OOC: Continued/Split from The News

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Tempest paid Rico a moment's attention as he came in from the kitchen. He didn't know him personally, but Devon had gotten most of the regulars' names. At least he was here when it happened. There were likely to be some copycat activity in the days to come. Hatred and bigotry tended to inspire more madness.

"Great," he replied to Juliette's volunteering to go up and talk with him. She was already volunteering plenty, a true help over the last couple weeks. He really had to get to know her better. It was going to be important now they work together.

On the way into the hall there was Darkshift. The look on her face mirrored his and he nodded. A million thoughts ran through his head. He'd taken a couple classes, been in some seminars revolving around emergency trauma and revolving around these kind of situations. You forget in those classes how you might actually feel in the moment. He shook his head, trying to banish the anger away.

"I've provided some fresh dry-erase markers, a few notebooks, some water, and some snacks," Ms. Wilson gestured into one of the smaller group rooms.

"Thank you, it's certainly appreciated," Devon said quickly. For the first time he truly wondered if she was a mutant. Had she heard the news and felt like they had? Did she fear for them? Was she too focused on her work to even consider the danger now to her? People knew about Sanctuary after all. It was hasn't hard to hear about. "Can you tell anyone that comes in that if they want to discuss how Sanctuary will move forward after this, what we can do, to come upstairs?"

"Of course," Lisa nodded. "Ms. Lawson. My Sylvia," she nodded to each in turn. Devon noted now a sympathetic tone to her voice he'd not heard before.

He went into the room and grabbed a notepad and pen. "Well, shit. Might serve us well to vent our anger and sadness before we talk real logistics. But," he added quickly. "I want to talk security and such for us. I want to make sure these kids stay safe. I'll start by saying we should have some first aid classes," he looked to Juliette. "I also think we need to talk about having a more formal watch." His eyes went from the light bearer to Darkshift.

If he focused on what needed to be done, he could be upset later.

There was almost a ringing sound in her ears as she walked upstairs with Devon and Darkshift to process things. Or, at least what she thought would be processing things.

Juliette watched Devon carefully as he spoke. Was he really talking logistics? They needed time to process what had just happened. Time to discuss it. They could worry about security later. 

But at the same time, she understood his reasoning. There would be scared kids coming to the Sanctuary, and they would need guidance. Even the kids waiting downstairs would probably be scared and confused. They needed a game plan. Sometimes, you had to think outside of yourself for the sake of others. 

"I can teach first aid lessons," the woman nodded distractedly. "In the infirmary for whoever wants to attend." It was a good idea, really. With fear came violence, and with violence came injuries. People without proper medical care available needed to be able to know how to treat injuries. 

Juliette crossed her arms as a comfort. She was still processing the events, but doing her best to be present for the meeting. "Is there anything else that would need to be done?" She asked the group around her.

Devon exhaled slowly, "Thanks Juliette." He was trying to focus purely on what they needed to do, lest his emotions get the better of him. "I think that'll be good. It gives some good baseline knowledge and even if we can't control everything, it grants a bit more control in whatever chaos someone wants to create."

"As for anything besides that and a watch, we need to establish some emergency plans. Let's do some fire drills, some active shooter drills, some safe area drills, that sort of thing. Schools and businesses do them and so should we, but we'll need to think about what we call some of them so we don't scare the younger kids," he nodded. "I'm going to call the police and fire department as well as the mayor's office about security. I'd like some non-robotic patrols in our area and I want a representative we can meet with regularly, a face to be our contact with government officials. I'll take care of that."

Devon jotted down on the pad of paper. He would be rather insistent that they help in fact. He hadn't expected to come to New York, volunteer for a shelter, and find himself leading a charge but they said volunteering taught you a great deal about the world and yourself. It didn't hurt that he'd get some college credit. That all was a side note in his real concern: someone targeting mutants, young ones at that, and killing them. It was too late to help them but not the ones here. He rubbed his eyes and looked back to the others.

"Let's talk to our neighbors as well. Even if they don't want to help, it's good to know whom they are and what they're about. Kind of Neighborhood Watch just like we want our own patrolling the halls and watching for anything problematic. It'll be important we reach out to anyone coming in or hanging out outside."

He sighed and inhaled deeply even as the breezes outside the building started to pick up, "...We should likely talk about a plan of how we'd handle a threatening situation too, not just how to protect or evacuate people."

Logistics?  Where did one start?  Darkshift knew where she wanted to start: making those who had killed all those innocents suffer horribly for the hatred in their hearts and the suffering they had caused because of those hatreds.  She wanted to see them bleed, to stick her claws into their soft, human flesh and have their blood drain in rivers.  That's what she wanted to do.  She did not, of course, voice any of this.  Probably it was not the right response.  Probably.  But oh, how she wanted it to be.

"We need to stick together.  Protect each other.  Protect those who are unable to protect themselves."  Protect the children.  But those were the words she didn't say, the words that should have been self-evident.  Keeping things practical and professional was easier, for the moment.  It meant she didn't have to dwell on the shear horror of the situation.  That was better.

"I can help teach people to fight, to defend themselves."  It wasn't about killing, as much as some dark part of her might have wanted it to be, but they had to be able to keep themselves safe.  There wouldn't always be others around to do it for them.  "I can also help teach people to stay hidden and quiet."  That felt like the cowards way out but sometimes it was the right choice.

"I've been doing patrols around our streets for months.  Helping and bringing wayward mutants in and keeping our streets safe from those doing us harm.  Maybe its time to have a few select others join me in that.  As much as possible, make the streets around Sanctuary safe for our kind even if we can't keep the whole city safe."

Juliette glanced at Darkshift. She didn't know her well, but she had seen her around. She seemed like she was taking the news well enough, or at least like she wasn't trying to think through the same fog that Juliette was.

The fog was beginning to take over. It seemed like the only thing she could focus on was the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She tried her best to follow along with what the two of them were saying, but it became increasingly difficult.

"Maybe we could take some of the kids around the neighbourhood and introduce them to people. That way the kids don't feel like they're so isolated from their community and we reach out to the people around here at the same time." She said after a moment. It was a less violent, and maybe even less productive approach than what they were suggesting, but she figured it might get some of the kids' mind off of what had just happened.

Devon nodded quite vehemently at Darkshift's comment. They did need to stick together and protecting those who needed it most of all. She represented a stronger armed and stealthier tactic, but certainly necessary in the right situation, or very wrong as the case may be. Meeting the neighbors was important too. He liked Juliette's idea and getting more community involvement too of course. His hand flew over the notebook quickly as he wrote.

"We can do both. Self defense classes are important for anyone, here or elsewhere. Learning to handle yourself in a bad situation, to raise your hand when you need to is good. I've taken some classes in the past," Devon declared, though it'd been more than just a few classes. "I'd get involved in that," he nodded to Darkshift.

"Teaching how to move in a dangerous time like if there's an active shooter we can do too. We can identify different residents and volunteers who can be leaders in these situations and teach them first, then make something more general for guiding the youngers when there's a problem. Darkshift, please do take point on the actual classes. We can organize who knows what already and start there," he nodded.

"As for the patrols, that's great of you. I've reached out to a few groups but I think the watch outside of the Sanctuary is a good idea. We need to know this area is safe and help patrol for problems," Devon sighed. "Let's just not let it go too far. Careful use of powers else they'll be calling us a mutant gang," he rolled his eyes. "Let's make sure only adults are in the watch. Maybe older teenagers as long as they're with an adult, I know they'll be pushing to help, but they should be 16 at least. We'll encourage our neighbors to join too. It's to keep their neighborhood safe, not just us after all. Come up with a time for a first meet and I'll get that info to Ms. Wilson and others."

"Juliette, could you lead the effort on the first aid classes and the community outreach? I'll talk to them about the neighborhood watch and you can check on some social and volunteer events. I'm thinking block party, fund raising, helping clean parks or buildings of graffiti, that sort of thing. We all need to know each other and show these kids that not everyone is a racist, fear-mongering person let alone violent."

Devon inhaled slowly, "So in summary, I'll set up the emergency plans with Ms. Wilson. I'll talk to our neighbors about a neighborhood watch. I'll also contact the police and the city about increase non-bot patrols. We need a single point of contact and become more familiar with one another."

"Juliette will set up first aid classes and spear head our community outreach efforts both social and volunteering. Let's start with some CPR and simple first aid. We'll save the intense classes for the older teens and adults."

"Which is where Darkshift will also draw up the patrols both internal to the building and the neighborhood. She can organize some hand to hand and self defense classes, and I'll work with her to get information on who knows what already. We'll identify some residents and volunteers to be 'emergency leads' in a bad situation for the hide and stay quiet, what to do if there's an attack, etc. I'm hoping someone with the city can help us plan a program for the youngest here, but this is an excellent start."

Devon blinked slowly, trying to focus on what needed to be done. "These are great first steps, but before we act on them we're going to have to talk to those sad, scared, and angry downstairs. So let's start by talking about how sad and pissed we are."

"At least, that's how I'm feeling," he added calmly, a breeze stirring the still air of the room.

Of course, the windows were closed.

>>"Juliette will set up first aid classes and spear head our community outreach efforts both social and volunteering. Let's start with some CPR and simple first aid. We'll save the intense classes for the older teens and adults."

The young woman nodded quickly. It was a good idea for sure. Especially since she had seen how the intense classes could be hard on some of the younger teens. She had learned that the hard way, actually. Well, technically she had brought the torment on herself, but she tried not to dwell on that fact too much. Or the fact that she had basically roped a man into injuring himself in front of young children and then gotten him fired.

In short, starting with simple classes was something she agreed with enthusiastically.

>>"These are great first steps, but before we act on them we're going to have to talk to those sad, scared, and angry downstairs. So let's start by talking about how sad and pissed we are."

She nodded again in agreement. "Those words don't even being to cover it. I don't... I don't understand how someone could even consider doing something like this." She paused again. "But we shouldn't stay up here too long. Those kids down there are feeling the same things we are, and they need to talk to someone just as much. If not more." Even if she wanted nothing more than to lie down and think for a good, long while.

A breeze moved through the room, ruffling papers and moving anything light ever so slightly. Juliette glanced around for the source, realizing that the windows in the room were closed. It seemed that Devon really didn't have it as together as it seemed.

Devon nodded to Juliette, "Yeah you're right. There's no reason or logic behind it. There's no right words. Some people are sick and easily consumed by the hate others are only too willing to spat out. Infuriating and sad, but we need to help the kids."

He closed the notebook and stood up, "Thank you both for coming up and making a plan with me. Feel free to start with your ideas as we talked about, but for now we'll go hang with everyone down there. Use the office or a room up here if you need to talk to someone privately."

The breeze had died, but not his emotions. They'd stir and slowly boil within for now. Devon knew he'd have to take some time.

"Let's head down stairs."

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((OOC: Thanks for the thread guys! I think we're good to call it done.))