Q: Where were you when you first learned the ship was coming down near Arrow Rock?
A: I had already moved to a farm south of town when Missouri was just one of the possible landing sites. There is an old church and fellowship hall there that we use for community events and as a command post for disaster training drills. People were already arriving from outlying areas when I got there.
Q: What was the first thing you checked once the landing site was confirmed?
A: I checked in with Matt. He asked me to help Angelina organize things since she was stuck in Columbia.
Q: When did the event stop being something happening near you and become part of your own workload?
A: See questions 1 and 2. As the Arrow Rock auditor, my workload increased the moment the nearby was confirmed.
Q: What did Matt ask your office to handle first?
A: I was already running housing numbers before he even asked
Q: What did your office begin doing before anyone formally asked?
A: See question 4. My office doesn’t wait to be asked
Q: How much of the emergency response was already covered by existing procedures?
A: Unlike Matt, who didn’t have plans for aliens, I did have emergency plans for taking in large numbers of people in need of homes. Fires, floods, or tornadoes are all real possibilities where I might have to implement such a plan
Q: What had to be invented during the first twenty-four hours?
A: A complete intake system and getting new tech into everyone’s hands. We have enough laptops and tablets for the regular staffers, but not the 500 new staffers we hired and had already started doing the work. A shout-out to Marcus Chakrobarty for the intake system and Georgette Kwan.
Q: Which existing Freehold system proved most valuable?
A: Our teen volunteer corps, it is the largest high school organization by far. We mostly train them in community event management and disaster relief, but they are highly adaptable
Q: Which system immediately showed its limits?
A: It became obvious quickly how much Angelina runs the show when it comes to organization. I am her backup, but my primary responsibility is Arrow Rock, not the freehold at large. We are going to get her proper backup
Q: Did anyone seriously expect the normal books and ledgers to survive first contact intact?
A: Yes, and they did. My younger sister sits in the freehold budget office, and she just opened new lines of credit and issued new digital cards from the other accounts
Q: How do you audit an emergency when waiting for approval would make the emergency worse?
A: Matt is richer than God, as the local saying goes; he told my sister Suzy just to set it up and get it done.
Q: What records are people expected to keep while they are working in the field?
A: Everyone over 12 in the freehold is expected to contribute to the community, and hours are logged through the freehold app. This was no different.
Q: How much of the first response operated on trust?
A: Most of it. I know that might sound flippant, but we extend an enormous amount of trust to the citizens of the freehold and are largely rewarded because of it.
Q: Has anyone abused that trust?
A: Not that I’m aware of. That would also be a bad idea. Matt doesn’t throw people in jail for fraud; he throws them off his lands
Q: What happens when someone makes an honest mistake in the middle of crisis work?
A: It gets fixed or routed around until it can be fixed. We build systems with lots of redundancy because failure in small communities can be catastrophic.
Q: What happens when someone knowingly uses the crisis for personal gain?
A: They would, at best, be escorted out of the freehold and never let back in. At worst, they would refuse to leave and be shot as trespassers refusing to leave. I hope he never has to do that again; the last time it nearly destroyed him.
Q: What is the strangest legitimate expense submitted since the landing?
A: There was a request to hire belly dancing instructors for vren women. I am not sure if it was someone wanting to hire their cousin or if it was a fetish request. Either way, I rejected it before Matt could say yes.
Q: Matt has been paying some student volunteers personally. Why keep that money outside the normal emergency budget?
A: They are being paid through one of his personal accounts so as to. minimize payroll and budget issues.
Q: Is the honor system for volunteer hours actually working?
A: It works. The last thing you want is to be called a slacker by the auntie mafia
Q: The last question is more personal. What is your relationship to most of the big-name players being mentioned in the media?
A: We are all colleagues and mostly good friends. That isn’t the answer you want, though. My maiden name is Marmaduke, and Matt and I are distantly related. I didn’t really know him growing up, but I remember him. He and my older sister were the same age and close. She had a huge crush on him. She died in a car accident when she was 14, and I was 7. Angelina, Rayya, and Dave, who were part of that same group, really looked out for me after that. Had Matt not been in Europe, I am sure he would have too. He did make sure to call me on holidays and check in with my parents, that is the sort of man he has always been as Freeholder, even when he was still a boy.
My family is getting a little recognition, especially my husband, TJ, and my son, Krieger. TJ is actually much closer in relation to Matt; they are third cousins. He and I both are related to Lola Rhea; I descend through her older brother, and TJ through her younger sister. We have a lot of other cousins and kin making names for themselves out there, and I wish them luck if fame is what they are after. I don’t want it.
Social Media Responses:
Positive (10)
@EmilyModesto: Pam’s answers explain why the Freehold functions so differently. Everybody already knows their job before the emergency starts.
@TomJoplin: “My office doesn’t wait to be asked.” That’s exactly what you want to hear from emergency management.
@GraceParkBusan: We notice Joplin is surrounded by his territory. Do you work on the same model
@KatieTulsa: Every tornado country resident understands this. You don’t plan for aliens. You plan for displaced people.
@MikeOmaha: The teen volunteer corps keeps impressing me. Sounds like they train for disasters long before disasters happen.
@KriegerLittleton, we train for it long before we enter the corps. I remember being 9, and my scout troop being told our task was to make 800 PBJ lunches on our own. There were 9 of us: the oldest was 10, and the youngest sister, Alice, was 7. It took us 6 hours, and every bag had a sandwich, chips, a cookie, and a bag of dried fruit. It was exhausting, but we got it done with no adult help. The harvest crews were happy for the food.
@RachelBoise: The “auntie mafia” is probably more effective than half the HR departments I’ve worked under.
@BenStLouis: Opening new budget lines and issuing emergency cards instead of arguing over paperwork is refreshingly practical.
@LindaAmesDepot: Pam quietly gave Angelina one of the biggest compliments so far. Organization isn’t glamorous until everything falls apart without it.
@AngelinaReyes: She did great work, and her team was there for her. When the crisis is over, we are having a party and drinking Matt’s good booze.
@ChrisLittleRock: Rejecting the belly dancing proposal because it wasn’t the auditor’s job tells me these people actually stay in their lanes.
@DavidCheyenne: The more interviews we get, the less this looks improvised. They’ve been practicing disaster response for generations.
@AmyWichita: I like Pam. She sounds like the person who solves problems before anyone realizes there was one.
Neutral / Questions (12)
@MarkDenver: How large is this teen volunteer corps if they became the backbone of the response?
@FreeholdHR: The Saline County branch is 300+ active high school kids and 1250 alumni members who still participate when the call goes up.
@JenniferMinneapolis: Are volunteers expected to log hours through the app year-round or only during emergencies?
@SalineCountySchools: Graduation requirements are 200 community service hours per year from age 12 onward. Most log are closer to 300 hours
@RobertPhoenix: Who approved opening all those new credit lines? Was that already covered under emergency authority?
@SuzyQMarmaduke: It is an emergency authority.
@LisaNashville: Does every town in the Freehold have an auditor like Pam or is Arrow Rock unique?
@AngelinaReyes: Every town in Matt’s portfolio has a similar position. Not to diminish anyone else, but Pam and her team are top tier
@PaulRaleigh: How many housing plans existed before the V’ren arrived? Fires, floods, tornadoes…what else?
@AngelinaReyes: Every portfolio location has a plan, and I maintain master plans through my office.
@KarenBurlingtonVT: What kinds of disaster drills were held at the church before this?
@DaveRoxas: Last month, we ran the younger volunteer corps through a food service exercise, and we had the fire department lead the older members in a search-and-rescue exercise in a wooded area at night. In the end, it was a fun way to make and hide the Easter eggs.
@GeorgeAnchorage: How many tablets and laptops did they end up needing?
@GeorgetteKwan: We flashed 375 laptops and tablets before midnight day 1, not to mention had them in backpacks with all the necessary gear. My team was 2 people from my IT team, 9 human teens from the tech school, and 11 Vren teens with translators who did most of the bag packing and barcode scanning
@EthanCleveland: Did the V’ren start using the Freehold app immediately, or did translators handle that first?
@Samsung-Hyundai: We are proud to announce we supplied the first 20k Galaxy Phones and Tablets to the Vren, with more on the way. The first were delivered yesterday evening. They include the Freehold app.
@MichellePortlandME: The “belly dancing instructors” proposal is hilarious. I really want to know who submitted it.
@ElaineThomas: If I had to guess, it would be my son Luthor or his twin Alexander
@AlexMilwaukee: How much authority does an Arrow Rock auditor actually have to reject requests outright?
@ArrowRockAuditor: Absolutely Authority
@SeanBaltimore: If everyone over twelve contributes, how do they balance volunteering with school and regular jobs?
@FreeholdHR: The average workweek is four 7-hour days, and we often do the 200 hours as groups
@HollyCharlotte: Pam says they’re getting Angelina a proper backup. Has that position already been filled?
@AngelinaReyes: We have discussed it around the office, and because they are now part of the community, we are going to bring in VREN candidates to help manage office work. If you are, however, looking for a challenge, send HR your resume.
Trolls (3)
@Liberty1776Boise: “Everyone over twelve is expected to contribute.” Funny way to describe mandatory labor.
@KriegerLittleton: but an excellent way to show pride in the place you call home
@FederalWatchDC: Opening credit lines, issuing cards, and spending first, auditing later. Sounds like government waste with better marketing.
@MarmadukeFreehold: There are no taxes here, and Matt is responsible for paying out of pocket for all shortfalls. That is what it means to be the Freeholder.
@CultureShieldMiami: Rejecting belly dancing because it hit the wrong desk but bragging Matt would’ve approved it explains everything wrong with the Freehold’s priorities.
@MarmadukeFreehold: As the joke spread, many vren looked up belly dancing and other forms of dance, and they inquired into lessons on their own. Matt has approved 100 new staff positions for dance instructors. Please send resumes to HR.
