A New Chair

JP with mdman, Jaxx, Trustno1 and Cindy

In the chip: "Sorry about that. " said Sartre.

Ekaterina elegantly smiled at Dahlia as she replied, "That is a good question. I mean either way we will be facing the danger of vampires if they feel threatened by us." Ekaterina looked at Agent Powers and asked, "Mr. Powers, why did you volunteer to face the vampires alone? Did you have some kind of plan?"

Agent Powers gave Ekaterina a smolder before he replied, "Not really. I figured I had the best odds of fighting them in hand to hand till I got back up if things got violent. My main reason was to protect Alyssa from combat since that is my main mission from my father."

Ekaterina replied, "Oh my....... are you not afraid of dying Mr. Powers by being so reckless?"

Agent Powers cocked his head to the side with a puzzled expression on his face as he replied, "Not really. The only difference now is I have teammates to protect. Normally I am alone facing an army of drug dealers or corrupt soldiers. Anyway I don't really care which option we choose since both of them have a high risk either way."

Ekaterina was a bit shocked by Agent Powers' perspective as she wondered why he was raised to think of himself as expendable. She asked him, "Do you ever worry about living such a violent lifestyle Mr. Powers?"

Agent Powers shrugged as he replied, "The day my father sends me to hunt a new target down is probably the most important day of their life, but for me, it's just another day of the week."

Ekaterina dropped her jaw by Agent Powers comment. She was not sure if that was a joke or not.

When lunch arrived, Dahlia got herself some salad and fruit. She added a cup full of the nuts left over from the snack. She drank flavored water. Afterwards, Dahlia would have another cup of black coffee.

Choi grabbed half a hoagie and some chips. He also got some more chai.

Alyssa didn't respond to Peter, she was busy getting the food delivered into the meeting room. Once the delivery was done, she took some food and sat down. Chips, a sub, and a soda. She said nothing as the others ate and talked.

Agent Powers was helping with handing out the food before he got his own. He gave Princess Ekaterina a Chicken Caesar Salad and a fruity flavored water bottle. She thanked him for being a gentleman and he gave her a smolder before he nodded and then served himself. Agent Powers had four footlong subway sandwiches fully loaded with meat and vegetables. He also had four energy drinks and a family size bag of Doritos next to the sandwiches. It was a bit shocking how easily ate his food without any chocking or discomfort. He ate in silence as he checked his phone messages and replied to them. They were mostly from his father since he was the only one outside the team who would contact him.

Princess Ekaterina elegantly ate her food as she noticed the awkward atmosphere. Since she didn't want to make it worse she kept her thoughts to herself for the time being.

Choi texted Alyssa: Sorry Little Hacker! Things got out of order there.

Choi took a bite of his sandwich, then began to research fine dining restaurants in the area. There were not many choices available, which caused some more frustration.

Dahlia stated, “Might I suggest we proceed using Robert’s Rule of Order? That way, things would be more manageable.”

Alyssa glanced up at Dahlia’s idea, "That certainly sounds better than this - what that was that happened a few minutes ago." Into her phone, she texted Choi, "It's fine. I don't like that much disorder." Into her chip, to Peter she said, "It's alright, you can make it up to me later.”

"Motion to sneak in, waiting for a second to start discussion before vote," said Sartre.

“First,” Dahlia commented to the group, “we must elect a chair. Any motions?”

"I choose Alyssa." Sartre said.

Dahlia nodded toward Sartre, then turned to Alyssa. “Any seconds?”

Alyssa wasn't surprised that Sartre nominated her, he did seem to be her cheerleader, in a sense. Of course, now that made more sense than before. She however was not going to second herself, that was not how things were done. If the rest wanted her in that position, someone else would second it.

Of those in the room, Choi only thought of two who could lead meetings. That didn’t mean they would be able to lead the entry into the house, but meetings, yes.

It wasn’t Sartre or Powers, whom by all appearances were the oldest in the rooms. That was ironic.

The Princess he didn’t know brought about yet. Although, as a Templar, she would be orderly.

He was good in a fight, but not in meetings. So, Choi did not see himself as leading a meeting.

That left Alyssa and Dahlia. Alyssa was good with research and hacking. However, Dahlia seemed to know more in order. So, that was Choi’s choice. Not that he didn’t want Alyssa to lead, he just thought Dahlia would handle things better.

“I nominate Dahlia,” he spoke demonstrating a sense of control. “As a Templar, she knows order.”

Dahlia was quick to reply, “Table that nomination. Do we have a second on the first nomination for Alyssa?”

Alyssa didn't know what to say to that, she had stepped up to lead the group when no one else had, and she didn't think it had been a bad job, but the hacker hadn't exactly wanted the position. However, she thought Choi's impression wasn't correct, yes, the Templars had order but so did the Illuminati, their meetings were run like business meetings. And the Templars were the newest to the group, she couldn't ding Dahlia on the lack of impartiality that would likely be there as they all had that. And then the time ticked with no second, well maybe Peter was the only one who wanted her to have the job. She wasn't even certain why that bothered her as much as it did, well Alyssa decided to give it a little longer. But figured with Choi nominating Dahlia and Max perhaps not understanding the rules but not saying anything, it was a done deal, as Ekaterina was sure to pick Dahlia. "Dahlia, do you want the position?”

Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder then communicated to her via their chip, "Hey Alyssa if you want to be in charge I will support you, but if not l will back off.”

She responded into the chip to Max, "If you want to then just say out loud that you second the motion for me to be the chair. It just means that you agree with that idea.”

Agent Powers looked puzzled then gave Alyssa another smolder before he communicated to her via their chip, "I don't get these rules you are talking about, so that is why I am asking you if you want to be in charge of this stuff. So what do you want?”

"Yes. I'll be in charge if others want that but if you don't say, outloud that you second it, you asking me that question won't matter." Alyssa tried to explain to Max, in the chip. "Me being the Chair has to be voted on, that won't happen unless someone seconds it.”

Then Agent Power gave the group a smolder and said, "I second Alyssa being the chair." He then nodded before he drank a cup of coffee.

“Okay,” Dahlia acknowledged, “we have a second for Alyssa as the chairperson.”

She took in a breath, not wanting to be controversial. “I believe we also have a motion for myself to be chair. Is there a second?”

Princess Ekaterina elegantly smiled and replied, "I second for Dahlia." She smiled at Dahlia as she had her back.

"Well, now we have an issue, because neither Sung or Eun-Ji are here, we will end up in a tie." Alyssa said.

“Fine,” Dahlia responded. “We have two candidates for chairperson. Any other nominee?” She paused momentarily. “If there are no other nominees, those in favor of Alyssa being chair, say aye.”

"Aye." said Sartre.

Agent powers scratched his head for a moment as he was thinking on the topic of leaders then he gave the team a smolder and asked, "Wait??? Is this for the leader of team on everything? Or just the meeting part? If its just for the meeting part who will be the leader for the combat part?" Agent powers was a bit confused by all this.

Dahli sighed. “This is for the meeting. The chair is the one who keeps the meetings going in an orderly fashion.” She paused again. “Anymore ayes?”

Agent Powers was confused then replied, "Umm Aye for Alyssa.”

Dahlia eyed Alyssa, wondering if she were going to vote as well. It wouldn’t be unprecedented. It was allowed.

"Aye, for myself." Alyssa knew in this situation that it was fine to do that but it felt weird.

Dahlia nodded. “That’s three Ayes for Allyssa. Those in favor of me being the Chair, say aye.”

Choi quickly said, “Aye!”

Ekaterina elegantly replied, "Aye.”

“That’s three votes for Alyssa and two for me,” Dahlia announced. “Congratulations Alyssa!”

“Wait a minute,” Choi protested! “You didn’t vote!”

“The chair usually does not vote unless there’s is a tie,” Dahlia explained. “That’s the way of order. Alyssa,” she announced, “please proceed.”

Alyssa thought back to what she knew of Robert's Rules or Order. What Dahlia said was sort of correct, sort of. The chair does vote if there's a tie and breaks it, but if the vote will lead to a tie if they vote they can also vote, it just negates the motion. However, in this case it would have ended up in a tie, maybe Dahlia was trying to avoid that. Maybe, she didn't know, which was unlikely, but by not voting she had, in a sense, voted. "Thank you Dahlia for organizing all of that. Alright then, let me remember how this goes. First though, we are a small group,therefore, the rules don't have to be followed as they would for larger groups but I will still maintain order. So, first, if everyone's settled I'd like to call the meeting to order. Which does not need a second, so, normally this would go reading of the minutes, and then officers, committee chairs giving their reports, obviously skipping those. Just to be clear, what we do regards to the vampires will fall under new business and its our first meeting, but just for kicks, any old business?" There really shouldn't be any but she was trying to give a little demonstration of how it goes for Max's sake.

Agent Powers quietly ate his sandwiches and drank his flavored water as he listened to the confusing conversation. He didn't want to look any more foolish so he kept quiet as he ate. Ekaterina on the other hand elegantly smiled as she listened to Alyssa now that she was in charge of the meeting.

Dahlia nodded at Alyssa’s comment of thanks. Maybe now they could get down to business. She could have voted and if Choi would have pushed the issue, she would have voted, but for Alyssa. Her sole purpose was to stress order in these meetings, not necessarily lead them. It was the efficient way to get things done and decided.

Although disappointed that Dahlia had not won the vote, Choi was happy that the meeting was progressing. He had always liked working alongside Alyssa, so wasn’t terribly upset that she had won the vote.

“I believe we had a motion out of order a little while ago,” he stated. “So, at this time, I motion that we enter the home in daylight hours, not to destroy the home, but to simply investigate for clues concerning our mission.”

"Seconded." said Sartre.

"Alright, then we'll have a motion and a second to enter the Prince's home in daylight and search for clues. Before we vote on that does anyone have anything to discuss regarding that motion?" Alyssa asked, then added. "Just raise your hands and everyone will get a chance to speak.”