New Game

Harold

(Descriptions of dead bodies. The story may be hard to follow. Michael is out of character. He is mentioned but not seen.)

Harold Quinn had been an agent of the SB Bureau of Investigation for over three years now. When he applied for the position, he had imagined a life of excitement. One filled with high-speed chases and drug busts. He had dreamt of gritty hand to hand combat. His expectations of an exhilarating life were quickly replaced with one filled with humdrum activity and boring paperwork.

The small grin on his face reflected his need for excitement, which was why he jumped for the chance to be on his first murder case. Nothing said excitement like serial murder and he hoped that the success would get him a permanent spot in the homicide division so that he could finally leave foreign affairs and achieve the life he always dreamed of.

- 0 -

Harold rushed towards the conference room. He was late for his initial briefing and the last thing he needed was to make a bad impression on his first big case. He flew into the room to find himself face-to-face with several other people. Special Agent Scott Warren, who was running lead on the investigation, was standing at the head of the room behind a podium. He was poised near a projector. He frowned at the other man over his glasses and waited with pursed lips while Harold seated himself in the chair nearest the door. The man hated tardiness.

Scott Warren was a senior agent and although he was nearly the same age as Harold Quinn, he had shot up through the ranks surprisingly fast due to his competence and ability. He was an incredibly stern man with long hair that he usually kept in a bun with a pencil shoved haphazardly through it. Though he was incredibly organized, his need for perfection meant that he was also often overwhelmed.

"Glad you could join us, Agent Quinn," Scott said curtly, returning his gaze to the projector. He began speaking in a monotonous tone that made Harold want to slam his head against the table repeatedly.

Harold took a moment to observe the other people in the case. There were six agents, not including himself, sitting at the table listening to Scott drone on. He recognized most of them as a mish-mash of others from various units and wondered momentarily if this task-force was pulled randomly from a hat.

At the head of the table, next to the projector was Lauren Roth, a veteran homicide agent who had been at the BI twice as long as Harold and Scott. She looked less than thrilled to be taking orders from a rookie. To her right was the ever-cheerful Joan Myers, a behavioral psychologist who specialized in cases of serial murder. He was known for his unwaveringly positive attitude, even in the face of grave atrocities and was the only person Harold knew who could talk about evisceration with a smile on his face.

Across from Joan was Tony Berez. He was originally a chemist but had a change of heart after the death of his first wife. He returned to school and became an agent. He typically worked with the terrorist prevention unit because of his vast knowledge of chemical agents and weapons, but he had been known to flitter from department-to-department when he was needed. To Tony's left was Aviah Harpaz, a friend of Harold's from his academy days. She looked as bored as she felt.

On Scott's, left was his secretary, a young man named James. He was incredibly tall for a 20 something-year-old, but from what Harold had heard, quite competent with anything computer-related. He was busying himself taking notes while Scott spoke, his fingers moving across the computer keys at lightning speed.

Harold glanced across from him and Agent Marley, a shy individual from foreign affairs, waved at him. He waved back. They rarely interacted in their department since Marley was almost unbearably timid, with an introverted personality that made him difficult to become close with. Though his saccharine personality also made him incredibly loveable and the station adored sending him out on foreign assignments because it only took a little smile before a contract was being signed.