After taking some time to discuss and absorb Giles' information, Xander moved to the head of the table himself. He was a bit nervous, but Giles had asked him to make some additional suggestions based off his Soldier knowledge to help with the Slaying. He'd spent several days, with Cordelia's help, putting together a list of ideas and now it was time to present them.
"Everyone, if I could have your attention. Giles asked me to prepare a list of additional suggestions from my Soldier knowledge. I'd like to give you my ideas now." There was some surprised looks from Buffy and Willow, but no objections from anyone, so Xander continued.
"First, I'd like suggest that Willow and Oz put together a database on the books Giles has. A short summary highlighting what is in each book, along with a cross-reference that will call up a list of the titles of those books when we're looking for specific information. Thus saving considerable time, since we would only need to look in those books and not a bunch of dead ends."
"Next I'd like you to write a continuously updating program that tracks deaths, so we have an idea of where vampire consentrations may be. We can also use that information to plan and vary patrol routes. It wouldn't be difficult for a vamp paying attention to figure out we only patrol certain areas and not to go there."
"No one should ever patrol alone, Slayer or not. That is stupidity, in the extreme. Just because there has always only been one Slayer doesn't mean you should be going out alone. Sooner or later you will run into more than you can handle alone. Weight of numbers or bigger and stronger than you or an unknown creature you don't know the weaknesses of, are just a few of the ways that can go wrong. Bare minimum, since there are six of us, should be two teams of three, with a Slayer on each team."
"No one goes out every night, Slayer or not. Everyone needs and deserves time off. You function better when rested mentally and physically."
"We cannot be out of communication with each other. Each group must carry a walky talky. Giles must keep one with himself at all times, as Giles is our base, our coordinator. If we are in the field and run into trouble, Giles can coordinate back up or look up an unknown creature and weaknesses and relay that to us. We also need to carry cell phones at all times, so if something happens when not patrolling we can also respond quickly."
"All of us need to learn basic first aid. I suggest Giles hire someone to come here and give us lessons. Knowing how to properly tie a tourniquet can save lives."
"We all need self defense training. Not just the Slayers. Knowing how to defend yourself means someone else doesn't have to risk their life protecting you. It also means your teammates know they can depend on you to watch their back."
"We all need to spend time discussing personal issues, PTSD is a real thing. To that end, with Giles permission I spoke to Father Richards at St. Patrick's. As we discovered this summer, Father Richards is familiar with the nightlife and willing to bless Holy Water by the gallon. He also prays for us. If we can believe in magic, we can believe in prayers and it certainly doesn't hurt. He is willing to speak with any of us at any time, but specifically will have Fridays set aside for us. Everything said is private, unless he feels someone is in danger."
"Next, body armor and before you start thinking I mean suits of armor or the bulky suit a bomb expert wears on TV, no I don't mean that. Modern armor can be made discrete, to fit under clothes and custom made to fit each individual. There's a shop in L.A. that makes things for the movie industry and cosplayers. Cordelia has had items made there back when she used to participate in pageants. They're discrete and have a good reputation. When she called them earlier this week, she got an estimate. For less than two hundred dollars including material and labor per armor, we can each have something that will protect against all but the bigger bullets, knives and claws."
As Cordelia listened to Xander's presentation she couldn't help but feel proud of him, he was doing so well. Of course, as she had noted a few weeks ago, when Xander knew what he was talking about and acting confident he was damned hot. She tried not squirm in her seat. Damn, he needed to hurry up and finish so she take him home and get her unh on, as Faith would say.
After finishing his presentation, Xander sat down by Cordelia and waited to see what everyone had to say.
Giles leaned forward and said, "Much of what you suggest would upset The Council greatly, as they are very mired in traditions and their ideas of how things should go. I, on the other hand, can find no fault with any of your suggestions, aside from the fact, that I may have to use Willow's infernal machine to find which books I need to look something up, so as to save time and possibly lives."
"I'm willing to get started on the database and tracking programs right away, those are great ideas." Willow piped up. Oz was nodding beside her.
"Well, I guess I can't find any problems with it either, they're good ideas, Xan." Buffy said.
"I'm in."
"Very well, I will see about hiring someone to teach first aid. Cordelia, could you call to arrange a time for us to visit this shop to place these orders?"
"Sure, Giles,"
"In the meantime, since we need to set up a schedule to test Xander's leftover Hyena abilities and help him practice his pyromancer ability, I can also plan out teaching everyone self defense. Anyone have anything to add?"
"Only that Amanda and I will begin layering protection spells over your shop tomorrow. We will do one a day. They will include an anti-violence spell, a threshold reinforcement spell, an alert when malignant magic has been cast on an individual and an alert when anyone non human enters without permission." Sherry said.
"Thank you that will be most helpful."
