Corporate Liaison

Internal Affairs Agents (IAAs) act as the link between NanoTrasen Central Command and their assigned facility. Their primary concerns are to ensure that the crew of the station adheres to Corporate Regulations via oversight and audits, and that any orders from Central Command are carried out by the crew.

Secondary responsibilities of an IAA include helping the crew file complaints that cannot be resolved by the station's chain of command, and providing an impartial third party perspective for crew disputes or inter-department concerns.

Internal Affairs Agents can be played by characters of any race except Diona and Vaurca, by players with a Head of Staff whitelist. Internal Affairs itself is not a part of station command, however, and Internal Affairs Agents are not equal to a Head of Staff or Captain in terms of command decisions. Additionally, though IAAs are directly supervised by Central Command, they are still expected to obey the Captain’s orders while on board the station.

Note that Internal Affairs Agents are one of three roles on the station that are loyalty-implanted by default. This means that agents are almost always supposed to act in a way that they believe is in the best interests of NanoTrasen. This implant is part of the reason why Central Command trusts an agent, and it should not be voluntarily removed.

Your Office
Behold, the seat of regulatory oversight on the NSS Aurora, attached to the east end of the brig. There are a variety of items in your office, most of which have a practical use in your line of work. Take specific note of:


 * Your Desk, upon which rests a laptop to review employment records, CCIA notes, and any active CCIA actions placed on a given crew member. There’s also a paper tray, and not one, but THREE kinds of pen. Truly, yours is a land of great wealth. Also note the filing cabinet and paper shredder nearby, for filing or destroying paperwork, respectively.
 * The Window Tint Control behind your chair. Use it to create some privacy when meeting with someone in your office, or when being murdered in your office.
 * The Requests Console on the wall behind you. From here, you can print any form in the company database, as well as contact other departments via messaging. You can also fax other departments from this console - just use the paper or form you want to send on the console, and select a destination.
 * The Legal Closet in the corner contains some snazzy outfits, spare briefcases, and a pair of personal flash devices. Agents can use these in self-defense when necessary to escape from danger, but remember that agents are not THE LAW - they just have it memorized. You should generally not be attempting to detain or help detain anyone security may be after.
 * Your office’s Internal Affairs Stamp, on the table by the window. Use this to prove that something you sign or send to someone has come from you. While important not to lose so that you cannot be impersonated on paper, this stamp does not typically carry any explicit authority on board, and is mostly used to stamp messages to Central Command. There is only one of these, so if you’re sharing the office with another agent, try not to leave with it.
 * The Universal Recorders by the window allow you to take statements from the crew and print transcripts. Try not to use them to spy on conversations unsolicited (though security may agree to let you record an interrogation, if you ask them). These devices can translate all languages into Tau Ceti Basic.
 * The Quantum-Relay Fax Machine by the airlock. Agents may use this machine to transmit a form or other message directly to Central Command. This device is expensive to operate and should not be used lightly. See appropriate uses of it below.

Embrace the Bureaucracy
So, your shoes are polished, your tie is on straight, your stamp is inked up and there’s a full cup of coffee on your desk - what now?

Typically, the broad duties of Internal Affairs Agents can be sorted into three major categories:


 * 1) Regulatory Compliance: It is the job of the Captain and the Heads of Staff to ensure that the station accomplishes its mission. It is an IAA's job to ensure that it does so in accordance with NanoTrasen's interests. Agents make sure that all Station Directives, Corporate Regulations, and other official policies are being followed and enforced to the best of the crew’s ability. It goes without saying that an agent’s knowledge of these regulations and policies should be excellent.
 * 2) Corporate Oversight: While Central Command may directly contact the Captain and crew with orders or other concerns, it is the job of Internal Affairs to ensure that the station carries out Central's wishes. When Central Command issues the station a task, agents are expected to communicate via the quantum-relay fax machine in their office with updates when necessary. In emergency scenarios, when station command is unable to do so, agents may also request an Emergency Response Team via this fax machine.
 * 3) Impartial Arbitration: When there are disputes between crew members that cannot be resolved by their appropriate supervisor(s), it is the job of Internal Affairs to provide an objective and unbiased perspective for the crew and recommend appropriate resolutions to the conflict, either to the appropriate Heads of Staff, the Captain, or if necessary, directly to Central Command. An agent may also file an Incident Report (on the server’s forums) on behalf of a crew member, if they are unable to do so themselves.

Before you sign on for that first shift, recognize a hard truth about Internal Affairs: you are not, strictly speaking, a necessary component of the station’s crew. By yourself, you cannot permit, prevent, or enforce just about anything. You are not a part of station command despite your access, fax machine and headset. While you ideally have an excellent knowledge of how people on the station should be working, you have no authoritative say in the day-to-day operations of the Aurora until Central Command explicitly empowers you to do something. They won't do that often.

Your ability to effectively do your job therefore relies on your ability to communicate with the station’s various departments, their leaders, and Central Command. Having good working relationships with the crew also makes it more likely that they will come to you with their problems, rather than leaving you to hunt for them, or to sit at your desk contemplating your coffee all shift.

In order to help build those working relationships, there are a few things IAAs should try to avoid doing:


 * 1) Do Not Threaten: Because they (usually) have Central Command's trust, agents have the potential to make an employee’s life difficult via reporting and review. Abusing the Internal Affairs office by threatening people with administrative action is one of the fastest ways to lose that trust. An agent who recklessly throws around Central Command's authority to try get their way is bound to have a short career.
 * 2) Do Not Play Security: Internal Affairs Agents are not THE LAW, and should not take direct action against crew members or other threats who are in violation of regulations. Agents can (and should) notify the appropriate party when they see those issues however, whether that is Security, a Head of Staff, the Captain, or Central Command.
 * 3) Do Not Look For Trouble: While a critical eye is a welcome quality in Internal Affairs, agents should have legitimate reasons to open an investigation into a crew member’s behavior. Unduly harassing the crew is bad for both productivity and the department's reputation.
 * 4) Do Not Play Favorites: Any decision an agent makes should be the result of facts, evidence, and policy. Actions and decisions that illustrate clear bias toward one side of a dispute have no credibility. Get every side of a story, and assume nothing.
 * 5) Do Not Give Orders: Because you can’t, really. While you represent Central Command’s interests on the station, you exist largely outside the station Chain of Command, and the crew is not obligated to listen to you like they are a Head of Staff.

Interacting With The Crew
When working with the Aurora’s crew, you may be asked to perform certain tasks by employees, the Heads of Staff, or by Central Command. Generally, these are roleplaying tasks like receiving minor employee complaints, auditing departments for productivity, or monitoring security processing of detainees for compliance.

These things serve as good excuses to get out and see what’s going on around the station, and most of them do not have strict processes or universal methods. However as a general rule, it’s wise to get the approval of a supervising Head of Staff or the Captain before walking into a department and starting a review. No-one appreciates unexpected disruptions to their day, and having a department head who supports what you’re doing will make your life much easier in general. Having one who doesn't may get you kicked out into the corridor.

IAAs should take note of the following helpful forms when they decide to wander out of their office:


 * NCF-0109 Complaint Form: A simple document summarizing an employee complaint.
 * NCF-0110 Internal Affairs Audit: Used to summarize your findings when auditing a department on the station.
 * NCF-0111 Internal Affairs Employee Review: Used to review an individual’s job performance, conduct, and records.
 * NCF-0113 Station Directives: A list of the Station’s directives in paper format. Mainly useful for reminding the crew that they exist.
 * NCF-0115 Incident Report: A form used to take down employee information and submit an official Incident Report to Central Command. More on these below.

Interacting With Central Command
When it comes to Central Command, IAAs have a number of significant tasks that they may perform.

Note that using the quantum relay fax machine sends messages to a number of staff members both in and out of the game, and should not be abused. Use the staffwho command to see if there are any Central Command Internal Affairs (CCIA) staff members online when sending a fax. These are the people who will usually review and reply to them. If no-one is present, it may take longer than usual to receive a response.

Sending Updates to Central Command
When central transmits orders to the station, it trusts Internal Affairs to give accurate, comprehensive, and timely updates on the station’s progress in carrying out those orders. Central also commonly expects updates when a code red alert or evacuation is declared without any explanation. Sending (or failing to send) these updates may affect the flow of a round as CentComm reacts to them.

Agents sending updates generally do so via forms NCF-1002 General Fax for standard communications, and NCF-0108 Situation Report for urgent or emergency communications. The Odin takes its paperwork very seriously; using the wrong form or an unformatted sheet of paper for your message may cause it to be mis-routed or discarded.

Your ID should also allow you to access the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) on the bridge command console, if necessary.

Requesting an Emergency Response Team
While normally unable to do so, in specific circumstances, agents can use their fax machine to request an Emergency Response Team directly from CentComm. This is not guaranteed to be successful, however, and the decision to send a team may depend on how detailed the agent’s report is. Agents should only attempt to do this when the Heads of Staff are no longer capable of using their Keycard Authentication Devices to request a team normally. Your own ID will not work in these devices.

Any request for ERT sent by fax must explain the emergency situation, the status of the Aurora and its crew, and why command staff are no longer capable of following the normal process. Without all of this information, the request may not be considered, or a response may be significantly delayed.

Submitting an Incident Report
When there is a serious behavioral or procedural issue with an employee or group that cannot be resolved by security or the station’s chain of command, Internal Affairs may process an Incident Report for CCIA to review. These reports are IC complaints that server staff investigate after the round. Incident Report investigations can take several days to weeks, as staff members track down the characters involved, and the outcomes of these investigations can have lasting effects on a character’s employment or records. Because of this, Incident Reports should not be submitted lightly.

In addition to making sure you understand | the rules for submitting an Incident Report, keep in mind:


 * Faxed reports are generally meant for players without forum accounts. Agents should only fax Incident Reports that the crew has asked them to help process. If an IAA wants to submit a report with themselves as the reporting party, they should make a forum post after the round instead.
 * If a report is faxed and no CCIA team members are available, it is important that you ahelp and alert someone that the report needs documenting. While the reports are normally added to the correct subforum after the end of the round, if no-one is available to process one when it is faxed, it may get lost when the round ends. In all cases, it is more reliable to submit the report via the forums. It may be wise to take screenshots of the report beforehand, if you are concerned someone will not see it.
 * If you process someone’s Incident Report as an Internal Affairs Agent, your character will be expected to make themselves available for an IC interview with CCIA team members as part of the investigation. This may be necessary to clarify information in the original report, or to discuss new information.
 * As Internal Affairs, it is part of your job description to help resolve issues like these before they require Central Command involvement. Be sure that the crew member you are helping has tried to resolve their problems within the station’s chain of command before they submit a report. Participate in that process, if you can help them!

Submitting Recommendations For CCIA Action
After reviewing an employee’s behavior on shift, Internal Affairs Agents may recommend that temporary CCIA actions be taken on that employee, without the need to open a full Incident Report investigation. Recommending an action does not guarantee that the action will be taken. CCIA will review all evidence provided with the fax, make sure that OOC or antagonist elements were not involved, talk with relevant staff teams, and make their own judgement on the recommendation before accepting or declining it.

These recommendations should only be submitted with a large body of supporting evidence. For an IAA, this evidence can take the form of:


 * Audio transcripts, recorded by your universal recorder. These include statements given by the employee themselves, witnesses, supervisors, or any other relevant party. You should be getting these transcripts by talking to people, rather than eavesdropping. Remember to get every side of a story.


 * Written statements, properly signed and stamped where applicable.


 * Photos taken with handheld cameras that depict the behavior in question.


 * Relevant employment or security records.


 * Relevant security incidents, or brig processing records.


 * Relevant paperwork, waivers, or permits.


 * Copies of corroborating reports from command staff.

In addition to the above, include anything else that can help make the issue being looked into absolutely clear. Collect more information than you think you need, because you will need a lot of it.

Once an agent has evidence and an understanding of an incident, they may summarize it and recommend the following actions be taken by CentComm:
 * Reprimand: Effectively a slap on the wrist. The reprimands applied by this system are temporary and will not remain attached to a character indefinitely, but serve as an official warning to correct problematic behavior before it gets worse.
 * Temporary Injunction: An employee’s behavior is restricted in some way while aboard, for a period of up to one week. Injunctions can be in regards to specific behaviors (such as prohibiting someone from visiting the bar during work hours), or as a sort of restraining order to prevent belligerent employees from interacting with one another. These are generally used to address problematic behaviors before they cause major issues. Note that if the need is urgent, a Head of Security or Captain may apply an injunction immediately, for the duration of the current shift.
 * Administrative Demotion: An employee is demoted to a lesser job title, for a period of up to one week. This is generally recommended for employees who would benefit from closer supervision by other members of their department.
 * Administrative Suspension: An employee is prevented from working on the station for a period of up to one week (but they may still join the round in the Visitor role). This is generally recommended for employees who need immediate, serious retraining, or who may pose a danger to themselves or others if allowed to keep working in their normal role in the short-term. Heads of Staff and the Captain can also suspend employees that they are responsible for, but only for the current shift.
 * Commendation: As strange as it seems, occasionally a NanoTrasen employee will step up and exceed the company’s expectations. These people are worth noting, and possibly worth compensating!

If you believe another action not listed here is appropriate for the specific case you’re looking at, feel free to recommend that as well. However, there is no guarantee CentComm will consider it.

Traitoring
This scenario is unlikely, as the loyalty implant all agents are required to have prevents you from betraying NanoTrasen, and most game modes will not automatically select you as a traitor. However, if for some reason that implant is absent and you find yourself a traitor, congratulations! You are an antagonist trusted implicitly by both station command staff and Central Command. Wield your bureaucracy against the company you've devoted your career to! The morphic clerical kit may be of use to a traitorous IAA, as the stamps it provides allow you to forge command staff approval of just about anything. If anyone questions what you're doing, remind them that you have the best interests of the company at heart.

An IAA in this position should not touch Incident Reports or recommend CCIA actions to Central Command, as antagonists are not allowed to submit these reports.