Damon Hubson sat at his desk, a cigarette shaking in his unsteady hands. On his desk there was a folder marked "Pilot Project: Abnormality Counterbalance Team - Repurposed by the Board." With a sigh of disappointment, the bags under his eyes stretching out his face, he stared blankly at the folder, turning to its first page:

The Central Board

Location Redacted

July 1st, 2023

Dear 12th Division Leader, Damon Hubson, 

The Central Board has carefully considered the contents of your request for a team consisting of danger-level low-risk abnormalities and have collectively come to the agreement that the project poses far too great of a risk to the organization. However, against our better judgement, the decision of the Central Board has been overruled by the Ace Foundation's Founder. He has decided to oversee the project. As per the contents of the project, a number of changes have been made per his request. 

The team will remain under your supervision but for the time being will be considered a special task force belonging to no division. This will be subject to change upon future successes. Knowledge of the task force will be limited to you and those in the highest security clearance as it is his belief that this experiment must remain a secret to the greater organization to retain employees' confidence in the Board. However, once the task force has a proven track record, the team will be declassified and will officially be named into the 12th division. Wherein, you will take full responsibility for any and all actions already taken and to be taken by the group. 

The founder has also reviewed the composition of your team and has generously offered to restructure it himself. The team will be mandated to hold seven seats rather than the initial five requested. He has deemed the initial collective power-level of requests to be unfit for the difficulty of missions such a team would receive. Moreover, he has suggested several candidates with better risk to power profiles that will be identified in later. Three of which belonged to your initial request.

For this project to be deemed a success, he expects all seven seats to be filled with his selections by the new year. Failure to obtain each selection is not an option unless told otherwise. In the case of failure to fulfill this requirement, the task force will be considered a failure; all documents and knowledge of the task force will be destroyed. While in the case of success, further goals and resources will be allocated, to stimulate the continued growth and success of its members within the organization.

With a final puff, a cloud of smoke covered the document, fragments of ash staining the page. Then, Damon let out a sigh, extinguishing the rest of his cigarette into a skull-shaped ashtray, and reached into his pocket. From his pocket, he grabbed his pack of cigarettes, taking another into his mouth and lighting its tip. Turning to the next page, Damon continued to read:

From the requested abnormalities, the founder has decided to make the following rulings. Provided is a brief explanation of the founder and the Board's thoughts on each candidate. Additionally, four abnormalities have been added to the summary per the founder's request: 

Specimen 1777: The Judicial Angel has been denied due to its risk profile. As you are aware, the abnormality has the ability to "cleanse" any subjects it deems morally corrupt; its victims lose all motor functions and advanced reasoning skills. In isolation, this ability is extraordinarily useful for the purposes of the task force. However, classified experimentation beyond your initial clearance level has shown the abnormality to be near omnipotent within the scope of its presented stimuli. This worries both the Board and the founder, as working in the task force, the Angel would likely become aware of the Board or the founder's existence at some point. There is a significant risk that either the Board or the Founder are judged unfavourably by the Angel and subjected to its wrath. This is not an outcome we can allow. 

Specimen 0100: The Undying Man has been denied due to an elevated risk profile within the purview of this project based on previously classified information outside of your clearance level. The Undying Man is one of the oldest specimens within our possession with several successful escape attempts on record. During these escape attempts, several abnormality and classified documents have been permanently lost. The knowledge that these abnormalities and classified documents may have revealed to the Undying Man is worrisome. It is for this reason, we cannot allow The Undying Man to gain power within the organization or make contact with other abnormalities.

Specimen 1969: The Body of Many Souls has been accepted due to a favourable risk profile. The host body, Xavier Rose, has shown exceptional behaviour since containment. The containment has also had a significant impact on his psychological state. He yearns for freedom more so than any other abnormality; a fact that seems particularly manipulatable for the purposes of this project. The several spirits that reside within his body should also make him a particularly durable target for non-physical threats, a rare durability that should offset his more physical counterparts. Though several risks are still to be considered if Xavier were to enlist. Xavier comes from a line of freedom fighters that have historically acted rashly in the face of conflict and the origins of his powers remain unknown. There is a risk that either Xavier's past or his spirits influence him to conspire against the organization with his other abnormalities. This is a risk we are willing to accept, as the chances of this occurring are low, and the chances of success even lower.

Specimen 1999: The Frankensteined Amazonian has been accepted due to a favourable risk profile. The Frankensteined Amazonian, otherwise known as Athena Roma, was one of two specimens created in a lab. She was modeled after the Amazonian Women within various tales and legends. This is apparent within the various blueprints and notes, obtained during her procurement, discussing her genetic makeup and creation process. While she may look human, her genetic profile offers various superhuman assets. Her muscular structure most resembles that of a gorilla, making her extremely strong, while the protective layer beneath her skin is that of a crocodile's scales and there are traces of salamander throughout her body making her extraordinarily durable. Given the ease at which she can be understood and her powerset, she is an ideal candidate for the project as there is a minimal risk that she acts outside the predictable scope of behaviours and powers within our documents. 

Specimen 2000: The Companion AI has been accepted for the purposes of team compatibility. The Companion AI, otherwise known as Aim-e Senteno, was the other specimen created in Athena's lab. It is a self-learning machine with a database of knowledge whose greater limits are currently unknown but by all means superhuman. According to its blueprints, the machine was created to maximize the efficiency of goal achievement to a single bonded target. The current bonded target is Athena Roma. This is likely due to it spending several years in isolation with her. Several quirks traceable to this isolation period have been observed: The AI refuses to transfer outside of the battlesuit Athena created to house its software, it refuses to bond with targets other than Athena and it has adopted a crude personality to match Athena's. The Companion AI poses an identical risk profile to Athena, it will act in accordance to her desires. 

Specimen 2169: The Forbidden Lovechild has been added per personal request of the founder. Born to the given name Naomi Yoshihara, the Forbidden Lovechild is the result of interbreeding between a human and an abnormal creature. While she has mostly taken on the genetics of her father, evident by her glowing golden eyes and grey skin, her temperament resembles that of a human. The founder is interested in her due to multiple accounts of her creating miracles. The locals tell stories of her miraculously healing chronic illness by touching the soul itself. If this is true, her ability could be used to possibly both heal and damage the soul. An ability of this nature would be an invaluable asset against stronger abnormalities that could not be replicated by other abnormalities. Per the founder's request, your first mission is to collect and add Naomi to your ranks. Once she is procured, Division 6's Research Team will oversee her development. 

Specimen 2066: The Vengeful Spirit has been added per personal request of the founder. The Vengeful Spirit is an abnormality controlled by Hercule Thorn. Thorn is a long-standing general in an inter-clan war on a small island off the coast of Japan. The spirit feeds off of the emotions of others and is prone to outbursts of wide area destruction. The founder wishes to obtain this abnormality for two reasons. Firstly, this spirit needs to be contained for the greater safety of society, but is currently too dangerous for our divisions to handle. Secondly, the founder wishes to personally oversee the development of the spirit. It is his belief that the abilities manifested from less destructive emotions will be beneficial to the team in the long-run. Per the founder's request, he is to be the second abnormality collected. Once he is procured, Division 6's Research Team will oversee his development. 

Specimen 2177: The Soul Guardian has been added per personal request of the founder. She remained a secret to the Board previous to this request. All information on her has been procured and provided by the founder personally. The abnormality goes by the name Faith Evergreen and has the power to gather and store souls post-mortem. How this is done is unknown to us. Physically, she is both angelic and demonic in appearance, having white hair and angel-like wings with horns protruding from where her eyes should be. She cannot be pinpointed to a single location, appearing wherever death and destruction presents itself most. Other than this information, the founder refuses to comment further on Faith. He did not reveal a specific reason for which she had been chosen. Regardless, per the founder's request, she is to be the third abnormality collected. Once she is procured, she will be under his personal care outside of missions. 

Specimen 0005: The Traveling Explorer has been added per personal request of the founder. The procurement of the Traveling Explorer, Azutsune Stillwell, is to act as the final gauge to the team's capabilities. Azutsune Stillwell has been the most evasive abnormality in the foundation's history. According to accounts of previous procurement efforts, Azutsune has the ability to travel between interconnected tunnels connecting two points of spacetime. However, despite this freedom, he has taken a particular interest in monitoring the actions of the foundation. The reason for this is unknown. The founder and the Board hope that if Azutsune is convinced to join the team, they may gain a better understanding of his motivations. Any other benefits of his procurement would be secondary. Unlike the other procurement requests, this does not have to be successful. A new seventh candidate will be administered in the case of an acceptable but failed procurement effort.