Day 009: Camp-Wide Meeting
Summary: The Delinquents gather for a meeting of nearly the entire camp.
Date: 13 My 2016
Related: Several referenced, many leading up to this, not directly following or preceding.
Quinn Max Cameron Martin Morgan Cassandra Hanne Devin Evie Silver Cookie Thomas Cole Mimi Delinquents 


The Grounds, The Camp

With the removal of underbrush and a half-dozen small trees, there is now a tiny clearing around the dropship. It has begun to fill with detritus from the ship, including all of the seating, padding, and removable plates or bulkheads.

Several tents have been set up within the clearing, set close together within the confines of the surrounding trees. A small collection of weapons sits under a parachute-cloth shelter by the door of dropship, open for community use. A three-holer latrine is set up downwind of camp in the prevailing breezes, and the rough beginnings of a wall stretch between trees at the edge of the clearing, dropship plates and felled tree-trunks being stacked up as quickly as the Delinquents can manage.

The forest immediately surrounding the camp has been cowed into near-silence, but is still vibrant and green to a people used to stark metal bulkheads all around them.

9 Days After Landing

Word goes out, and it's probably a pretty shocking group that has started calling for people to gather. After sending out word, shouting, any other way to get people to turn up, Quinn has taken up a spot on the ramp to the dropship, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket as she waits, watching to see who turns up, and who doesn't.

Max isn't much for shouting, or big meeting calling, but he does his part to let people know that there's some talkings and info sharings that need to happen and that if folks could come and do that, it'd be cool, in a phone tree sort of fashion. You tell someone, they tell someone else, that sort of thing. Eventually he returns to the dropship and settles himself on a stump near the ramp off to one side, hands in his pockets, waiting to see who turns up.

Cameron emerges from the drop ship, having gotten himself a little cleaned up, in his usual gear. Sword, knife and shirt. He looks… fine. There's a certain tension to his features, but he doesn't look terribly upset or that yesterday was hell on earth for him or anything. Calm, too. He looks calm.

Many Delinquents gather up toward the center of the camp in response to the calls. It's not all of them, certainly. There are still a few dedicated individuals still working on the wall, and there are, of course, hunting, foraging, and scouting parties out in the woods.

Martin makes his way to the rap of the dropship, since people are shouting for a gathering. "It seems we're having a meeting of the Committee as a Whole," Martin states using technical terminology from old Earth parliamentary proceedings. "What's up?"

Morgan is next to Quinn on the ramp, shirtless except for his bandages, a sheathed sword at his hip, and leaning on a staff/walking stick he's been working on (as in cutting tiny branches off the main piece of wood and smoothing it). When Cameron passes by, h e reaches out to touch his shoulder and smile.

Not two hours ago did a very ripe-smelling, blood-stained and sweaty Cassandra return to camp with an unlikely partner, ex-Cadet Faolan, and a large wild hog hog-tied to a spear between them. Last night's feast may have ended, but after the shock that everyone's been through, another helping to go around for breakfast of Earth's most succulent delicacy can hardly go remiss. It's therefore hardly surprising that in the aftermath of her fifteen minutes of fame for finally bringing home the bacon, and the trying ordeal that its retrieval involved, the generally lazy brunette has been sleeping it off in her little tent by the Wall. For this message to gather at the Dropship to have roused her, it sure better be good. Arms folded across her chest, intact bracelet visible, she joins the rest of the Delinquents to look up expectantly, if sleepily, and learn what the summoning trio have to say.

Hanne is already milling about in classic Hanne style, and she blinks when the meeting is called. She starts to look around, trying to figure out what is what. When Quinn appears with Morgan, her brows arch high over her eyes in honest surprise.

Devin emerges from the dropship at the call of the dropship, his right hand wrapped in fresh bandages. He is without his spear, but the two knives are still tucked into his belt on either hip. He moves to find a place amongst the gathered, looking up towards the ramp as he waits to see what they're being called for.

"So, what's going on?" One Delinquent cries. "Yeah, I'm supposed to talk to my Mom in a minute!" That's from another, who is looking jealously at the communications shed that's been set up alongside the dropship.

"Damn committees," Evie mutters loudly as she stomps out of the dropship and onto the ramp. She still has a bundle of bandages in one hand, dangling at her side as she crosses her arms over her chest. Her expression is cold and unrelenting as she scans those who have gathered before tapping the toe of a boot impatiently. "Yeah, I've got real work to do. Spit it out so I can get back to it."

The sudden change in communication with the Ark has left Silver at loose ends. They're coming, as she suspected. Of course, it's decidedly sooner than she'd anticipated, which has made just running for it…Well, it seemed like a good idea in theory, but knowing there are Grounders out there and she doesn't know how to fight, or forage, or…Crap. So when there's a call for people to gather, she joins the edges of the crowd, arms crossed loosely over her chest.

There's a quick smile for Morgan as Cameron heads by and goes to settle, a rather curious arch of his brow given towards him as he notices the company that seems to have called the meeting. But he appears content to sort of fade into the crowd for the moment.

It's a surprising duo. But it is what it is, and Quinn isn't making any explanations just yet. Just waits…and waits a little longer. Eventually though she glances over towards Max, giving him a brief smile before turning to look at those that have gathered, "By now you all know about the shit going on with the Ark…and there are going to be some things that need discussing. Some of us don't want to go back to the way things were, some of us….want nothing but that."

Hanne starts to frown, her brow frinkling up in a worried sort of fashion. She stuffs her hands in her pockets, listening to Quinn. She starts to look around, trying to gauge those around her, as if nervously deciding if she might be standing next to the wrong sort. Then she looks back at Quinn and Morgan, waiting.

"Some intend to rush back as soon as they come down…" Morgan says when Quinn stops. Then he shrugs. "That's their choice. Others want nothing to do with rejoining the old order that sent us down here."

Cass has sure started to look like the 'wrong sort', of late. Of course, she was always known to be the wrong sort… but that was before she started walking around with a machete, perpetually muddy boots and blood on her clothing. Nonetheless, she sends Hanne a sidelong glance, of a suspicious but non-threatening variety, before turning her attention back to Quinn as she speaks. Namely, when she looks at people right now, their wrists are the first thing she seems to notice.

Devin listens quietly to Quinn and Morgan as they speak, his arms crossing at his chest at the talk of the Ark and the possibilities that may come when they arrive. He doesn't speak up just yet, but looks towards those who do speak up before ultimately looking back towards the pair on the ramp.

"So pack your shit and leave. Who's stopping you? What exactly is the purpose of this meeting?" Evie stomps her way down the ramp, intact bracelet glinting in the light as she waves a hand through the air. "Because if you're trying to get some great big consensus about whether or not we should rejoin with our families, with our people, or leave - then I think you've been eating too many glowing mushrooms. I don't give a crap what kind of vote you want to take - I am going back to the people who have the guns, who have the food, who have the tech, who have the supplies - the *resources* - that we don't. I'm not going to obey any vote against that decision I have made. So…"

"Fact is…those not wanting to rejoin the Ark, to be free and to make our own decisions are going to have some decisions that need to be made before they start landing. We need to establish ourselves, put ourselves into a position where we're not just something to be thrown back into the box." Quinn continues, frowning just a bit, "I'm not good with this shit, but I know I don't want there to be another incident like yesterday where my choice and my opinion were taken away from me. I think we need to start figuring out what we want." She pauses, glancing at Evie, a brow lifting upwards, "No one is going to stop you, that's the fucking point. The vote isn't about that…the vote is about what those who wish to remain separate want. Anyone not interested in anything but rejoining can do whatever they want as long as it doesn't interfere with us…because we're not interfering with you."

Hanne chews at her lip a bit, and then she does something she probably did a thousand times much to the irritation of those who stuck in the same Earth Skills class as her: she very nervously raises her hand, fingers trembling a bit. It is the kind of thing you do when you wait for the teacher to call on you, and luckily she is close enough to the ramp for the two to see. She doesn't, however, wait to be called on, but instead speaks as loud as her little nervous stuttering can allow, "Can I ask a question?"

For her part, Cookie seems to have gotten through the bulk of her grieving, but there are telltale signs that she spent most of the night sobbing and resting fitfully, when rest did manage to come. As some of the others speak, she weaves about the crowd, her tired doe eyes scanning those assembled, in search of someone in particular.

Murmurs continue to run through the crowd, including a fervent wish for, "blankets," rumblings of, "Don't want no Guard on me anymore," and a grumbled, "There isn't any 'Box down here." In general, however, the talk of the crowd is a low background buzz.

"Supposedly, we all got pardons. If anyone intends to go rejoin the ones who sent us down here, good luck to you." Morgan tells them. "No one's going to try to force you to do otherwise and I'm certainly not going to try to change your mind. Those of us who don't intend to though, need to talk about how we're going to be doing things." He nods to Hanne.

Morgan's words draw louder buzzes from the crowd as well, "Dad said they announced the pardons," and "Screw their pardons," and "They sent us down to save everyone."

It was hard to miss a gathering, particularly of one that had been drawing attention from others. Having always been standing in the background and saying nothing was Thomas, who even right now was standing in the background with hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants as he listens to the discussion taking place. Only catching the most recent comments since he had strolled up late so was just overhearing. Yet despite himself, he finds that he cannot help but mutter not quietly under his breath. "Consent."

"Bullshit we all got pardons," Silver snorts, shaking her head. "Plenty of us were supposed to get reviews, too. We got pardons until they need more lab rats, or someone expendable. Resources got scarce up on the Ark, so they threw us down here. What do you think they're going to do when the resources get scarce down here?"

"Who the fuck /cares/ what the people who don't want to fucking rejoin the Ark wants the fuckin do." Cole, who has probably been patiently listening to this whole affair from the back near the tech tent, finally says out loud. "You know, I'm so goddamn /glad/ that we're sitting here. More than fuckin happy that we're going to divide this entire goddamn camp because some of you have your fuckin panties in a goddamn twist because of the fuckin Ark. No, but let's divide the entire fuckin population, because that's a good idea! What'll you'll think of next, giant snake fishin with our fuckin dicks? Splitting ourselves is fuckin stupid, because /some/ of you assholes are scared."

She may have been keeping her opinions on the matter close to the chest, but to anyone who was watching Cassandra on the fringes of Quinn's fight with Silas last night, it ought to be quite clear that Cassandra supports the blonde… at least in her her to inflict violence on certain people. Nonetheless, she pipes up rather aggressively now, questioning the pair who stand before the Dropship. And unlike Hanne, she doesn't have the common courtesy to raise her hand first, nor to phrase her question politely. "Hey Morgan, what does your boyfriend think of all of this?" She shoots Cameron a dirty, bitter look.

"Wh-why do we assume that the Ark's people are gonna come down and expect everything to remain the same?" She looks nervously around her, shifting from foot to foot. "Th-this isn't the Ark… we-we had rules up there be-because we needed to survive… we are — " Stop, rephrase. " — were a transitional generation." She steps forward a bit. "What if, instead of r-running away, we could be part of actual change?" Then Hanne looks at Silver, eyes a bit reproachful. "If we hadn't come down here, Silver… the oxygen systems would still be failing, people would still need to die… we are the reason three-hundred and twenty souls are still alive."

Hanne belatedly provides, "And there are pe-people here… and we are at th-their mercy. No amount of g-guns is going to change that."

Cameron's eyes find Cookie's, and he makes a gesture, holding a hand out to offer his to hers. He speaks up, when Cassandra gives him that look, "There was never a choice yesterday: anyone who thought they got a choice taken away from them, that there was ever a choice between saving three hundred— then twenty five hundred— human beings or condemning them to die, is a fucking sociopath. That said, I'm not going back to the Ark. I won't live under an unaccountable Council or Jaha."

"Why assume they want it different, or aren't going to lie about it, too? We're not running away..we're talking about making a stand, here, but not /with/ them in the same way. Have something to stand on, an alliance with the Grounders, knowledge of the land…something that forces them to see us as more than just some dumb kids." Quinn replies to Hanne, ignoring Cole's comments with the barest of looks, "We want to be the voice of the change, and we can't push for change without resources to make it happen."

There are some cheers for Cole's foul-mouthed speech, and some for Silver's less-foul one, and others for Hanne's words. Cameron's however, get both cheers, and several people shouting, "NO! Those three-hundred," and twenty, but who's counting, unless you're in that twenty, or are the twenty-first, "volunteered. They sacrificed themselves to try and save others." One even shouts at Quinn, "You want to run from our people, you can leave!"

"What change?" Thomas's voice lifts up from the back, tucking his hands further into his pockets before calling it out again towards the people that seem to be arguing the loudest. "What change are you precisely going on about? Instead of us being subservient to the Council and Chancellor, what? A new Council and Chancellor but made up of ourselves; only with people who have zero experience in such things?"

"That's right," Silver nods to Hanne. "There are people out there. People who've been living down here. Who know the land. Who know how to hunt. Who know how to plant. And who, it sounds like, don't particularly care for a hundred kids landing here. How do you think they're going to feel about twenty-five hundred people and several ships landing here? Do you think they're going to be super interested in teaching them how to hunt and plant? On their land?"

Evie reaches up and rubs her temples using the thumb and ring finger of her left hand. Already her temper has pushed her blood pressure over the edge, and a throbbing headache is making the periphery of her vision blurry. But Hanne's words draw her attention, and her gaze, upward. She searches the gathering until she spots her friend, and for a moment her lips curve upward in a faint smile. Her gaze darts between others as the speak, but Thomas earns an outright smile. "I don't think anyone coming down on the Ark is going to have any respect for what looks like a temper tantrum, dubious knowledge and scant resources aside. We've only been here two weeks, maybe. Not quite that, even. That's not a lot of time to develop a sudden innate understanding of Earth. These are, after all, the people who have trained us. They're going to be just as adept, if not more adept, at gathering the same knowledge. And then where will you be? On the wrong side, still looking like you're throwing a big fit."

"You think we're not going to divide when they land?" Morgan demands of Cole. "If so, you're a moron. Better we all make plans now than be caught bare assed then. Do any of you really think that the Guard who dragged your friends to the airlock and shoved them out into space is going to be happy to have you back? Or that they're not going to be wondering who's coming after them? Maybe some of the parents of the ones who were Floated? They're going to want to stay in power."

"I'm a sociopath, am I?" comes Cassandra's resentful voice, carrying above the din as she steps forward to stare Cameron down. "Because I value my life above the life of another. Float yourself, Cameron Scott. That's all the Ark has ever done to us, valued our lives as less than others, pointed fingers at us and decided who gets to live and who dies. Yeah." She pauses, her tone confident. "I value my life above others, because I'm not a fucking lemming. Because I'm done having the Ark decide what my life and the lives of people I care about is worth. We are one hundred teenagers down here, and we deserve to have our lives valued! You think the Ark is going to do that for us? No!" She turns around to face the gathered Delinquents who are murmuring among themselves. "We have to decide we value our own lives! We have to take care of ourselves! The Ark has lied to us every step of the way, and killed those we love!"

Hanne gestures wide, looking around. "What resources?" She stares at Quinn. "The people up there… they taught us what we know." Suddenly her stutters are gone. "Carter — " Their intensive Earth Skills instructor. " — taught us how to make fires, understand the difference between poison ivy and Virginia creeper." Then she gestures. "Guards who taught you how to fight." Then to Morgan. "Doctors who taught you medicine." Then Hanne almost flails her arms as she gestures around her. "They taught us the skills that are saving us so far." Then she breathes out a heavy sigh, her shoulders falling. "We can't be divided," she says wearily. "We don't even know what is beyond ten miles in any direction."

Martin simply listens to the arguments going back and forth and sighs quietly to himself. He holds his chin in his hand and watches. This is getting old, fast.

There's the person she's looking for! Quietly, Cookie makes her way to Cameron, slipping one of her hands into the one her cousin offered, hugging that arm of his with her free arm now snaking it. That done, she presses her cheek against his shoulder.

"I don't know what change…Like I said, I'm not one of these politically minded people, I just know I want my voice heard, and I get the feeling you all do as well, no matter which side of this argument you fall on." Quinn replies, her arms cross over her chest, eyes shifting from person to person, then back towards Morgan before she sighs, "We need to figure out a way to be allies with the Grounders. They've survived here, they know what is happening here better than we will, better than those adults that taught us what we know. Guns are going to trump a lot…but what about when this precious technology stops working? Then what? Shit /breaks/…we need to know how to survive without it."

Silver takes another step toward the center from the fringes, turning to see more of the kids gathered around. "Look. I don't trust the Council. I know they've got their own interests in mind, or what they think are the interests of everyone over any individual. They threw me in the box to cover for one of their screw-ups. Believe me, I don't trust them for a minute. But we can't fight the Ark and fight the Grounders. You want insurance against the Council? Then we need friends who know a whole hell of a lot more than we do. Maybe we ought to consider making ourselves some useful friends here," she echoes Quinn.

"Right, because living a day over a fuckin week on the ground, makes you a goddamn expert on living on the fucking the ground, Cameron." Cole snorts. "Get fucked, dude. You wanna be all murderous an shit? Killing the fuckin Council and Jaha and whatever? Yeah, you're really proving you're a responsible fuckin adult. 'Kill anyone you don't fuckin like'. Good mantra. Should go join up the Grounders, with that fuckin mentality." There's a shake of his head, folding his arms across his chest. "This is how this shit starts. Look at this? It's not the goddamn Grounders, or the Ark that's going to get us all killed. It's us, we're going to fuck ourselves over. Because nobody, /nobody/ is willing to fuckin unite." An eyeroll at Morgan. "Holy shit, you even fucking listening to yourself? It's us against the fuckin world, isn't it? Us poor victimized, innocent teens, right? It's all on them, isn't it? Nothing is ever our fucking fault. Gotta point the fucking finger at somebody besides your fuckin self. We need to wake the fuck up. We divide now, and it will fuck us over in the end."

"Yes, Cass. That's what we're saying. That's also what Cam is saying." Morgan tells her. "We need to be free to live our lives without those who ran the Ark controlling us. The people though, most of the parents of those here and our friends who died, are blameless and also deserve to live their lives." Looking over to Quinn, he nods. "Bullets run out. Batteries run out. We need to learn to survive based on what's available not what's left in orbit. What's not breaking apart."

Thomas sighs, his hand coming out of his pocket momentarily to run through his hair and he looks around towards the others gathered nearest him, but he does let his voice carry towards where the loudest are. "Do you all even know why government exists?"

"I have no opinions of the Council," Hanne says sharply, waving her hand dismissively. "But I'm not talking about the Council. The Council are six people… six…" Her eyes are steady now. "Six people who are probably realizing that this world is not going to be friendly to them, you all aside. They know about the Grounders, they know about our dead friends… do you honestly think that they believe they are going to have any power down here? They are going to be having to make alliances with the Grounders, too… and we don't even know if the Grounders are going to aly with us." Beat pause, looking at Thomas. "To protect the people… as a whole."

"So we can stand around and argue like a buncha wankers?" Evie replies to Thomas, crossing her arms once more.

Something Hanne says just makes Cassandra grit her teeth, her nostrils flare. She's usually quite courteous to the mousy Earth Skills nerd, but right now, she looks like she downright hates her. "To oppress us and control us like slaves!" she shouts in answer to Thomas' question. "To make us believe we can't fend for ourselves." She turns to Cameron again, glaring. "You removed our choice to do that. I may be a sociopath, but you're a fucking megalomaniac." She then turns to point accusingly at Morgan. "Your boyfriend. I trust her," meaning Quinn, "But how can I trust you?"

Calmly, Cameron returns Cassandra's stare without any hesitation or without backing down, "The Council might be corrupt, because it answers to *no one* — but the people of the Ark are just *people*. Those are the people who we came from, and they have a right to survive, and if you think we're not going to need the people of the Ark down here, you're not just a sociopath, you're *crazy*. But we don't have to be subservient to them. We can stand together and come at them from a position of relative strength." He turns a stare at Cole, voice cold, "No, I don't want a war with the Ark. I simply will not submit to a Council which is accountable to no one but itself. I want the Ark to survive, because they deserve a right to survive as much as anyone— because those are just PEOPLE. They're just like us, most of them. They're our families, our PEOPLE. But they cast us down here with nothing, with no real hope, and for that I don't forgive them and will not accept their authority over my life ever again."

"To keep us alive!" "To keep themselves livin' happy!" "To look out for us!" "To steal from us!" "To protect us!" There are a lot of answers to Thomas' question from the crowd.

Quinn glances over at Thomas, her expression flat, then she goes back to addressing the rest, "I hate to agree…if they did volunteer to die to save others, they made their choice. We didn't volunteer, we were forced into this. Our choice was taken away, our opinions dismissed, in regards to the radio. But that's not really something we can do anything about now. Now we have to move forward. My proposal is this….those that wish to try to remain autonomous from the Ark's leadership, or angle for some alliance that allows us a say with the Ark, we proceed with our discussions. Those wanting to simply return to the status quo, do so. As part of group a, I propose we try to set up a meeting with the Grounders. Raise your hand if you agree."

Thomas shakes his head towards Hanne, "True, in part. At least, the old thinkers from Earth said false. Government exists to protect us from each other." His shoulders lift in a small shrug as he looks around. "And really think about that. Think about the past two weeks. This is what anarchy is, what it looks like." He takes a step forward then speaking with a conversational tone, gesturing. "Shouting matches. Violence. A lack of security." Turning he looks at the crowd. "We all have rights. It is human nature to try to take those rights from each other, because that gives us power over each other. So we, us. The people. We create governments to protect our rights from each other. So it isn't survival of the fittest, biggest gun wins. So that we can be productive."

"Look, it's really simple. This isn't a vote. It's not even a debate. If you intend to go rejoin the Arkers, good luck to you." Morgan tells everyone. "I hope it works out for you. The rest of us are not going to. Your plans involve packing your things and getting ready to hike to wherever they land. Our plans need to be decided on." And he raises his hand when Quinn says what she does.

And then Hanne is getting her anger on. Uh oh. She turns on Cassandra. "And what in the fucking hell makes you think that standing here, bickering about a theoretical future is going to save us from what is out-fucking-there!" She intakes a breath, suddenly standing a lot taller than her little five-foot-five height. "How about instead of stomping around, threatening to run away if the adults don't play nice, we fucking ask them to dismantle the Council and allow everyone to vote on a new governing body!" She looks at Cameron and Morgan. "Then it would be an elected fucking group, and we would have a say, and maybe… maybe… together… we could actually find a //place on this fucking rock!"

"So," Max says from where he sits, "Basically.. the whole point of this was more to discuss what sort of change we might like to see, if any, from the way things were done on the Ark. Because if the Council wants to change, and the Ark wants to change, then we could present our ideas to them and that would make things real easy as far as figuring out where to go. And if they don't, then we could present how we feel and start that discussion. And it's totally okay to have opinions either way. But we need to stop insulting each other, because it just puts everyone on the defensive and then everyone stops listening to each other."

Devin has been quiet as he listens to everyone speak, but when Quinn asks for hands from those who want to have a meeting with the Grounders, his hand raises almost immediately.

"Float the Ark!" is all Cassandra shouts in retort to Cameron, but seeing Hanne actually raise her voice about something makes the fellow Earth Skills nerd quiet with shock.

Quinn's call is responded to by more than one voice in the crowd with various shouts to the effect of, "If you want to leave, leave! We're staying to wait for the Ark, and you're not taking our stuff with you!" On the other hand, it's also greeted by scattered cheers and a few hands raised. And then someone asks, "But what about the Grounder prisoners? I heard they were gone? How are we going to make peace without them?"

Hanne then stomps her foot. "NO ONE IS FUCKING LEAVING."

"Yes, I'd /really/ like to know who released the Grounders." Morgan says. Not that he is against the idea and even suggested some version of it.

Silver has made her arguments, but she's also thought it over. After a moment, she steps toward Quinn, tipping her chin up. "I'm not exactly useful in a fight, but if it's talking to people and keeping a level head you've got in mind, then I'm with you."

"Because we're goddamn /criminals/. Has that thought not entered your goddamn head?" Cole blinks at Cameron. "We are a bunch of a fucking murders, thieves, and traitors. What the /fuck/ you of done? Just give them a fucking pat on the head and say 'oh, they probably didn't mean to rape and kill those people, just a huge misunderstanding'." Another wilde at Quinn. "We. Are. Ciminals. I would've done the same the goddamn thing with excess oxygen use. Oh, the injustice thrust upon us! Like we did absolutely nothing at all to deserve such a horrible fuckin fate. Holy fuckin balls, the angst is strong with you." A snort. "We just want our fuckin cake an eat it too. As if we're entitled to everything when really we ain't entitled to shit. Because we're obviously mature and responsible fuckin adults."

Quinn just patiently raises her hand, which still has her own bracelet on it for the moment, "A party will be organized to go seek out the Grounders. It could mean people die, so only volunteer if you're okay with that possibility." She glances at Silver, nodding to her.

Evie opens her mouth a moment as if to retort, but instead levels an angry glare at Morgan before stepping closer to Hanne. "I'm not leaving, girl. Preach it."

Cameron listens to Hanne shouting, and does listen, "There's no telling how long it will take them to get down, and establish themselves— we can't afford to split up. We have to stay united. But once they're down, anyone who wants to join them is free to. But those who are not sure if they could trust the Council to change— Hanne, and I have no objection to talking to them and asking them to change— need to planning what to do to survive /in case the Council remains a tyranny/." To Cole, Cameron waves his hand away, "I didn't murder anyone, steal anything, rape anyone, or betray anything. I painted on a wall and broke a machine. The world has changed. That we were criminals in the closed ecosystem of the Ark is irrelevant now. Get over it."

"You best be planning on bringing some kind of tribute or gift to them." Thomas offers towards the pair that thus far have said they're planning on going to meet with the Grounders. "We're invaders to their lands after all."

Oh, Cameron raises his hand.

Martin clears his throat and finally decides to speak, "How about we hold off on any rash decisions about possible scenarios and wait to see how things pan out? Instead of committing to half-cocked plans now, maybe we can reach out to both the Grounders and the Ark and see how offers the better deal. If the Grounders seem like a group we can ally with, then let's work towards that. If the people of the Ark are willing to adjust to a less dictatorial model of government, then we can pursue that. Making a decision now on 'what-ifs' and 'say-so' isn't going to get us anywhere."

Cassandra juts out her chin in Quinn's direction. "I will go," she announces, then rounds on the very people she's been trying to rally. "It's better than staying here with all of you!" Someone in the crowd tells 'Boner' to go float herself. This does little to improve her general misanthropic opinions of them.

Cookie remains quiet, uncharacteristically solemn. She does, however, raise her hand in favor of holding parlay with the Grounders.

Devin glances to Cole as he says they're all murders, traitors and thieves, a smirk on his lips. "Speak for yourself." He says before he looks back towards Quinn, his hand still raised. At the mention of the party to look for the Grounders. "I'll go." He says after Cassandra's volunteering to go.

People from the crowd shout, "Yeah, who let out the prisoners?" And from elsewhere, "I heard Grounders snuck in and freed them!"

"No nothing and hope for the best?" Morgan asks Martin. "I don't think so. That's a sure way to die."

"We have to prepare, Martin. We have to operate on the worst case scenario is likely, and then the next worse, and try to prepare. We have to /survive/, Martin." Cameron calls over to Martin, "Maybe our preparations won't be needed. Maybe Jaha didn't lie and maybe the Council will see that the tyranny of the closed environment of the Ark is unsustainable on the ground. We can't just wait around and /hope/. We have to /prepare/."

The questions about who let out the Grounders cause Evie to wince, but she remains relatively tight-lipped for a moment before she raises her damn hand (ugh). "Ummm, so. Not to put a hole in your plan - " (LIE) " - but there's already a group on their way to parlay with the Grounders. So, diplomatic mission is, a, um, go. Or whatever. Or already has been. I'd suggest not storming in and fucking that up for them." Well, there's that cat out of the bag.

"We don't know who released the Grounders…It's honestly news to me at this point, but we can only hope it doesn't ruin any attempt at making an alliance." Quinn replies, "Planning is all we've got, sitting around with nothing is a death sentence in this world. One way or another, we've got to start thinking about shit that we never had to before. I'm sorry if some of you think preparation and discussion equals fear, fear keeps you alive. It makes you aware of the shit around you, if we didn't have fear we'd walk off a cliff."

Morgan frowns at what Evie says and takes a few steps down the ramp so he can turn in place and look over who's gathered. "Where the hell are Fiona and Grey?" The two he discussed exactly that with.

"And there we have it ladies and gentlemen." Thomas says dryly to himself. "An evening of arguing to do something, when people took initiative to do it themselves; on behalf of everyone without anyone knowing." Looking up to the sky he rubs his temples to fight off a possible headache. "The glory of anarchy. Every man, woman, and in this case mostly children, for themselves."

Silver quirks a brow over at Evie. "Great," she drawls, dry. "Nice of them to mention it to anyone else. Hey, out of curiosity, anyone ask their folks up on the Ark yet if the Council told any of our parents they were going to jettison us, or did they just do it and hope they'd get forgiveness after?"

"I haven't seen Grey since last night." Quinn replies, having no idea where either are, nor ability to recall the last time she saw Fiona. She frowns a bit, shaking her head before stepping off the ramp, "Fuck it…I'm tired of people taking away my choice." She rubs her fingers across her forehead before glancing at Max, her shoulders lifting in a shrug before she starts to head for the treeline again.

"The three of us discussed exactly this a couple days ago." Morgan tells Quinn, and incidentally, everyone else. "An exchange of hostages or perhaps ambassadors and releasing one of them." And then nothing since since things have been busy. "I don't trust Grey worth a damn but I think Fiona will try to make things work."

Martin nods to Cameron, "And that is what I am saying Cameron. Let's prepare, but, instead of choosing only one direction to prepare for, why not prepare for all of them. Why make the choice now instead of hedging our bets for all possibilities?"

"And they're also members of hunting parties, so I'd probably avoid making assumptions about who went and who didn't," Evie calls out. "I can count at least ten people who aren't here." She shrugs at Hanne at this point, obviously at a loss for what to do now. "I suppose that put a pin the planning. I could use some help tidying up the medbay, and I've got bandages to sterilize. You busy after this wraps up?"

"I don't see Grady, or Mildred." More names come up from the crowd, including Faolan, Zoe, Mika, and another dozen or so.

"Three people." Thomas comments quietly to himself, shaking his head. "Three people making decisions for all of us, without including us. So if things go poorly and the Grounders don't make it work, and they kill oh… fifteen of us in retaliation. The three of you will stand up to take responsibility?" The man nods his head towards the departing Quinn. "SHE at least brought this to everyone to discuss. To get people involved in the decision. Rather than doing it on their own. This whole discussion about what to do with the Ark isn't going to matter one bit. Because we'll all be dead long before they can get here from our own stupidity."

"Autonomy and freedom doesn't necessarily mean the need to go out running crazy into the wilderness either. It can be engaging those from the Ark in the discussion about our part in how things will be run, and taking an active role in self-det.." Max just trails off in the middle of whatever he was saying and falls silent. He shakes his head a little to himself and gets up from the stump. He gives Morgan a clasp on the shoulder and says, "Guess we'll see how it turns out." He looks out at those gathered and says, "Thanks.. for at least coming out.. and letting folks know how you feel about things. Everybody's voices are important." He seems well aware nobody's listening to him, but he says it anyway, and then makes his way out, himself.

Devin telling Cole to speak for himself regarding his criminal status earns a scoff from Cassandra. She gives some young upstart trying to get in her way a shove, but when Quinn gets off her soapbox, this Delinquent is also gone. Apparently she only came out to hear what the ex-C who gave Silas a beating had to say.

"The fact is yet again, just like with everything else…a handful or less of people made a choice without the rest." Quinn shakes her head, "But it's a waste of effort at this point…I'm tired of it, I wanted to get us together, as a whole…working like we did before the radio. During the rescue, both of them, but once more someone has decided to run off on their own without the majority. So, fuck it. Since that seems to be how everyone wants it, I'm done. I've tried. Let someone else try now."

There are more shouts that the Grounders should have been strung up, and so should the Grounder-Lovers, and that starts some shoving matches in the crowd.

"Those were the only two I discussed it with and Fiona volunteers to go." Morgan points out. "Not to mention that Katie and whatshisname would have made tried to stop someone who was releasing them." Unless it was Grey perhaps. Certainly not anyone else that he can think of.

Evie sighs quietly, eyeballing Quinn from her position beside Hanne. For a moment she almost seems sympathetic. "We weren't put here to be leaders or build our gangs. We were put here to survive until the Ark could come down. We've succeeded, more or less. We failed to get to Mount Weather, of course, and I for one am eager to work with the rest of the Arkers to uncover that potential supply depot. I don't think anyone else deserves to wiggle out of their duty, though. This was first and foremost a job." The shoving in the back is starting to annoy her, however, and she picks up a small rock to lob into the slowly growing fray. The move is to catch their attention, not to hit anybody, and it thuds on the ground near a pair of instigators. "Knock it off and get back to work, guys! The Grounders are gone. No point in being pissy about it now!"

Silver sighs, pushing a hand through her hair and turning away. "Yep. Guess we all learn from the examples we get, right? Council lies to people to do what they think they should, regardless of what anyone else wants. So we all land here, and look what we do. Whatever the hell we want. Look," she turns toward the others, "I can't speak for anyone else. But I'm tired of being lied to. I'm tired of being someone's pawn. And I'm tired of just letting it happen."

"Speak for yourself," Cassie calls to Evie over her shoulder. "If this was a job, we would be getting paid. I'm not here to be the Council's butt-monkey."

"We were attacked because we were going to Mount Weather." Morgan says to Evie. "Did Grey tell you that? Jaha is supposedly going to give us the location of other supply depots. Except now we can't ask the Grounders if we'll be attacked if we try going to them. Great planning there." Shrugging, he wanders over to Cam, done with it as well.

"Then do us all a favor and fuck off into the woods already!" Evie shouts back at Cassandra.

Hanne has slumped into a chair, pretty sure she's lost her tent roommate. Or at least 80% sure. She glances over at Silver's words and shrugs a bit. "Show me one instance in history where humans haven't done that to each other, and I'll follow you anywhere." Then she sighs, and nods to Evie. "Yeah… guess we should… because if Grey is off talking to the Grounders, we'll all be dead by nightfall." That was a joke… right? A joke?

Cameron lifts a hand up, rubbing his face, looking momentarily weary, "Throwing everyone into a pot and expecting to get anything like a consensus was a doomed exercise from the beginning." he says to everyone, no one, "If we can't agree to pick some representatives and have /them/ make decisions, we're just going to sit around shouting at each other all day, every day, over everything."

"Maybe I will!" Cass shouts right back at Evie. Maybe she does. Who knows. She does depart, and fucking off into the woods is her usual modus operandi.

Martin raises an eyebrow, "I'm going to side with the others on this one. Returning the grounders before we all had a chance to decide on it was a bad move, and, as fas as this being a job goes, fuck that. I got thrown into the skybox because I was fighting against the system. I'm not going to start suddenly wanting to be a part of that system now."

Hanne looks at Cameron as she moves. "I'm all for a democracy… I guess I just don't think I'm better than the adults and other kids still on the Ark. Maybe they should get to vote and nominate representatives, too."

"With that mentality," Thomas says towards Hanne as he walks past her chair, catching her comment to Silver. "We really shouldn't be worried about what we do here, because we don't deserve to survive. Setting out to form a more perfect union, that is what the goal should be. Understanding the innate flaws of humanity and building safeguards against them."

"Of course they should, Hanne." Cameron blinks at her a moment, "I've never said we should decide everything for everyone. That's crazy. My fight against the Council is because *no one* but the Council gets a say. The Council picks the Chancellor, the Chancellor appoints Councilors, Councilor approves. Its a closed system with no voice for anyone."

Mimi walks off of the dropship looking about at all the hustle that seems to be happening. She calls out "Does someone want to mount another expedition to Mount Weather? I have the coordinates for it - a fairly precise location, within about 88.785 percent accuracy. However it is unlikely that anyone will make it there." She comes to a stop looking around. "Are we picking delegates or leaders? Realistically we should pick someone that has the best relationship with most of the 100, whom they trust, and whom will work for the collective good." She points at Cookie "I think that Ms. Baker is the most logical choice."

"Good luck getting a consensus on representatives…and even if you did, people are still going to go behind their back." Quinn replies, pausing in her exit, "Anyone interested in having a constructive talk about what to do next, let me know. Not just arguing about what can and can't work…problem is, Hanne, we can't wait for the Ark to find someone to try and organize this shit…but.." She waves a hand, shaking her head, "Whatever. I'm just a thug, so I'm going to go thug somewhere quiet." With that she starts to head off again.

Devin lets out a soft sigh, shaking his head. With everything starting to break down and people at each other's throats, this meeting is over. He pushes his way through the crowd towards where he keeps his gear to gather them all up.

Cameron hesitates, and moves over to Quinn a moment, "Hey, give me two minutes?" he says quickly.

"Talk to you later, Quinn." Morgan calls then pauses when Cameron hurries over to her. Okay. He just leans on his staff instead.

"Talk fast." Quinn replies, coming to a stop when Cameron asks for two more minutes.

Hanne looks sheepishly at Evie, and then at Quinn, and then she sighs. "Hang on, Evie… I gotta… she's my roomie… I should…" She gestures helplessly and then starts toward Quinn, regardless of Cameron also stopping her.

Evie walks at Hanne's side, watching as others disperse. She is quiet now, no longer rankled by all the shouting and shoving and whining. "I have a feeling the group who went with the Grounders is going to end up on everyone's shitlist—oh, alright. I'm going to be in the medbay cooking up poisons for people I don't like." Cheeky grin. "Later, H."

"Because it happens doesn't make it right," Silver shakes her head to Hanne. "People kill each other, too. You cool with that? Contrary to what passed for justice on the Ark, I'm not. I wasn't super cool with bringing prisoners here, either. Seeing as how a fractured group of a hundred kids mounted a rescue when their people were captured, it makes sense the Grounders just might do the same thing, too. Only a hell of a lot harder. But nobody asked me about that, either. Because right now, nobody asks about anything."

"We're not kids." Morgan mutters. "Least I"m not." He's a doctor, dammit. Sort of. "Think of yourselves how you want to be treated as."

It's true that Cookie hasn't cut a bitch. She hasn't even threatened to cut a bitch. She hasn't even thought about cutting a bitch. It's quite possible she doesn't even think anyone deserves to be cut. What is certain, though, is one moment she was quasi-cuddled against her cousin, and the next Mimi is calling her out for something? (She looks confused and a little dazed, so perhaps she's not all here, at the moment. Grief will do that do some people.) "Huh?" Blink-blink.

"Well. That's enough excitement for one evening. Now I remember why I avoided all of you the past years to begin with." Thomas shakes his head and jams the hands back into his pockets and begins to make his way towards the corner of the camp he set himself up in and where he'd been peacefully resting until this hub bub started.

Cameron stops by Quinn, and says in a calm, serious voice, "I'm not going to apologize for what I did— but I do agree with almost everything you've said. I believe I had no choice in the matter, and I don't regret it. And if we had a committee or senate or /something/ chosen as a leadership, I'd take responsibility for it and submit myself for their judgement and accept whatever sanction they think suited. As we don't,.." Cameron shrugs, "But I wanted to clear two things between us. First, I didn't hide the radio, I simply didn't object to seeing it get hidden, because I wanted to put off what I knew would be a debate and focus on my Mom. I don't lie, but its up to you to believe me. Secondly, either way, I shouldn't have shouted at you and taken it out on you. I was irrational. My bad."

"Sorry, Morgan, but in most of the ways that count? Yeah we are." Silver shrugs, gesturing around the camp. "Infrastructure? We're building things now. But we're doing it piecemeal, in between other things. When we feel like it. Because half of us would rather go off and explore, or find a private spot to screw. Knowledge? We're kids when it comes to knowledge of all of the things that count down here. Responsibility? We've got none to anyone but ourselves the way we are right now. You want to think of yourself as an adult, you want all of us to be adults? Then we've got to start acting like it. And not be being self-centered assholes who make decisions for everyone else, either. By organizing. Together."

"Fine." Quinn replies, a brow lifting upwards, "That's the thinking that led whoever to take off with the Grounders, I don't have a choice, I don't have time, I'll just wave it off later. We don't have this luxury…or I don't think we have this luxury. We need to hold ourselves and others accountable, or we might as well just give up. I want us to be a group…ALL of us…but it's clear that isn't a possibility. So I'm just going to bow to the masses…fuck off and do my own thing, it's what everyone else is doing." With that, she steps around Cameron to start exiting the main camp grounds again.

Hanne stays outside the conversation between Cam and Quinn, letting the two talk without her mousey annoyances. She clasps her hands behind her back, waiting… and then promptly scurries after Quinn when she starts to depart.

Mimi stares at Cookie a moment. "I thought we were suggesting group representatives or leadership of some kind. Apparently there is not a consensus. I was recommending you for leadership." Her eyes are drawn to Cameron however and she walks casually over towards him and Quinn. She points a finger towards him and gives him a scolding. "Bad Cameron Scott! Bad, bad young adult! That was a horrible thing to do. Bad boy!"

"That was kind of the point, Silver." Morgan agrees with a sigh. "I think it's safe to say that some of us tried doing that. Others… not so much. We don't need the others as they are and they're getting in the way. The rest of us need to get moving in the same direction."

Cameron shrugs slightly, not trying to stop Quinn, but then he is walking back over towards where Morgan is, and is halted in his step, turning a cool look over at Mimi. "Excuse me?" A brow arches slightly.

Mimi rests her hands on her hips. "I believe there is a 99.999 percent chance that you heard me. You had a obligation to tell the group if you knew what happened to the radio. Not doing so makes you a bad boy."

"So maybe we try another way." Silver crosses her arms over her chest, looking around the milling crowd. "Look, you all came out here and laid things out again. Everyone keeps coming out and laying down fiats. We want people to contribute, to work together? Then maybe we ought to try meeting people in smaller groups. Split up for now. Talk to people. One on one. Groups of two or three. Get a feel for where things are. Get a foothold. Then you come out with the speech. When you've got an idea how it's going to be received. When people can trust you."

"Well, we did get an idea of who's going to go rushing home to Jaha." Morgan points out. "They've already got their path chosen. The rest of us have more options and more important decisions to make." He glances off in the direction that he as captured. "I'm not happy they released the prisoner and went off with them without talking to use but it's the action I would have chosen. Minus the not telling anyone. Unlike with the radio, they did have the time to let others know."

It is on his way towards his corner of the camp, so Thomas passes by Silver when she speaks and he pauses to look at her. "If we had time for focus groups, to find out what people wanted to do, then yes that'd be great. But here's the trick." He turns and motions with his head towards a lot of the people milling. "They see this as a game. Too many people think this is an adventure. Someday, soon, the reality that our existence and the way we live is at stake will soak in. Then the real fun will start."

By the time Cookie parses what Mimi has said, Mimi is chastising Cameron. The confused look she throws at her cousin is a mingling of 'da fuq?' and 'you got it covered?'.

"You are confused." Cameron's voice is tight and growing colder by the moment, "On at least two points. One, I am the one who *used* the radio, and I did what had to be done. My mother said it was urgent, with her dying breathe she said it must be done immediately. I saved three hundred people from dying who did not need to die. That is the only obligation I had, because right now, no matter how much I would like it to be different, we are an anarchy. There is no leadership. I am obligated to contribute to the best of my ability for the good of us all, and I do so, but that is where my obligation ends until we stop being an anarchy. The second way in which you are confused is that you are able to speak to me in that manner safely. There is precisely one person left alive who can scold me like a child, my father, because my mother died yesterday to get me that radio. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" This last is said with his voice raised, though its not quite a shout. So maybe he's not 100% back to being Cool Cameron yet.

Cameron's raise voice instantly gets Morgan's attention and he looks over. "Cam?"

"Kicking the ant hill's not working, either," Silver points out to Thomas, making the same gesture. "And when it all goes to hell, people are going to snap back into what's comfortable and familiar. Right now? That's nothing. Or the Ark. Or their two friends they happen to have spent a lot of time with. You need blocks. You need coalitions. You need alliances. You need-" She pauses as well as Cameron gets loud, looking over with a grimace.

"So here we are making alliances." Morgan says, returning his attention to Silver though still keeping an eye on Cameron. "I'll assume you are willing to join with me and Cam, Quinn and Max. That's a good start. How about you?" he asks Thomas. "Some of us already know that our lives are at stake. From all possible directions. You in on the real fun?"

Thomas glances at the outburst as well before shaking his head and looking back to Silver. "You need kids to grow up fast. They gave us weapons. Tools. Equipment and training in a lot of things, except for one. Success." At that, Thomas actually smiles. "Whether oversite, or some other reason, they simply didn't expect us to succeed the way we have or how we did. Because now we are stuck. The one thing they didn't give us was structure. So we have three options. We build one. We hope the Ark comes down to give us one. Or we fall under the weight of our own selves." At Morgan's question, Thomas looks to him and shakes his head, "Going off alone? Breaking away? Is that the plan?"

Morgan is looking over at, and Cookie is walking over to Cameron. Lightly, she seeks to place a hand on his shoulder.

Martin is still here listening to what is being said. He doesn't have much to contribute at the moment. It sees while he was hunting for water and other supplies, others were getting busy with politicking, so he is just now catching up on what has been happening in the camp.

Mimi is a demeanor of cool, calm, and calculating. "I am not hard of hearing. Raising your voice is a means of an attempt of intimidation I assume? Your own words said that you knew where the Radio was and kept it to yourself and that you would accept responsibility if there were a structure in place for you to do so." She lets her hands slide down to her sides. "On an alternate point however I offer condolences on your mother's sacrifice. Unfortunately there will be more. At the point that we argue with one another we will suffer more loses in our own camp." She eyes Cameron shortly "My apologies for upsetting you after the passing of your mother. She was a selfless soul to come down to us. It is a rare trait these days. There are many who are brave but without the selflessness to go along with it. I will leave you be." Unless stopped she'll start to head off back into the dropship.

Cameron doesn't try to accost her or anything, just stares with an expression of disbelief, then blinks, and looks at Cookie questioningly, then at Morgan, and he rubs his face. Rub rub. Rub rub. "I should have stayed in the tent and pretended today didn't exist."

"Saying they gave us weapons, tools, and equipment is kind of overstating it," Silver arches a brow at Thomas. "But I'm for setting something up that lets us actually talk to each other, instead of everyone for themselves. So yeah, if that's what you and Quinn and Cam and Max are in for, then I'm in. We can figure out what we're doing when we're actually doing a thing."

Now next to her cousin, she quietly asks him, "Wanna help me with the mushrooms?" Because you know, Cameron. You know.

"Going off alone? No." Morgan tells Thomas. "All of us together. And not necessarily going off either. They're assuming the Ark will be coming down here. More likely they'll be miles away. But whatever. Breaking away? From the Ark, definitely. Making our own future. Learning how to live on this planet here and now and not relying on the technology that's already failing them." Turning to see who else is around, he asks "What about you Martin?" Smiling fleetingly at Cam, he holds out a hand, glancing at Cookie to beckon her over with a head gesture as well.

Now next to her cousin, Cookie quietly asks him, "Wanna help me with the mushrooms?" Because you know, Cameron. You know.

Martin raises his hand, "And I am in for that as well. As long as we're done yelling and being silly about all of this." Then Morgan is addressing him directly, "What do you mean by breaking away from the Ark? They have supplies and resources. Breaking away from the Council, absolutely, but to turn my back on every single person on the Ark, I am not sure I can do that."

Thomas sighs softly as he looks at Morgan, almost sympathetic. "I understand the emotions, the feelings. We all do to a degree I think since we all ended up in the box. Most of us are guilty, some less so than others. But if we're truly honest, look around." He gestures towards people about. "The problem isn't the council, it isn't even the chancellor. It's us. I don't mean us on the planet, but us, the people who live under the government. We created that system. Going off on our own isn't going to change that because it'll end up being the same, or worse. Talking is good but it is made more difficult if we aren't all talking about the same things. It isn't about the stuff they have. It is about the experience. None of us down here have ever had to make a decision like sending people to their deaths, and I refuse to believe that decision is made easily."

"I think they gave us maybe one hammer like thing?" ventures Cameron to Morgan, "And a couple ration bars. I am not really giving the Council much credit for their forethought on provisions or supplies." But he does nod to Silver, "That's what I'm in for, at least." He goes and takes Morgan's hand, and gives a long thoughtful look at Cookie's question, "Picking?" he asks of her, in a clarifying tone, his head tilting to the side slightly. To Martin, "My Dad's still up there, Martin. I'm not talking about abandoning him or any of the other families, families who are innocent and just trying to survive."

Cameron says, with cold certainty, to Thomas, "You don't know Jaha then." Not that he does.

"Well, that might not be the case." Morgan tells Martin. "According to Jaha - the lying sack of shit who can't be trusted - they have no supplies to send down. And they can't fix the life support. They might have nothing much at all. Who knows." Thomas just gets a look. "You studied political science didn't you? And probably sociology." Annoying. "Not cutting off full contact, Martin. But being in a position of strength and setting our own terms on how we deal with them."

Silver gives Thomas a flat look, then gestures at herself. "Literally framed," she says, dry. "One of the doc's stole my prototype to try to save her husband and fucked it up. He died, and they blamed me for it. I spent two years in the box so she didn't get floated, and then I ended up down here. So yeah. I'm really not the problem here."

Cookie's expression in reply to Cameron's question about picking mushrooms could be taken as 'no'. Clearly, her visual cues aren't leading him to the proper conclusion.

Martin asks, "Can you figuratively be framed?" He then shakes off the thought, before nodding to Cameron and Morgan, "If that is the case, then, yes, I will support that. As for supplies, they have weapons, the most important resource. It can let them and us hunt much more easily, and it can impose their will on us."

Oh, no. Cameron got it, but,.. he says softly, "I still see her every time I blink. Every single time." by way of explanation. Its not a day he thinks letting his mind roam free would be good. He does nod to Martin though, his expression grim, "The goons are a concern."

"Would you rather be up on the Ark? Looking down wondering how we are all doing here? Or.. more possible not even caring?" Thomas speaks quietly to Silver with compassion in his tone, then to Morgan, "Because that's what you guys would be doing right? Sitting there thinking 'oh, well those assholes on the planet got what they deserved' and not be worried sick? You think about that? That people you never even met are hinging their hopes on what we do down here? Whether the Ark is dying or not, we're the hope of those people up there. Our families and that council you want to throw under the rocks any chance you get."

Cameron's attention focuses on Thomas, "Do remember his boyfriend's the one who called to warn all those families and give them a hope— they didn't have one until I called. Don't presume we aren't aware of the consequences."

"Maybe you should stop making assumptions," Silver drawls to Thomas. "You know what the prototype was? Carbon monoxide converter implant. To help deal with chronic oxygen deficiencies on the Ark. I doubt they even told anyone we were down here. If we were still up there, we'd be just as ignorant as everyone else."

Now that she gives it a proper think, tripping balls right now probably is a bad idea for Cameron, so Cookie simply nods. "You want some tea?" Because she's a caregiver, and, with her, that involves eatables and drinkables.

Morgan pulls Cam a little closer and snakes an arm around him. "I told Jaha to send them down." he tells Thomas. There's no heat since few people were actually there for the conversation and the exact details are unlikely to have gotten out. "I have nothing against the average person up there. But tell me this… How many people have been floated in the last 20 years? How many of their relatives are still alive? And what's going to happen once everyone is on the ground with all the air they want? I bet the Guard is asking themselves that. And they're not going to want to put those guns of theirs down."

"Why is it that we all want to make assumptions on what people up there thought, are thinking." Thomas gestures up towards the sky, "But turn around and get upset when the same is done down here?" Looking at Cameron and Morgan, Thomas shakes his head, "What example are we going to set for them?" He looks at them all. "Please, really think about it. At some point, we need to put the hatred and anger aside or that's all we'll be. That won't be enough to get us through." Then he looks at Silver, "And you didn't … I don't talk to people much. I didn't speak well. What I was trying to say, is that if you weren't here, someone else would be. That may suck for you, but what about the rest of us? I see it, hopefully you all will to. We need each other. Specifically, each other."

Martin has said his piece and heads off to grab something to eat. Mmmmm, food.

Cameron nods to Cookie, a quick smile, "That'd be great." Even if he doesn't exactly want any, he understands her impulses, and it'll be good for her. Then he leans against Morgan slightly, nodding, "The absolute communism of the Ark was needed for Ark's unique situation, but people in power do not lightly give it up, and the firepower of the Guard is the basis of the Council power. I don't see them just shrugging and being regular people, equal to everyone else, suddenly." He shakes his head, "The thing that gets me, Thomas, is if they had asked me, and told me the complete truth of the situation, I would have volunteered without hesitation. Without hesitation. They didn't ask. And then they lied to our families, and everyone else up there. Jaha doesn't know how to rule without lying. So, my mom sacrificed her life to come here and get me that radio because they sent a bunch of angry teenagers down here and we — predictably — rebelled, and started taking off our bracelets." Cameron's, notably, is still on.

Tea. Yay! Cookie can handle that. And, yes, it will be very good for her own morale to do so. Knowing her, she'll bring some for Morgan, too. And snacks. So with as bright a smile as she can muster, which still is quite bright for her cousin, she reaches to ruffle his perfect hair because hugging would be a bit awkward with Morgan already all up in there. That done, she's off.

Silver is still wearing her bracelet, though that's as much because she doesn't trust anyone else to take it off her as anything else. She's helped others get theirs off. Then again, she's been trying to get them off intact to try to hack them for communications. Just what Silver's been up to is…less than clear. "We need others," she'll grant Thomas. "But the Council's not on the list of people I trust right now."

Morgan smiles over at Cameron and hugs him a little tighter. "What it comes down to", he says to Thomas, "Is do what you want to do. I'm not going to try to convince you of anything. You're not in. Fine. Good luck. The rest of us will make our own future without running to the Ark once it's down.

"Who'd have thought that angsty teens would rebel." Thomas says with a small grin at Cameron, but it fades after a moment. "I'm not in, because being out is not an option. Not a good one anyway. Passion has to give way to rationalism at some point. Nothing any of you are saying is wrong. Nothing any of you are saying I disagree with. Hell, it's why I was put in the box. But the difference is, a plan for action with a result versus going blindly into a situation simply because it's different." He looks at them all then, one by one steadily, "But I think maybe we can agree on this. The Ark isn't here right now. And right now, we have some problems. We, all of us, all us delinquents, we need to figure something out and soon, if we want to make it. Regardless of what the Ark situation holds."

Cameron freezes a moment and turns a very mild scowl after Cookie, though there's no real heat in it. He reaches his hand up and pats his hair back into order. One does not mess with the Cameron's hair. That said, he nods to Thomas a bit, even as he leans into Morgan's hug, "First thing's first, 'we' are not unified in one single thought on what should be done, except that we believe we need to do what is needed to be as strong as possible. I believe there's a middle way, something between self-imposed exile or joining the Grounders, and returning to the Ark and submitting to the Council." He gives a slight shake of his head, "Either way, in the meantime, we have to work together and find a way to coordinate our resources and efforts better. And, I think we all agree we need to try to forge an alliance with the Grounders if we can. Otherwise, we aren't some monolithic group with one idea of things. So I don't disagree with you, no."

"Assuming we don't all die when the Grounders come back to our super secret base full of a hundred shouting, fighting teenagers," Silver grumbles, pacing half a step in one direction before turning to pace a half step in the other direction. "Damn, I'm mad at them."

"And that was exactly what tonight's purpose was for." Morgan points out. "To find out who's interested in being independent and then coming up with a plan of action and working toward it. Because now is the time to figure that out instead of waiting to see what happens. You can be part of it or not. Whichever." Silver's comment gets a smirk. "Don't worry. I'm positive they've been spying on us since we landed. It wasn't exactly quiet."

"Old speech, given a long time ago. Don't remember by who because it was in one of the books I've read. A house divided against itself cannot stand." Thomas looks at Morgan when he speaks. "Someone smarter than us said that. They were probably right. Making plans and the like, that's well and good. But if we could please focus mostly on our current situation, with everyone focused on that." He looks at Silver, "You should be mad at them. But it won't fix the problem unfortunately. People need structure, we have none. Let's find some."

Cameron gives a little shrug, "I've been arguing for electing a leadership ever since the day after we landed, practically. This…" He gestures around, "…rallies, trying to get everyone together and somehow make a concensus, is never going to work." He turns, leaning over to put a quick kiss on Morgan's cheek, then says, "See you later, I have to go check on something." And then he nods around, his smile small but there.

"We don't have to have a consensus," Silver shakes her head. "Not on everything at least. We need a consensus that doing things that affect everyone without consulting anyone is a dick move, and to come up with a way to make those decisions so that at least people are informed. Which starts with talking to people. So." She brushes her hands off, looking around the camp and trying not to look nervous. "I guess that means it's time to go…make friends."

"The current situation: learning to survive and stand on our own using what's available to use on this planet instead of a failing technology that's probably not going to last another generation." Morgan says. "And doing it without interference of Jaha, the Council or the Guard." And if Jaha does what he suggested and stay in orbit to die, that'll be one less problem. Though if he's the kind of person to do that, should he? He nods to Cam and returns the kiss, letting his arm drop. "See you later. I'm getting tired so might head back to the tent soon."

Martin looks to Silver and nods, "That is exactly what I have been doing, Silver. I don't think there is a single person here that doesn't like me at this point. Except maybe Cassandra. And that guy with the hatchet. Other than those two, I'm good." Lots of friend in lots of places means he hopefully hs a bit of pull.

"It is impossible to avoid the reputation of cruelty because new states are full of dangers." Thomas sighs the phrase to himself and shakes his head. "One day, you will understand I think why Jaha, the council, the guards act the way they do. I just hope we'll be able to make different choices than they did." He manages to put a small smile on his face. "Have fun talking to people." He nods towards his corner of the camp. "If you need me for whatever or anything."

Doubt it. Morgan doesn't have time for apologists. He just nods to Thomas and watches Cameron move off, which is always a nice sight.

"Well, that's one person, Mister Popular," Silver smiles faintly to Martin. "We get a few more people that most people get along with and we might actually have the beginnings of consensus."

Thomas, his associating for the evening done, wanders to his camp corner away from the noisy teens and their existence.

Martin offers a wave to Cameron as the other man disappears. Then he is waving to Thomas as he departs too. "Well, this thinned out quick." His attention shifts back to Silver and he shrugs, "That's the beauty of friends. You're creating a network. Since I'm friends with people who are friend with people who are friends with people, I am able to rally a group together, if need be." He hopes. While he is friendly with a bunch of people, he isn't too sure that they would come to his aid.

"I don't think it really works like that." Morgan tells Martin. "But we'll see. Also, I'm not sure if Cassandra actually likes anyone. Nor Asher, if you meant him." Since Cameron is out of sight, he looks back to the others. "So who do you think cannibalized the pod? Our own gang of thieves or Grounders?"

"I don't think Asher hates me, for what it's worth," Silver smiles faintly over at Morgan. "But I don't think there are all that many people who actually like me, either. I've spent the better part of the last two years being as much of a non-entity as I could manage," she admits. "Thought I could get back to work if I didn't cause any trouble. And you can see where that got me. I don't know about the pod, though," she shakes her head. "Depends on who could use those things, I guess. What the Grounder tech level is like."

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