CLAIMED . ANDERSON, ELENA J.

Female

Bisexual – Preference for Men

Twenty Six

April 1, 1986

Eastern European/American Descent

English and fluency in Spanish due to college education.

”Officer Anderson” or “Anderson” a fair portion of the time.

1.00

Claimed

Shadow

None

9/10/13

Cathal

Atticus A. Jaeger
Dominic R. Marsten
Mirach Dia


Yes.

Naoto from Persona 4

Canine/K9 Unit Officer—Elena “graduated” and received her canine handling certification from the Canine Enforcement Training Center in Front Royal, Virginia before her eventual transfer to the Texas unit to further her police work. This means that she began her career in law enforcement as a police officer, applied for the special unit, passed the physical exams, interviews and tests, and completed the required tasks to earn her right to handle a trained police/military dog, which are considerably more dangerous than the average pet. At times they are considered weapons. (Hence the certification). On a final note, Elena has moved to California and is currently working with the California/L.A. law enforcement group as part of their K9 unit—just in time to watch the world fall apart at the seams.

Basics: Somewhat small and unimposing, Elena reaches a total of 5’4”. Typically she has black hair, but has recently taken to dying it to suit her mood. At the moment there’s a dark blue/bluish tint in it that seems to complement her blue gray eyes. When she is particularly emotional or determined to get something done, people have a tendency to notice more of the blue than the gray. Due to her hazardous career, she bears a few interesting scars; the first is a thin white line near her hip, caused by the graze of a switchblade. The second is a telltale, round indentation just below her right shoulder; an old bullet wound. Both are typically hidden under clothes or otherwise difficult to notice, as she does not exhibit any sign that they still bother her.

Other: While on the job, Elena wears her typical uniform and often enough, a bulletproof vest underneath for obvious reasons. She also has her issued firearm on her person at all times. It is also important to know that she is often seen in tandem with her assigned police dog, Brooklyn. Off duty, Goliath accompanies her. See below for more information on these police dogs.

Elena’s diplomatic side developed out of necessity rather than as a natural tendency—which meant it did not come into existence until she entered young adulthood—and desperately required a buffer against family politics. Though one could argue that such a trait would make her an arguably good liar, Elena focuses her attention on the intellectual side of diplomacy instead, overwhelming people that make her nervous with artful vocabulary and astute conversation. It’s a pity that ploy can backfire unexpectedly. While it’s meant to erect a wall between her and the speaker, it can also come off as condescending or arrogant. Elena has yet to figure out how to balance the two, and might have a bad habit of coming off more callous than she would like. It is however, that callousness that her brothers are most attuned to, and it’s likely her saving grace in regards to the Anderson family, as they value wordplay, education and competition. In short, the people that she likes to be around don’t have to worry about this sort of thing too often, but family and strangers will find themselves confronting it too frequently.

Even so, Elena is remarkably independent, so much so that she often does not care much about the opinions others have of her (why would she be a cop otherwise), especially strangers. The major exceptions to this would be immediate family. She’s always had a soft spot for her father (in spite of the things that aspire to keep them apart), and would like to earn some respect from her half brothers, but she will never openly mention it. The fact remains that though her father has offered her money and a more promising career, Elena has decided to forge her own path through life, “trudging” as he would put it, through typical messy—and sometimes dangerous—police work. Her fierce do-it-yourself attitude can also hinder her ability to work well with others, especially people she doesn’t know well, and it also gives her a great deal of trouble when it comes to admitting that she actually needs help with something. Truth be told, Elena would much rather rely on only herself and her dogs to get through most of her troubles, but life scarcely allows for such things; she’s learning to adapt, particularly after having spent the last few years as a competent K9 Unit Officer, but full trust is hard to earn, and even harder for her to give. As a general rule, in Elena’s mind, most people come and go. Her fellow officers have a special place in her heart and memory, but even they can often be pushed aside in favor of her dogs.

Consequently, do not mess with her dogs. Not only are these animals properly trained to jump into the fray of gunfire and apprehend criminals, they completely disregard any danger to themselves and will snap their jaws onto any limb they can get a hold of. Worse, they’re trained not to let go until a specific cease command is given—and they’re partnered with someone with an issued firearm and the capability to use it. If that’s not enough to deter the typical case, Elena is an animal person through and through—and she would willingly give her life for one of her dogs, and much more willingly, jump to their defense. The best way to get on her bad side is to hurt, or even attempt to harm, one of her animals. And as common sense dictates, pissing off the person with the gun probably doesn’t make you the brightest crayon in the box.

While Elena is always dedicated to her job, she does enjoy the quieter side of life, where she doesn’t have to command others, chase criminals and generally risk anyone’s life. Reading is a particular favorite pastime of hers—and rumor has it that she plans to write a book chronicling some of the highlights of career in the distant future. Elena likes supporting herself, and even though she does have an inheritance to spend the rest of her life brooding over, she refuses to touch it. Rather, she enjoys spending time with Goliath outside of work, and has been known to spend her vacations on campgrounds and taking advantage of the outdoors. Fishing, for example, is one of her favorite pastimes, as it doesn’t involve inner city traffic, pounding on doors, or gunfire. (Unless you’re a special kind of fisherman.) That said, over the years Elena has accumulated a number of survival methods and camping knowledge to fair much better in the “wild” than the average person, though she does not think they’ll come in handy very often. Because of this, Elena does have a sense of detachment from modern things—television for one—and she doesn’t exactly indulge in too much.

Perhaps the first thing you might notice in her apartment, for instance, is the distinct lack of…stuff. Furniture is available, as are utilities and necessities, but she has no wall or table decorations, pictures, or general entertainment items, such as a television or even a radio. She prefers to read the paper for her news, and the only computer in the apartment is a laptop she buys on occasion for the necessary quick access to anything work or bank related. It doesn’t necessarily mean Elena’s computer or tech illiterate, as she does keep her phone up to date, and has grown up with all of these things, but she really doesn’t see them as essential to life. And she also has a bad habit of breaking all things technological and electricity based—somehow, someway—so that might have something to do with it too.

Elena was a child born out of wedlock, and to make matters worse, she was the inadvertent consolation prize of an affair with a powerful, married man. For her young mother, this posed a number of problems. One, she wasn’t as successful as she wanted to be in life, therefore making it difficult to support herself—let alone a child—and two, though Elena’s father and mother were deeply in love, he could not easily abandon his current family and wife without tarnishing his public reputation and driving a wedge between him and his four sons. His family business and corporate endeavors—and the subsequent inheritance they represented—made up a vast empire that primarily sold its goods and weaponry to the United States military. Tomas Anderson had inherited the metaphorical “throne” from his father, and he would have passed that down to his sons eventually. But now the man had a new child to concern himself with, a child he refused to deny as anything but his own, and as one could imagine, the news did not go over well with the rest of the Anderson family. His wife grew livid at the thought of losing, or negatively affecting the financial security and future of her own children—and understandably jealous of this young woman who had seemingly stolen her husband’s affections. Tomas’ father, Elena’s grandfather, disowned her before she was born, and spent many years raging at his son’s indiscretion. Like Tomas’ wife, he would be a venomous enemy to Elena’s right to the Anderson fortune, but for now, he simply dismissed the affair, the relationship, and the child, entirely.

But Tomas did not.

It was a blessing, in some ways, that for her early childhood, it was decided that her father would financially support them from afar and she would not have to grow up in the Anderson estate. Elena’s existence outside of the family was, for the moment, kept a closely guarded secret. Instead, she would live with her mother in a quiet suburban town, meeting Tomas on the rare occasions he could slip under the keen radar of his wife and his own angry father. It wasn’t an ideal situation for anyone, but as a young child Elena would look forward to those rare moments her father would walk through the door and sweep her into his arms, as any kid would. Tomas would act as the typical, doting and loving father should, and to his credit, he never once appeared to favor any one child over the other. There was definitely no doubt about the bitterness between him and his wife, but Tomas would never estrange himself from his own children. He would introduce Elena to her half brothers slowly and carefully while she was young, but he never could quite get the five of them to get along. The oldest would especially come to resent Elena as he grew older, driven mostly by his mother’s poisonous jealousy and the thought that Tomas had created a rift in their family he had no intention to mend. To date, she’s treated mostly as if she doesn’t exist, but her oldest brother goes out of his way to show his contempt for her whenever the urge strikes him—as a result, it’s generally thought that Elena and Edgar could not get along if they shared a football field, let alone the same room. These days she is more prone to confront him directly and match his condescending tone, but in her childhood, Elena was often subjected to his insults and bullying with little or nothing to fight back with. It’s a mark on her history that’s extremely uncomfortable to talk about, but also ties in with her strong need for reconciliation and connection.

That said, Elena began life wild and compassionate, absorbed with making her parents—especially her father, who she so rarely saw—proud of her endeavors. This would carry throughout her life, as even though she often distanced herself from others, family was the one thing she grew up desperately wanting to be a part of. Even her brothers, who often showed mixed animosity toward her, were important figures. The youngest was five years her elder, and as she grew up she wanted nothing more to impress them—and maybe earn her place amongst them. She was adventurous, untamable and always eager to explore the outdoors. It was no secret that Elena shared, or perhaps learned, these first two traits from her mother, who ran a no-kill shelter for large dog breeds; whether intentional or not, Elena’s years around these animals and the time she spent helping to rescue, care for, train, and house them would become very important in her future. It would also help to alleviate the bitterness and muddled feelings she felt toward her four half brothers and her father, who could not be in her life as constantly as she wanted him to.

Perhaps because of this, certain things changed when Elena entered her teenage years. She became more self-reliant and introverted. Working with her mother’s dogs taught her responsibility, patience, and humility, but it would also expose her to the darker side of human nature. It was inevitable that the animals they rescued sometimes suffered extreme abuses from people, and witnessing these things firsthand would instill in Elena a sense of empathy toward the animals and a raw sense of justice that would later affect her career choices. It’s true that Tomas didn’t necessarily approve of the time and effort she poured into rescue efforts; he would see Elena’s intelligence and her gifts in school—an “Anderson” talent for math and science, he called it—as deserving more attention. But for a great portion of her early teenage years, he said relatively nothing about it. Rescuing dogs gave the girl time to indulge her secret wild side, taking to the outdoors and developing a deeper connection with the animals than she had with the people around her.

The closer she came to graduating high school, the more she and her father began to argue about her future, as Elena began to show interest in the criminal justice system—and not the intellectual, judicial side of it. She was looking into academies that would take her, after some initial college work, as a potential police officer. Which frankly, neither of her parents wanted. Her brothers were set on career paths that would earn them a place in the Anderson corporation forever, but by comparison, what she wanted provided no such security. Tomas’ primary concern was safety, and he couldn’t help but on more than one occasion admit that such grunt work was “below” an Anderson. He wanted more for his only daughter, but he could not do much to sway her. She would eventually turn 18 and find the means to do what she wanted anyway. The best that he could do was curb the potential for failure and injury. When she found herself setting off for college work toward a law related degree, Tomas would also set her up with a security based internship on the condition that she stay in school for an entire four years. He had hoped that with time and small experience Elena would “grow out” of the thought of police work.

No such thing happened. What were simple desires before became full out life goals; it was here that her independence flourished to its fullest. She excelled at her internship and completed school in the agreed upon four years with minor troubles. With both under her belt she really had no issues on acceptance into a police academy, particularly as she had no health problems and no criminal background to worry about. Two years of grunt work here would eventually grow tiresome for her, but because of her interest in dogs, and her need to work with them again, Elena applied for a special K9 Unit training. After some intense examinations and interviews, she was accepted. The remaining years of her life would be dedicated to training and working with some of the most loyal, powerful partners the police academy had to offer. They would impart on her qualities that she herself had never noticed before in herself—fearlessness in the face of danger, for example—and would ultimately grant her a fuller, happier life.

Elena’s years of working with these animals has given her a fair amount of respect with fellow officers. She’s been on non-stop tracking missions, she’s had to lift her canine partners over six foot walls, experienced shootouts, detained fugitives and generally adhered to keeping the laws and regulations of the area in which she lives. In short, she’s thrived on it. She’s been moved around the country, from the roads of Virginia to the heat of Texas, and finally has come to stop in the city of L.A. She owns two dogs, only one of which is currently employed as a police dog. To this day, her father and mother attempt to persuade her to take up a more “reasonable” job, but she’s content with what she has, and often—as politely as she can through gritted teeth—remind them that she doesn’t want to work for the Anderson corporation.

It never did stop her father from setting up a trust fund for her and finally publically announcing her as one of his children—and a potential heir. Not that Elena touches a cent of it. Her frustration with family politics, especially her brothers, knows no bounds. In an effort to appease the growing tensions in the Anderson family—especially with her grandfather—Elena refuses to have anything to do with the company, or the money. To protect her further, Tomas had to announce that anyone caught attempting to usurp her right to some of his fortune—i.e., murder her—would subsequently receive none of it. It’s worked miracles at keeping her older brother and grandfather at bay, who without doubt, probably would have tried something, someday to be rid of her, if not for reputation’s sake, than out of ugly contempt.

So far it’s protected her. But L.A. could have much worse in store for Elena than a family with too much time and money on their hands.

Hudson: Deceased. Malinois. Listed here primarily for his importance in Elena’s life, Hudson was not only her first police/military canine assigned to her, but he died in the line of duty during a shootout, two years after receiving her certification and officially beginning her career as part of the K9 unit. It was Hudson’s fearlessness in the face of danger, his impeccable stubbornness, and sheer endurance that impressed itself upon Elena most. His years of service, and his subsequent death, would ingrain in her an understanding of the indomitable, disciplined spirit of a well trained canine and fellow officer who gave his life to protect her, his partner. In many ways, the same fearlessness he displayed has been reborn through her, along with his unyielding determination.

Goliath: Retired. Rottweiler. Technically Elena’s second assigned canine, trained and tested accordingly for protection and attack to replace Hudson—but somehow passed up over the years until he was finally paired with her. Though already middle aged when he began working with her, Goliath would see her through many rough patches and all the ups and downs of police work, never once showing any signs of complaint or tiring. A fiercely loyal animal with a gentle hearted nature, Goliath was also a hard working, unrelenting protector. His soft spot for children would make him ideal for educational purposes as well, and he and Elena were sometimes assigned to visit schools and neighborhoods because of it. Sadly, Goliath would spend the last bit of his career helping Elena rise in rank and respect amongst her unit before his health took an unexpected turn. Months and months of strenuous activity would aggravate his already-culminating hip dysplasia. He was finally relieved of duty when it was apparent he could not keep up in physical training the way he used to; they released him into Elena’s care out of respect and sympathy for their work together. Though Goliath can’t technically join Elena on jobs, he typically keeps her home safe while she is gone, lives a life of relative peace, and accompanies her everywhere else. Though the veteran couldn’t quite move the way he used to, his experience did come in handy when it came to training Brooklyn, her latest partner on the front lines.

Brooklyn: Active. German Shepherd. Her currently assigned, on-duty canine. Brooklyn is relatively young compared to her first two dogs, and though he’s often more rambunctious and playful when off duty, he is still obedient, and wickedly dangerous while on the job. His bold actions and fearless nature seem to mirror Hudson’s—which is why Elena found herself attracted to the possibility of partnering with him in the first place. Though more or a less an attack and protection canine, Brooklyn is also the first of Elena’s dogs to have taken up extensive training in scent tracking. He is much more versatile and adaptable at his job because of this, so at times Elena’s tasks can branch out into search and rescue or search and detain missions. Brooklyn need only learn to curb his impatience and excitement sometimes before he can be truly disciplined—but Elena is certain that with time, he will live up to his predecessors, perhaps even surpass them, as he seems to be gifted with more cunning, and humor, than the former two.

-Elena is currently in possession of two dogs, both of which are well trained in manners of attacking and defending others on a whim’s notice. Brooklyn is the more judgmental of the two, and prone to react more protectively—especially around men—than Goliath will, but it should be noted that neither dog is helpless and they’re obedient enough not to outright attack unless given a direct command.

-She is usually in possession of the state issued firearm as well, and knows how to use it.

-Because of her career, Elena does seem to have a slight bias and mistrust of criminals. Experience has taught her not to believe someone when they say they’re turning over a new leaf, either. Needless to say, she doesn’t outright rail against ex-cons or fugitives, but she does keep them at an arm’s length. Unlike most people, they have to work a little harder than usual for her respect and genuine trust.

-Elena began camping and spending extended periods of time outdoors after college, when she required a get away from all the hassle of mind-numbing traffic and occasional threats on her life. She found she enjoyed it thoroughly, and has since kept up the habit. She’s become really good at “camping out” in the traditional sense, with no electrical facilities for convenience. As a result she also took up fishing—and hunting—acquiring licenses for both, and has to date, become more tack-and-track than the average person. This is especially helpful on scent tracking expeditions with her dog Brooklyn.

-Elena has received two injuries in the past thanks to her career choice. One was a bullet taken during the shootout that also killed her partner, Hudson. The other was caused by a switchblade; a man Goliath had detained was in the process of being rounded up when he revealed the weapon. Goliath was unharmed, but as Elena had given him the command to release the man so she could arrest him, she was nicked by the blade when he rolled onto his back and swung it at her. Thankfully, it wasn’t a grave injury, and she and Goliath, with the help of another officer, were finally able to restrain the guy long enough to get him into cuffs. Because of this however, Elena has taken more self defense courses and training sessions more seriously, and she’s on the lookout to improve her own carefully learned skills.