The resurrection of Code Blair

[kungfuwitch]

Who: Phoebe and anyone interested in Code Blair/Evac (except Carolina D:)
What: Code Blair meeting
When: Saturday afternoon
Where: The former Peace Patrol HQ
Rating: PG-13 for possible language

The room had been cleaned up for the occasion. It was the first time being used for a meeting of this kind since the Peace Patrol had been disbanded. Phoebe had worked to clear it of dust and rearrange the furniture to better suit a forum rather than a formal meeting. The chairs were arranged in a semicircle, hopefully encouraging people to speak to each other as well as to Phoebe.

A table had been set up near the back with tea, coffee, juice cookies and a few finger sandwiches for people to nibble on as they arrive. All that's missing are the people.

((OOC: Please wait for sections Tag away! Threadjacking HIGHLY encouraged!))

Comments

Arrivals and mingling

[kungfuwitch]

[Talk amongst yourselves. Meet a few people, maybe have a cookie.]

[kungfuwitch]

[Phoebe was standing in the front of the room, watching everyone walk in. She looked a little nervous, all told, as she straightened her clothes. There was a lot riding on this meeting, after all.]

[compromisedarrow]

[And in strolls Barton, almost casually, decked out in a black jacket and jeans.

Nope. No nervousness here. Compared to aliens, this'll be easy.

[kungfuwitch]

[Phoebe sees the newcomer and shoots him a smile and a nod.]

[cyan_maid]

[And, true to her word, Jane is here. She comes in quietly, but with a smile on her face that could only come from excitement and a bit of curiosity. She had never been down here before, and she knew that this meeting was important and serious, and could lead to very good things. So, despite how many friends of hers had left recently, she was happy.

And the first thing she does is come over to greet the person in charge. Smalltalk helps calm nerves, right?]

Hi, Phoebe. How're you?

[kungfuwitch]

[Phoebe smiles at Jane, truly happy to see her there.]

Hello, Jane. I'm alright. A little nervous about the meeting but I'll be okay.

[toobravehearted]

[No, he wouldn't be missing this. Entering and looking around, he spies Phoebe and waves, then steps over to say hello.]

It's good to see you again Phoebe. How are you doing?

[silentrunning]

[Chell notices Phoebe, and shoots her a wave and a nervous smile.]

[encryptedlock]

[York is here, eating a cookie through his helmet.

Yep.]

[kungfuwitch]

[... classy, York.

Phoebe wanders up with a smile]

Thank you for coming, York.

Re: Arrivals and mingling

[silentrunning]

[Chell creeps into the room. She's never been to a meeting... OF any kind, before. So she's super nervous.

She hoped it would be all right to come without dressing up. Phoebe hadn't said there was a dress code in her entry sooo...

Chell creeps over and snags a cookie, a sandwich and some juice for herself and then finds a seat to sit and munch, looking like the most nervous nervous bunny alive. But she's determined to help, to be here.]

Phoebe's speech

[kungfuwitch]

Phoebe took a deep breath as she looked around the room at the arrivals. She knew most of them, though some were new faces. That was good, though, new faces were good. It meant she had a chance to bring this thing back to life and keep it going.

Of course she'd never been big on public speaking so this was the first big hurdle.

She closed her eyes for a moment, centering herself before smiling and stepping into the middle of the chairs. She looked around as she spoke, "Thank you all for coming here. I know this is a first for all of us. Before now Code Blair had always been talked about over the journals, ideas and plans being passed between people as individual conversations instead of what it should be: a discussion. This just can't work if it's one person's thoughts and ideas. The purpose of Code Blair was always to keep the children of the castle safe. I'd like to expand that to include an evacuation plan. I'd like this to be a group of people working together to create a plan to get everyone out of the castle and to a single location where we can make sure everyone's safe and together.

Of course we'll pay special attention to the children of the castle when something happens. We need to try to keep track of how many kids there are and try to make sure they're taken care of. It's rare that a kid is here with their parents or any guardians from their world. Unless they're being watched over by someone in particular they're on their own and that can be pretty scary in a place like this. The youngest person in the castle right now is two years old. This tells me the castle is caring less and less about whether or not a person is able to take care of themselves while they're here. That's a scary thought, if you ask me."

She paused, taking a moment to let her words sink in. This next part was going to be the hardest. She wasn't going to mention her by name but people needed to know what had been said. "There is one other person in the castle who is going to be trying to set up an evacuation plan. It doesn't matter who it is, just that they don't think an evacuation plan needs people to work. Their idea is to create a plan that will be triggered by a single wish by them. When I argued that it was a bad idea I was summarily told that I was wrong because trusting in anyone else to have my back when something went wrong was the bad idea. I was wrong because people would lie, cheat, and run away when things get tough.

I'm not going to turn this into a 'let's prove them wrong' thing. That's not what this is about. This isn't about who's right or wrong or who has the more effective plan or whatever. This is about protecting people. This is about keeping the other people in the castle safe. I just think that it's important to know what arguments you might come up against."

After another brief pause she smiled, spreading her hands, "Now I have some ideas, myself, for how I want this to work but it's not about me. I'd like to open this up to your ideas. Don't think that any idea is too small or stupid or anything. They're all important and I want to hear all of them."

Re: Phoebe's speech

[silentrunning]

[Chell speaks up. She's still slightly nervous, but she's definitely trying.]

Could parts of the old Code Blair be reused, or are we building from scratch? Because if parts can be resurrected, I think the idea of putting people in charge of floors is a good idea. Only, maybe some sort of checkin monthly or so, or maybe even longer intervals and the like, could assure that people know who's gone home and who's still here? I'm not sure what to do about filling the spots vacated by people who have gotten sent home though.

[That was a lot for Chell to say at one time, but she finishes her sentence and lapses into silence, to listen to other people's ideas.]

[kungfuwitch]

[She nods]

A monthly check in is a good idea. That way we can be absolutely sure who's still here and what we need to update and cover for. I agree that floor captains are still a good idea. If people know where they should be up front it alleviates a lot of confusion.

Re: Phoebe's speech

[compromisedarrow]

We need contingency plans. Not everyone has fancy powers or suits, or is from alternate dimensions. I know who Phoebe was talking about with the whole "I don't need no help" thing, and they chewed me out for being buried under rubble for several hours after the earthquake.

[A pause.]

That person is right. An evac plan won't work if no-one shows up, but we need to be prepared if it's due to something beyond our control.

[kungfuwitch]

[She gives Clint a nod at that. There will be none of that chewing out in this group, not at all.]

Absolutely. No matter what we plan on here we can't keep it to ourselves. People will be more likely to trust an evacuation plan of any kind, or listen to whoever is in charge of their floor if they know about it ahead of time. It erases the whole "come with me if you want to live" thing. People - especially children - might not trust that a person they don't know is only looking out for their safety.

[cyan_maid]

[The speech is very good, and Jane listens to every word. The bit about someone wishing everyone to safety, though - that catches her interest.]

Would that other person's plan even work? The way I see it, the castle wants us to be caught in its troubles. I don't think it would let someone just pull everyone out of its grasp like that. And a wish like that sounds huge! Who's to say it's too big for the castle to even handle?

[She shakes her head.] No, that's not good at all. There's got to be a plan.

[kungfuwitch]

I don't think it would work, no. [She sighs] I told them exactly that. It's usually the castle's fault we're evacuating in the first place and with its new habit of punishing people for wishes I don't think it's a safe idea at all.

Re: Phoebe's speech

[toobravehearted]

[Listening carefully as Phoebe and others speak, he lets what's been said come out before adding his thoughts to the mix.]

Hello everyone. I think I could say for all here that there are those with people's safety at heart. After recent events with the Earthquake, we have been lucky that casualties were not worse than they were, and if I'm to be honest, any casualty at all is one too many.

I must say, I am appalled to hear that there is someone that thinks a single wish is all it would take to safeguard the population of Paradisa. I have to play devil's advocate here; isn't that counter-productive, bearing in mind what is thought to be known about the place? I wouldn't trust the castle with delivering more than tea, myself.

I'm aware that there were TARDII here at Paradisa and that at least one was designated as a meeting place. I would very much like to be able to extend that same courtesy, however... My TARDIS is curently grounded. As mentioned before with Phoebe, while the TARDIS is safe and can be used as a bolt-hole should anything happen... Travel is not possible at the moment. As a tool for evacuation, she's not in the best shape.

[And that he is going to contemplate on some more. Because when the meeting is finished, guess what he's going to be working on. Again.]

Open floor!

[kungfuwitch]

[talk amongst yourselves.

No, really. Questions, comments, concerns... in other words anything that might not fit directly under Phoebe's speech.]

[panicswitched]

Okay so... [ ashley's been mulling this whole thing over as everyone else asks questions about code blair and all that. she gets that part. it's all good. what she wants is a plan. she can do a plan. ]

I guess this is the part where we start taking notes of what everyone can do and what they're willing to do. Like what powers and abilities and plain old "I'm good at running" people have. I can start that. As long as I've been somewhere, I can teleport me and two other people there. [ pause. ] And I'm really hard to kill.

[ if they're out in the dead zone, though, all bets are off and she hopes people know that. but this isn't something for the dead zone. it's for the castle and that's what she's working with. ]

[silentrunning]

[Chell grins at Ashley.]

I haven't any special abilities, but I'm stubborn, hard to kill and can run like hell.

After the meeting

[kungfuwitch]

[Care to talk to Phoebe after the meeting? Here's your chance!]

Re: After the meeting

[silentrunning]

[Chell sidles up to Phoebe after the meeting, and shoots her a smile.]

You did well. Thank you for this.

[She indicates the whole room with her hand, and the people who may be filing out.]

It needed to be done. Thank you for stepping up.

[kungfuwitch]

[That truly means a lot to Phoebe. She smiles warmly]

You're very welcome. Thank you so much for coming. This won't work at all unless there are others who want to help out.