(Untitled)

[felinemystique]

Characters: Bastet (felinemystique) and whatever Guards show up
Date/Time: Monday, April 12, 2pm
Location: Teahouse, Marketplace
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Their numbers down, the Guards meet to discuss where to go from here.

Comments

Intro/emergency plans

[felinemystique]

Bastet started shortly after 2, waiting until the last of them had gotten settled before speaking.

"I'm glad we got the chance to meet all together; hopefully this won't take too long." She paused, taking the time to look each of them in the eye. "First off, I wanted to let you know that Fugue asked me to act as Guard Captain last night, and I accepted. I'll be making a few changes, and with all of your help, they'll go through relatively painlessly."

She sipped her milk tea, now lukewarm, in order to give them a few moments to take in the news. "As I said earlier over the journals, I've been working with a couple of people--Justice and Snap, mainly--to put together procedures in case of an emergency. Spike has suggested having people assigned to certain areas, which goes along with my own idea of having first-response teams for various situations. So, in case of an evacuation, certain of us will be assigned to make sure certain areas have been cleared. Spike, you and I can work on putting those teams together later.

"Stoneface suggested connecting with people from different sections and occupations in the Sphere, which I think is an excellent idea. Medical, Housekeeping and the Adventurers are covered. We'll need at least one for each of the housing sections as well; the larger areas will likely need several. Any suggestions for who might be suitable for the other areas--the Market, or the Tradespeople, for example--would be welcome." She turned to Stoneface with a slight smile. 'I'd like you to work with Chosen on that. He's very social and has been here a while, so he'll likely have a few ideas of who would be suitable."

She tilted her head, looking from face to face. "Questions?"

Re: Intro/emergency plans

[blue_shields]

Spike was troubled as he arrived at the meeting, taking a seat close to Bastet and ordering plain tea. Trust was gone, Scales had gone missing and hadn't communicated with anyone for several days... which, granted, wasn't unusual for him, but he hoped the big lizard would show at the meeting, just to put his mind at ease. His total quiet was unsettling, especially since he often put his opinion in regarding matters of the guards- indeed, was one of the ones who had shown the most initiative.

Spike listened to Bastet with rapt attention, especially after she'd said she was now acting Captain- in effect, his leader. The one whom his instincts told him to now follow, to obey. His tea sat untouched on the table before him.

"Right," he said after she'd mentioned his name, already going through a list of people in his head he thought would be willing to take on the job, filing that aside. He then politely raised his hand when she asked for questions.

[felinemystique]

She nodded at Spike, noting the faint concern he'd tried to hide during the meeting; but for the time being, she'd respect his privacy and wait for him to bring it up himself. "Go ahead, Spike."

[blue_shields]

"I don't know if this will be helpful to you in any way, but I'm both a Guard and an Adventurer," he replied. "Is there anything else I can do that would be useful, considering that?"

He then let his eyes slide around the room for what felt like the hundredth time. No Scales. He wasn't showing up to ANYTHING. Sure, being incommunicado was one thing, Spike could even concede that he might've been troubled enough to skip out on yoga without informing Companion, but missing this...?

[felinemystique]

Bastet considered his question. "Most likely, once Snap and I have actually finalized things," she replied, nodding. "I won't always have time to meet with him myself, after all. It would be good to have someone in our ranks who has regular contact with him."

His eyes kept darting away to scan the room as they spoke; given his normal focus, it was enough to make her rethink her previous decision. "Is there something else?" she asked, her voice calm. "You seem anxious."

[blue_shields]

Spike smiled slightly. "That's a good idea; I'd be happy to be a liason whenever it's needed. I'm only a Guard part-time, anyway, so I'm not as busy as some of us are with that."

He didn't realize that he was being so noticeably antsy and chastened himself. He needed to act better than this, no matter how worried he was. He met Bastet's eye and mouthed one word: "Scales". He then said aloud, "I apologize. I just have a lot on my mind right now, as I'm sure we all do." He wasn't really sure why he didn't just say what he was worried about directly; perhaps it was because he didn't want to distract them further from their objective.

[felinemystique]

Ah, that's right--those two were friends. "Of course," she replied. "It's understandable." Normally she wouldn't concern herself with Scales' whereabouts; she'd assumed he was off sulking again. But given his recent insistence on proving himself, it was odd that he'd miss this.

He could just not be reading the journals; it was too early to panic. But he was one of her troops now, and she felt a certain responsibility towards him.

"If you have time after the meeting, you and I can start compiling a list of names," she said, holding his gaze before turning away to bite into a sesame seed ball. "That way we can start contacting people as soon as possible." They could talk more about Scales as well, if Spike so chose. If they had no word from him soon--she'd just have to make another trip to the Library.

[blue_shields]

"Of course, I'd be happy to talk afterward," Spike replied. "That's all I wanted to say for now; does anyone else have anything to add?" He picked up his now cold tea and sipped at it, glad to have the chance to talk in private.

[felinemystique]

Once the meeting was over, Bastet turned to Spike. "Thanks for staying--you know how things are around here, so I'd like to take advantage of the current lull. Something will come up soon enough."

She pulled out a standard notebook, one of many she'd looted from Vegas. "All right, so let's start with Medical Island. I have people in mind, but I'm curious to know who you'd send."

She'd let him bring up Scales; by now, it was obvious she had a way of confirming when people were gone for good, but if Spike wanted to launch his own search, she certainly wouldn't tell him no.

[blue_shields]

"It's no trouble," said Spike. "I want to get things done as much as you do, and you're right- the sooner the better. We never know when there's going to be another crisis." He bit his lip.

"...Before we get to that... about Scales? It's definitely not unusual for him to not talk to anyone for days at a time, but to not show up to the meeting? When he's one of the most vocal ones about wanting change? It doesn't seem like him. Have you heard from or seen him lately?"

[felinemystique]

"No, I admit it does surprise me. He was very...adamant about wanting to do more in the Guard the last time I spoke to him. That was about a week and a half ago."

She paused, tapping the end of her pen against the journal for a moment before speaking again, her voice low. "I have access to a place where all the journals of people who have died or disappeared wind up; it's how I knew Trust was gone." She held his gaze. "I'll check tonight and come find you. All right?"

[blue_shields]

"I'd appreciate it if you did," said Spike, nodding. "I'd go look myself, but if there's a faster way, it's probably better to not waste any time..."

[felinemystique]

"Of course. I'll let you know what I find out." She gave him a brief, reassuring smile. She'd go right after they were done here.

[stonyfaced]

As Stoneface stepped into the room, his eyes swept the table, taking note of everybody present. The absence of Trust was jarring, but not surprising. The absence of Scales, however, was unexpected; he let his face crumple into one of discontent for a moment before sitting down and ordering tea.

He nodded sharply as he was given orders, responding to Bastet's smile in kind. He scraped the teabag across the bottom of his cup and left it in, taking a sip of it while it was still scalding. It wasn't bitter enough. He left the teabag in.

"Just a couple," he said, scraping his chair back so that he could sit up straight. "From what I've gathered, the Guard's been in limbo with switching leaders. Once everything's sorted out, and if it doesn't step on..." He paused for a moment at the pronunciation of Fugue's name. "...Fugue's toes, it'd be a good idea for you to choose a second-in-command. Just in case. The less scrambling we have to do, the better."

He paused again, his grin more like a baring of the teeth than anything else, but a smile nonetheless. "Let's hope it doesn't happen in the first place, though, eh?"

Stoneface took another draught of his tea, scraping his tongue against his front teeth. "Wouldn't be a bad idea to choose second-in-command's for the rest of the leaders of the factions as well."

[felinemystique]

"I doubt Fugue will have an issue with it," she said, her voice studiedly bland, despite her amused expression. He'd been more than happy to leave the details to Drake and Trust, and she'd seen no sign of that changing with her.

She raised her hand to signal the waiter, indicating she wanted more of her current order, before returning Stoneface's grin. "Besides, it's a good idea; there's nothing wrong with staying optimistic, but we've got to be practical about this."

Both Guard Captains and those with access to Sphere secrets seemed to disappear fairly regularly; given that she fit both categories, it only made sense to plan ahead.

"I haven't had much time to consider, but I'll choose soon." This initial round of tasks would be a good enough way to tell who would be suitable.

Re: Intro/emergency plans

[pinkhairedchild]

Blood didn't intend to be running late, but writing a note to Ghost took longer than she thought it would. It looked like Bastet had been waiting for a little while when she finally ran and took a seat, breathing heavily in an exaggerated manner for a few minutes as she wiped her forehead. "Sorry, my note turned into a letter!"

She listened to Bastet for a moment, thinking about everything. "Yay Guard Captain Lady B! I don't got any questions, but I'm up for anything! Hee!"