The Day After Doomsday, Wednesday, Period 4

[raspberryturk]

"Oookay." Reno was not starting with a chipper, 'hey, Rookies!' today. Reno had a lot of work to do with these ones, so the group was actually meeting in the classroom today, no fancy Danger Shop setup for them. "So last week, I threw you guys completely blind at a survival scenario, mostly to see what would happen. And then I went home and I spent the night drinking, holy shit."

Was Reno not supposed to share that? Reno was going to share that anyway.

"I'm not saying you were all gonna die. I'm just saying there was no chance in hell most of you were going to survive, at that rate. We had one person running around telling everyone what they figured was the best plan, we had all of them disagreeing with that and coming up with plans of their own. We had my fricking TA arguing with anyone he talked to. We had people sitting around resigned to die and we had people who had been upsetting people because they were sitting around resigned to die then turning around and yelling at other people who were sitting the hell around, resigned to die. There were communication misfires all over the place, nobody could agree on whether they ought to stay or go, and in the hour you guys had for class, nobody got around to actually assessing the situation. Plenty of plans to survive whatever hypothetical you thought of, but if a single one of you can tell me what was out there rattling the doors, I'll give you my friggin' ferret."

Anybody? Bueller?

"I was gonna cover surviving severe climate change this week," he added, raising an eyebrow, "but I think my efforts would be put to better use teaching you guys basic teamwork, or at least how to put together some kind of decision-making process. Human history? Is completely full of decision-making and teamwork, by the way. We're a social species, we're kind of kickass like that. So this should be easy. We've got plenty of government types to pick from, even. You've got democracy - easy to do in a group this size. You can all agree or disagree by show of hands in thirty seconds or less, and there, decision made, shit's gettin' done. You can appoint someone to make the big choices, preferably somebody who's been there or done that. Doesn't have to be one person, it can be a few, just so you have a sanity check in place if person number one is about to do something stupid. I know there are a couple of you who are in this class in order to learn how to deal with shit that's already going on back home. They might be a good place to start. You already tried the group brainstorm, and I counted no less than three people who were contemplating murdering someone else in their sleep. So, trust me, unless you all get better at that one, it's probably not for you."

Reno shrugged his shoulders, sighing and leaning back against his desk. He'd kept his voice even and calm through all of that - they were rookies, it made no sense to get mad at them for making rookie mistakes - but all of the bickering that had gone on in the room last week had him a little concerned and a little disappointed, all the same.

"If you really want to do the brainstorm thing, if you're all hell-bent on presenting your ideas to the group and being heard, try picking someone to facilitate the discussion. Someone to sit in the middle of your little discussion circle to make certain that everyone has a chance to have their voice be heard. You probably want to pick a neutral party for that one, someone who can tell everyone to shut up while you all have a chance to talk, no matter how stupid you're being. Then you can all talk about the ideas that were shared with the group like grownups. You lose 'being an antagonistic ass' privileges for this idea, by the way. The facilitator also has the right to make you go sit in the goddamned corner."

Reno might have just added that bit, but he was not above pulling out the dunce cap and a chair if it really came down to it, this week.

"I'll bunch extreme climate change and a toxic environment all into one class next week, yo. Sometimes they're tied together anyway. This week, you are all going to sit your asses down and figure out how you're going to make decisions for future classes, from here on. And then, whatever you pick, we're going to stick with for the rest of the summer, unless I say otherwise. Making big choices fast is a huge part of survival. Your ability to get shit done is gonna make or break you, yo. Choosing not to be part of the group is a legitimate decision, too, but the group can reserve the right to figure out what to do about rogue aspects if your choices start to put them in danger. This is doomsday, people. You don't get to sit cozy and make easy decisions anymore."

[Open!]

Comments

Sign In!

[raspberryturk]

With teamwork!

Re: Sign In!

[pulseof_life]

Paddra Nsu-Yeul

Re: Sign In!

[livebytherules.livejournal.com]

Will West

Lecture!

[raspberryturk]

Sit back in your boring classroom desks in a boring, non-doomsday scenario, and listen to Reno go on about cooperation. Yay! You've earned it!

Re: Lecture!

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor kept fidgeting today. Last week, she'd been anxious because the scenario was too reminiscent of home. She wasn't sure (http://fhplotterywheel.livejournal.com/176668.html) what was turning her mood similarly dark today. Perhaps it was simply the reminder, coupled with the philosophical discussions from two days ago.

Re: Lecture!

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had woken up today stressed and anxious and this lecture was only making it roughly a thousand times worse. She's ruined everything last week and she was a terrible person who'd probably doomed everyone to die and this whole lecture was pretty much the teacher explaining to everybody why Kathy was a terrible person.

She was just going to sink down in her chair and struggle not to cry.

Re: Lecture!

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four was feeling decidedly anxious today. His foot was bouncing without his say-so (and he was normally rigidly disciplined) and Reno's chewing out was reminding him of not so great memories of Marcus and life back home.

So this would be Four curling in on himself and checking out of the discussion, at least for a while.

Re: Lecture!

[justwantedfriends]

Normally, Kira wouldn't enjoy a lecture like this one, but she was in a great mood. Obviously, Reno was just looking out for their best interests, and wanted to make sure they would all survive if the world was going to end! How could anyone feel bad about having such a considerate teacher?

Re: Lecture!

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

Joker had a hand up at the end of the lecture. "Actually, we did assess the situation," he pointed out. "And we came to a 100% consensus that we didn't want to spend the rest of our short, miserable lives living in the dorms off of stale corn chips and pool water. Sure, there was a lot of yelling about what to do about it, and a general lack of teamwork, but we were at least halfway to a decent plan, I think. So, go us!"

Team Building, Literally!

[raspberryturk]

So, you're all here in a group. Discuss amongst yourselves how this group is going to work. You have the whole class period to figure it out. Are you going to go for democracy? Pick a leader or a facilitator? Is someone going to step up and pull a hostile takeover on the grounds of 'you're all dumb?' Are you going to throw up your hands, say 'screw it,' and storm off to survive in Reno's future scenarios alone?

Whenever you've reached a consensus, or at least whenever you're done bickering between yourselves (he's looking at you, Kathy and Barry), someone can go tell Reno what's going on for the rest of the summer.

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[pulseof_life]

Yeul did not fidget or shift uncomfortably, despite the fact that she was reminded of Kathy's comments to her last week on how she had more experience than most people had with a great number of things.

She had experience both as being a leader, and in being led, and many more years in watching the paths of leaders and followers alike unfold.

"A single leader is generally faster than a democracy when it comes to making decisions," she said very quietly, looking mostly at her desk. "But a society, or a team, based on the opinions and voices of many generally lasts longer, for good or for ill, because it's much harder to kill or overthrow a committee."

That probably wasn't helpful? Though it was a strange step up from sitting in the corner.

It also wasn't very cheerful as a starting point.

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

No kidding Yeul.

"Fine. Let's take the American government as a model then."

Josh Lyman would be so proud.

"Here's my suggestion. We elect one leader out of the group. Then we nominate three other people. One in charge of military operations, one in charge of our... whatever the fuck we are. Tribe? And another in charge of supplies and food. If two out of the three committee members don't like what the leader is doing they can overrule him. Or something. I don't know. Science is my bag. Social and cultural shit isn't for me."

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor pulled one of her knees up so that she could hug it.

"I'm willing to go along with whatever plan everyone decides upon," she said, with a shrug of her shoulder. "But if the worst happens -- if the monsters break the door down, if Doomsday is imminent -- I'm going to take those I care about and get them to safety."

She wasn't a hero. She wasn't going to pretend she was.

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[not_every_mage]

"But that's not fair," Anders argued. "Even if I don't know someone like Yeul particularly well, she's not a monster. I'm not going to leave someone behind just because I'm not their friend yet."

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

"I... don't want to start the whole argument over again," Joker told her. "I mean, you've got your reasons, and from a practicality standpoint it makes sense. But... Just so you know, if you ever pull me out of somewhere and leave other people to die? I'm gonna be pretty pissed."

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy made the mistake of glancing up at one of those times when Reno was looking directly at her. She had to quickly look away to stop the tears from prickling under her eyelids at that, hunching over to try and make herself smaller.

She didn't want to talk today; surely she'd done enough of that last week? Except if she didn't talk, maybe people would think she was sulking at being singled out for being one of the worst perpetrators last class. She didn't want anyone to think that she thought she was huffy and spiteful. But what if she talked too much? Tried to take over again? Made people hate her?

This was why she's always been so quiet back home. She'd hated being overlooked, but it was clearly better than the alternative.

Yes, clearly Professor Reno's whole lecture today was 'Kathy, you are a bad person and you should feel bad.'

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[not_every_mage]

"Should we nominate leaders as a starting point?" Anders asked, during a lull in conversation. "No offense to anyone else, but I'd say Joker if he wants it. He seems smart, he'll argue with anyone, and he's not going to forget about the weakest among us in the rush to kill monsters."

Re: Team Building, Literally!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I'll second that," Barry said. "He annoys the fuck out of me and that's because he's right most of the time."

In Barry-speak that means Joker has his respect.

Talk to the TA!

[raspberryturk]

Reno doesn't trust him with much more than coffee and high-power explosives at the moment.

And the coffee, he's iffy on.

Re: Talk to the TA!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Hey! Today Barry had brought Reno some excellent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak) coffee.

Okay so the coffee beans were eaten and then pooped out by small Asian weasels.

It was still good coffee.

Re: Talk to the TA!

[spin_kick_snap]

After class, Kathy stayed behind to talk to Barry for a moment.

"Hey," she said, keeping her eyes firmly planted on the floor. "I just wanted to apologize to you for last week. I was a real jerk and totally out of line. I'm sorry."

Talk to Reno!

[raspberryturk]

You can come and tell him about your group's decision, or you can come tell him how unfair this class is. Or if you have some other thing to talk about, he's here for that, too.

Basically, he's just here.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Here you go, Boss," Barry said as he left a cup of coffee on Reno's desk.

"No acorns, today."

But the grin on Barry's face should be enough of a warning.

Re: Talk to Reno!

[not_every_mage]

"Excuse me, but didn't you start last week telling us what was outside didn't matter?" Anders asked after class. "I agree the class was a mess, but you can hardly tell us one set of specifics is beside the point and then blame us for not investigating it further."

OOC!

[raspberryturk]