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[code]RAVEN/DOVE Joint Headquarters, White Coast|[/code][hr][hr]

The persistent clicking and clacking of the DOVE offices was the normal atmosphere, phones ringing - the job never ended, and especially this morning, with the upcoming rally today, it was seeming there was ever more work to be done. Extra copies to print out, extra documents to be written, more phone calls, more rushing, more boxes being moved, and more bigshots walking through to make sure that everyone was doing their part. Some of the big names would cut right through the floor without looking at grunt laborers to head straight to whatever meeting they were supposed to attend. The atmosphere, while certainly somewhat chaotic, also carried with it an air of excitement and foreboding, but not like a calm before the storm. It felt more like this was everyone's big chance. A chance to make DOVE and RAVEN look good, or for particular someones to make their next big break. Perhaps some wished to stand out to their superiors and finally snag that big promotion they've been aching for. Whatever it was, everyone was working at 110% to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

A blonde, tousled-haired young woman was off in one corner, without her own desk to sit behind, waiting anxiously to receive printed copies of one of the many different possible excerpts and notes that one of hotshots required for a speech. One of her arms were full of orange filing folders, and she pushed back a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She wore very simply garments, such as a pretty white blouse which had sleeves down to her wrists, and the tail was tucked behind the black lace pencil skirt at her waist which had black leggings beneath so that her legs didn't catch the cold breezes whenever someone walked past. As the printer finally spat out the last of the copies she needed she crouched down and rushed to organize them into the appropriate files. As though hearing a whisper in her head, she immediately sprung up and turned around to find a tall, suited older woman with brunette hair tied back into a bun making a very quick, albeit dignified, beeline towards her. She greeted this woman with a nervous smile and luminous blue eyes that shone gently like night lights, quite literally, but she was met back with just a shake of her supervisor's head.

"I'll never understand how you do that." The older woman said flatly.

"How I do what, Ms. Bayard?" The blonde one replied.

"Know whenever I'm coming? It's like you always see me before I see you."

"Is it a problem?" She asked anxiously. "Because I can--"

"Never mind it." Bayard said. "Are you done printing out those scripts?"

"Yes, miss."

"Good. Make sure they get to Maximilian Cornell and Deborah Javuant right away and then--"

"I-I'm sorry?" Andrea stammered. "You mean, Max and..."

"Yes, I do. Then when you're done, you can finish your analysis on the [i]Ramos v. State of Washington[/i] case. After which, you can report to me."

"Uh, right, um. Are you sure it's alright for, I don't know, someone like me to walk in there?"

Bayard, who had just started walking away, sighed and, with a roll of her eyes, turned back around to face the younger blonde. "Look, Andrea. You're an intern. The only person you have to worry about is me. Deborah is [i]my[/i] boss, I'm [i]yours[/i]. If they don't get into that meeting on time, [i]I'm[/i] the one who's going to pay for it and there's no one else in this damn city who's going to make these offices run like a well-oiled machine."

Andrea just nodded her head, and hesitated in asking one more question. "...After the [i]Ramos v. State of Washington[/i] analysis, is it possible that I can--"

"I told you to not keep fiddling with that Happiness report!" Bayard said incredulously as she started storming across the room.

"I'm telling you--" Andrea persisted in hot pursuit of her, but her supervisor interrupted her.

"--And I'm telling [i]you[/i], that isn't our area. DOVE deals in meta-human relations, welfare, and regulation, and performing run-of-the-mill drug-busts would be a waste of [i]RAVEN's[/i] resources and would be crossing the line into BPD jurisdiction."

"But my findings show that they're anything [i]but[/i] conventional!" Andrea argued.

"Conventional drugs?" Bayard repeated.

"Happiness has shown to cause physical ailments and deformities unlike most other abused substances. Cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin - one way or another, they break down tissues and [i]destroy[/i] the body, but Happiness has reports of stimulating the growth of body matter while breaking down most other essential functions. Not to mention the steady decline of cognitive ability of even sober one-time users--"

"Enough." Bayard ordered. "Are you a detective or a law student? I've given you a job. Now do it."

"...Yes ma'am, I understand." Andrea resigned. With that, she retreated down the hallway further from the offices and pushed a button for an elevator. As she waited, she couldn't help but think about that damn drug. It was so different. For something to remain so active after being ingested, even in a sober person, it was almost as if...

[i]Ding![/i]

The elevator door opened. With a sigh, she stepped inside and entered her destination. As the elevator brought her to the next floor she hurried down the hall with her heart jumping to her throat and looked at the clock.

[i]'Oh God, oh God, oh God...'[/i]

She found the door to the meeting room. She hesitated as she reached for the door knob and took a deep breath. She turned it, and pushed the door open.

"...Starting with ZODIAC, and our old friend the Hound... or Sovereign as he calls himself now..."

Andrea quietly closed the door behind her and nodded to everyone, but remained silent and avoiding eye contact. She knew she was a couple minutes late, thanks to her little debate with her boss over that stupid drug. She could hear it now, some of surface thoughts of some of the few at the table. They knew she was late too - but she said nothing. She had already interrupted enough now, the last thing they needed was for her to start spouting the word "sorry" off like a machine gun. As she walked toward the end of the table, she caught glances of all sorts of important figures. Even that one girl, "Hero of Prague", who fought the Founding Family. If she wasn't the one in charge, she wondered what kind of person that Maximilian had to be. Or even Deborah. She wasn't a RAVEN, but if Andrea recalled correctly, she was at least apart of the original NEST organization.

She set the files down between Maximilian and Deborah and nodded to them quietly, before walking back to the door in a rush. Part of her also wanted to hear what it was they were talking about, though. She was always too curious for her own good.