Group Seed: The Wabash Working Group

Wabash Working Group

The Wabash Working Group

Founded: 1957

Location: Indianapolis

Staff: 15 administrative, 10 field operatives

Remit: Sea Monsters

Parent Agency: Department of Labor

Actually, no, there’s always been a surprising number of water-based cryptids being reported in Indiana.  Giant turtles, mostly, but also actual mermaids (presumably river-based): but possibly more importantly, when it came time to decide where to put the Wabash Working Group it was deemed wise to throw the junior Senator from Indiana a bone.  Cold War-era clandestine esoteric projects like these were always prized, since the mundane infrastructure needed to mask their presence usually meant good jobs for the community. And, to be fair, Indiana is in the middle of the country and Indianapolis has a decent airport.  It’s reasonably easy enough to base field studies out of the WWG offices.

Typically, the WWG acts as a clearinghouse for reports of water-based cryptids from other government agencies; the head office gets a few reports in every week.  Most of the time, the reports can be quickly processed. Most are false alarms, some are actually the researcher mistaking a secret government project for something else, and a few are from people who don’t know that there are sanctioned mermen cities off the East Coast — oops.  Pretend that you didn’t read that, okay?  

About once or twice a year, a report does have to be checked out, so they send out a field team to do so.  The usual: researchers, interviewers, people who know how to muck about with boats And if the field team doesn’t come back, the WWG sends out another field team, only this time with out-of-agency deniable backup.

Hello, deniable backup!