Alexandra
The black-eyed cousin
Sweet China Rose
In 1975 Mae Hall met the guitarist of an English rock band backstage at their concert in Palm Beach. Her outlook on life was coloured somewhat by the tail end of the 60s, and the anti-establishment views growing in the youth of America; she thought it would be terribly romantic and exciting to drop everything and go on tour with them, and a small group of fans. At the end of the American tour Mae realised she was pregnant with Steve's child and the two decided to marry though she was barely nineteen. Tranquil River was born just as Steve left the band due to artistic differences, and embarked on a solo career, with his new wife providing much of the album art, and later a daughter. By the time Sweet China Rose turned five years old, the couple had started to drift apart. They attempted to repair their relationship, but eventually divorced; prompting Mae's departure for America. China Rose remembers very little of her time in England; her mother took the children back to the states when she was seven. Snatches of bearded faces, long hair, incense, paint, and always music. She does, however, remember Mae's friends who they lived with on her return, in a place they called The Farm. Life on the hippy commune was pleasant while it lasted; the folks in charge of teaching the various groups of children encouraged her natural curiosity, and the aid programs they participated in taught her about other cultures. Steve intervened in all this with the help of Mae's parents when River grew old enough to attend highschool; they were concerned about getting the children into what they called a "proper school", and China Rose will always be thankful for that. Set up in a house in the suburbs of Palm Beach, not far from their grandparents, River and China Rose experienced significant culture shock when they began attending a private school, though she fared better than her brother; he was always his mother's son. But regardless, her name was a near constant source of embarrassment. She excelled in languages and a number of sciences, and at a teacher's suggestion went on a student tour of the anthropology department of the University of Florida, discovering what would be her career path. But before any of that, her 18th birthday present to herself was one new, legal, first name, and she enrolled in UF as Diane Cooper.
Name; Diane Cooper
Age; 34
Gender; F
Background; Diane moved about with her mother and older brother before settling in Palm Beach, near her grandparents. She attended a private school, and final exam results meant entry to practically any college she wanted. The University of Florida was her final decision, with forensic anthropology her main interest. After spending six years working towards a degree, then a masters, she entered a doctoral program that involved travel abroad; to Bosnia. She had worked in the Pound Lab as an undergrad, identifying human remains, but the sanitised environment had always removed the students somewhat from what they were doing; slipping a buffer between them and the realities of what had happened to the people they were working to identify. The was no buffer like this in Bosnia. The team spent four months identifying remains from mass graves; victims of ethnic cleansing in the early 90s.
These short months had a powerful effect on Diane, and led her to adjust her doctorate in order to travel more; painfully aware that some places in the world needed this kind of expertise - that so many dead were not spoken for. She returned to eastern Europe, but this time to Serbia, and spent a couple of months in Cambodia at an archaeological dig site before finally leaving academia.
Most forensic anthropologists don't practice full time; there is rarely the demand for it. Unwilling to go into some kind of research program, and qualified as a pathologist, Diane applied for a position within the Miami Medical Examiner's office. At the suggestion of a friend she worked with in the Balklands, she sought certification from the American Board of Forensic Anthropologists, because even with a job in the ME's office, the potential for more...interesting work was too enticing to pass up.
Being accredited by the ABFA led to a certain amount of consulting work, mostly involving identification of members of the military previously declared MIA, and once for the Pentagon's Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. The involvement of the FBI in the case of a serial killer in Miami sparked her desire for a career change; she had never really considered law enforcement before, but this fit with her unwillingness to put down roots. Her first encounter with Agent Spender was at his insistence for a competent pathologist to be brought to a small town in the mid west where the position of medical examiner was occupied by the town's vet.
Ambitious isn't exactly a term one would use to describe Diane; she has always leaned more towards work that interested her, as opposed to looking for positions of power or authority, so when she was requested for the newly forming Special Circumstances unit, it appealed to her curiosity.
Personality; Diane was always obsessed with how things worked, and was lucky enough to have been surrounded by people who nurtured this creativity. Money was never a problem for her growing up, so she has never felt driven towards a career for material reasons, and given her parents values, she could never imagine working a job she didn't love.
Diane doesn't really do relationships; not in the conventional sense. She has arrangements with individuals that interest her she has met through work over the years; none of whom live in Washington.
She lives alone, liking space to spread out in. She has picked up artwork and odds and ends from her travels, an extensive amount of books; almost all non fiction, and has a collection of electric guitars hanging on the wall of her living room - signed by members of the bands Yes, Genesis, ASIA, Kansas and GTR - reflecting some of her taste in music.
Family life; Moving as she did while a child, and extensive time abroad has kept Diane from putting down roots; the most stable time in her life was attending high school near her grandparents. Her mother and now retired grandparents are still in Palm Beach; her mother having finally being persuaded to settle down. She makes the effort to see them at holidays, and tries to accommodate the occasional visit.
Her brother River is a light and sound installation artist who follows the festival circuit; Burning Man, Coachella - anywhere that will pay him to erect his strange, interactive sculptures. If the line up looks particularly good, she sometimes takes a bit of time off and joins him.
The siblings have an erratic relationship with their father - they call him Steve - now living permanently in England, and continuing with a more low key solo career. They speak on the phone, and he offers to fly them "home", as he calls it, from time to time, but ultimately though he is well meaning, he is absorbed in his music.