Premise
It all began during the second World War, with the rise of nuclear and biological weaponry. The intent was for destruction and death, but they also had a secondary effect, one which lingered in the genetics of those even barely touched by the right radiation or chemicals. Though that first generation saw no noticeable changes, their children and children's children were affected differently. As an unintended consequence of the previous generation's need to cause harm, superhumans--or supers, as they would come to be known--were born.
It took some time for these supers to be noticed. At first there were scattered, isolated events, but these became more frequent as the supers began to age. Some were accidents, some were attacks, but the result was a growing chaos and destruction. Anger and fear went on the rise worldwild, until it all came to a head in the 1980s. Politicians in the US, fed up with the loss of lives and money, were able to push a bill through Congress. Dubbed the Debility Act, it criminalized the possession and use of superpowers, effectively making outlaws out of citizens over their genetics--something beyond their control.
Concerned members of the public, friends, and even family began reporting their superhuman loved ones to the government. They were taken to various black sites across the country, which were specially constructed to withstand most identified abilities. Some were taken even before they had a chance to say their goodbyes and set their affairs in order. Not long after these arrests began, however, the government privately unveiled its secondary purpose for the Debility Act: living weapons.
Imprisoned supers were given a choice: they could spend their days rotting in a secret prison where they would never again see the outside world, or they could work as federal agents in the newly established Alloy Agency. They would do the tasks other agencies couldn't, using whatever powers at their disposal. To the general public's knowledge, this agency would not exist, nor would the people in it. But many jumped at the opportunity to free themselves from their cells at the chance for even a taste of freedom.
OPSEC follows the lives of those involved in one branch of the AA, those handlers and supers situated at The Hive near Palmyra, Illinois.