The Protectorate’s role is to ensure the safety of the Order itself – a section that answers to no one but the Prime.
Operating as a kind of secret police, they are both hated and revered by other members of the Order. They work in the shadows, mostly on intelligence gathering, surveillance and covert operations – during which they hide their identities with masks. The Spymaster General of the Protectorate is simply known as the ‘The Wolf,’ no one has ever discovered his true identity, but many believe that he or she is a powerful Seer – with prescience over future events.
They are infamous for their dogged pursuit of temporal crimes, once they are assigned to a case, they will pursue the perpetrator literally to the end of time. Belsarus was one such case, but there are many more occupants of Bedlam who lost their liberty to the Protectorate. Officers have been used to infiltrate Governments and crime syndicates throughout time, a far more subtle subversion of the geo-political timeline than that of the Watchmen, these secret agents affect change in more Machiavellian ways – including assassination when required.
The Protectorate has informants peppered throughout time, these are normal, Lineals, that have been recruited to supply information, this may take the form of letters posted to a PO box, messages left in visitors books, or simply voicemail or texts depending on which era they are residing in.
Members of the protectorate have abilities that go way beyond those of a normal anachronist. They have advanced Tachyon technology that allows them to stop time and yet still move through it. This is known as “Stilling” and is the ultimate arrest technique for capturing their prey.
Dalton’s father is the Chief Prosecutor for the Protectorate, one of the only openly recognised members of their organisation.