

*****

So, results of turn with two small votes. You can vote for any number of options, in non-plan format. Most popular for each one will win.