Collar Checkup Boycott

[animusmods]

Characters: open to all
Setting: infirmary; around the Tower in general
Format: party-style all week; please note the date your post is taking place in the subject line
Summary: The results of the collar boycott slowly become clear...
Warnings: standard Tower warnings
Note: You may NPC your own retrieval units.

The results don't begin to become clear until Tuesday--Monday passes more or less without incident, except for the number of orange-collared residents who miss their checks. And on Tuesday, the retrieval units are out to search for them. It doesn't seem like they were meant to recover so many, though: a clever resident will be able to avoid their retrieval unit entirely. And so, some oranges continue to have escaped their collar checkup today.

It's worse on Wednesday. Retrieval units are out and about again, but this time to try and search for the yellow-collared residents who skipped the day before. No orange-collared residents are searched out at all, and even then there seems to be enough confusion in the programming of the retrieval units any boycotting yellows can run off and hide if they're careful about it.

By the time Thursday arrives, there's a general, obvious level of confusion in the retrieval units' retrieval programming. They were obviously not programmed to be searching for so many colors at once. Some residents may find themselves being dragged in for a second collar check this week, even if they went to theirs, and the infirmary seems to be working at double time. No one even bothers to search for the two wayward greens.

By Friday the retrieval units are out in a number that seems more fitting for a small militia than anything else. Still, they seem more intent on tracking down the greens--their programming still telling them to retrieve those who were missed the day before--but they don't seem to know which greens they're looking for. Anyone with a green collar may be dragged in for a collar check, possibly multiple times today.

Saturday is chaos in the infirmary. The retrieval units seem to have entirely lost sight of who they're actually searching for, and anyone brought into the checkup room will be able to see how messy and confused it looks, with no real time to clean it and orange through violet collar fluid all lined up at once where normally only the color of the day and of the day before would be out at all. Again people may be brought in for multiple checks while those intent on evading capture can remain elusive.

But Sunday--on Sunday the entire process breaks down. There's too much volume for the retrieval units to handle, and they scatter about in a strange catch and release program, dragging anyone they catch to random places around the Tower before letting them go. They don't seem to be entirely certain of what they're supposed to be doing.

Something else happens on Sunday, as well...

Comments

[wrigurun]

[Wriggle watches him from the door. She feels a little sorry for him, knowing that she isn't that smart but even she can see where he's going wrong]

That's cause you're doing it wrong, stupid!

[And she floats over and pushes the button]

[animusnpcs]

[Yellow liquid pours out. It turns clear in the air in a few moments.]

[frilliance]

[It is after Wriggle's comment that Edgeworth notices the buttons. He is about to cover up the fact that he had overlooked this with an, "I was just testing you!" excuse when suddenly, Wriggle presses the button.]

S-stop! What are you doing?! You cannot just do....Aaaaaaah! [And Edgeworth is astonished to see the liquid come out and quickly go colourless.]

What the...?! That liquid...!

[wrigurun]

[As soon as the liquid pours out she snatches her hand away and backs off with a slight expression of disgust]

I swear I didn't know it was a urine sample!

We should probably leave it alone.

[frilliance]

I-I don't think it's something like that. [Srsly Wriggle?

And with that, Edgeworth quickly tries to place the lid back on before any more liquid comes out.]

There are still no retrieval units outside, correct?

[wrigurun]

[She quickly glances out the door and shakes her head]

I can't see anything.

You sure it's something else? I don't really wanna touch it.

[animusnpcs]

[The liquid stops pouring out as soon as the button is no longer being pressed.]

[frilliance]

I....might have some idea but I cannot be certain yet.

[Once Edgeworth is satisfied that the lid is back on and no more liquid is coming out.]

Good. Now that the coast is clear, I suppose the next step is to find a box of some sort. Or a cover. [Maybe one of the infirmary blankets? Or at least something that does not make it obvious that one of the containers has been stolen.]

[wrigurun]

I bet there are boxes of gauze and stuff. Want me to look?

[As long as she doesn't have to touch it she's cool with whatever he wants to do with it]

[animusnpcs]

[There are blankets, gauze, and other standard checkup room items scattered around.]

[frilliance]

That seems like a good idea. Anything we can take with us that the retrieval units won't bat an eye at.

[wrigurun]

I dunno. Maybe if you wear a coat they'll think you're a doctor so they won't ask questions when you take medical stuff because it's your job.

[While she speaks she goes through the cupboards and pulls out boxes of gauze, sample bottles and bottles of pills and medicine]

[frilliance]

......[There are so many things wrong with that statement that Edgeworth cannot begin to list them out. He will hold back from saying something snarky, however, especially as this girl has some sort of magical powers and.....he doesn't. Edgeworth may be more capable of defending himself than he was when he first arrived, but that does not mean that provoking someone is a smart idea.

So he'll just say this.]

....I think that would be quite a challenge to pull that off, considering that our 'hosts' assigned me to the mail room.

.....You were looking for bandages, were you not? Have you taken some out of the cupboards before?

[wrigurun]

I guess. This isn't the first time I've hurt myself.

[Was it weird to just take what you needed from here?]

[frilliance]

And the retrieval units have not stopped you? Hmm....

Perhaps nobody would notice if we just took a box of bandages from the infirmary, for example? [It would be one possible way to hide the container. Are you getting the hint, Wriggle? He hopes you are.]

[wrigurun]

You mean like this one?

[She holds up a small card box full of bandages]

Don't think so, I bet people take stuff like this all the time.

Are you gonna pour that stuff in though? I think it'll leak.

[frilliance]

......[Sigh.] I know that. It's common sense. [Sheesh, it's like talking to another Gumshoe.]

Just give me that box. It'll do. [In a way, Edgeworth cannot help but feel that this is a tad surreal. He is not only putting his life at a severe risk but, when he thinks about it, he is technically committing theft.

However, finding the truth is the most important issue here and sometimes there are circumstances where one's path to the truth will be blocked unless they take certain....drastic actions. Even back home, Edgeworth had to do things which were not exactly legal (to put it mildly) in order to get the right person in jail.

Furthermore, he knows that he has to take the countdown into account. In less than eleven months, everyone is going to die. Permanently. He may have thought that the whole boycott idea was foolish but that did not necessarily mean that he should sit around and do nothing while the clock is slowly ticking away.

Not only that but, admittedly, it was because of the boycott the prosecutor is allowed to freely explore the infirmary in the first place. He has to use this opportunity when he can, even if it means stealing.]

[wrigurun]

[She tosses it over to him, bandages and all]

Maybe you can pour it in some of those pill bottles and hide them inside.

[frilliance]

[OOC: Do you mind if Diarmuid hops in at some point? Edgeworth will need to deliver the container to someone. XD]

[Dude, he's still carrying the container!] W-wait, don't just - Gaaaaaaah! [And that box that Wriggle has thrown smacks Edgeworth in the face and falls on the floor, sending some of the bandages flying out.

Well done, Wriggle.]

[wrigurun]

ooc [Totally cool with me!]

Your reflexes are terrible!

[She starts to pick a few of them off the floor and tosses them over to the counter before emptying the rest of the box out on the side]

[frilliance]

You didn't expect me to catch that thing when I already have something heavy in my arms, did you? [Regardless, he carries the container over to the side next to Wriggle and places it carefully into the box.]

Now, then...[And he starts trying to cover the container with any bandages, making sure that it is well-hidden.]

[Jumping in with permission!]

[oathshackledbird]

Edgeworth?

[Diarmuid peeks his head into the room after hearing his roommate's voice. Originally, he had come down to the infirmary looking for his Master. Earlier in the day, he had felt a surge of excited terror through their bond, though by the time he had arrived on the floor, his friend had been nowhere to be found. Fortunately, since then the emotion he's feeling through their bond has calmed into an intense curiosity tinged with vague annoyance and that is something he is more used to feeling. After all, if Waver was in any real danger, he would have used his command spells to call Diarmuid to him...

He hoped.

It doesn't help that their bond is not at its best right now. Whether or not that has something to do with the chaos being caused by the collar boycotts--if it's somehow stressing the Glamour Systems--Diarmuid doesn't know. He just knows it annoys him that he can't seem to pinpoint exactly where his friend currently is. That is why he has been stopping by the infirmary off and on to see if he comes back.

When he actually spots Edgeworth, Diarmuid enters the room, nodding to the other person who is standing next to the man.]

What's going on?

[wrigurun]

[When Wriggle thinks she hears footsteps she immediately poises herself to attack. She doesn't reach for her spell cards, in a small room like this they'd surely cause a mess and whatever was in those containers seemed like it might be important.

As the footsteps grow closer she takes a deep breath. It could be one of the retrieval units or one of the administrators or...]

Intruder!

[Whoever that guy is. She throws a warning spray of yellow coloured lights at him regardless]

[frilliance]

Hmmm? [Edgeworth instantly turns around, on his guard. The moment he recognises the 'intruder', however, he lets his guard down.] Wait, stop! That man is not an enemy!

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid had not expected the attack since he knew one of the people in the room, but considering one had been a stranger, he should have realized they might be jumpy especially with how chaotic things had been recently. Thankfully, the attack is one that he is easily able to dodge. For several moments, he will seem to vanish from sight as he very quickly moves between the projectiles that are aimed at him, eventually dropping back into sight near where Edgeworth is standing. Since he hears his roommate's warning to the other person, he doesn't summon his spear to defend himself once he reappears. Instead, he just waits to see if he will be attacked again.]