The Intersect

a secret technology that it is used to house and analyze large quantities of encoded data. The term refers to the computer in its manufactured form as well as its presence in a human brain, and can also be used to refer to the human who has downloaded it ("The Intersect will observe and report on what he sees", "He's the human Intersect"). It was originally developed by the United States intelligence community.

The completed system was originally housed in the "Directorate of National Intelligence" in Washington, DC, in an isolated chamber consisting of a single terminal. The walls were completely lined with video monitors that, when the system was accessed, displayed the data contained within the computer in a massive rush of information. This data was encoded in seemingly innocuous images, which facilitated subliminal retention when viewed by those receptive to it.

Following 9/11, the CIA and NSA were instructed to "play nice" and share their intelligence, in turn making it easier to track and identify threats to national security, and the manufactured Intersect is "how (they) did that". They put "every scrap of data (they) had" into the computer, and the Intersect "saw" patterns in the data that the agencies had not. For example, Chuck describes in "Chuck Versus the Intersect" that multiple agencies had picked up information suggesting a bombing attempt against General Stanfield during the speech he was due to give, but the CIA and NSA each only had part of the picture. The Intersect cross-checked and combined both groups' intelligence to determine the full nature of the threat. Dr. Howard Busgang (code name Perseus) was one of the technicians involved in its design and development, as was Dr. Jonas Zarnow. The chief designer is Stephen J. Bartowski (code name Orion), Chuck's father.