The Games We Play
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is property of CBS Entertainment. Also, the Criminal Psychology Role Play game is the brainchild of Danny Ellenwood. The names of the role players have been changed to protect the guilty J
0700 Hours
BAU HQ
Quantico, VA
Penelope Garcia sat in her office early one morning. She'd come with Kevin, who had an early morning meeting, and she was bored, so she wandered down to her office and opened her personal laptop. She also turned on the BAU's computer system, just to get it warmed up for the day.
She began to play her favorite role play game, and was frustrated to find no one else online. She got an idea; she'd Google role play gaming sites instead, to find the next epic thing. She clicked a few screens, and her screen suddenly lit up with millions of results. She set about clicking through a few; discarding the war and police games-they were to close to home, and instead finding interest in the time-travel games.
A specific link caught her eye. It was a link to a role-play game called "Criminal Psychology." This could be interesting, she thought, so she clicked it. She was taken to site that claimed to be the most epic criminal psychology role-play game on the web. She smiled, and immediately e-mailed the site administrator.
"Hello, I am Penelope Garcia of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. May I please join?" A moment later, an email pop up appeared on her screen, and she clicked it.
"Hi, welcome. My name is Casey; I noticed your PM to Dave. I am the Member Moderator. Please feel free to join us; we could use a *real* FBI agent around here. Um, you can pick a "canon" character, one that appears on the show, or you can just be your own character-agent or unsub. Jargon: Canon means a permanent figure or character. Unsub means, specifically, "unspecified subject". Or, in laymen's terms, "bad guy." Thanks for your interest."
Garcia shook her head in confusion-what TV show? She typed back an email to the girl.
"Casey, what is this "show" you refer to? Thanks, Penelope."
A moment later, a popup with a link and a note appeared.
"Penelope-this role play is based on the TV show "Criminal Minds." You know, the one about the FBI criminal profilers? Anyway, I've included a link to their main webpage on the station they're on. All the best."
Garcia's eyes grew big, and she clicked the link, discovering the television show that paralleled their real jobs, and to an extent, their lives. It was called "Criminal Minds."
Penelope spoke aloud.
"I've got to show this to the others." She shook her head, clicked back over to the role-play site, and began to fill out the character application. Of course, she applied to play the character like hers, the fake FBI's computer analyst. She completed the application, and chose her favorite old movie star as her face player, Faye Dunaway.
A few moments later, another popup appeared.
"Welcome, Supreme Genius Garcia. We've just began our first case, be sure to check that out. Also, make sure to introduce yourself, and feel free to begin posting any ol' place."
Penelope found herself excited, and she paused for a moment to refill her coffee. She settled back into her seat just in time to see JJ enter the Bullpen, Spencer behind her, both deep in conversation with each other. Penelope smiled; JJ and Spencer were her two favorite co-workers, and she stood and raced into the Bullpen, interrupting the two as she spoke excitedly, and probably two octaves too high.
"Guys, come on, you two have to check this out," she began pulling JJ by her arm to her office, causing the other woman to laugh.
"Geez, Pen. Can I put my purse down first?" Penelope pouted, but nodded.
"Hey, Spence. Ok, fine. Go put your bag down, Spence, grab some coffee. There's something you need to see. Meet me in my office in five."
Spencer smiled one of his closed-mouthed smiles and glanced at JJ, who shrugged. Penelope was acting as though her information was crucial, and so JJ moved. She spoke to Spencer as she strode across the Bullpen towards her office.
"It sounds important; maybe the Director found her first. I guess we better go." Spencer nodded, removed his coat, and placed his messenger bag across his chair. He helped himself to a cup of coffee from the break room, then hurried to Garcia's office. He settled into a chair the Penelope indicated as JJ entered and took a seat, as well.
"Ok, since you two workaholics were the first one's here, you two get in on the epicness first." JJ glanced at Spencer and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, suddenly weary of his co-worker's motive for calling them into the office. Penelope continued.
"Anyway, Kev had an early meeting; something about new proxy servers for the joint Agencies task force. I was super bored hanging around upstairs, so I came down here to role-play. And my usual RP site was quiet; apparently all the other computer nerds except me are in California for the gaming convention. So, I start to search for a new role-play game, and guess what I find? You'll never guess. I found a role play site, and, actually, a TV show that's totally based on the BAU. It's totally awesome; they even have a young male genius character and everything. They got it pretty well right." She stopped speaking to take a breath, and JJ giggled.
"Penny. Slow down. Let me get this right-you just happened to be Googling stuff this morning, and came across a TV show that parallels us?"
"Yup. It's called "Criminal Minds." I sent everyone a link. Make sure to check out the chick who plays you…it's a creepy resemblance. And, you, Spence, look-" She pulled up some pictures and the face of a young, good looking actor danced across her screen, causing him to smile. "They even have a boy genius character. I LOVE it." She giggled again, and JJ nodded. Spencer shook his head; he was amazed that Garcia considered this "epically important". He spoke.
"Garcia, I have a lot of work to do…" He trailed off when JJ shot him a look. He shrugged again, sighed, and settled back. "But maybe you can tell me more about this boy genius character." Penelope smiled, and clicked a few keys, bringing a YouTube video up on her screen. She pressed play, and the three settled in as the theme music and opening scene began. JJ smiled when "she" appeared on the screen, the woman's face grimacing as she spoke into a phone, seemingly talking about a case.
"Yes, yes, sir. No, I understand the gravity of the case, but I think you're really better off with the Computer Crimes unit. Let me transfer you." Just then, an older, brunette man entered the scene. He spoke.
"Do you have the case file?" The blonde woman nodded, and stood. She was a little shorter than their JJ, but Penelope had been right; the resemblance was creepy.
"Yes, sir. It's here," the woman handed the file to the brunette man, and continued. "Also, the director has requested ten minutes after the de-briefing." Penelope paused the video, and turned to Spencer and JJ, her brown eyes dancing with excitement.
"There's a ton; like six season's worth. Some of it is a little over-the-top, like their version of Prentiss is actually a redhead with a penchant for bad boys, and I actually know of no FBI agent who would enter a crime scene unarmed. And the blood is a little overplayed; there's red corn syrup up the wazoo, but otherwise, it's a good representation." JJ chuckled, but stood.
"Ok, Pen. Thanks for sharing. Look, it's almost 8; the others will be here soon. Can you please get the meeting room ready for real, live cases?" Penelope's face fell for a moment, and she nodded.
"Of course. Thanks, guys." JJ smiled as Spencer stood, stretching his long, lanky frame and grinning.
"Actually, Garcia, I thought it was kind of cool." Penelope smiled, and waved as the two agents left her office. She glanced back at the computer, and the still image of the fake JJ and Hotch, and sighed.
"We'll play later, OK, guys?" she said, as she left the office.
End of Chap. 1