Calvin heard the incident before he saw it, despite the distance from it. Throughout the past months, he had learned how to utilize his abilities for his police work. He graduated from Police Academy with high marks and then was assigned near the edge of the city.
It was also dark. This part of the city wasn't kept up as well as the rest, but there were still street lamps. It wasn't like the lack of light would bother Calvin anyways. He could see just fine.
Upon hearing the struggle, Calvin moved in a quick run towards the sound. He soon saw what was causing the commotion. A man assaulting another with a knife. Calvin called out, drawing attention and the assailant looked to see a police officer approaching, hand hovering near his pistol. The assailant, more interested in saving himself than hurting the other man, broke for it.
Another cop approached arriving at the same time as Calvin even though Calvin had been farther away, said he would take care of the scene and instructed Calvin to give chase. He did as instructed as the other officer spoke into his radio to inform command.
Calvin followed as the other headed into an abandoned warehouse. Calvin entered carefully after, neglecting to use his flashlight. That would only give away his position, and Calvin didn't need it anyway. It was like the other times that he had been able to use his abilities to his advantage.
A few weeks ago, he had found a stash of illegal drugs, and before that, he had tracked a criminal by scent. He always kept his reports vague enough that he wasn't lying, but at the same time, he wasn't revealing his abilities to others. He couldn't exactly put on the report that he had found the drugs simply because he had smelled them.
Calvin stretched out his senses. The room smelled musty, and Calvin crinkled his nose slightly, but kept searching for a scent that didn't fit. He listened for the quick breathing of a man who had just finished a sprint. And he searched through the dark building looking for odd shapes.
From the left he heard the breathing - quick and shallow. Calvin moved quietly with the stealth of a hunting wolf, making his way behind the assailant. The man jumped as Calvin spoke, directing the man to drop his weapon and place his hands behind his head. Surprisingly, the man did as instructed. Calvin read him his rights and cuffed him taking him outside and informing dispatch that the assailant had been apprehended.
Upon returning to the station, Calvin once again filled out his report. He kept things vague as always. It had been another day's good work.
After the botched Operation Ifrit, Domovoi had been understaffed. In truth, the experimental task force had always been understaffed, but there were few potential candidates for the department, even across the breadth of the CCD. It was odd, actually, the more he thought about it. How rare it seemed to have been that these things were encountered. Monster was a term he had always reserved for the sickest and most violent of criminals, but more and more of these creatures seemed to be surfacing in recent years.
Then there were these...magic users. Magicians, wizards, whatever they might be called. Rumours were spreading, public declarations were becoming more common-place. Things were changing in the world, and he was struggling to keep up with them. Laws needed to be rewritten, incarceration and rehabilitation techniques adapted.
In Moscow alone, there were more reports of disappearances or strange sittings, more trouble brewing within the illegal immigrant communities living under the city, more incidents of strange crimes or disturbances revolving around possible magic users. And with each real case, there were usually a half-dozen fakes. People crying for attention, or trying to find fantastical excuses for crimes or mistakes.
And of course, with the slow rise in belief in magic users, there came with it a whole new form of hate. Of course, as with all such groups, that hate was blindly aimed or just another excuse to lash out.
Drayson had finally left his office, navigating the Golden Ring in a staff car and bound for Polski, an outskirt region of Moscow proper. It was extremely rare for him to get out of the city center, rarer still for him to make such a trip in person, rather then sending someone to oversee the task.
A relatively new member to the local police force had been proving unusually effective thus far. Drayson preferred more seasoned officers for Domovoi, but after their recent losses, and the lack of immediately accessible potential recruits, his hand had been forced.
Hence why he had decided to interview Officer Calvin Johnson himself. It was unusual for a former American citizen to find permanent residence in the CCD, let alone so close to Moscow itself. Less common for one to join the Custody Domestic Protection Service.
The drive to the Polski precinct allowed Drayson a rare chance at some isolation, some time entirely to himself. His thoughts drifted, but as always they circled back to work. To laws and what required changes to police responsibilities would be needed in the near future. Thoughts to what sort of new hardships and issues his officers would be called upon to deal with.
But even the long drive through the busy streets of Moscow seemed to end too soon, and those thoughts were once more shelved as Chief Inspector Drayson Mccullough was parked in the precinct lot. His walk across the fenced parking lot saw him cross paths with a few other officers, most of whom recognized him immediately and offered salutes and salutations, and he strove to match each individually.
Into the precinct, he was quickly seen to the office of Officer Johnson's department Captain, whom graciously gave up the work space for Drayson's pending interview, and Officer Calvin Johnson would likely be surprised to find himself summoned to his Captain's office mere minutes into the beginning of the man's shift.
Drayson stood rather then making use of the Captain's desk and chair; his coat hung on a hook of the rickety coat rack, and he studied a photo of the Captain's wife and two children with a ghost of a smile. A post-it note attached to the picture frame noted that the man's daughter had a concert recital in three days, and Drayson held his Wallet in his other hand to add a note to himself; to arrange that the Captain could take the afternoon off that day to attend. It was far too often the case that his officers had to sacrifice home and family for work.
Calvin arrived at the Precinct a few minutes early for his shift as he usually did. Dressed plainly, he made his way to the locker room and changed into his uniform and got his equipment. Before leaving the locker room, he finished his coffee and moved to figure out his assignment for the day.
As he left the locker room, he was approached by another man - his sergeant.
"Johnson, you need to report to the Captain's office."
"Yes, sir,"
he replied with a salute and then moved in the direction of the Captain's office.
As he walked he felt a frown form on his face. Why did he have to see the Captain. He kept himself from showing it too much as he got closer to the office.
A young woman sat at the desk outside of the office.
"I was told I needed to report here."
he said.
"Yes, you are expected. Go ahead."
Calvin approached the door and knocked three times. He would wait until he was told to enter before actually doing so. A voice came from the other side, instructing him to enter. Calvin raised an eyebrow slightly. That wasn't his Captain's voice.
Calvin straightened his tie before opening the door. The man he saw was definitely not his captain. A tall man of strong build was at his Captain's desk. Calvin recognized his face, although he didn't recall his name. The man was a person likely of high rank and definitely a superior.
Calvin snapped off a salute.
"You sent for me, sir?"
Despite his confident tone, confusion showed on his face. He was unaware of what would have brought this man here to come see him.
((OOC: Drayson modded with permission))
Edited by
Calvin, May 6 2016, 08:57 AM.
Drayson looked up as Johnson knocked, then beckoned the man in before returning the picture frame to the Captain's desk, and his Wallet to his pocket.
"Officer Johnson. Chief Inspector Mccullough. It is not very often I make one of these visits in person, but it has given me an excuse to get out of the office for a few hours."
His Wallet let out a lone chirp, indication that he had a message waiting for his attention, and he grinned and patted the offending pocket to accentuate the point that he rarely free of the responsibilities of his office.
"You have quite an unusual record from the Academy."
He was referring to Calvin's time at the police academy, where his unusual abilities would have first begun to be noticed.
"Your instructors noted that you seemed particularly adept at both the Search cell and urban chase."
Both were areas that Calvin's abilities as a Wolfkin would have stood out over other candidates; low light vision, heightened sense of smell and hearing, even that added touch of competitiveness thanks to his kinship with wolves and their predatory nature.
Naturally, Drayson had no inkling of the man's true abilities, instead seeing a particularly capable officer new to the force. A disadvantage to that was the man's lack of experience in the job, but the benefit was that he wasn't so indoctrinated to the system yet as to be inflexible. Flexibility was something that had set apart the other members of Domovoi to date; that ability to have ones entire world violently shaken awake yet being able to weather that storm with ones sanity intact.
"You are aware of the Ministry Raid a few weeks ago? Well, in light of the losses Task Force Domovoi suffered that day, I am recruiting. By way of years of service, you are the most junior officer I've approached for this task force, but Captain Aleksandrov has perused your file and is interested in having you on his team."
Drayson stood with arms folded across his chest; asides from turning to face Calvin, he hadn't moved, demonstrating impressive patience and self control in that regard. Many people paced, shifted their stance occasionally, or would look around the room at times, but Drayson was steadfast in that regard, having no qualms with meeting Calvin's gaze.
"If you accept the offer, and pass the Captain's assessement, it would mean a transfer to Golyanovo District precinct."
It was one of the rougher neighborhoods in Moscow proper, but recent years had seen a slow decline in organized crime and petty violence, as well as a decline in injuries for serving officers in the precinct. It had developed a bit of a reputation as a dumping ground for poorly performing officers, something that had changed when Drayson was posted to Dominance I.
Edited by
Drayson, May 6 2016, 04:02 PM.
Calvin was astonished to say the least. The man, Chief Inspector Drayson McCullough, was offering him a promotion. He had heard of Task Force Domovoi as well as their latest operation. It was some sort of anti-terrorism group.
McCullough stood with confidence, meeting Calvin's gaze. Calvin returned that in a way of respect. He had nothing to fear from the Inspector, although he had no idea how the man would react if he ever became aware of his abilities.
It was not a forced promotion. Calvin was asked if was interested, and he most certainly was, but there were also rumors circulating about the new task force. Rumors that they dealt with interesting individuals, both those involved in the force and it's enemies.
"Sir,"
he said after a moment of silence to collect his thoughts. "If I may ask, what would my duties be in this Task Force."
It was a legitimate question, if one asked partially to hide his eagerness.
Drayson nodded slightly at Calvin's question.
"Valid. Domovoi, is at its core, an anti-terrorism taskforce. Entirely experimental in nature, of course. As you are surely aware, there has been a steady increase in unusual crimes and incident reports over the past few years, and Domovoi is one of many ideas that have come up to begin combating this."
"As a junior officer, you would be employed for much of the grunt work the task force develops. Assisting the Domovoi detectives in chasing leads, perimeter security during task force actions, surveillance. Of course, the exact nature of your tasks within the task force would be assigned by Captain Aleksandrov, the head of Task Force Domovoi."
Drayson was effectively the benefactor of Domovoi, but for the task force to prove effective, it had to succeed under its own leadership structure. He pulled the strings needed to keep them funded and with the clearance to persue their investigations, but the actual employment of team members was up to Captain Aleksandrov.
Of course, should Calvin accept, he would be briefed by the Captain into the grittier details of the task force's jurisdiction. Magic users and monsters and those things that went bump in the night. Things which were becoming terrifyingly more regular in recent years, things which the legal system was not designed to deal with, or even remotely prepared for.
Edited by
Drayson, May 16 2016, 04:16 PM.
In a way, his job wouldn't change much at first, but by taking the job, there would be more opportunities for promotion. Calvin nodded as he explained what he would be doing. It seemed like it would be something he would want to do.
"I would like to accept,"
he answered.
Drayson simply nodded and produced a folded manila envelope from a pocket of his coat. The thick wad of paper within contained the requisite paperwork to effect Calvin's transfer, approved leave of absence to find a new residence closer to Domovoi's headquarters, info dossiers on required online training, and a wealth of other pertinent information. The next week of Calvin's life would not leave much room for free time, if the man desired to be prepared for his first day of work.
"Excellent. Captain Aleksandrov looks forward to meeting you in person."
He smiled then, a hint of amusement in his eyes, "I suspect the man rather enjoys wrangling the Chief Inspector of Dominance I into running his personal errands."
And with that, he turned to leave; the envelope would have what he would need to begin to prepare himself, but the real meat of the job, Calvin's first real confrontation with a magic user, or some fanged monstrosity, would be the real test. It simply wasn't something they could prepare a candidate for, and was why all previous members of the task force had been those whom had met such things in the field, alone, and had kept their sanity intact enough to continue doing the job.