Cold War Complex

Origins/Major Influence: The Alpha Update - Paranoia Sourcebook (Paranoia Unhistory Sourcebook) [The setting itself is actually Post-ReBoot Complex, but it has been modified to be less stupid and to disguise its Unhistorical origins. It still retains some key elements though.]

Cold War Complex is an underground society that has emerged from a brutal and bloody civil war - the origins of which are shrouded in official propaganda, rumors, and Unhistory. This society is, however, very heavily divided, with citizens’ allegiances constantly shifting and changing.

There are three major Main Factions in Cold War Complex:

• Alpha Complex - the traditional dystopian dictatorship led by Friend Computer - currently overlooking minor acts of insubordination and treason to better focus on fighting the other two Main Factions.
• Alpha Base - a society of traitors that loves using committees to handle everything - overtly controlled by the highest committee of all, the Council of Secret Societies.
• Alpha City - a technocratic dictatorship led by semi-competent ULTRAVIOLETs - the closest Cold War Complex will ever get to a true utopia.

These three factions wage heavily-pitched battles against each other in the corridors of this underground society, and only the threat of mutually assured destruction ensures that these battles don’t re-escalate back to civil war.

All Main Factions claim to be glorious utopias battling against “subversives” from the other Main Factions. But in truth, each faction have their own internal problems.

• Alpha Complex is still being controlled by an insane supercomputer, whose only tolerating treason and insubordination in a desperate attempt to regain control over the whole city.
• Alpha Base is riven with internal strife as their secret societies scheme and plot against each other within the committees - the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is plotting.
• The utopian Alpha City is expensive to maintain. This means that Alpha City is running out of resources fast, and the technocrats must continually expand if they want their pet projects to survive.

There’s also the Third World - “simplexes” that don’t align themselves with any of the Main Factions. These simplexes are usually controlled by minor secret societies that don’t want to join up with Alpha Base’s lovely “governance via committee” and prefer their independence. Generally, a simplex can survive only by playing the Main Factions against each other.

Troubleshooters, meanwhile, serve as freelance mercenaries for the Main Factions and the simplexes, taking various odd jobs in order to make their meager paychecks.

Interestingly, a close examination of attack logs by these Main Factions shows that the Main Factions seem far more focused on conquering the simplexes than they are in battling each other. This could very well be a sheer coincidence. Or it could be a sign that the Main Factions don't actually hate each other and are simply waging a “false” war to justify their continual existence. Perhaps, every Main Faction is secretly controlled by a cabal (the Illuminati?), and that behind the chaos is a devious totalitarian system.

Spy For Another Alpha Complex: If you want to focus on "spy-versus-spy" shenanigans between the Main Factions, look at at Janus Complex or Free Enterprise Complex. If you like the idea of Cold War Complex being controlled by a secretive cabal (and want the spy to work for that cabal), then use Chaos Complex or Operation FLUSH as inspiration for what those secretive masters may want.