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

[tohko_amano]

[One couldn't really talk when they had a dagger in their mouth, so Tohko focused on tying up her rope first before replying to Enoch and the frightened boy. While Tohko wasn't the shortest thing in the world, she wasn't as tall as Enoch, so she did her best to tie the rope around part of his leg armor, using any free fingers on the hand that held her other dagger to help her.

She did her best to tie it as tight as she could, but it wasn't easy with only a free hand and a few fingers, especially considering that the string kept slipping off. After a third try, she got it, though she had no idea how long it would hold, and transferred the dagger in her mouth to her hand before making sure the points of both daggers pointed behind her, away from Enoch and pulling on the rope, trying to help out.]

Don't worry! We won't leave you! And it might be Enoch..but he's already gone to his collar check-up, so he's not part of the boycott! It would be wrong to have him punished when he's not involved with that stupid scheme! Plus, I don't imagine that the drones are very gentle right now, and the infirmary is probably a zoo at this point.

[warriorscribe]

Of course we won't leave you! I only... *He looks back at Tohko.* ...wonder if resisting is going to bring more danger. They're not gentle, but they'll be even less so if that's all they're doing. If this fails, we'll follow him there.

[averytinyparticle]

Okay. [Quark takes a deep breath, trying to stop himself from tensing or looking so afraid. He's a big kid, after all, in his double-digits now! He's too old to be so panicked.

But gosh if his arm isn't starting to feel really darn sore.]

If you both say so...then I trust you.

[Even if that meant having to go with the retrieval unit. Though he really hopes it doesn't.]

[tohko_amano]

[While Enoch couldn't see it, Tohko thought about what he said for a moment before nodding in agreement to his plan. She would keep pulling and try to get Quark away, but if that failed, they would all fail together. All for one and one for all.]

Alright then. If we can't pull him away, we'll all go together! And I'm glad you trust us, sir! This isn't..

[Tohko paused for a moment to catch her breath so that she could pull on the rope with all her might. The braid that she had untied really was unraveling at this point, but she didn't care.]

This isn't the best place for introductions, but I'm Tohko Amano, the book girl and a good friend of Enoch's!

Ack, sorry, player plot planning ate me alive

[warriorscribe]

*It really wasn't the best time for introductions. Enoch glanced behind him at Tohko as he tried to pull Quark away. Hopefully the retrieval unit would let go rather than injure the boy...though if it seemed Quark was in any physical danger from this he would be the one to let go first.*