Scene #5108: Patient Zero and You

Owner	Pose
Richard Stadler	The training area itself wasn't set up for anything strenous today; there were no obsticle courses set up to be run, no kill houses with pop up bad guys to shoot. Those would have been the fun ones, of course; practical skill training was what everyone wished for when they heard the word 'training exercise'. Sad to say that that's not where all education happened. Sometimes learning new things needed to start the same way someone in high school learned about covalent bonds; in a boring way with hopefully not a lot of worksheets. The area was set up to be something of an adutorium classroom, a semicircle of desks going a few rows up, all around an open space, with a podium and a large screen in front, desk with the computer off on the side. Thanks to distance education, everyone has a terminal built into the desk, perfect for taking notes, or listening to the assistive description program describing what's on screen... and, because Stadler knew trainings, there was no way solitare was installed or playable on those things. Stadler would come in once everyone else has (hopefully) trickled in, weariing his standard Class A uniform, snatching the hat off his head and tossing it onto the desk, along with some documents. "All right, all right. Looks like we're a few minutes behind, and I'm sure you all have places to be, so let's find our seats and get started."
Xiaomu	Xiaomu's already in her seat. She is not remotely in uniform ... unless you're familiar with how she normally dresses when she's on-duty for Shinra. Or off-duty, for that matter. The black qipao and red vest are just kind of her default outfit, and they let her carry her weapons whenever she expects to need them. Not that she should need them here. Theoretically. She also (theoretically) already knows quite a bit about various sorts of zombies. So why, you might ask, is she spending time here? Simply put, because maybe Stadler's sort of zombies are different from the ones she's already familiar with. That's all the logic she needs.
Sokka	Sokka had, of course, come with Toph. And, like all good cheer leaders, had ended up carrying Toph's books for her, walking besides her and gossiping as they'd gone. "Okay, so Cindy is dating Mike now, but she doesn't know that Mike and Cynthia used to date. But Cynthia was married at the time, but it's okay because they apparently had an open marriage. However, Cindy and Cynthia have been going at it for years ever since Cynthia got christmas off a few years back because her parents flew in from off world." He took a deep breath. "Now, Mike has been having trouble with this other guy, Frank, turns out they used to go to school together and Mike used to beat him in a lot of the physical exercises, on account of having two extra arms. Now Frank has been trying to flirt with Cindy, because he's trying to one up Mike. Now, Cindy, however, isn't directly opposed because she thinks Frank is cute too, but she's with Mike and likes him too. Now, they're all scheduled to have lunch in about two hours today and if we get out of here fast, it should be a real show." ... What? sokka was good with the water cooler talk. He took a seat near the front, pulling out Toph's seat and helping her sit, before putting her book down in front of her. "So, excited for today? I hope there's a test!" ... He was such a nerd.
Rebecca Chambers	Rebecca had already been here, helping Stadler set up. As her longtime superior and someone who knows quite a bit about Bio-Organic Weapons, Rebecca always looked up to Stadler as someone she could depend upon a lot of times. So, when she found out that he was doing a training thing regarding B.O.W.'s, Rebecca was more than eager to help. By the time people were arriving, Rebecca had finished already and was taking a seat quickly. She gives a slight nod and a smile to Xiaomu as the fox-girl takes a seat near her, before looking forwards again. When Sokka comes in, Rebecca can't help but look towards him and give him a nasty glare, short of shushing him. She absolutely hates people who won't stop talking in situations like this, and she's willing to shush him if he doesn't stop. For now, Rebecca faces forward as Stadler comes in, waiting for him to begin.
Toph Beifong	It doesn't look like Toph objects to Sokka carrying her books for her, and she looks rather relaxed as she walks in, hands in her pockets as she clearly doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to the babble, instead she 'looks' around the room. Wait, wasn't this supposed to be /training/? This seems like a class room, doesn't it? And computers, urgh. Whatever. Not worrying too much about it Toph follows after Sokka to the seats he has chosen for them, only sighing a bit as he seems to be done talking about the drama. "I told you not to watch that silly channel, all they have are over the top dramas and overacting," she comments, flopping down in her seat and surpresses the urge to fling her feet up on the table. And since Stadler seems ready to start, she will be quiet for now, sitting still and listening. Though she does sneak one hand towards her keyboard, checking it out. And hoping that nobody notices the bright nail polish on her nails.
Seras Victoria	Sadly, Seras didn't make sparkling grades in high school, but she did manage.. enough. Enough to do what she wanted. The prospect of learning like this is... well, not the highest thing on her list of things she could be doing. But with her world smack dab in the tainted lands and being flooded with undead threats, learning about those from other worlds COULD prove useful! So she comes in, dressed in her typical Hellsing uniform with the Paladin patch added. The only WEIRD thing that draws her attention would have to be Sokka, whose monologue gets her pausing on the way to her seat and glancing aside his way. A look of confounded awe is cast in the man's direction, before she skeedaddles towards an unclaimed chair... NOT going to ask what that's about, nope. NOT gonna.
Gilgamesh	The King of Heroes is not really one for subtlety. Before he even enters the room behind Seras, his presence is palpable, tangible, physical; his Divinity runs before him like bannermen before the horse, a Glory that is in no way metaphorical but literal. His Majesty spreads to fill the room like water filling a jug, like air filling a balloon to bursting. Divinity and Royalty are not things he claims, or things he won in combat, but things he is, fundamental building-blocks of his soul's existence. To be not the King, to be not Divine, is for Gilgamesh to be not. That aura, that majesty, is beautiful like its owner; as he enters the room, he is beautiful, even in a ragged patchwork of XCOM and Hellsing uniforms forming a loose robe. That ragged patchwork seems the finest gown draped across his body; the ragged stitchwork of VIGILO CONFIDO and HELLSING: WE ARE ON A MISSION FROM GOD are a covenant writ in imperial thread. The King of Heroes sits himself next to Seras in one of the unclaimed seats. He seems wildly confused by the mere idea of the room. It's not really a thing he ever had to sit down and /do/; being born complete means you pretty much know everything you need to know to be King from the moment you're born, so 'school' is a concept Gilgamesh doesn't really.../get/. Who had time for this kind of thing? "I promised," he audibly reminds himself, a look of irritation crossing his face. He nods vaguely to Toph, trusting in her odd powers to see him, and then proceeds to do what Gilgamesh does. Stand up, move the seat to the side, and make a gesture with his hands imperiously. A ripple forms in time and space behind him. A throne of gold and stone falls to the ground next to Seras's seat with a whud. Gilgamesh sits down in it, then produces an ottoman for himself of similar opulence. He kicks his feet up. Then he produces a bottle of wine and a pair of goblets, pours himself a cup, and offers the other one to Seras. Other goblets are offered around the room to others. The wine is as Divine as the King. Maybe more. It is possibly not of this Earth. He may not /fully/ understand the point of this.
Richard Stadler	Stadler nods over to the room as they enter, Xiaomu getting a nod. He beleive she already new about zombies... then again, so did a lot of people in the room. The point of the training was to make sure people could react to them, and he was hoping most of them got something out of it... and didn't just spend the time gossiping. He tries to solve that by giving Sokka a bit of a look, but that reaction to classroom training was /oddly enthusastic/. Something that suprised him, certainly... and, well, not the only thing that he was suprised to see. He didn't spend a lot of time looking, but that was certainly nail polish that Toph was wearing. Which, given what just happened yesterday, was both understandable, amusing, and concerning. Block some time down there. Stadler gives a nod to Rebecca, after she helps him set up. She'd be useful here, of course. Had the skillsets he was trying to impart already; good insights, and most likely good questions. "Thanks, Chambers. Why don't you have a seat?" He says, geasturing to the front of the room. Ahh, there was Seras Victoria... or one of them. Still he knew her interation pretty well, and it would be good to have her input here. As well as Gilgamesh... he and him had some disagreement, and the uniform is a bit odd (and he made a goddamn entrance), but surely this wouldn't be a... And there was a giant throne in the middle of the room. And distributing alcohol. Well. It looks like he got to have a bit of a talk at the beggining here. "Your Majesty! So good to have graced us with your prescence. I shall try to properly entertain you in whatever fashion I might be able to, but I am afraid the sheer opulence of your throne has blinded me from my intinerary. Perhaps you could summon back the chair everyone else is rather content with? And, pray forgive my insolence, but I fear my particular form of entertainment does not pair well with wine, so I was wondering if you could collect that again, as well? If this does not meet with your agreement, I do beleive there is room for both." He says. Pointing toward the door. "Out there." He addresses the entire class room, next. "I might invite everyone to that door if they're here for anything else. I'm here to instruct you on things that may save a life or a carrer. I understand the importance of that, and my duty to you folks. But I also have rules, and regulations. Do not distrupt the class, ask questions because you beleive they will help or because you don't know, and engage your fellows and myself in honest, respectful, productive dialogue. If you don't like my rules, there is the door. Are we clear?"
Fiora Laurent	Fiora is.. wearing what she always does. Conducts herself the way she always does. Despite the occasional rearing of the Shadow Isle's ugly head, the Harrowing, and other events, Demacia is mostly insulated from the scourge of the undead that her world tends to be privy to. So, some education on the subject, by an expert, is seen for her as a worthwhile pursuit. The more you know of your opponent, the more prepared you are when they affront you. And a prepared mind is often as important as a well-sharpened sword. So, she treats it with all the respect and seriousness it's due. She makes no show of her entrance, and seats herself quietly near the front row. Aside from a nod in greeding to Richard himself, she doesn't say much of anything. Toph might recognize her footsteps, depending on how used she is to interacting with her.
Sokka	Sokka blinked, and opened his mouth. "What? No, from accounting and--" Oh, wait, right, class. He quickly shuts up and looks around the room. He doesn't have much to think about until... Gilgamesh. He barely refrains from making a comment, just shaking his head at the offered wine. Totally NOT jealous of the guy with extreme divine awesomeness and super magical powers and totally NOT nursing an inferiority complex about the guy. And he puts an arm around Toph's shoulder and pulls her a little closer because he's cold. That's all. Nothing to see here. He totally doesn't have his eyes drawn back to the throne of gold and sheer majestic AWESOME that had been summoned. TOTALLY DOESN'T! And he's not staring out of the corner of his eyes. Noooooope. And then he totally grinned. Yeahhhhhhh. The jock got told off! or... rather told to not cause a problem. Either way, it made Sokka preen. He didn't look good in green. Well, okay, he did, but not in THAT green. He gave a nod, listening astutely. This was his battle field. Laws, books, homework. Sure, in field and physical studies he didn't have the nifty abilities that they all did(and that he TOTALLY wasn't jealous of), but when it came to tests of the mind he was second to... well, plenty of people. He wasn't a genius or anything. He was just good at figuring things out.
Toph Beifong	So far there are only familiar people here, and Toph listens intently even as Sokka talks about how excited he is for today's training. Or lecture, that might be a more fitting description. "Eh, I kinda hope not since I don't have stuff to write Braille with." She /did/ bring her glove though, but still, computers... Then again, Stadler might have brought Braille equipment for her. But no, not a test please...! If she is aware of the look that Seras throws in Sokka's direction, then Toph doesn't know. The others do all get a brief nod or wave in greeting. Even if they don't speak Toph does have her own ways to recognise people. And yes, Toph can 'see' the nod from Gilgamesh too. But even as rebellious as she is, not even Toph would expect somebody to do what the King of Kings does next. As the throne suddenly appears Toph's eyes widen, and she arches an eyebrow. "... if he gets a big chair like that, then I should be allowed to bend a bigger one," she jests to Sokka under her breath, only to blink when he yanks her close with his arm around her shoulder. But despite her initial surprise she goes with it, looking calm despite the faintest blush crossing her cheeks. Considering she's not old enough to drink and able to smell just what's in the offered goblets, she shakes her head. As expected Stadler has some firm rules for his lectures. Not that she can blame him either. There /is/ the urge to speak up, Stadler might see the look on the blind teen's face, but she keeps her mouth as he handles things. Once he's laid out the terms for Gilgamesh however, she raises her hand. And assuming he acknowledges her request to ask a question, which he damn better should, Toph will speak up, "I assume we're going to use computers for today... does one of these have a Braille keyboard and software?" Heck, the headphones in her bag should work as well so the others don't have to listen to text to speech programs either.
Rebecca Chambers	As Stadler speaks, Rebecca listens attentively, giving a slight nod as she acknowledges what is being said. She knows quite well how to perform in a situation like this, paying strict attention to the person in charge and not trying to cause any disruptions or have any side conversations... unlike a certain person named Sokka. Gilgamesh's entrance also does not get much positive reception from Rebecca either. She scowls at him briefly, before turning to face Stadler again. She says nothing, just stares forward, almost like she's silently acknowledging him and waiting for him to continue with this.
Xiaomu	It's not going to be a small class, that's for sure, thinks Xiaomu. It may not be the most orderly class, either ... Sokka's talking about some show Xiaomu doesn't think she's heard of, Gilgamesh is trying to be the life of the party when there isn't a party, and Stadler quickly reveals himself to be an old-school, stick-in-the-mud martinet with no capability at all for rolling with the punches. Then again, around Gilgamesh, Xiaomu tends to be an old-school stick-in-the-mud ... although not necessarily a martinet. She's not above accepting a goblet of wine from Gilgamesh, up until Stadler nopes the entire social aspect of things out of the window. "Looks like the Ultimate Kegger will have to wait," Xiaomu says wryly. "I guess my first question, Mr. Stadler, is what types of undead you'll be focusing on. Maybe we should go around and cover who's dealt with what sorts of undead before, but my background is mainly supernatural ..."
Seras Victoria	"Where do you keep all that?" Seras quietly quips Gilgamesh's way. Despite all she's seen - all the crazy things he keeps pulling out of thin air day after day - she seems no less astounded at the sheer -variety- of things that qualify as 'treasury.' "Fifteen palaces?" Is her wild guess. She's long given up trying to ARGUE too much with Gilgamesh's imperious manner and incongruous manner. It's far more lively than most of the stuff she deals with on a day to day business! "Uhhhhm." But then Stadler decides to basically shoo him off. Seras's lips press together into a fine line, one fang peeking out as she frets a bit over this matter.. "I'm sure everyone will appreciate the wine once the lecture's done! Zombies... not a nice topic. Not even a little." Is her following attempt to bandaid that slap in the ego. A little. With all that said, she finally turns to face Stadler... and gives a firm but lively nod. "Clear, sir!"
Richard Stadler	Fiora's arrival is noted with a simple not of Richard in return. SOmeone quiet who wanted to remain at the back of the class was fine with him. So long as she actually learned something at the class itself. Sitting here to waste time for 3 units was something only college kids should do... and not the /good/ college kids. But he still had the current problem to deal with. Sokka's close grip of Toph is noted with a slight frown, but, as he had mentioned before, these people weren't college students, and he couldn't stop the class because one of then was cosied up to another. Besides, they both looked rather attentive, so as long as it wasn't distracting anyone else, he wasn't going to begrudge it. And Toph even had a question! A quick point over to her as she raised her hands. "Ms. Beifong? Good point, seat... 34." He says, jogging quickly over to the terminal, and typing in a few commands. "They've all got the set up... there we go." He says, the key membranes flexing to show the indentations. "I'll have assistive audio up for any slides." Another question, and he points over to the hand. "Another good question. In this case, we're going to go over some standard procedures for if you are a first responder to a Class 1 event. There's a reason for that." He clicks a clicker in his hand, and the first slide comes up, words highlighted, as well as what looks to be the scene of a shooting. "Chicago-2174, 2013, by the local calender. A reserve police officer popular on zombie message boards was walking home one night, when a moaning, incoherent form stumbled forward from an alley. It was dark, the man was moving slowly. The reserve officer raised his weapon, ordered him to stop, and then shot him right between the eyes. Now, if this was a movie, that would been the beggining of the break down. Sirens blaring, ambulances being called up, EAS broadcasting. The man that was shot..." Another slide, of a haggard older man. "Was a local homeless person. Studies run by Fort Detrick showed no viral agent in the man's blood. He may have been on drugs, or drunk, but he wasn't part of the undead that we could detect. Said officer is serving 2 decades for manslaughter. My main goal is that we don't have that happen to anyone here. So we'll be going over the possible signs of a zombie infection, how to recognize one, when and wy it is okay to use lethal action, and how you should go about doing so."
Rebecca Chambers	Rebecca has already taken her seat and is paying strict attention to the slides that Stadler is showing. As a person who's familiar with Bio-Organic Weapons and things like that, she's unsurprised to hear the story about the officer walking home and encountering what he thought was a zombie. But when the slide is switched to reveal a haggard, older man and not a zombie, Rebecca's eyes go wide and she gasps, covering her mouth a little as she does so. A reserve officer, known for protecting the public, shot and killed a homeless man because he thought he was a zombie?! Rebecca is about to say something, but then she remembers that it's Stadler running the show here, and so she sits back a little and eases up. She reaches down into her bag to take out a bottle of water and take a small sip. Hopefully Stadler won't mind her quenching her thirst quickly, while keeping herself calm.
Sokka	Sokka turned towards Stadler, suddenly focusing heavy on the guy. Well, he was TECHNICALLY a college student. But, unlike many actual college students, he was actually doing it to learn and not because his future depended on it, so was actually doing rather well and tended to focus pretty good(the joys of having a.... X-ionaire playboy/philantrispist/genius/iron man paying your way through school. He nodded slowly, then... cringed. Oh shit. He actually KILLED a guy just cause he thought it was a zombie? He leaned in to Toph. "See, the issue is an officer is never supposed to use lethal force unless they have to." He was already tapping away on his computer, bringing up the laws in chicago-2174. "If he was moving that slowly, an officer would be expected to wound, not to kill. And only if they're in danger. Someone who'd go straight to murder like that... obviously shouldn't have a gun or be in the business..."
Richard Stadler	And suddenly Stadler's clearing his throat. "I like to hear opinions good opinions, Sokka, and it sounds like you have one. Don't let Toph here be the only one learning; speak up, if you'd like."
Sokka	Sokka coughed and then... "Err, well, sir. It's just in most situations trained officers are supposed to use non-lethal force. A head shot is, for one, inacurrate and ill advised in most situations, and if the perp was moving slowly and not an actual threat, such lethal force, and the quick use of it, is never permitted. In fact, a person who would do something like that shouldn't be an officer to begin with." He paused. "Granted, a world with lots of zombie issues would be understandable for such a reaction."
Toph Beifong	So it appears that the Ad Coelum does have decent learning equipment for people with various needs, huh? When Stadler finishes doing something on the terminal she reaches one hand out to the keyboard, then nods when she notes that there are Braille keys there. And while Stadler goes on to explain the event some years ago in Chicago, the blind metalbender picks up her bag, rummaging through it to find her headphones and then quickly finds the audio jack on the computer, plugging them in so she can put the headphone into one ear. Sokka's comment earns a deadpan look from Toph. "Well duuuh." That only makes sense! Lethal force is the final thing you do. Killing is rather drastic, after all. After Sokka has finished speaking, Toph does raise her hand again, eyes slightly narrowed where she sits, half leaning into him. "Are there any specific ways to recognise a zombie? I'm not sure how accurate the movies are or if the zombies differ from world to world, but are there any general guidelines and symptoms that are the same?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is watchin for amoment and listens to the and she nds to the goal. "Improved zombie idenification aids in stopping incidents like that. Generally in my experiance Thermographic camera in some forms such as my eyes can tell generally in my experiances zombies have a different tempature than someone who is alive."
Xiaomu	Xiaomu frowns as Stadler goes over that first incident report. If that had happened in her world, somebody's head would roll for it - and quite possibly it would do so literally. "Seems to me like one of the most important things you need is a good sturdy reliable flashlight, so you can tell if somebody who's tottering around like that is decaying or not. Or at least whether they're 'alive' enough to flinch and cover their eyes," the sage fox comments. "And then there's your sense of smell ... an actual walking corpse is going to smell dead, whereas your average live vagrant may smell kinda horrible but presumably will not actually smell like a corpse." She pauses, mulling that over. "Unless you've got an actual wino who just turned into a zombie and the stink of gutter vices hasn't had time to be replaced by deathstench," she adds, less certainly.
Richard Stadler	Richard did not specify that water bottles were not allowed. He's not /that/ much of a taskmaster and hydration was important. Rebecca's shocked gasp does get some recognition, though... and it's one of the reasons why Stadler asked Sokka to speak up with what he... expected he had said. It was a good move to addressing it. "Sokka does have a point, and you've probably all thought it was a bit outlandish. A police officer should have aimed for a body shot, not the head shot. He shouldn't have used leathal force, and he certainly received the punishment for it. But it's /important/ to not think of this as an isolated case, esspecially for people in your positions. You are going to be faced with situations that have the hallmarks of an outbreak, and you might encounter something like this. What if he's approching someone else, slowly, but unthreateningly, and you've actionable intel that there /could/ be zombies in the area. If one doesn't know the correct actions to take, you may act quickly to neutralize a threat that doesn't need neutralizing. Or, /worse/, neutralize it improperly." Stadler flicks to another slide. "Ms. Beifong asked if there was any way to recognize a zombie, and Ms. Yamakawa does give some good advice. Some undead are colder than normal; a recently dead person may not show this, however, due to residual body warmth and the heat generated from necrotization, depending on the virri. Ms. Xiaomu does offer an excellent suggestion, though, which we'll get to in a moment." "Post outbreak, there's a lot of ways. Moaning, necrotized flesh, traveling in packs. In a Class 1 scineario, however, you may only see one or two, and unresponsive behavior might be caused by visable injuries. But the person you attack may not show any symptoms as a corpse. Which leads to another case. And you'll be interested to know /this/ officer did everything right... and it went /very/ wrong afterward." A picture of a police officer on the screen, along with a picture of demonstrations. "Another shooting, Los Angeles-2234 this in the case of another homeless man; we'll get to that, but there's a reason to be concerned. The report and eye witnesses report the same thing; that an officer approched a man, asking for ID, ordered him to stop, and then fired 4 rounds. Three were in the chest. The fourth was reported after a scream, and a shot to the man's head. News reports picked it up as an unreasonable use of force, and there was a demonstration outside the courthouse where he was being held. Now. Who wants to tell me what happens if you have zombies and a semi-to-uncoordinated mass gathering of people?" Another slide, showing US Army soldiers on the same street, in full MOPP gear, setting up a combat position. "Here's a hint. 24 people dead, and 17 infected. Well, more than a hint. So not only do you have to identify the threat, you have to react /properly/ to the threat."
Rebecca Chambers	Rebecca puts her bottle away quickly and resumes listening to Stadler's briefing. She is paying a good deal of attention to what's being said and being shown as well. "Los Angeles-2234, I think I remember that," She whispers to herself as she takes a few notes about things as well. She shakes her head as she processes all of this so far, and is about to speak up, but decides to hold what she has to say until others have had a chance to speak. When they've had their chance to speak, Rebecca says, "I can definitely say that it won't end well, especially because a lot of civilians don't even know what they're dealing with until it's too late, since many don't even realize that zombies do exist."
Xiaomu	"So when you're dealing with zombies, part of 'controlling and containing' possible undead is a rigorous quarantine, right?" Xiaomu 'answers' (in the form of a question, but still). And she probably jumped ahead a few lines, too. "But with viral zombies in particular," she continues, "infected bodily fluids - or non-fluid tissue - can potentially carry the infection into contact with healthy individuals. So ..." Xiaomu pauses, frowning, and trails off. There is something she's probably missing here. If Stadler's SOP for stopping zombies is 'shoot them,' either he's thinking of a particular category of ammunition or there's something else that she's missing.
Sokka	Sokka cringed, a hand going to his mouth. "Oh... damn," he muttered. Unfortunately, his world had nothing like that. He knew a lot about non-lethal force and the like, but how to deal with something like this? For once, Sokka had nothing to say. He actually LISTENED. And tried to learn. His focus on what the man was saying and nothing else. It looked like disable and contain was the way to go.
Toph Beifong	Ugh, this all sounds like a messy topic indeed. It's kinda understandable that the officer fired, really... because people do lots of stuff when they're scared. If they are technically dead, then she /should/ in theory be able to recognise one for sure. But then again, not everybody can hear heartbeats or a lack of one like she does. Xiaomu does say something interesting though, and that makes Toph look pensive for a moment. "So it infects through bodily fluids? Is there another way for the infection to spread, and is there a cure?" Maybe in some worlds. Either way it sounds nasty!
Richard Stadler	;shakes his head. "Crowd's too smart. You're all asking important questions that I do want to answer, but you're blowing this meticulous lesson plan out of the water. Most zombie infections are blood bourne in general, yes; spreading through bodily fluids. This is why bites spread the virus, but brain matter and bleeding from an open wound will do it, too. It's all something you need to consider when taking a course of action. And that /includes/ the existance or potential of a cure or vaccine. Which we will get to in a moment. First, though, I want to go over when you /should/ suspect an outbreak." Another slide flicks up, along with the first two responses Rick gives. "First Responder information is going to be critical; sometimes they'll already be talk of suspects or patetients that are aggressive, and non-responsive to commands, and those are automatic red flags; at that point, you need to order quarentine of any person coming in contact over the phone. However, there are other signs that something could be wrong. Talk of 'Cult' activitiy in regards to cannibalism, or animal attacks. Ms. Chambers knows about this, certainly. What are some other warning signs you might think you'd see?"
Richard Stadler	Richard Stadlershakes his head. "Crowd's too smart. You're all asking important questions that I do want to answer, but you're blowing this meticulous lesson plan out of the water. Most zombie infections are blood bourne in general, yes; spreading through bodily fluids. This is why bites spread the virus, but brain matter and bleeding from an open wound will do it, too. It's all something you need to consider when taking a course of action. And that /includes/ the existance or potential of a cure or vaccine. Which we will get to in a moment. First, though, I want to go over when you /should/ suspect an outbreak." Another slide flicks up, along with the first two responses Rick gives. "First Responder information is going to be critical; sometimes they'll already be talk of suspects or patetients that are aggressive, and non-responsive to commands, and those are automatic red flags; at that point, you need to order quarentine of any person coming in contact over the phone. However, there are other signs that something could be wrong. Talk of 'Cult' activitiy in regards to cannibalism, or animal attacks. Ms. Chambers knows about this, certainly. What are some other warning signs you might think you'd see?"
Xiaomu	How to detect a zombie outbreak, possibly when you're not sure what kind of zombies .... yes, that second part is prominent in Xiaomu's thought processes tonight. Hey, she's from a world where a zombie outbreak could very easily be purely supernatural in origin; give her a little slack. "Animal behavior patterns in general," Xiaomu suggests. "Setting aside the chance of a zombie infection passing from human corpses - or not-corpses - to animals who aren't above eating carrion, even wholly mundane animals can still pick up instinctively on 'something wrong' that very smart, very well-trained humans might overlook or miss entirely."
Sokka	Sokka nodded, listening and cocking his head to the side. A few ideas were popping into his mind. Finally... "Cover ups, I guess. When things are going odd and they don't know how to explain it, there's a lot of times where those in power will try to avoid it or cover it up, pretend that nothing is wrong. After all, it's easier to contain a panic once people know what the issue is, but if no one knows what's causing it, they might try to keep it contained and hidden. Including from people like us."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is observering and leaning for the most part. "What about Occult zombies such as those the Flith cause in Kingsmouth?" She ask whil she waits and tilts her head. "I have mostly encounted the supernatural kind of undead, not the stort th tbreak the laws of biology as my home world knows it." She grimaces as she thinks she knows how things are going with the story Richard is telling.
Toph Beifong	"Well, I don't really know how much I'd /see/," Toph begins with a sigh, "But I guess I would be able to hear a lack of sounds from zombies that I hear... Not to mention they might have strange wounds that don't make sense for them to be walking around with?" Hey, it's a suggestion. She's not really knowledgable about this stuff.
Richard Stadler	To his credit, Stadler simply gives a blank look over to Toph. "Can't resist using that whenever you see an opening, can you?" A sigh. Well, what was he going to do about it, blame her for being blind? Overall, though, he's nodding to most of the people. "but everyone's got some good ideas, and they're all generally on the list. Abnormal animal activity is one of them. Dogs barking at the same targer, or animals running away from an area all at once. As Ms. Beifong indicated, as well, /lack/ of animal acitvity or sounds can also be an indication. Contrary to popular belief, /most/ zombies don't aim for human brains solely as as a source of sustance. They'll eat pretty much any meat they can get their hands on, and that includes stray animals and rats. If you ever wander somewhere then don't seem to be rats lurking around, proceed with caution or call it in." Sokka gets a snap point and a nod. "There's a big one. Conspiracies. You may be in a location where the local government or law enforcement has created a cover story and doesn't want to tell people. Sometimes it's to prevent a panic, but it often occurs far longer than it should. Corporations involved in illegal biomedical research may do the same thing. And you should factor that in your response if you do see something that you think is a zombie." Another slide. This one showing a photograph a zombie in a controlled condition, and a soldier pointing a pistol at it. "I will say this right now; We are not going over Class 2 outbreaks today. We /will/, of course, but know that, as soon as you see 10 people ravening for flesh in the middle of a hospital, or here a police officer scream at a protest as the news cameras capture it, your job then becomes different. Call in the specialists and hold up. In this case, though, what happens when you encouter a man you know you /expect/ to be a zombie?" He brings it around to Toph. "Ms. Beifong makes a point. Injuries that they aren't reacting to normally is one thing. Not responding to verbal commands, or properly to light- Though, I will note they can still see, so blinding them is effective- can be big indications. It may be the simple matter that you know they recently suffered a bite wound, or was a first responder. Shoot them, then?" Another slide. This one with the letters 'T A I C F' arrayed vertically. "You always take actions to safeguard your life, and the lives of others, but most people, as Ms. Chambers said, don't know zombies exist. Worse, they won't want to /beleive/ that their son, husband, teacher, parent, is going to be infected. If you can disable them /safely/ for evacauation or treatment, you should do so. But you are able to legally terminate someone for zombie if you suspect... this." He points to the letters. "Let's have some guesses on what these mean. C F is one concept, I'll give you a hint."
Xiaomu	"Not sure about the 'T,' but would 'A' be Assessing the situation?" Xiaomu guesses. Meanwhile ... wait. Take a closer look at that notebook and pencil. Is she actually taking notes? All work and no play may make Reiji a dull boy, but Xiaomu knows personally that 'it's all fun and games' should stop long before anyone actually loses an eye. As flighty and fun-loving as she is, Xiaomu actually does take some things seriously.
Sokka	Sokka nodded, listening to every word as he focused on the talk. Yay, he got praise! Conspiracies, man. There is no war in bah sin sei. He of course was typing away on his computers as he worked(He was getting fast at that.). He heard Xiaomu. Assessment... hum. It made sense. "Ummmm... going to agree with her. Maybe... Tally casaulties, assess the situation, Investigate the cause and..." Pause. "Call forensics?" he offered. Hey, he tried.
Toph Beifong	When Stadler comments on it, the blind girl can't help but grin a bit. "Nope." As for what the 't' stands for? "Think?" she suggests. "Isn't the best part of any situation to observe in order to get the necessary information to assess it?" Ugh, why are there so many slides? Not that it bothers her that much, but it would be interesting to know a bit more about what zombies behave like. It might be something the seeing people can see in the slides, but...
Rebecca Chambers	Rebecca listens as well, but she's not the one who's asking questions. She's pretty familiar about what the letters stand for, and wants to give the others a chance to speak. Nevertheless, Rebecca is still taking notes and paying strict attention, so it's not like she's daydreaming or anything. In fact, when Xiaomu comments about Assessing the situation, she nods to her and says, "Good guess." Sokka, on the other hand, gets a shake of the head. "No, not quite." After a moment, Rebecca speaks again. "I'm going to say that 'T' stands for Tactics or something perhaps? Even a civilian should have some idea of what they plan to do in a situation like that."
Richard Stadler	Richard Stadler shakes his head slightly. "I really shouldn't play hangman out here. Those are all good things that you should be considering, but what were looking for here are the qualities that legally give you the ability to terminate a suspected zombie." He says, pressing another button, as the words appear on the screen itself. For Toph's sake, he expounds them one by one, out loud, as they appear. Total Aggression-indicing Irreversable Cognition Failure "This here, is the key to determinaing if a target is legally a zombie for most targets, regardless of creation method. Virus, magic, alien control rays, these are the key words here: Cognition Failure. The person is no longer able to to think, respond, or react to any normal stimuli. They can't be ordered to stay, and normal threats and discouragement, for the most part, won't work." "This cognition failure needs to be three things to meet the requirements." A knock on the desk, the sound of wood to emphasis each main word. "Total. The subject makes no reacation to any specfic stimulus, even partially. It sees it's wife, or it's children the same way it would see cows, or a deer; meat to eat. It won't recognize you're pointing a gun at it, or that you've taken a combat stance, or any of the words you're saying. And it's /certainly/ not going to wander back to it's last job and go through the motions of pumping gas. /Total/." Another knock. "Aggression-inducing. This is simple; there's no need to kill a target right away if all it's doing is standing there and not reacting to what you're doing. It needs to be a threat to others that must be dealt with to prevent furthur loss of life." Knock. "And irrversible. Ms. Beifong asked above cures for zombies. Depending on the vector, some may be cured when you kill a specific necromancer. Or there might be a drug that reverses a particular form of rabies. You have to /reasonably beleive/ that no such cure will be avalible in sure a time as to reverse the affliction without furthur loss of life. That this condition cannot be reversed." "If /all/ of these are met, then, yes. You have the legal right to terminate the target, should you chose. Beleive me when I say this is /not/ something you want to have to do. Even if the infection spreads to something exceedingly obvious, the case will be looked over extensively. Worse, family or loved ones will think he or she could have been saved, and they will blame you. You should avoid it if you can, but if you /have/ to, those are your guidelines."
Sokka	Sokka blinked a few times, then his eyes lit up. "Oh, are we going to play hang man now? Sweet, I've got a word in mind with--" Then blinked. Wait, no, bad time for those jokes. Seven letters, by the way. The smile started to sink off his face though and he reached out, giving Toph's hand a little squeeze. Someone like her he was certain could stop zombies. A whole army of them. But him? He'd probably end up having to kill to survive and... it made his heart quicken a bit.
Xiaomu	"Helps to know if we're looking for nouns, verbs, or adjectives," Xiaomu comments - just a little acerbically - as she corrects her notes. In English and in Japanese, it looks like - well, mostly in Japanese, but the 'acronym' is marked down in English for reference, with the Japanese words next to them. But as far as 'legal rights' go ... "How many worlds actually have legislation on the books for dealing with zombie outbreaks?" the sage fox asks, her ears twitching a little. "And how many worlds have that without trying to assign some kind of rights to the undead, or to other not-entirely-natural beings? I mean, a zombie that's lost too much of its mind to calculate 'two plus two' probably doesn't have that much in the way of rights, but ... if you're going to bring legal stuff into this, which worlds' bodies of law are we going to have to navigate on the final exam?"
Toph Beifong	The squeeze on her hand isn't ignored, and Toph squeezes Sokka's hand in return, not looking entirely happy about the subject at hand. But what Stadler says does make sense; all three categories need to be present for it to be considered a dangerous zombie. "So if it's got total cognition failure but isn't aggressive, then it would make sense to detain the zombie rather than killing it? For that matter, do they have any powers?" Probably not, but then again they might not be the slow and shambling version from the movies either. "And if we are able to contain it rather than killing it, is that an option?" The talk of zombies having rights though, that makes Toph arch an eyebrow. Well, maybe if they aren't harming anybody, then sure...
Rebecca Chambers	Rebecca wasn't expecting these to be the letters, but she goes along with it. "Those are true points, and they're good to know for people who aren't familiar with these types of zombies." She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "The sooner they know, the better, but even then there's no telling they'll actually remember it in the heat of the moment..."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa looks to Richard for a moment "You think after one Halloween in the Multiverse a world would know they do." She makes a face it's na attempt at humour on the cyborg's part but then againin a way isn't she a zombie of a sort in someways but she bonow watches for a moment she seems to be actually taking notes on this. She notes for a moment "Flith zombies still seem to have something left to them but they ... are lost in a nightmare babling randomly." Curiou to zombieism she gets that and it's an imporant thing to bring up as some others can be saved she's finding out.
Richard Stadler	"Point taken, Ms. Xiaomu. We're all life long learners here; I'll keep that in mind for the next lesson." Important ro recognize one's flaws in these sorts of instances! But the main lesson remained, and he took some satisfaction on some of the students looking green. It meant they were taking this seriously. Keeping them from getting too green when it actually happened... that was the tough part. He'd rather have caution that overconfidence for most situations. And the disucssion was going in the right direction. "Ms. Beifong has it correct, for the most part. Remember, the description above is when you have the legal authority to use lethal force on a subject. You are not /required/ to; if you feel you can safeguard lives while containing even if they meet all this requirements in a Class 1, then do so. It's much easier to manage public perception if the... hard stuff doesn't happen in front of people, and that should be one of your concerns. So, by all means, contain it. I think you have the right tools for that, Beifong." He notes. She /is/ an earthbender, after all. "But zombies generally don't have 'powers'. They might have certain biological abilities, but that will be on a case by case basis." He nods over to Xiaomu, as well. "There are a few worlds that have them on the books. You can bet, if laws have made it to documentation and approval, the situation is an old one there, and someone will have a contingency plan. The rules here are valid in the Commonwealth, however, and they're good watch words for any place you'll encounter them. Most governments have rules in place for protection of the public, and this qualifies." He holds up a hand. "Now, this is a personal view, but it's served me well. The law is not about if a zombie has rights. It's about if a person, afflicted with a disease, has rights. IN the end, if they don't match every point above, that's what they are. An afflected individual that deserves help, to be pitied even if they're being forced in some way to act as enemy combatants." He says, nodding to Kotone. "If all the points are met, they aren't a person any more. They are a walking corpse, a health hazard. It's important for you to understand that... just as it is to know that others won't /want/ to understand it. So there's a process, if you need to make a termination." He flicks to another slide, again with bulletpoints it comes out. "Here we see some of those ideas you folks has. I can't stress enough that you need to /practice/ this. Or like Ms. Chambers said, you won't remember it when things get bad. First, yes, Assess the situation. Take in the number of vectors you will need to deal with, and what they might threaten. Next, You have up to three phases of attack. For each phase, first warn the Subject. Make this loud and clear, and say you are prepared to use lethal forceon the target. Brandish your weapon so that anyone watching, subjects and bystanders, /know/ what you plan to do. Next, make your attack. You should escalate, if possible. One attack in the knee, or the arm. If that doesn't stop them, one attack in the chest. If that doesn't, one attack at the head or neck Warn before you take each attack, loudly, indicating where you're going to strike." He flicks to a slide with a rather gruesome, nightmare-inducing picture of a zombie right at the camera. "Is this going to be possible every time? No. Should you try to do as much as possible in a Class 1 scineario? Yes. You want to make sure both the subject and bystanders were warned and that the bystanders /know/ you did as much as possible before terminating them."
Toph Beifong	That's the reason she asked, indeed. Because Toph knows that with her abilities she's capable of subduing a lot of people, and well... zombies shouldn't be too hard either, especially if they're slow. Killing isn't something that suits her, so it would preferable to not have to do it at all. As she leans into Sokka the blind metalbender turns her head slightly towards him. "Kinda makes you happy we don't have stuff like that back home, huh...?" she mutters quietly before she raises her hand again and speaks up louder again. "Are there any training simulations on this?" It might be useful, who knows? And not to mention, she hasn't tried out the training grounds here on the Ad Coelum yet.
Sokka	Sokka nodded and then... "Do we have any equipment to better deal with such things? I have a sword, boomerang and club. I could disable one, easy enough. But if there were multiples... well, I'm not sure there's much a guy like me could do. None of the nifty powers and stuff to deal with hordes of them or anything," he mumbled.
Xiaomu	It stands to reason, thinks Xiaomu; any world that is sufficiently acquainted with the supernatural and has dealt with zombies would cover both sides of the equation. Just like mortals (and law-abiding immortals) have both rights and responsibilities, so would undead ... even if the 'responsibilities' amount to 'stay sentient and sapient,' with 'don't eat other people' either explicit or implicit. And it's from that train of thought that she finds herself comparing Stadler's recommended protocol against, say, Shinra's rules of engagement for dealing with youkai who are disturbing the peace. It's not exactly a point-by-point comparison, but a little mental tinkering lets her put it into her own frame of reference.
Richard Stadler	Sokka gets a thoughtful look. "In my opinion... there can be better weapons. Anything that physically restrains for this sort of Class 1 situation will assist. Electrical stunners won't work for anything but temporary issues, and it's not like tasering a person; there is a chance that the only effective reaction involves putting enough voltage in them to fry everything. And /that/ is not something you want to do to introduce a room of people to zombies. You might be prepared to surrender to police if that's the case, because they /might/ just shoot you if they don't put two and two together." He pauses. "I want to stress to you all this is during a Class 1 event. The point of protocol is Class 1 is to ensure that you can make a sound judgement on the problem, and that the people around you don't hinder your operations if and when things get bad. If they do, the best, /best/ you'll want to hope for is that you followed the rules, beacuase that means that you'll be out quickly and the cops will want some explination. Trust me, you do not want them to declare you're right because the jail is the last secure place to house people within 20 miles. That being said, if things transition from a Class 1 to a Class 2, you will have to keep these things in mind as well. Even well-drilled clean up teams has to deal with people who, despite the issue that's occured, think it'll be part of a government cover up, or that a cure is avaible but not being distrubed, or that, somehow, /their/ father is different. These procedures are, ultimately, for them. To handle things the best we can, balancing safety with the emotional feelings of the victims." Another pause. "If it gets to Class 3 or 4, though, all this goes out the window. But we'll be talking about that later. I'll introduce you to some training scienarios, Beifong- by the way, give me at least a foot between you two while you're in class or you lose that bet." He warns, "-But I do have plans for a practical lab in one or two week's time. It'll be on the intranet, so check your websites and e-mails. Beyond that..." He says, looking at his wrist watch. "I beleive that's time. If any of you have any additional questions, I'll be in my office all this week. Call me, visit me, and I'd be glad to clarify anything you might want more in depth. Any other questions?" He pauses for a few moments, making sure, before nodding. "All right, then. Dismissed. See you folks at the next class." Assuming, he thought, as he packed his materials up for leaving, that none of them saw something that required them to use it in the mean time. Or heard something. Had to be fair to Toph.
Sokka	Sokka blinked a few times. "Wait, bet?" he asked, glancing to toph. "What bet?" Then turned to Stadler. And was already checking his emails and the websites and... yeah, he was the dorky, nerdy guy. He then started doing more research into the matter(using multiverse google), as there was a lot more he had to learn. After all, someone like Toph could easily contain a hundred zombies in a stone barrier. But... someone like him? There was nothing he could really do aside from trying to be smart. So he had to work to be as smart as he could be.
Toph Beifong	Even if she doubts that she will ever be in a zombie outbreak, Toph has to admit that this class is educational and gives her some stuff to think about. And well, using non-lethal force can be useful at times, though it /is/ hard to realise when you need to use what. The moment Stadler mentions the word 'bet' however, the blind teenager tenses where she sits... and then abruptly pulls away from Sokka, sitting up straight in her chair. Somehow it looks like she's about to protest, but instead she just grumbles. "I'll tell you later..." she mutters to the older teenager, all before getting ready to repack her bag. It wasn't a super long lecture, that's good, short and to the point. Though any upcoming physical training related to this might be interesting.
Xiaomu	Xiaomu gathers her notebook and pen and whatever else she brought with her, and bolts out of the lecture 'hall' before you can say 'High Speed Xiaomu'. She has a new game console to break in! She must really have cared about hearing what Stadler had to teach them to come all this way with that kind of attention-sink waiting for her back in Tokyo-52605.