First Contact Seminar and Various Emergency Planning - OTA!

[beautifulspaceraptor]

Who: Open to everyone! Engineers, security, safety volunteers and more!
When: Backdated to a day or so after the portals opened up.
Where: Music Hall!
What: Health, security and safety!
Warnings: Health, security and safety. And lists.


1. First Contact Seminar - 09.11 - OTA

A few hours after the portals at the Shrines open, after Nihlus’ network post and the initial exploration team goes through, the Music Hall has been converted into an impromptu classroom. Atop the stage are: Clara, Miller, Shepard and, of course, Nihlus.

They ask that you activated your ACE’s note taking program and for people to raise their hands should they have any questions at any point. There will also be a Q/A at the very end to cover everything else and all of the lecturers are available for further questions outside of this seminar.

Topics covered:
- Atmospheric Dangers
- Safety Equipment Usage
- Exploration/First Contact Team
- Actually Telling People Before You Go Off to Do Something Really Stupid
- Ingress Entry Procedures and Necessity of Procedures
- Dangers of Alien Geography
- Encounters with New Fauna
- Contamination Dangers and Decontamination Procedures
- Strongly Worded Warnings Against Consuming Random Bits of Alien Foliage
- Encounters with New Sentient Species
- Avenues/Methods of Communication in a First Contact Scenario
    - Visual
    - Auditory
    - Scent
    - Touch
    - Misc.
- Determining Danger
- De-escalation Tactics for the Unknown
- Warning Security of Pending Attack
- Cultural Respect/Earning Trust of a New Species
- You Better Behave Or So Help Me Spirits
- A Brief Survey of how to Improve Future Safety Seminars


2. Saferoom Construction Prep - 10.11 - OTA

All the people that Nihlus has contacted will be pinged with a date and time. The subject line?

‘Meeting in Music Hall: Discussing Contingency Measures for Medical and Future Saferoom Projects’

Once there, they will find a holoprojector atop the stage, the various screens glowing orange. On them are:

- A high res 3D scan of Medical
- A high res blue print of Medical pulled from Avagi’s systems
- A 3D map of Avagi with rooms marked off as locations for future installments of saferooms. Each room is dedicated to a particular section of Avagi.
- A very, very long To Do List
- A very, very long list of available tools, including an Eezo powered fabricator that will need to be upgraded into a bigger platform
- A very, very long supplies list and potential places they can pull them from, primarily, unused rooms around the station and (potentially) trade with worlds opened up through the portals

And in the middle of it all is Nihlus, ready to show people how to manipulate the projections as needed. It’s basically Google Docs in holographic form, so feel free to edit as you please! Sorting out all the all the ideas will happen after a good brainstorming.

Nihlus will also try to mediate any form of bickering and argument that might pop up amongst the participants. Hopefully, not necessary, but, well.

Engineers!


3. Emergency Plan Prep - 11.11 - OTA

For everyone who volunteered, or is interested in volunteering to help with Emergency Procedures but don’t have any engineering, programming or combat skills, this is open to you!

Nihlus will go over the map of Avagi, what to do if they should come under attack presently, where to direct people in case of emergencies. He will also offer contacts for combat training for anyone who doesn’t have any and strongly encourages them to follow thru.

Other topics include:
- Levels of Emergency/Warning Levels
    - Low/No Threat
    - Medium Level of Threat
    - High/Lock Down
- Maintaining Calm in Chaotic Situations
- Working with Uncooperative Crew Members
- Directing Panicking Crowds
- Working with Medical
- Working with Security

He will then go over plans for the future: where the saferooms will be installed, what will be in them and how to use and activate various emergency equipment. For now, however, this is a rather brief talk.

Afterwards, he will stick around to answer any questions.


4. Avagi Security Plan - 11.11 - OTA

For the security folk! More of a meet and greet more than anything, really. Topics covered:

- Who is Guarding What and Where
- Rotation for Guarding the Shrines
- Procedure for Dealing with New Arrivals
- Dealing with Uncooperative Crewmates
- Gently
- De-escalation Tactics for Uncooperative Crewmates
- Quarantine Procedures
- Emergency Procedures
- Levels of Emergency/Warning Levels
    - Low/No Threat
    - Medium Level of Threat
    - High/Lock Down
- Working with Medical
- Working with Emergency Procedure Volunteers
- Dealing with Noncombatants in General

Also pretty brief unless you stick around for socializing!

Comments

2. OTA

[magneticfields]

[ Erik listens closely, taking notes on his A.C.E. Which still is awkward but when faced with the lack of paper and pencils, he makes do.

When the topic of the fabricator comes up he goes still and just listens closely. Of course he has opinions about everything and how they are to do it, and realizes that keeping his abilities close to his chest may not be possible the more he participates in this project. But for now he has more immediate questions. He raises his hand when Nihlus pauses for questions or comments. ]

Yes, the fabricator. What is that, what can it do, and who has access to it?

[beautifulspaceraptor]

The fabricator is an Eezo-based mini-facturing unit, capable of working with a very wide range of material and printing anything from basic circuit boards to complex electronic arrays- as well as breaking them down. At the moment however, there is a size limitation of thirty by thirty centimeters.

[ Pulling up the blueprints and a rendering of the fabricator, Nihlus sizes it up so that Eric would be able to see it clearly from his seat. ]

As for who has access to it: it's my personal machine. But- I am going to be making it open for use for anyone who asks. Access comes with mandatory training.

[ Just so people don't accidentally melt their fingers off with the thing. ]

If you'd like, I can send the full specs to your ACE?

Somebody's gonna get the best Christmukkah present ever

[magneticfields]

[ Erik nods to indicate he's still listening as he quickly makes a few notes and adds a new project to his task list. ]

Yes, along with what time training might be available. I'm sure we can work out some kind of equitable exchange for use.

[ He also makes a note to scout for space in the Chemistry wing. ]

haha!

[beautifulspaceraptor]

I can give you training immediately after this. [ Turning to the rest of the room, he raises his voice. ] This offer is also available for any other interested parties. After this meeting is done, I will bring the fabricator down for a demo.

[ Turning back to the other man, he gives Erik a little smile, stepping off of the stage as he converts the file from his Omni-tool's preferred format to one that the ACE could work with. ]

As for exchange, helping us set up the saferooms is more than enough. And I ask that you don't break it, but that's about standard procedure.

[ Once close enough, he sends a sync request to Erik's ACE. ]

I don't think we've met.

[ Erik would know him, of course. Nihlus had introduced himself at the beginning of the meeting. ]

[magneticfields]

[ Erik lingers after the lecture. He's never been entirely comfortable in academic settings. His own education was haphazard, at best, and he is mostly self-taught. The one time he actually did spend time in a legitimate institution of learning, he was working under cover for Mossad.

He still earned a degree in engineering, though. Albeit under a pseudonym.

It is easier when it is just him and Nihlus, as odd as the alien's appearance is, even to somebody so accustomed to mutants of various appearances. ]

I don't believe so. I am Magneto. [ He offers a hand to shake, and takes a moment to pray that this is not some unbelievable breach of etiquette. ]

[beautifulspaceraptor]

[ Nihlus doesn't seem to mind in the least, gracefully accepting the handshake with friendly dip of his crested head, careful of his claws.

Handshaking was a fact of human interaction that he'd gotten used to a long, looong time before he ever arrived in this universe. Diplomatic relations to maintain as he worked with the Alliance to pick out a Spectre from their numbers and whatnot. ]

Magneto, [ he repeats and there's a sliver of amusement in his tones, in part at the obvious code name and in another at Erik's carefully hidden unease. ] A pleasure. Would you like to help me roll the fabricator in? I parked it backstage.

[magneticfields]

[ Erik doesn't miss the shade of amusement, and lifts an eyebrow in an unspoken dare for Nihlus to comment. When he does not, Erik's expression evens out again. ]

Oh, of course.

[ He follows Nihlus backstage to where the fabricator has been stashed. ]

I've only ever heard of such things in science fiction. As far as I know there's no working theory on how to actually make one, where I'm from. What sort of power does it use? It must be a considerable cost.

2

[alformthearm]

[Alfor suspects there's quite a bit of work to do, but nothing impossible given the people they have with varying skills and areas to salvage from in order to repurpose parts. Getting needed items from other worlds would be more of a trick in whether or not there was any relevant supplies and materials available. The current world that the newly opened portals revealed didn't seem to be all that technical. That's not to say they couldn't potentially get other much needed things, however.

He studies the visuals that are provided, nodding thoughtfully at the designated locations for saferooms. The tool listing confuses him a little because of some unfamiliar names or simply the fact that in Altean they might be referred to differently, but he's making reference notes on his ACE as he looks over things, more for his benefit so that things will go smoother whenever they actually start work.]

I suppose reinforcing the base walls for these areas would be among the first things to be done. Making sure there's some sort of back-up power supply or ability to reroute power to sustain basic life support should probably be given priority so we don't end up having to take anything apart again, and at least mapping such things out won't require any extra materials.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

The scans I did of medical should be detailed enough that we can at least do a rough simulation of where and how everything will fit beforehand.

[ Nihlus brings up the holo of said scan and expands it before tossing it over for Alfor to look over. ]

Alternatively, we can try doing a test run on a another, less critical room first. The downside there is the fact that we don't know if or when the Ingress is going to open to a hostile world in the near future.

[alformthearm]

Ah, excellent!

[Brightening, Alfor pulls the holo up in front of him, looking it over as he nods.]

If we're careful enough the first time around and don't cut any corners, we can probably just begin directly. But I don't think it would hurt to do some sort of test reconstruction of another room, if just to really have a good feel for things, structurally.

...but that is true. And we can't be certain where those portals may open when they've only just done so. If they do happen to open in the same areas, then all well and good, but if they open in random places within the station, then that will certainly make things more difficult to anticipate.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

The Ingress here seems to behave a lot like the one on the ship I and some of the older members of our crew have been on. The Moira's Ingress had been- disconnected somehow. To make it more portable. It had also become significantly more unstable as a result.

[ Nihlus leans his weight onto one leg, watching Alfor manipulate the hologram. ]

The location of the portals to different worlds seem to be relatively consistent if the shrines are anything to go by. What it brings to us is something else entirely. We've already seen the Ingress here graft pieces of different worlds with Avagi, the locations of which seem completely randomized. Other times it pulls in smaller objects and scatters them around.

If this instability escalates to the same extent as the Moira's Ingress...

Well, it's pretty damn hard to plan for. One of the more unfortunate cases turned the parts of crew and a good chunk of the ship into glass. In another instance, it pulled, well. Creatures through. Murderous ones. Ploiatos was one of the more dangerous, sapping the life out of any and all creatures that touched it.

And there'd been thousands in that storm before we fell into the shards.

[ Another pause here, his eyes drifting in thought. Is that what might be waiting for them behind the closed doors? He's wondered before, but now...

Well, it certainly put a new urgency into things. ]

I am... mostly hoping to prepare for the second scenario. That, and potential invasions from any worlds the portals open to.

[alformthearm]

[Alfor pauses from his perusal of the holoscan, eyes looking back towards Nihlus. If the Ingress energy is "affixed" to certain areas on the station, then that will be one less problem to worry about. It does leave plenty more in its wake, however, as the Turian so brings up from previous experiences.]

Oh my. Preparation for the potential threat of something coming from whatever random world we end up being synced to is an understandable and obvious priority to be concerned about, but the cause of instability...

Well, we can only do our best with the anticipation that any amount of complications can occur. Can the rooms containing the shrines be easily sealed off in the case of emergency? Aside from security feeds to monitor the areas, that would be the main place to initially stop the possible spread of a threat, if not also keep our people from getting exposed to something potentially dangerous.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

Avagi does seem to have built-in compartmentalization like most space stations do. It's something to test out once everything is a bit more sorted.

[ Wouldn't want to try and test them out without the whole station knowing after all. Someone could crushed between the doors. ]

The original security feeds in most sections of the ship seem to have been disassembled and used to repair the drones, so those will have to be reestablished. For the time being, we're relying on volunteer security to keep an eye on things and sound the alarm.

1, 2, 3, 4, OTA!

[yorisearching]

Yori shows up to every single meeting Nihlus holds, whether she volunteered to help out or not, sitting quietly near the back and taking copious notes in her ACE...but also in a very old notebook.

Why is she taking notes when she's a program who remembers everything? Because this is meant to help collaboration along, and it's hard to show other people the transcript in one's memories without letting them a little too close to one's mind.

Are some of those rapid-fire notes handwritten in Japanese? They might be. When someone loads a full language into one's mind without asking first, one might as well make use of it.

Are the handwritten Japanese notes reminders to make sure Rinzler notices minor points such as Actually Telling People Before You Go Off to Do Something Really Stupid and De-escalation Tactics?

Maybe it's best not to ask.

You're brave people, though. Feel free to be curious about the blonde lady in an old Moira uniform.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

"How many underscores can you put on there before he starts taking offense?"

For his part, Nihlus seems rather amused. It's a bit of a lull in the aftermath of the meeting now, people going around talking with each other and sorting out introductions or catching up with each other.

[yorisearching]

There are more than a few underscores in pertinent places. Yori chuckles under her breath. "The first one offends him, so I might as well make the note memorable."

Rinzler doesn't appreciate orders or hints, but if she makes it a plea he has some small chance of listening.

"He respects you, so I think he might even text you while he takes off." Not quite before. Of course not.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

"Wow, I feel so privileged," Nihlus puffs, amusement written into every stripe on his face. "I only have to chase him down in a panic instead of panicking after finding out he's taken off."

They are SO going to get the stink-eye from Rinzler here, but that barely stop him from grinning.

"So, anything I can help expand on?" he quizzes, folding his hands behind his back. "I know we glossed over a lot of the details for the sake of progression."

[yorisearching]

Well, since he asked, Yori would never turn down the opportunity for more data. She taps De-escalation Tactics. "I've got to interpret these for Rinzler," she says dryly. "Any tips?"

The presentations had been clear about what to do if one is a Security function, official or unofficial, who wants to avoid trouble. Less clear on what to do if one has a Security-adjacent friend who likes to get into trouble.

She'll figure something out, but more details from Nihlus might improve her odds of success. A little. Anything helps.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

"Present it to him as efficiency points?" Nihlus offers thoughtfully. "The least amount of energy spent on neutralizing a threat is an important part of security. Stabbing members of the community for not being forwards with him is generally the opposite of maintaining system stability- and while quick initially, it takes takes more energy to clean up afterwards."

Not... that Rinzler usually participated in the cleaning up of such ordeals. For various reasons.

1, 2, 3, 4 OTA

[aka_pistachio]

1. First Contact Seminar

[ Kelly Ann has never been a great student. Or maybe she just never had a great teacher. Or just didn't stay at any school long enough to make an impression on a teacher who might have made a difference. The point is, sitting in a seminar for hours when she wants to be running around on the planet with Peter is torture.

But Shepard thinks she's up for this kind of stuff, and Nihlus is taking a chance on her. She's going to try her best to stay awake.

She slouches in her seat near the back, watching everybody else more than actually paying attention, and frequently fidgeting to keep herself from nodding off. But when there's a chance for questions, there is one that's been weighing on her mind. ]

Yeah, um. What if one of us breaks the law and like, gets arrested or something?

2. Saferoom Construction Prep

[ Kelly Ann is pretty quiet during the presentation, but at least the hologram is interesting enough to keep her awake. ]

Look, you guys are all like, experts in construction and stuff? But these choke points. [ She highlights the areas that cause her concern. ] If there's a rush people are going to get crushed and die there. It's too small.

3. Saferoom Construction Prep (closed to Nihlus)

[ Kelly Ann actually takes notes for the part specifically about the team she's joining. It's a lot. And she's not quite sure how to take notes in the first place. This is all way more complicated than being Worker Bee #5 on Bus #1 and the gravity of what she's committed herself to starts to dawn on her.

Afterward, she does have some questions that she's not comfortable asking in front of everybody, so she waits until everybody else is gone before approaching him. ]

What are we supposed to do if somebody's uncooperative and like, outranks you?

[ She tries to stand up straight, but even if she did use all of her 5' and 4" she'd still be a good foot or so shorter than Nihlus. And most people on the station, for that matter. She's skinny and young and a woman and knows this all is stacked against her.

Maybe this was a mistake. ]

4. Avagi Security Plan

[ The security briefing doesn't have a lot to do with her, but she sticks around just because it's useful to know how the different pieces work together. This is all so much work. No wonder they roped her into something, they need all the help they can get.

Besides, the day is over anyway. What else is she going to do, other than sit near the back looking more than a little overwhelmed. ]

3!

[beautifulspaceraptor]

[ Nihlus pauses in the middle of skimming through his personal notes on his Omni-tool when Kelly Ann approaches him. Her words make him pause- and then his dismisses the screens altogether with a quick flick of his wrist, turning his full attention on the human. ]

Avagi presently has no ranks. No one outranks you.

[ There's no real way to mince it. They were living in an anarchic station. One with stable community, thus far, but anarchic nonetheless. ]

This is both to your advantage and disadvantage, [ he continues, leaning against the side of the stage. ] Your ability to control these situations will lie in your ability to form connections with the rest of the community. Therein lies your ability to gain cooperation, too.

[aka_pistachio]

[ Kelly Ann swallows the nervousness that flutters in her chest when Nihlus pauses. It was easier on tour. Shelli always had time for her. And when she was busy, Bill would listen. Kelly Ann got used to that. Here it seemed like whenever she approached somebody it was a contest to see who could get rid of her the fastest.

She couldn't tell if Nihlus was irritated, which was part of the problem. But he said he'd accept questions, dammit.

His answer surprises her, and it shows as her already-wide eyes widen further. And then her brow furrows as she tries to puzzle this out. ]

But like. Ok first of all, I'm ... pretty bad at that whole forming connections thing. And also what if they think they outrank me? How am I supposed to convince them that they don't and they need to listen?

[beautifulspaceraptor]

You've already formed connections, [ Nihlus points out, tones a bit more gentle and a bit less neutral. ] You have Shepard's recommendation and, as of today, you have mine. Both of us have more than our fair share of connections with the rest of the station. If you need anything, any kind of direction on who to ask or see about what, we are both available to answer.

[ This was FAR from a test of his patience. Kelly Ann was about as mild as they came, especially compared to Rinzler and Lavellan- and, really, almost any other member of his communal block. But he can see that she didn't know how to read him and he does his best to compensate, pulling up human oriented cues: softer voice, easing against the side of the stage in open relaxation, hand braced against it as the other gestures in time with his words. ]

If a person thinks they outrank you, they will have us- and everyone who is with us- to argue with. Communal backing is power in and of itself. If the community backs you, you have the rank.

In the case where either Shepard or I are not available and invoking our names does not result in cooperation... your priority is ensuring the people who are cooperating get to where they need to be safely- and ensuring that you yourself do so as well.

[aka_pistachio]

[ Kelly Ann nods when Nihlus points out what she's already managed to do. Because he's not wrong, even if it feels like what he's saying isn't true.

She takes a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. ]

You and Shepard have shown a lot of faith in me and like, you don't really know me at all. I just don't want to let you down. Especially if it's, like, an emergency and I don't have time to run for backup to make sure somebody's doing what they're supposed to.

I mean it's like, potentially life and death, right? It sucks when somebody doesn't take me seriously but... not enough to make it a capital offense.

[ She laughs awkwardly as if the thought is somehow funny. ]

[beautifulspaceraptor]

You cannot control everything. This is, unfortunately, very applicable to people in times of emergency. Doubly so for the perfectly sane and intentionally uncooperative. Again, your main priorities are ensuring the safety of cooperative crew members and yourself.

[ Sighing softly, Nihlus hesitates for a moment before reaching out to very, very gently place his hand atop the human's shoulder, green eyes slanting in a quiet, sympathetic smile. ]

You are a civilian with no combat experience, but this is not a limitation. Especially not for this job. We will coach you on the necessary negotiation skills to minimize the chances of such a scenario going through as best as we can. Do you think that would help smooth down any of your concerns?