The United States National Intelligence Service - is the U.S. Main national intelligence agency.
The Public Goal of the organization is to gather information on every other nation in the world, including details of possible threat forces. Towards this end the NIS uses electronic intelligence gathering, reconnaissance aircraft, satellites and living agents to discover information.
The NIS was founded from the tattered core of the CIA which was founded from the OSS by President Harry Truman in 1947
The NIS has repudiated the CIA function as the black army of the Military-Industrial Complex, it no longer pursues unusual forms of non-linear warfare. In theory these were pursued for the long term goal of making sure that the United States triumphs over all opposition and resistance.
However, in both cases these functions were poorly supervised or over-seen at best. The CIA often worked with Black Budgets and cross pollinates with similar groups and operations from the United States Pentagon.
The CIA often set up such non-linear projects as cells, where information is compartmentalized and strictly controlled. The end effect was a functionally independent entity which then pursues its goals with varying success and regard for side effects.
Examples of this process are Operation Treadstone, Augustus Gibbons' Unamed Project, Aquatica, The Cyber Research Systems Division (CRS} and The Shop, among others.
Computer Technology[]
With the recent rise of the machines, that is the increasing AI threat the NIS has been forced to go two directions.
One has been to embraces the technology to its advantage. The NIS mans huge information gathering networks and sifts through petabytes of data from off the internet and the dark net.
Much of this information used to be illegally gathered from domestic sources, but what you didn't know didn't hurt them. President Luthor threw them to the dogs of the FBI. With the threat that any further illegal action will result in more jail terms.
What they have not dabbled in is AI itself. With no assurances that what ever they create can be kept inside the box they have intelligently elected to not create it, at least on purpose.
The second reaction has been a total Luddite move away from high technology. Necessary computers are hard isolated from the internet. Internal databases and networks move on secure and again isolated lines. NO smart phones, NO wifi, NO data devices in any NIS office. If something from outside must be moved to the intranet it is first vetted on security systems that are also isolated, transferred to a different data medium and sneaker netted to the intranet. That data device is then destroyed. Failure to follow this procedure will get you court-martialed and forgotten.
Current[]
President Alexander Joseph Luthor has decided that honest government will best serve him. He has continued the house cleaning in the intelligence agencies. Both the CIA and the NSA suffered equally under the lash. The legal functions of each have been transferred to the NIS by 2018.
Former President Russel sent dozens of intelligence agents to jail for breaking the law. He gutted the top echelons of the CIA. They still have no idea how the Department of Justice is getting things.
Meta[]
The CIA and other national security agencies with their secrecy and black budgets make a great source for groups to do very strange, expensive, violent and evil things.