The Doom Tracker
The Doom Tracker
Report by Dr. Constance Paige (Communications), Dr. Joel Radcliffe (Sociology) and Prof. Herschel Marlowe (Assistant Director of Research)
With Project Covenant moving to "invasion ready" status, the higher-ups have been dusting off and rolling out some of their Cold War-era response tools. One of these is the so-called "Doom Tracker." This is an informal monitoring system proposed by geopolitical/security personnel within X-Com. It tracks several metrics within any group of people. In its original form, it is designed to monitor entire countries, but several of the points of analysis can be scaled down to a population of any size, even that of a small community.
This tracking system, at its core, provides a rough overview of an area's ability to withstand alien incursion. It uses "panic levels" to indicate the population's readiness levels. A decreased panic level shows that the people are ready, able and willing to fight; that they can communicate with neighbors for mutual defense; that infrastructure is in place to transport people, goods and services; and lastly, that the people can root out traitorous elements on their own. At full blown panic level, an area is largely operating on the "every man for himself" principle. Governmental services are shut down or suspended, communications are down, travel within the area is difficult, dangerous or impossible, and with every person looking at others as threats and competition, it makes them easy prey for alien conversion. An area in full panic cannot be relied upon to assist in the war effort. If allowed to remain in this state for too long, it is only a matter of time before the region will be subverted and begin acting as a resource of the enemy.
The Sweeps did a number on global infrastructure and communications, with the meteors often targeting population centers, roads, bridges and facilities that housed vital services. With most large cities rendered uninhabitable, the small towns and rural communities of the world might be the best hope of salvation that humanity has.
The Doom Tracker is an informal tool, at best, but can be a useful point of reference for the X-Com commander with limited response capabilities and more calls for assistance than he can answer at one time. In its original form, it was intended to track increasing levels of panic and would allow X-Com forces to respond to hotspots. Our current situation and the Collective's deviation from their standard invasion protocols vastly changes how we can use this tool.
We can only assume, for now, that the panic level of all nations of the world are maxed out. If we want to prevent these areas from supporting the alien invasion, X-Com forces will need to reduce panic levels. To do so, we will need to establish contact, root out alien forces and help rebuild. Once an area is back on track, we will also need to maintain morale, and prevent the population from losing hope that there is any chance to resist the invaders.
The efforts within the community of Elma, Washington may be a prime example of how to restore a modicum of order, and the locals should be drawn in to the war effort simply because they have faced adversity and succeeded. They can spread their experience to other communities, and if these endeavors are successful, X-Com will have a larger population base to help spread the seeds of resistance. Whatever communities we help will have to step up and be willing to act as ambassadors of the war effort. To outpace the enemy efforts, we will need exponential growth among this potential pool of ambassadors; X-Com personnel cannot be relied upon to help rebuild the world. The people will have to do that for themselves. We can, however, help give them the temporary respite they need by shielding them from attack. Defeating the aliens in the air and on the ground will yield immediate results, if the word can get out to the people.
In this vein, the Resistance Radio Network may be our best resource. They are already heard far and wide. The best tool that they can use to get the word out is for us to go out there and start busting some alien heads, and give them some words to hand out. We need to win some hearts and minds. This time, though, its not trying to convince the people of a foreign nation that we aren't the bad guys. Instead, we are trying to convince our own people to find the strength within themselves to fight our common enemy.
Panic Levels
- Level 0: The region is fully committed to the war effort. It's population is well-informed, internal communications are unimpeded and governmental agencies can operate with a certain amount of transparency which fosters improved morale within the population. This last part can only be achieved because of a lack of alien collaborators. Infrastructure systems are at a high level of operation, which allows the population a modicum of regular operation, and allows the people a greater ability to respond to alien attack. In this sense, infrastructure can not only refer to roads, but access to other transport such as trains, shipping and aircraft, as well as informational infrastructure like cellular networks, land lines, internet, and television and radio broadcasting. Basically, this level is a pre-invasion ideal where the population is well-prepared to fight off the aliens. It will likely be difficult to achieve and maintain this level of readiness in any area, as it is poised to assist on a global level. This will undoubtedly draw alien attention, which will bring attacks. These are likely to promote panic, but if X-Com forces come to the region's aid, it can possibly reduce panic in the region.
- Level 1: The region is committed to the war effort, but it may be lacking in one or more vital aspects. The area is still relatively secure, and can provide assistance to neighboring regions, but offense or defense too far from its own borders is either impossible (through lack of resources), or politically unfeasible (due to the local population's perception of imminent danger making them unwilling to send resources too far from home). At this level, it also becomes prudent for resistance forces to begin concealing intelligence and activities because of the threat of alien collaborators within the community, which regrettably causes a downward spiral that makes it increasingly difficult to root out covert alien activities.
- Level 2: The people of the region may be committed to the war effort, but several components vital to resistance are lacking or compromised. The area is prone to alien incursion, as local defense forces are unable to secure borders or respond to reports of alien activity. A region at this panic level cannot be relied upon to provide much assistance outside its own borders, as it is trying to secure its own operations and people. "Witch hunts" for collaborators may begin occurring at this point, which may cause communities to insulate themselves further at the risk of bringing undue attention from the powers that be. This will likely raise the chances that alien conversion attempts will be successful.
- Level 3: At this level, the "war effort" becomes a more localized affair than a global one. People may be ambivalent, or the threat may be too close to home to worry about lending assistance elsewhere. It could also be possible that the population at large does not know about the full-blown alien threat and they believe some other brand of apocalypse is afoot. This will leave residents highly vulnerable to alien subversion. If the threat is known, people will tend to insulate themselves not only from investigation by authorities, but also from other civilians, perceiving them as potential threats. Thanks to breakdowns in communications and inability of responders to move freely, the aliens can have much wider and ready access to more areas of this region.
- Level 4: The region can be considered a liability to the war effort at this point. Governmental control begins to break down, and the region only operates as a loose collection of individual communities. Travel within the area is extremely limited, resources are strained or outright unavailable. Communication inside or out are restricted, and alien forces have almost unopposed access to the area.
- Level 5: With only the barest amount of control, communities fight their own battles for control, vying not only against the aliens, but even their own neighbors in battles of ideology and even resource management. Left for long at this level, and the region will be easy prey for the alien war machine. It is only a matter of time for the aliens to mount an offensive that will easily plunge the region into chaos.
- Level 6 (full panic): All vectors of resistance within the region are destroyed or compromised. There is no governmental control at this point because, at all levels, even the government officials are hard-pressed to ensure their own individual survival (meaning they are unable or unwilling to even show up to work!). Sense of community has broken down at this point, and individuals can barely see past their own needs or perhaps their family's. This is a true "every man for himself" survivalist scenario. The aliens have unfettered access to the region, the people and its resources. It is only a matter of time before this region is denuded of its population or resources through internal conflict, or its population is subverted to the alien cause.
- Level 7: The region has been won over by the aliens. They have sufficient collaborators within all levels of region to control the population. Forces from the region are actively hostile to X-Com and other terrestrial forces, and any operations within the region should be considered "behind enemy lines." Bringing such a region back under control may require the deaths of a considerable portion of the population, possibly complete eradication followed by colonization by external loyalists. If history has taught us anything, these particular efforts (if they come about) will have to be closely monitored to try and prevent international disputes.
Influencing Factors
Panic levels can be influenced by a number of factors. This is far from an exhaustive list, but covers the largest bases:
- Communications--This can be internal (the ability of people to communicate within the community) or external (the ability for the region to communicate with neighbors or the rest of the world). At higher levels of operation, communications will include such luxuries as cellular communications, television and possibly internet access (though "Internet" may take the form of a very large intranet, as access to servers world-wide is doubtful). Decreased communications inhibits security forces' ability to respond or report alien threats and activities, and increases the likelihood of alien infiltration.
- Infrastructure--This is most commonly thought of as the transportation system of an area, but it is also the means of distribution of goods and services within the region. The roads may be fine, but if all the farms and factories are destroyed, or if the power grid is down, food and supplies will not make it to the people. This will severely restrict the region's ability to respond to threats, and will prevent panic levels from decreasing.
- Alien presence--The physical presence of aliens will eat away at the stability of a region. Aliens will undoubtedly attempt to subvert the locals and will likely perform raids on the local area to deteriorate its ability to counterattack. Plus, the continued existence of aliens within a region will reduce morale as people begin to feel powerless at uprooting them.
- Resources--This can cover many areas. The simplest of them being the ability to sustain the population. Is there enough food, water and power to maintain a level of civilization above a basic survival level? Resource level can also refer to vehicles, equipment and fuel vital to the war effort, and the personnel to use them.
The Current Situation
These levels may be somewhat misleading. They were drawn up decades ago with the assumption of a slowly growing alien presence through infiltration that would incrementally chip away at infrastructure elements. The current situation has wiped much of our infrastructure out completely, but the alien presence is still relatively small. The biggest threat many regions will face are from extremists within, and some show of an external stabilizing force may yield immediate positive results.
When contact with a region has been made, we can assess them and put them on the Doom Tracker. Until that time, we can only assume that they are at panic level 6, or if they are not, they are working at cross-purposes to the global war effort, or worse, are subjugated by the aliens and are actively hostile.
Local Panic Levels
Elma: 2
Olympia: 7
Seattle: 6
Westport: 7
Aberdeen: 7
Regional Panic Levels
United States 5
Brazil 6
England 6
