Society Agents

A Society Agent is a primary individual involved in the Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society.

Description

'Agents' is a blanket term for any Society members who accept missions and set out to various fandoms to capture Sues. They come from many different walks of life, with different upbringings, personalities, powers and skills, united under one - albeit one somewhat loosely defined - common goal. All agents maintain a list of fandoms that they are familiar with in the Society’s database, so that they can be called upon for missions where their knowledge will be most useful.

Society members are mostly, for all intents and purposes of their job, Self-inserts; though there are many exceptions within the current roster, with some individuals being minor but developed original characters. Being such a character with little if any ties to elsewhere is a clean way to ensure that the fandom in question is cleared fully of any Sueish traces, as by the point where the Society become involved, the Sue is so powerful that simply writing them out of the story has become impossible. It is common practise for agents to wipe the minds of canon characters before they leave the fandom (for the characters' own safety and continuing integrity), and whilst temporary flings with canon characters are acceptable (as long as memories are wiped immediately after), prolonged romantic entanglement is forbidden, due to the complications that can arise from romance getting in the way of the plot.

Though all agents have proven self-restraint and a certain level of maturity when it is needed, all are still monitored for any traces of Sue/Stuish behaviour, and appropriate action is taken should any be found to be present. For this reason, the Society also has a no-firing policy, as firing members increases the risk of them becoming Sues/Stus for revenge purposes. There are still disciplinary measures that at worst would see a serious infraction being punished by temporarily removing from active duty. However, members are free to leave the Society whenever they wish.

The oldest mortal agent is currently Robert, closely followed by Louise; the youngest is Emily followed by Inara.

Standard Equipment

Every agent maintains their own choice of weapons, but there are a myriad of gadgets at their disposal courtesy of the tech labs. Five of these gadgets act as an agent's standard issue to assist in the capture of the Sue:

• One Plothole Generator, keyed to their DNA and enabling entrance to and exit from the fandom.
• One Communicator, also their own.
• Two Prohibitors, used to apprehend the Sue and nullify their powers.
• Two Copyrights, used for the safety of the canon characters, and occasionally, to enlist their assistance.
• One Scene Transition, as a last resort method of escape.

Duties

The Society is run rather casually, with no hard and fast rules on what one must be doing at any one time. Indeed most of the time spent in the Library, the Society's headquarters, is on recreation, connecting with friends, eating, and generally messing about. There are enough members to be able to easily delegate tasks and missions, as many will prioritise family, work and school in Real Life above the Society, which is understandable.

The vast majority of agents take active missions at the very least semi-seriously, unless large lashings of crack are expected. They will also come out in force when one of their own is threatened, given that there is a strong sense of comradeship between the agents (even if some won't admit it).

Other duties which are expected of the agents include Monitor Duty, sitting in the Monitor Room scanning the multiverse for Sue activity, and the oft-reviled Basement Duty, acting as prison warden for the captive Sues in the basement. Monitor Duty generally is taken without argument by the first person found, but Basement Duty has now been attached to a strict rota, ensuring that the prisoners get enough to eat.

Teams

In cases where a fandom has been overrun by an immensely powerful Sue, or more than one Sue, a team of agents will often be dispatched to assist with the added danger or strain. The Sues' levels will be scrutinised carefully to judge who to send, with what equipment, and in what quantities. Once again, the mutability of the Society's organisation plays in the agents' favour.

Certain agents, however, prefer to operate in teams, no matter the danger of the Sue in question. Most of the time this is because they prefer having comeradeship and someone to bounce off; however, in a couple of cases, this is for medical reasons.

Current Teams include:

• Valerie, Monika, Danielle, Stacey and Terrie
• Emma, Beth and Kate
• Ossa, Aimee and Jamie
• Aster, Chrys and Akai
• Alice, Louise and Robert

Admission

Prospective agents must pass two stages to be qualified as a rookie agent.

Firstly they must undertake a written exam, to be completed in the space of an hour, in the Library, under the supervision of two agents. The examinees must bring their own stationary, and often those who forget beg their peers for supplies. The papers must be answered in blue or black ink, the margins must be left blank, and questions must be answered in English English (the Society makes exceptions for people whose first language is American English). Exam papers are rewritten every six months or after every test, whichever comes first. A large pool of questions is maintained and new papers generated from it, with the questions ranging from simple one-sentence answers to multiple choice to essay style. Certain questions are worth more marks, whilst other questions guarantee a fail if answered incorrectly.

For example:

High Mark Question

Q5. Describe what differentiates a Self-Insert from a Mary-Sue. (5 Marks)

Automatic Fail Question

Q1. What is your name? (1 Mark)

Taken from The ACMSES Entrance Exam 06/2009-12/2009 RLT (Real Life Time)

The examinees with papers earning over a certain number of marks (usually over 70%), and the least amount of negative marks, shall be allowed to continue on to the practical.

Examinees that fail to pass have their memories wiped, and are sent back to Real Life or their home fandom. Agents who help with rookie exams are taught to recognise the signs that a Sue has attempted the paper, which is an emergency called Code Ten. There is a high rate of attrition in the applicants before the test is even begun; many fail automatically even before they undertake the written exam, being terrified to the point of fainting by what (or more to the point, who) they see while waiting.

The practical exam is a training mission against a low-level Sue, and should they pass, they are given the status of a rookie agent. It is important to bear in mind that 'pass' does not necessarily mean capturing the Sue. Agents are marked on their abilities and their capability to handle strange situations, rather than on their success. Post the sucess of this exam, they are sent out on proper missions, being granted qualified agent status not too long afterwards.

Upon joining as a rookie, they fill out a set of information on themselves for the Library computer's records. This includes basic information such as what they look like and their age, social information such as their availability and emergency contacts, and medical information such as their blood type and any pre-existing conditions.

Ranks

There isn't much in the way of a rank system in the Society until one gets to the question of leadership. There are three Leaders of the Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society. They manage the day-to-day running of the Society, as well as taking their own missions from time to time. Often the leaders will form one team together, or join other teams should the situation require. The Librarian tends to take his own missions, though occasionally he requests help. All three leaders have Level 2 Security Clearance, and Adrian alone has Level 3 Security Clearance, all due to the nature of their respective jobs.

The current Society Leaders are:

• Harriet, the Founder and the head honcho, equivalent to the CEO;
• Michael, the Chief Agent;
• Tash, also a Founder, but also the Assistant Librarian.

Some other agents have titles also; some useful and departmental while others are merely affectionate:

• Adrian, the Librarian
• Harriet has quite a few secondary titles, often invented on the spot;
• Valerie, the Chief Medical Officer or Resident Healer;
• Charis, the Head Technician;
• Dave, the Head of Public Relations;
• Robert, the newly-passed Basement Welfare Officer;
• Phoenixia doesn’t have a settled title, but she revolves around IT and intelligence, and she has some affectionate epithets such as ‘Eye Candy’;
• Rhia, the Society Chef, though she’s determined to prove she isn’t just a cook;
• Alice, the Library’s Pet Search Engine;
• Lauren, also a Founder, but was the Society Treasurer before her retirement to the Grand Canaries.

Due to the nature of the Library there are certain areas and fandoms that only certain Society members have access to. Security Clearance is defined as below:

• Level 0: Assigned to Rookies: Gives access to the communal areas of the Library.
• Level 1: Assigned to Agents: Gives access to the communal areas of the Library and any non black-listed fandoms.
• Level 2: Assigned to Leaders/Chief Agent: Gives access to the communal areas of the Library, any non black-listed fandoms, and the Leaders' offices.
• Level 3: Assigned to the Librarian: Has access to everywhere in the Library, and access to every fandom.

List of Agents

Name	Status	Character Type	Other notes
Harriet	Leader	Self-insert
Natasha ‘Tash’ Marquand	Leader	Self-insert
Lauren	Retired	Self-insert	Was the Society Treasurer
Michael Wasson	Leader	Self-insert	Chief Agent
Miriku Wasson	Active	Self-insert
Claire Upward	Active	Self-insert
Valerie Shockley	Active	Self-insert	Resident healer
Monika	Active	Self-insert
Theresa ‘Terrie’ Bridges	Active	Self-insert
Stacey Leming/Ezra	Active	Self-insert	Latter is alter-ego
Danielle	Active	Self-insert
Emma	Retired	Self-insert
Beth	Retired	Self-insert
Kate	Retired	Self-insert
Marcus Pate	Active	Self-insert
Aster Selene	Active	Original
Adrian	Active	Original	The Librarian
Sumire	Retired	Self-insert
Willie	Active	Original
Kyle Griswold	Active	Self-insert
Jess	Active	Self-insert
Camille	Retired	Self-insert	Was a technician; also Doyle
Tyler Kahn	Active	Self-insert
Drake Dragonsoul	Active	Self-insert
Ben	Active	Self-insert
Karissa	Active	Original
Charis	Active	Original	Head technician
Pete	Active	Self-insert
Joe	Active	Original
Rhiannon ‘Rhia’	Active	Self-insert
Ria	Retired	Self-insert
Douglas ‘Doug’ Kreig	Deceased	Original
Cristoph Asahina	Active	Original
Emily Foxblade	Active	Original	Former Sue
Ossa	Active	Self-insert
Aimee	Active	Self-insert
James ‘Jamie’ Coulthard	Active	Self-insert
Jared	Active	Self-insert
Chloe	Active	Original
Crystellia ‘Chrys’	Active	Original	Also Mizuho
Lily Adamson	Active	Original	Former Sue
Dave	Active	Self-insert
Ingrid Nunn	Active	Original	Former Sue
Alice Wood	Active	Self-insert
Louise	Active	Self-insert
Tom	Active	Self-insert
Akai Minami	Active	Self-insert
Avak	Deceased	Original
Phoenixia	Non-agent	Original	Ex-hologram
Stephen	Active	Self-insert
Gareth	Active	Self-insert
Inara	Active	Self-insert
Robert	Active	Original	Former Stu
Red	Active	Self-insert
John	Active	Self-insert