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[synthedick]

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[synthedick]

[Nick's eyes flick to Maketh, meeting them as her gaze lands on him. She's right, of course -- the Guard isn't about leading the city, nor is it about policing them. It's about keeping them safe, getting them to cooperate. Doing that takes some level of trust with the people, some rapport they're still working on. Not everyone trusts them, and not everyone will, but what they have is a good start. They just have to maintain it, build upon it -- and that takes a finesse not everyone is capable of.

So Nick can absolutely see what Maketh means, even if he doesn't believe it himself sometimes. Even being a detective, it sometimes takes another pair of eyes to see the answer that's staring him right in the face.]

Not sure how much sway I really have around here, but... I appreciate the trust you put in me. I won't let you down, Maketh.

[mismanagement]

[She smiles, ducking her head over the coffee.] I have faith.

[Not so long ago she would have never dared to put a civilian in charge of such an operation. So much has changed since she's come to Hadriel, not all of it for the worse. On Lothal, she had no trust in the civilians, had thought them simple and weak, easy to manipulate. Worth protecting, but perhaps a little naive - never quite good enough to know how to do anything themselves.

She'd been cruel then, Maketh thinks. Perhaps she still is.]

[synthedick]

Now if you can manage to spare some for yourself, we'll be good.

[He worries about Maketh and how much she deals with -- how much she doubts herself.]

[mismanagement]

I'll try. [She exhales slowly, then finishes her coffee.] That's all I can promise.

[It might not be much, in his eyes. But it's what she can give.]

There was--another matter I'd bring up, if that's all right.

[synthedick]

[Hey, the thought that she'll at least try is good enough for Nick. You can't eat an elephant in one sitting, after all.]

Sure, sure. What is it?

[mismanagement]

[Maketh smooths her thumb over the rim of her mug.] We need to put protocols in place, in case--well. In case I am not there. People die, or sometimes they simply leave--it's not efficient to leave this things to chance.

[synthedick]

Agreed.

[And given the way folks just up and vanish, there's no telling if tomorrow is guaranteed for any of them.]

What did you have in mind?

[mismanagement]

We need a chain of command.

[To put it bluntly.

Maketh rubs her face.]

It wouldn't be a popular decision. We could be seen as attempting to take control. Which is why I think it should be kept quiet for the moment. Informal.

[synthedick]

Informal is probably best, knowing some of the folks here. It's not as though we have any laws, and trying to put some into place this late in the game might just make things worse.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh nods.] But something unique to the guardsmen - that would work.

[Someone needs to give the orders, after all. It doesn't work to put things to a vote in an emergency.]

[synthedick]

It would. At least you know we can follow directions, and that most of us are on the same page when it comes to keeping this city safe.

[He says "most" because there are some with methods he doesn't approve of, and some who don't seem to know just why they're on the Guard in the first place, save for that they wanted something to do. Whatever their reasoning, the important part is that they cooperate, especially when things start to go haywire.]

[mismanagement]

Yes. It would be--useful, to have officers in place to delegate work and give orders of their own. [And to know that they would be followed. Still, the whole thing has an edge, coming ever close to a formal militia, and Maketh worries. It's far too easy to fall into old patterns. What she was before cannot exist here. This place cannot be the Empire. She's sworn to make something better.]