Marlene was not sure if she'd heard correctly. Had he said something about eating alive? Was that what the murderer had done to that poor young woman? But then, as she watched the hunter work through holographic files, Jameson's next words filled her with excitement and fear. And, she noted, a touch of anger, that mounted as he called to the hunter and she ignored him. She was so busy processing the words<i>Tess is yours</i>that she almost missed the next bit. "Huh? Wait, she killed a Crown Agent? What the heck?" That was, so far as the rule book went, cause for immediate termination. But apparently the rule book didn't cover being the best damn hunter they had. She wondered if it covered the best damn handler they had, too. She glanced at Jameson and shrugged, remaining silent as he continued to call the dog over.<br/><br/>Her announcement of the identity of the vic made Marlene reassess what Jameson had said. That was pretty quick, even for a hunter. The only person she could think of that could have done it quicker was Sybil herself. Then Tess went into major sulk mode and stalked off again after pausing to give her superior a vulgar gesture. "Double-you Aitch Pee!" The rookie muttered under her breath.<i>What's Her Problem</i>. She stood still a moment, torn between following her superior and getting better acquainted with her dog. Her descision was made by glancing at the body as Jameson approached it. Marlene was reasonably sure she could look at it closer without throwing up, but she's rather not  find out the hard way that she couldn't. At least, not eight now.<br/><br/>She walked up slowly towards the dog, who was either deliberately ignoring her, so busy concentrating on her holo that she didn't notice the footsteps, or stone deaf. Marlene decided to give the benefit of the doubt. She coughed, the way she would to attract anyone's attention. No effect. "Tess?" Still nothing. "Look, Tess, I don't know what your beef is, because I haven't seen your file yet. This is all new to me, so I'm probably going to need your help. So if you could maybe see your way to actually talking to me, and not stabbing me for a few days, you never know, you might come to like me?"<br/><br/>Nothing. Okay, this was not going well. She called up her own holo, accessed personnel records, entered her security clearance, which was pretty much bugger all, and tried to access Tess' file.<span style="font-family:Amaranth"><b><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">ACCESS DENIED</span></b></span>was the response. She snorted and closed the file. They would have to give her access eventually if the two of them were to work together. In the mean time there were several ways she could get Tess' attention. Putting a hand on the dog was not recommended. These were vicious animals, not humans with human values, and a friendly gesture could easily be taken as an attack. As with a canine dog, an ill-advised contact could result in loosing a hand! She could zap Tess, but that would not be conducive to starting a decent working relationship. She chose the way recommended by her trainers at the academy. She stepped directly in front of Tess and put her hand through the hologram. Something actually considered rude in normal society, but, surprisingly, acceptable with the deaf. One of the girls in the crèche Tess had grown up in had been profoundly deaf and Tess had considered her a friend.<br/><br/>"Hey, remember me? Come on, give me a chance. You might actually like me!"