Mrs. Kelly Jane Williams

Mrs. Kelly Williams raises her hand and you 'yield the floor' to her. "Firstly, I wish to thank you for respecting my principles regarding the firearms issue. I would prefer those beastly devices were not in the house, but was warned that they would be and accepted the job anyway. Moving on however:" she states before putting up three fingers, "one: I strongly suggest that we establish a regularized schedule not only in terms of day to day activities but weekly, monthly, and yearly activities. Children thrive on structure and discipline, not necessarily in the short term but in the long term, and as their governess it is my duty to provide both." She does not give a chance for commentary before moving on, just ticks down the first finger as she starts on the next item. "Two: While the soundproofing of all residential buildings in Millennium is first rate I must insist that there be quiet hours from ten to six on the bedroom level of the condo. I am a light sleeper by nature and have superior hearing, so there can be no loud noise while I am trying to sleep." Again she ticks of a finger even as she moves on to her next point. "Three: as their Tutor I request a time be set aside in the immediate future to establish a full curricular policy for the children's education, this will take up most of a day, but we need to do it sooner rather than later, because children all over america will be starting school soon and the children under my charge need to be moving along at least as swiftly as the ordinary students if not more." Mrs. Williams finishes, ticking down the last finger and then putting her hands in her lap.

"Understood, is there any objection to any of these points that have been raised?" You ask, and the others shake their head except Miss Chen Mei-Lien, who raises her hand. "Yes Mei-Lien?" You query.

"I listen to recordings of thunderstorms from my native Taiwan to help me sleep, will that be a problem?" She asks looking at Mrs. Williams.

"Probably, yes, but as long as you are consistent in your sleeping schedule I should grow accustomed to it and be able to sleep through it after a week or two..." Mrs. Williams states, resignedly. "I know all to well what it is to miss sleep and would rather take that on myself than inflict it on another." She continues. "Besides, if you couldn't sleep you would probably find something else to do that would keep me up anyway."

"Are there any other questions or objections?" You ask after a few seconds.

This time Africa raises her hand. "Yes, Miss Africa?"

"Don't know if you might be used to this one already, but I snore." She states, which reminds you that you have the same problem.

"As do I." You declare.

"Kind of you two to mention, but unless you sound more like a jackhammer than my late husband Mr. Williams did I should be able to sleep through any amount of snoring with the soundproofing of these kinds of residence." Kelly declares with amusement.

"Alright, moving on to the other two items you have brought up." You state, turning more serious again. "I don't think we have time to establish a full schedule tonight, it's already well after twenty twenty, and doing a full daily schedule that takes into account all our activities let alone weekly, monthly, and yearly seems a bit beyond our capacity for the time being, so I propose we review the existing schedule then table the rest of it till tomorrow night: any objections?" You ask, to which everyone shakes their heads.

"Alright, the children commonly get up at around 5:30, which is perforce when I get up as well, because either my alarm gets me up or they do. However since being recalled to active duty I have been rising at oh four hundred, so I can be showered and ready to catch the chopper from the roof at oh six hundred after I put them into the care of Mrs. McMillan upstairs, who runs a daycare out of her condo. They have been there until seventeen forty when she brings them home and sets them in front of cartoons to wait for me to arrive home at or slightly after seventeen forty five..." A thought strikes you. "Were you all here when Mrs. McMillan brought the children home today?" You ask.

"Oh, certainly." Africa replies, and everyone else nods

"Then why did she put my kids into the care of strangers?" You question with a mixture of fear and annoyance. Mrs McMillan should have known better than to give your children to people you had never met and your children should have known better than to go if she did, you've had the talk with them about going places with strangers.

"River 'convinced' her after we presented our credentials." Chef Joseph states, and suddenly you are annoyed with only one person, River.

"Girl should have known better." You mutter, but accept that being only eight she probably was swayed by the official looking documentation. YOU are well aware that such papers and so on are easily forged or stolen, but have not explained such things to your kids. You move on, "Anyway, I am at the base from about zero seven hundred hours to seventeen hundred hours, when I get home I cook dinner, which generally happens about eighteen hundred to eighteen fifteen. Now that we have Chef Joseph on the team I think we can regularize that to eighteen hundred even, even if that means I miss dinner sometimes." You state looking at the Chef and he nods.

"After that is of course the Nightly Political Discussion, then the bedtime story, baths, and lights out. We don't have set times for those yet, but the children are always in bed and lights out by twenty one hundred hours, and with three people to help with baths I think we can push that back to a hard limit of twenty hundred." You explain and everyone nods.

"This brings up another issue:" You begin. "As I am sure you all saw or were briefed the children and I are no longer distinctly male or female, or for that matter human, but rather fully functional hermaphrodites of an unknown alien species. Though I suppose the term now applies I am not their mother, I am their father, and while I am growing accustomed to being both male and female, I am still uncomfortable with the feminine terminology, so I would ask you all to address me as 'Sir', 'Mr.', and 'Your Father', rather than 'Mam', 'Mrs.' and 'Your Mother' when we are in private. I have no idea why the government told you to use the feminine forms with me when they briefed you, but it's been getting to me all night." You explain.

"Interesting." Chef Joseph states, looking slightly: speculative? "We had been told that you and the children's cover story was you were a Political Military Attache from a U.F.P. race here to observe and offer advice on U.S. weapons and tactics as part of the integration program, and that we should maintain that fiction at all times to reinforce it for the children so they would be less likely to break character. Are you sure we should not do that?" He asks, probing for: something...