There were several things that made Alex's job actually fun for her. She enjoyed the analysis and the interviews, but criminal minds were hard to take all the time. Since she had started her studies in the field Alex had volunteered at a local free clinic, offering free help to those who really couldn't afford a real help.
Alex had found a reputable location near The Guardian. It was a quaint office, she shared her space with a few other specialists. But they had a comfortable room they used for discussing various things with patients. It wasn't quite as comfortable as she'd have liked but it would do.
Today she'd only been able to see one client. He was a regular, he suffered from OCD and kept to a very specific schedule. He was the only one Alex was able to see before she headed into the office to do her real work.
Alex had scheduled a meeting with the Chief Inspector. She had a bit to discuss with him, and hoped that he would understand what she was offering him. He believed that these gifted souls could be dangerous, Alex could tell by the way he had handled Mr. Gregory. There were bound to be more in Moscow, she hoped to offer him some advantage.
She was a bit early to their arranged meeting time, Alex fixed a cup of coffee for her and the Chief Inspector. She didn't know what he took, she added a few packets of sugar and some creamer to the plate that held his cup. She took hers black. Alex waited outside his office sipping at her horrible cup of hot coffee.
Drayson was running late, at least by his standards. If someone was expecting to meet him at his office, he usually preferred being there well in advance; it gave him a chance to peruse the topic of discussion, or at least brush up on the person with whom wished to meet him. There were often so many that he needed the chance to prepare himself for whatever ridiculous attempt at manipulation they were planning to use on him to get what they desired.
He arrived back at at the CDPS headquarters with two junior detectives in his wake; they were working on the unusual details that had surfaced in the wake of the botched arrest attempt of a drug lord, who had proven to be another of these blasted magic users. They had been cropping up long before the incident in DV, but in the wake of that public display of magic, discussion on magic users had become more...legitimate. The lack of drugs or even chemicals in the dead man's lab was slowly becoming less of a sticking point in the investigation's process. Perhaps the pills really were nothing but sugar, and magic was involved?
The two junior detectives moved off after they discussed the situation, and Drayson finally made his way to his office. He still had a few minutes to at least find himself a cup of coffee before the meeting. He moved through the building without further delay; while Drayson was well liked in many of the precincts around the city, his presence in the headquarters often reminded some of how lightly they needed to step else risk drawing his attention. It was well known that he held no fear for rank or privilege.
His office was perhaps not where one would have expected for one of his position. It was closer to the day-to-day working portion of the HQ, and more importantly, farther away from the more politically minded parts of the building. It suited him well, and made them more comfortable.
He rounded the corner to the hall that housed his office only to find that the woman with whom he was meeting had already arrived. She was waiting patiently outside his office with two cups of coffee in hand, and he just shook his head in tired amusement. Whatever she was after, it was clearly important to her. Important enough to be early. He didn't mind, although some may have felt it to be some sort of tactic to make him defensive and apologetic for 'making her wait.' There was no such concern in his mind.
He approached and nodded to her as he caught her attention, "Miss Pirozzi. I hope one of those is for me?"
He offered a ghost of a smile as he stepped past her to open his office door; it wasn't locked. Whomever may have wanted to break into his office would have had to contend with the building's security systems, and if they were able to bypass those, a locked door wasn't likely to slow them down much. Once the door was open, he indicated for her to enter and accepted the cup of coffee as she passed.
His office was, while not entirely spartan, not nearly as extravagant as most. There were no expensive paintings or opulent furniture. A simple, nice, dark wood desk and a functional chair behind it. Two more, comfortable, of the same height as his own, for visitors. A few bookshelves full of books related to work; laws and legislation, legal records on past trials and cases. There was little in the room that marked it as his own.
"Now, what can I do for you today?"
Alex handed the Chief Inspector his cup. It was horrid stuff but it was hot and it was coffee. She supposed it was good enough. She sat down. The office was not nearly as lasciviously decorated as some others including her own small space. But she was a girl, and the chief inspector was probably decorating the way his house was. Alex knew men like him, married to the job, hardly any room for someone else. It was a sad life, and she prayed to the ever loving lord that she would not be like that in the end. But looking at her life currently and her father, she wasn't sure she wanted to inflict her life on anyone either. There were always things you had to consider.
It wasn't what he could do for her, she smiled to herself, but what she could do for him. "I'd like to discuss a concerning matter. I might be able to help with it, and then I might not, I'm not really sure."
Alex wasn't exactly sure how to broach the subject, but the least common denominator was Dane Gregory. That was probably the best place to start. "My first day here, was an interesting on. I saw a man fly across the room. At first that wasn't the most troubling thing about the man who did it."
Alex took a deep breath the next part was the hardest. "I didn't choose my profession because I liked helping people necessarily. It fit well with my abilities. Before you came in, you were amused at something. You could say I could read your expression. But that wasn't it. I know what you are feeling. The day I met Dane Gregory, when I was sitting behind the two way mirror, I could not feel him. There was no emotions from the man, not one ounce of it. Everyone is there, but he wasn't. I could see him with my own two eyes but he wasn't there. Yesterday I met two other men like Mr. Gregory. They confided that they shared a powerful gift. When they held it, I could not feel them."
She knew it sounded crazy everything she said was crazy. Men with magic and she could feel what someone else did. It all was, but the matter of the fact was it was all true. "I know with out a doubt in my mind, that Dane Gregory is dangerous. But I can't prove it. His display of power makes him more so. I'd like to help you keep men like him off the streets."
She got straight to the point, which was a refreshing opening to the sorts of meetings he usually had in his office. No trying to butter him up with complements or questions about his family. He sat in silence as she spoke, sipping the coffee she had brought him, frowning as he eyed the cup a moment, wondering just who had brewed it. It was almost passable, at least compared to what was usually found in the break room.
He recognized her name from the case in question; the psychologist assigned to oversee the questioning of the witnesses. "Mr Gregory. I am still trying to figure out how he gave me the slip. I have it on good authority that nob has fled the CCD entirely. The Nobility were always good at saving their own necks."
Nob was a somewhat archaic derogatory term for nobility.
Her revelation of other men like Mr Gregory in Moscow, while not necessarily surprising, was a confirmation that he had been expecting and otherwise dreading. He had already crossed two others in as many months, and had been forced to shoot them both. It was not a trend he was interested in continuing. Even people as dangerous as they deserved proper justice, and he was not an executioner.
He wasn't sure what to make of her claim of 'abilities.' He was a good judge of people, and could read a person well enough. It was only logical that she would be able to do the same, considering her line of work. But she claimed it was something more then mere understanding of tells. Stranger things had become reality in recent years, so why not empaths? Of course, he would require more proof first.
He set his coffee down and leaned forward on his elbows, studying Alex for a long moment. "There is a new task force. It is in it's infancy, and is a pilot project. Officially, it is a new concept task force for anti-terrorism tasks. There will be security checks, and you will be expected to discuss it with no one, for security reasons of course. And it will demand much of your time."
"There is a new task force. It is in it's infancy, and is a pilot project. Officially, it is a new concept task force for anti-terrorism tasks. There will be security checks, and you will be expected to discuss it with no one, for security reasons of course. And it will demand much of your time."
Security checks? Alex wondered what type. Her father was on the Atharim hit list, don't think he's anywhere in the CCD but you never know. Hopefully nothing would show up. But she wasn't worried about herself, she'd done nothing bad, well nothing she got caught doing anyway.
"I don't have much to do with my time right now, short of a few clients at a free clinic. Can't leave them hanging."
Discussing with anyone wasn't likely to happen, who'd believe her anyway? "Anti-terrorism huh? Is that what people like Mr. Gregory are? Terrorists?"
"Barring emergencies, I see no issue with you maintaining your patient list and schedule. Understand though that this task force takes priority."
He opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a simple metal file folder and set it on his desk between them. Within were pages on pages of legal jargon, a long laundry list of legal definitions and laws where the task force would be entering grey areas. Insurance and contract forms that would need to be filled out. There would be nothing entirely unexpected, but some of it was less then pleasing for some to think about. Next of Kin forms in case of serious injury or death, a requirement for an updated Will to be left on file, even a list for whom may receive any earned medals in case of a member's death.
He sighed quietly and shook his head. "Terrorist; a person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims. Although they are loathe to admit it, terrorist organizations often see themselves as victimized in some fashion, by some historical wrong-doing. Imagined or otherwise. People like Mr Gregory do not see themselves as victims. They see themselves as...better then the rest of us. Separated from humanity. A common misconception of sadists and the deranged."
"However, although their actions generally lack any political goal yet, and for that I am thankful, the acts of barbarism and horror of which they are capable easily lend themselves to the term to layman ears. And I shall use that to my advantage until such time as the existence of these people becomes common knowledge, and this task forces' true purpose may come to light."
The need for a force equiped and ready to deal with magic users could not be denied, at least by those who knew of the danger. And when that danger did come to light, having a model force in existence, one that he trusted would still take in the legal rights of those very magic users, would be desperately needed, and one that he would have no qualms in lending the building blocks to foreign powers, should the opportunity or need present itself. Surely other governments were aware and doing much the same thing.
Alex nodded in slow understanding. Just a means to an end. It was probably something she could live with, though the idea of being labeled a terrorist rather upset her. It was not that Mr. Gregory was not bad, she was sure of that, but Jensen and Pytor were not. They were gentlmen, nice and kind and normal, except for their ability.
She sighed, maybe it was time to re-evaluate her stance on her half sister. Maybe she deserved the benefit of the doubt. But it was already a bit too kate her father had already been sent after her, and he had failed in killing her, perhaps that was also a sign, but she knew all to well that her father was not done.
Alex left her thoughts to herself and started on the paperwork.
"There are things I will need to bring back cause I don't have them on me, I didn't think I'd be changing jobs so quickly after getting the last one."
Maybe it was her calling, maybe not. But she could help here, she knew it.
Edited by
Alex, Nov 11 2014, 09:30 AM.
It seemed she wasn't fond of the liberal use of the term, and he had to agree with her. It was slung around far too often in the early part of the century, back when regions like Dominance V had been a hotbed of insurrection and violence. Not that that had changed much considering the events of recent weeks, but there had at least been a time of peace there, perhaps the longest the region had ever known. But until he could admit to the public the true purpose of his prototype task force, anti-terrorism would have to do.
"You may be new to Dominance I, Miss Pirozzi, but you come with recommendations. It isn't just anyone who can find work at the heart of the CCD, and you got your foot in the door through personal merit, not who you know."
As she began sorting through the stack of papers she needed to sign off on, Drayson turned to his computer. It was about as advanced as could be expected for one of his position, but he hardly used the thing for anything beyond checking emails and doing reports. It drove some of his people nuts how much he insisted on actual face-to-face discussion for things most would leave to video-calls at best, or simple emails.
"I cannot promise the pay will be any better, but I won't hesitate to guess the workload will be more time consuming."
His people were already tracking various unexplained crimes or incidents in Moscow. Robberies, disappearances, strange sightings. All the sorts of thing that regular police had always struggled to deal with and almost always ended up in cold case files to never be solved. It was just a matter of time until something sparked that they could respond to.
Alex was happy to hear that others knew it was her own work that had gotten her this far. And she wasn't surprised when the pay wasn't going to get better, or the workload any easier. This was a strange time.
"I am no stranger to work, probably why I've no family except the one to which I was born."
She smiled at that. It was one of the few things most cops had in common. Though Alex didn't fancy herself a cop. She was far from it. She just had her head in the minds of the criminals they went after. And now it seemed she was going to be assisting in far more dangerous men and women now. Alex wondered what other wonders were out there to find, godlings and sentient... what else was there?
There was only one more question to ask before she was satisfied the meeting went well. Regardless the meeting had gone well, better than hoped for. "Any place you want me to start looking first?"
Drayson shook his head at her question and took a sip of his coffee, "The task force's investigators are looking into various unsolved crimes in the Dominance now. As they identify possible suspects, you will be forwarded what information I can access with my clearance. Which, of course, is extensive."
As a Chief Investigator, he could bypass the usual legal red-tape usually only breached by the signature of a judge. At a few key strokes Drayson could access any public or private record the CCD held on it's citizens, but it was something he used only sparingly.
"In the mean time, you can begin to familiarize yourself with the members of the task force. It is still in it's infancy, and yet to be truly tested. I encourage you to find yourself a desk and get to know them."
He was loathe to admit that they were after more then just men and women like Mr Gregory. As far as he was aware, Alex had no realization of the existence of monsters beneath the city's streets, but most in Drayson's newly formed team were, in one form or another.
Most had crossed paths with things that could not be rationally explained, and had done well at keeping that fact hidden from their official reports, and in keeping their sanity trying to deal with such knowledge alone. How many officers had crossed paths with such things and fallen apart in the aftermath? Isolated and alone within their own precincts, claiming the existence of things that just weren't possible in the minds of those whom had never witnessed them.
"Mr Sarkozy may be there now. If so, he can show you around. He came highly recommended from outside my usual channels, and from what I have seen of him so far, he will be invaluable to the task force."
He collected the papers she had signed and set them into a simple file folder which vanished into a drawer of his desk. Much of the task force's official paper work was stored offline, away from computers, at least for the moment.