Somewhere between the end of World War II and the 1960s, in response to the international anti-terrorism force known as SHIELD, the United States formed its own organization, for Superhuman Regulation, Intelligence and Neutralization, better known as SHRINE. Similar to SHIELD but functional independently and solely for US interests, SHRINE worked alongside its sister agency in quelling terrorism both unpowered and superpowered in the United States, employing some of the best trained military operatives any of the Armed Forces could supply.

Some short time prior to the the outbreak of the Vietnam War, SHRINE's leaders decided that a 'black ops' unit that could operate almost independently could lead to an ultimate victory in such a conflict. To this end, they began screening the populace (albeit in a less advanced capacity as capable today) for superpowered individuals, specifically those carrying the mutant x-gene, for suitable candidates for such a unit. Simply named Alpha, the unit first saw action in Vietnam. Alpha was engaged in various covert operations throughout the duration of the War. Though the records are securely locked and filed away in some secret government basement, it's been rumored Alpha was integral in the carrying out of Operations Menu, Lam Son, Linebacker, as well as at least a dozen assignments of questionable morality - and, sometimes, goals. Following the war, Alpha entered a more international capacity. A handful of NATO representatives have denied Alpha was ever contracted by the organization, but dozens of small conflicts, terrorist plots, and the like were supposedly foiled by Alpha.

In the late 1980s, it was readily apparent that the mutant race was rapidly accelerating in population, and the existence of groups such as the Brotherhood of Mutants headed by Erik Lehnsherr, better known as Magneto, prompted the United States government, and SHRINE, to expanded a sub-divison of the organization to specifically tackle the threats violent mutants may pose to the country. The Mutant Enforcement and Tracking Agency - META - was formed, and the mutant members of Alpha were absorbed into the newly created department. Its headquarters for the training of operatives was stationed just outside the city of Salem, Massachusetts.

Operating similarly to the FBI, META agents responded to any and all criminal activity that was mutant-related. Field operatives were one human/one mutant pairs, with details being sketchy on the reason for that combination; some say it was to promote human/mutant relations, others that it was so that the human could keep an eye on his mutant partner in the event of a 'defection' of some sort.

All was well for a time. Superpowered crime was still an ever present threat, especially with the rising numbers of mutants coming into their own across the country. In the 90s, while the US was busy in Iraq fighting the Gulf War, Senator Harold Grimes, head of the funding committee for META, started a series of events that quickly lead to the militarization of the organization, thanks to the country's own pro-war mentality at the time. META was no more, renamed the Mutant Task Force. The human/mutant pairings were dissolved, many operatives decommissioned, as proper soldiers were recruited for the newly reformed organization. Grimes, and many others, felt that the 'feel good partnership' atmosphere of META was doing little to stop the tide of mutant criminals, believing soldiers being stationed at camps around the country would better serve the United States, battling the mutant threat with fear of forceful retaliation.

For a short time, the MTF was partnered with a defense contractor named Orion Industries, helping them to refine the x-gene dampening technology known as the Safety Neutralization Device, as well as providing them with top of the line, highly advanced military hardware in the form of sonic weapons, mobile walking-tanks and more to help combat the more serious mutant threats. This new form of policing the mutant population wasn't questioned until the mid-2000's, experiencing a surge in popularity during the initial first years after 9/11 and the conflict in Afganistan. As pro-war sentiment quickly turned on its head, humans and mutants alike found the increasingly brutal and tyrannical attitudes of the MTF intolerable. After the destruction of a mutant sanctuary in Washington state at the hands of the MTF, mounting a largescale operation using Orion mecha (which, in the aftermath, completely ruined the company's reputation and nearly forced them into bankruptcy), it only seemed inevitable that the MTF would be dissolved.

In Fall of 2010, the Mutant Task Force was formally disbanded, and replaced once more by the demilitarized META. Now, META's public mission statement is to continue the work it did in the 80s and the early 90s, policing only powered criminals, and seek to rekindle the bond between humans and powered humanoids, in light of ever increasing racial tension between the two. META has once again opened its home office's doors in a now much larger and more dangerous Salem, and is on good terms with Cobalt Hill.