Authorization Rule for Deploying the Force of Physical Obliteration

The Authorization Rule for Deploying the Force of Physical Obliteration governs the exceptional deployment of an agent designated as a Force of Physical Obliteration on British soil. It restricts authorization to the Checquy’s senior leadership and requires government and Court notification, making a decision of potentially immense consequence both formally attributable and institutionally visible.

Authority and Notification

Only the Rooks, the Bishops, and the Lord and Lady of the Checquy may authorize the use of an agent in this classification on British soil. The number of people at that power level in the United Kingdom is described as three; one is kept in a vault in the Shetland Islands. Deployment requires informing the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the ruler of the country, and every member of the Checquy Court. The procedure therefore places the decision in the hands of the organization’s highest officers while extending notice beyond the Checquy to national leadership.

Invocation by Myfanwy

During the Reading crisis, Rook Myfanwy Alice Thomas invokes the rule to summon Harper Callahan, a ward of the Estate. She recites a prescribed declaration identifying herself by her Checquy offices and calling Callahan to serve the United Kingdom’s population. The formula is archaic, but its function is practical: it makes the authorization official and shifts responsibility for the operation onto Myfanwy. As she finishes speaking, the crew begins calling the relevant authorities and summoning Callahan from the Estate.

Consequences and Institutional Tension

The invocation is not presented as a routine deployment. Myfanwy understands that the child might be killed and recognizes the decision as one of several grave consequences set in motion after she opened safe-deposit box 1011-B. She justifies the choice on the grounds that her powers indicate the flesh cube is a Grafter weapon. The rule thus establishes a formal chain of accountability without removing the personal burden of choosing to act.

That tension reflects the Checquy’s wider role: it claims authority to protect the public from threats that ordinary people cannot be told about, while keeping its operations secret. Its old treaty with the Grafters and its mandate to protect in secrecy underscore the stakes of extraordinary force: intervention may be necessary, but its use must be authorized and its consequences carried by named officials. The rule is both a safeguard on deployment and a mechanism for assigning responsibility when ordinary measures are judged insufficient.