Dec 14 16:10:52 109 PA - Finalizing Rubidia's Fund-Raising Concert Security
From Chronicles
Dec 14 16:10:52 109 PA.
THE ARENA
Early afternoon, and Gabriel is present at the Arena with two people who obviously work for him; obviously because they're in company uniform. One tall blonde woman, quite attractive and looking toward the sky boxes, and one shorter but still fairly tall fellow with a deep tan whose eyes are more on the open gladiatorial floor itself. The old man is walking the perimeter, his companion dog at his side as he jots various notes on a simple clipboard as he goes. Right at this moment, he has stopped near the Main Street entry between stands and the blood-stained arena itself.
"I'm assured those stains will be gone in time for the performance." Rubidia notes as she trots down into the scene. She takes a moment to do her own quick glance about before looking to Gabriel. "So, what do you have so far?"
Gabriel chuckles at the greeting. "I'd hope so. In my time blood wasn't the kind of thing that gave concerts a good name." He then waves a yellow No. 2 pencil over to the blonde operative. "Lisa's looking for any obvious sniping positions. I've got Jack checking the arena floor in case someone might want to sabotage the performance from the inside. I'm focusing on getting people in and out right now. Particularly the ones who want to get to those sky boxes." He wiggles his notebook a little. "After all, they'll probably give individually as much money as everyone else gives combined. Play to the crowd, right? Still, it looks to be a safe enough area.. as long as we screen out the kinds with explosive collars before the music starts. I'm a little worried about the chains, though. You really want to be tied down? Er... up?"
Rubidia shrugs lightly. "You really want to make money for the refugees?" She asks in turn before shaking her head. "I won't truly be held down. If I need to I can pull away at any time. It's an act that I struggle to pull away at the right time. Besides, with the right measures no one will get in here with any plans for disruption right?"
"Oh, the measures will be right. I'm just making sure that they're all in place," Gabriel says. "But you always need to leave room for your own error, and brilliance on the part of the enemy. So when the day comes that I give you any absolute, unbreakable promise on something like that one way or another, that's the day you know that I'm senile." He steps aside and waves toward the open arena. "So, where exactly will your stage be? The farther from the entry, the more people will get inside before stopping to gawk and bunch up."
Rubidia nods and leads Gabriel to the dead center of the arena. "We'll be using one half of the arena. The stage will be in the center fifty by fifty. Crowd surrounding. The floor space between the stage and the rows will be standing attendees. How much space between the stage and the attendees is open to review."
Gabriel has one quick question for that, using the pencil as a pointer at open air. "How high will the stage actually be, Ruby?"
"Six feet. Higher and those on the floor aren’t going to have a great view of anything but my underwear." Rubidia answers with a nod.
"Right, so normal. Maybe a little low actually, but that's fine. I don't suppose your.. band? You have any kind of security presence on stage?" Gabriel waggles the pencil again. "I'm hoping that the local security will be able to handle a simple press of fans. That's something that I need in a mass, really. Even if I dragged Gracie out, seven of us wouldn't do much good. So the plan as it stands it to get my people at the strategic points - choke points, natural gathering areas that we'd prefer to be free, that type of thing. I'm worried though not so much about your fans, but people who don't want to see the refugees and the others at the Sanctuary have the opportunity to prosper at all."
Rubidia shakes her head to the main question. "I'm a solo performer Gabriel. I have two goons I pay to move my speakers from place to place but otherwise it's just me normally. For this I'm contracting Fizz's staff for a more expansive performance. If this were in Japan I could have a private army here with a phone call. It's not. That’s why I got you." She notes before looking around a bit more. "Well figure out what you want, and what you need, and maybe the refugees can fill the gaps. This is for them after all."
"It is. And if people don't do things for themselves, then they'll never learn to do it," Gabriel declares. "So, I was expecting the stands to be packed full, not the floor. I guess I never went to enough rock 'n roll concerts when I was a kid. Not that we had any..." he allows to fall away. "What can you tell me of other concerts? It would be best if I turned one of these entries into a designated exit. Better for fire safety, too."
"Oh I'll do better than that. I'll show you one." Rubidia states before reaching out to connect her mind with Gabriel's and share a performance of appropriate breadth for comparison. Well large actually, but still translatable.
Gabriel.. thinks along. It's actually quite disturbing, and he lets go as if being shocked as soon as he can. "Yeah, ah. Let's not do that again. Draw a picture, use some eloquent words, hula, smoke signals... or at least give me some warning, please," he asks as politely as he can with regard to the sharing of minds. After just a moment, he nods though. "Shouldn't be a problem. I'll keep one way out, the rest can come in. Have the Sanctuary people keep the exit clear. Now, here's what I'm thinking about myself. But I need to ask one question first, and it'll sound like a dumb, self-serving question - since this is a fund-raiser for the Sanctuary, did you have any plans on pointing me out at all?" By looks, he probably hopes that the answer is 'no.'
Rubidia shakes her head. Quickly enough to imply she got the gist of it while she was still giving him a mind trip. "None whatsoever." She confirms for his relief. "In fact, if the entire concert happens without anyone realizing anyone is just a shout away to put on the damper then it happened perfectly."
"Fantastic, then," Gabriel sighs. "I can't imagine that I'll be a popular figure in the coming months. But enough about me. What are *your* concerns?" His head twitches sideways for a second as if listening to something, then he lifts his small communicator to his lips. "Okay, check behind the central box and come on down." A nod is given back to the performer. "I'm thinking that I'll either put myself way up there too coordinate things -" he points up to the top center of the ringing stands "- or down here plainclothes, getting the pulse of the crowd as it sways."
"One thing to realize if you or someone else is in the crowd. Communication will be nearly impossible from the noise." Rubidia points out before taking a second to gather her concerns. "One Skybox is for Sage and other personal friends. I want the entirety of the performance to be safe. But is you have to cut off a limb to save the rest, don’t cut that one. Secondly no bomb collars. I know we can't cover every means of entering a building this size in this day and age. But if we have people watching the crowds closely then undesirables shouldn’t appear out of nowhere unnoticed."
"Six of us, three up, three down, should give coverage for the things that the Sanctuary folk can't handle," Gabriel says with a nod. Then, he gives a very substantial shake of his head. "Hearing won't be a problem, at least not hearing each other. Communications were the first thing we established. If it's good enough for combat, it's good enough for a crowd. We all have earbud mics, and all know how to use 'em. As far as Sage, I'll do what I can, but if it comes down to fifty-thousand people versus her, I have to give it to the masses. I'm sure that we'll catch problems before it comes to that." He waves up to the boxes again, numbering three, then down to where he and Rubidia stand, counting three again. "Bob has expressed some interest in helping out, so there may be a seventh. Still, I'll coordinate the activities and I'll have those from the Sanctuary do their best to keep track of incoming weapons to begin with."
Rubidia nods. "Alright. You want me to come with you to the Sanctuary for the recruiting there? Don’t imagine I’ll do much other than provide a pretty face. But sometimes that can be very helpful."
Gabriel chuckles a little. "Oh, when it comes to the spy business, you'd be amazed at how far a pretty face goes. Don't suppose you ever heard of the Mata Hari?" After a brief chat with Jack and Lisa, he looks to move out of the Arena and head up to the Sanctuary.
Rubidia shakes her head. "That some kind of cocktail?" She asks in response before following Gabriel to the next step.
It shouldn't be long, with Gabriel either using jet pack or automobile and Rubidia doing who knows what to get to the Sanctuary. With everything that has been done today, with the professionals that Gabriel has put together and the enthusiastic amateurs? The concert's security will go well.
