Since I've only been here a few days, it's obviously too soon to summon a Permission Giver. However, for entertainment value and possible future reference, here is a writing sample introducing Agent Katty and her new partner, Agent Recruit Ace, from the Department of Floaters.

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The young man hesitated at the door. My first assignment. My first partner. He wasn't quite sure why he was so nervous. What could happen that the Academy hadn't prepared him for? Admittedly the Academy hadn't been what he'd expected — who would expect a week of reading manuals in a disused office with a ventilator that dripped? — but the big daisy had told him that he was learning everything he needed to know. He looked at the door. 207. That was definitely the number on his assignment card. He hitched his duffel bag a bit on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Come!" a female voice called from inside. The door slid open and the young man stepped in for the first sight of his new home.

He looked around the room, his eyes passing over assorted clutter, for the source of the voice. A pair of black boots were propped on the overstuffed arm of a rather ratty-looking couch that was big enough to conceal the boots' occupant. The boots quickly retracted and swung to the floor and the head and body of the attached Agent popped up. She had hair of some indeterminate shade between brown and blonde, eyes that were trying to make up their mind whether to be green or brown, and he couldn't guess her age, though she seemed to be older than he was. She stood, revealing black chinos stuffed into what seemed to be riding boots, and a green T-shirt with the Slytherin house crest on it. At a guess, she was an inch or two taller than his own five foot six.

"Hi, I'm Agent Katherine Brown," she said.

"Agent Recruit Ace Chang," he replied, and Katty raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Ace is my real name," he said somewhat defensively. "My sister is Deuce, and my kid brother is Trey. My parents didn't have much imagination, okay?"

"Hey, no need to get testy. I'm Katty, thanks to my little sister."

"No problem, Agen... er, Katty. Where do I put my things?"

"The bunks are through that door." She pointed to one he hadn't yet noticed. "Mine's the top one. Bathroom is that other door. Go ahead and toss your stuff in there. With our luck, we'll probably get a mission before you've even got your gear stowed."

The bunk room turned out to be a narrow room, sectioned off from the main room by a wall that the builder hadn't even bothered to drywall on this side. The bunk bed was in the middle, with a closet of sorts behind a curtain at each end. Several boards nailed between the exposed studs held books. The right-side closet was empty of anything but a cheap closet organizer. Spare black jeans went on hangers, clean black T-shirts went on the wire shelves, and, after a moment's thought, he peeled off his leather jacket and hung it on a hook. The last thing in his duffelbag was his set of official PPC Agent Manuals. He shelved them on an unoccupied board, tossed the empty duffelbag into the closet, and stretched out on his bunk to relax. That was clearly the wrong thing to do, as he was informed by a whistling beep from the main room. A mission! He bounced to his feet and popped out of the bunkroom.

Katty, holding a half-eaten bagel, was staring at the console with a look of disgust.

"Food detector. It's got a food detector. I know it," she grumbled.

"Huh?"

"One thing you'll learn soon enough, Ace: They always send us on missions when we're eating, sleeping, or on the throne."

"Throne...? Oh." He blushed slightly.

He turned his attention to the console. A small bird on long, thin legs was probing between the keys with its long beak, apparently looking for bagel crumbs. It had already typed "ghyt". Katty shooed it away.

"Spotted sandpiper. A kind of plover," she explained, leaving Ace knowing both more and less than before.

"So, what's our mission? It's my first, I hope it's something good!" This earned Ace a vaguely disgusted look from the senior agent.

"They're sure throwing you in at the deep end," Katty said. "We've got...."

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