5316/Yang's Punishment

Yang's Punishment
Date of Scene:	15 June 2017
Location:	The Quilt
Synopsis:	Yang is subjected to her August-approved punishment.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoyo Daidouji, Yang Xiao Long, 385

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Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    The radical group that has split off from the Taint has yet to get a name. But they do have a headquarters, and it's actually quite ingenious for how ragtag they are. Their leader, D-BASE, was inspired by his father, who was heavily into biker culture. When the laws against expression began to come into effect, his father sealed all his memorabilia away in their home block on the first floor of one of the many housing complexes in the Residential District.

    Years later, the sealed door was revealed by a moderate earthquake. Said earthquake also caused cracks in the floor, revealing the sealed room was directly above one of the derelict subway station left behind by the large remodelling. The biker things inspired D-BASE's look and attitudes. The subway became his hangout, which soon bloomed into the splinter group HQ.

    It is here that Yang is brought, but not through D-BASE's home. Now that OMNI is blind in the Market District, it has become easier to come and go through there. She, and anyone with her, is guided by a tidier-looking #EM into the subway, which is already heavily tagged by graffiti. Down onto the tracks and through abandoned side tunnels to the hideout.

    It's been decorated with as much counterculture paraphernalia as they could get their hands on. Lit by burning barrels which are orbited by all colours of the punk rainbow, knocking back real alcohol smuggled into the city to celebrate their recent victory. Though the Huntress' arrival certainly ruins their buzz. Every eye in the place falls on her, the atmosphere turning fearful and frosty all at once.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    This isn't the first time Yang's been surrounded by people that don't exactly like her. Last time that happened though she punched someone hard enough to launch them out of a second storey window from the ground floor. She keeps her eyes set forwards, not acknowledging the stares she's receiving as she follows #EM through to the rebel HQ.

    She makes a show of taking off the gold bracelets on her wrists, and handing them off to Yuna to hold onto. A ceremonious 'disarming' as it were. She's here to talk , not fight... but then she wouldn't need Ember Celica to fight these people off if it came to that... She's hoping it doesn't.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna hasn't actually been to visit the rebels before; she *might* be recognizable from the last Taint - she did come along to help provide entertainment and distractions, that time - but she's been avoiding the more shadowed side of the local law since then. Still, she's polite and reasonably friendly, or at least cordial, and she doesn't look around *too* much on their way into the rebels' headquarters.

Elner is not with her, or at least, not too close to Yuna herself; the little robo-faerie is on standby somewhere in the area, close enough to keep tabs on Yuna herself, and ready to manifest the Light Suit for her if things break down.

Upon reaching the 'party' area, Yuna accepts Ember Celica with a solemn nod to Yang; the bracelets won't fit in her pockets by a long shot, but she'll just keep them in her hands - and having them visible MIGHT help reassure the locals that they aren't being snuck back to Yang somehow. The scent of liquor prompts a half-reflexive wrinkling of Yuna's nose; if anyone tries to push a drink on her, she'll have to figure out how to refuse it politely - or how impolite she has to be to make it stick. Still, Yang is clearly the center of attention, and ...

Well. That's as it should be, to an extent. Yuna finds herself trying to gauge the mood of the room, and to track its shifts up and/or down. She's not going to let Yang seriously hurt anyone - but she's not planning to let Yang get seriously hurt BY anyone, either.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    The crowd begins to part as the man of the hour arrives. D-BASE, wrapped in his leather jacket strides up, a half-empty bottle of beer in his hand. "Heeeeey, there she is! Welcome, welcome, thanks for coming!" he says. His joviality is a clear front however. His grin is akin to a predator leering at his prey.

    "So for those that don't know!" he says, shouting so all can hear. "This girl is the one who called the pigs on our little display last week! She's the one who punched out the Watch guy who was oh so helpful to us!" The air grows even colder somehow as people start to bunch up. They even get behind Yuna to cut off the exit.

    D-BASE continues to smile. Even when he suddenly wings the beer bottle at a nearby wall, causing it to smash loudly. "So how about you start by explaining that shit, huh?! You touched in the head or something?!"

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    "Told August this'd happen." Yang says, sighing. "I talked to the chancellor yeah. Cuz I didn't want it to end up like it did." she begins. "I didn't know where you were hitting, else they'd have had a LOT more stuff there..." she lays her hands on her hips, and takes one step toward D-BASE, leaning forward a little. "You wanna know what I think? I think you guys deserve the right to free expression. I think you should be able to make art, sing songs, dance, whatever... but this isn't the way to go about it."

    She straightens. "Lemme tell you a little story from Remnant, my homeworld. Eighty years ago, a war ended. That war lasted ten years, many settlements outside of the Kingdoms were lost to Grimm attacks, and most of them, even to this day, haven't been reclaimed. War is messy, and that's where you're heading right now." Yang then shakes her head. "Look, I don't want to dictate what you do, that's what freedom's all about, but... I want to ask you to give the government a little time, they don't want to wait for OMNI any more than you do, but they want what is /best/ for their people." she closes her eyes. "I was wrong to leak the info. I admit that, I've been punished by the Watch commander appropriately, and he's told me to assure you this will be handled appropriately in future."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
D-BASE is not what Yuna expected (or hoped for) as far as young rebel leaders go, at least judging by her first impression of the ... man, or boy? she wonders, looking a little uncertainly at him. She doesn't need Elner to tell her that she and Yang are being fully surrounded by the ...

Honestly, 'gang' feels like the right word, even if she's not going to call them that to their faces.

And she wants to speak up, to support Yang verbally rather than just by physically being next to her - which she is, now: Yuna is substantially closer to the blonde brawler than when she started, thanks in part to D-BASE's people interposing themselves between her and the door.

She really, REALLY wants to speak up. But she's not sure what to say ... yet. For the moment, Yuna just does her best 'I have eyes in the back of my head' act, and stifles her unease as best she can. Stand up straight, hold herself with pride and confidence, and *feel* her own presence as strongly as those around her. Be a lady, even if things aren't looking like they'll stay very ladylike.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    D-BASE listens as Yang explains her reasoning. As she tells him of the war on Remnant. There's a lot of terms in there, but he get the gist of it. "Alright alright alright," he says, walking right up to the Huntress and getting right in her face. His breath reeks of booze, but his eyes are clear and sharp.

    "Then let me ask you this. You clearly want what we want. So imagine you went back in time to this war of yours. You would fight on the side of those who wanted art, yeah?" He turns his back to her and begins pacing around. "For the right of expression or whatever. But here's the thing; would you fight to make people think for themselves? Because that's what I want."

    The crowd begins to murmur. This is actually new to them.

    "Think about it. You spoke with the Chancellor, right? And he said that we need to give OMNI more time to think. Why do we even need to listen to OMNI? We didn't put him in charge because he's the best at listening to OMNI. Why do we humans have to listen to a machine that we invented? Why was that flipped around on us, huh? Oh sure, the whole thing in the past, all the nepotism and shit that overran us was bad, but I think we all know better now! Why is every decision in our lives under the scrutiny of some obsolete pile of code?!"

    The crowd is riled now, but not by Yang, but by D-BASE's words. It seems that he's saying things they've never considered, and they agree.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang doesn't even flinch. Lilac eyes stare right back into D-BASE's. "I would yeah. I'd fight tooth and nail for the right to self expression. Individuality. All of it. That's why I became a Huntress to start with." she holds her ground. "But war isn't the way to go." she clenches a fist, then relaxes it after a moment, golden light flaring in her palm from the sheer force she just exerted with her fingernails. "If you give me a week.. Let me talk to the government guys again. They don't like listening to OMNI. Maybe I can convince them to shut it down, start opening up the restrictions." she steps back, one step. "I want this world to be free, but letting it descend into chaos and war isn't something I can stand by and approve of. You're right to be angry, you're right to want change, but if I can make it happen without you having to fight and die for it, wouldn't that be better?"

    "And if they don't want to listen to me, or do any kind of change... then next time you make a hit, I'll be there punching the cops out right beside you."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna listens as well, stifling the impulse to wrinkle her nose again as some of the boozy stench reaches her nose as well. Again, these are details she hadn't known - possibly that nobody else in the Watch had really known before now - and it's worth Yuna's hearing too.

And oh, how she wants to speak. She knows part of what she wants to say, at least - but she isn't sure how it'll affect the exchange between Yang and D-BASE. There's just one thing she's sure of ...

"Violence is only going to poison the message that you want to send," she finally says, her voice quiet.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    D-BASE looks around at everyone with a smug look on his face. "Hear that? A week! She wants a week!" He laughs, and everyone joins in. Though it's clear that not all of them are in on it. "Sure thing. Take two, three even. For now, we're content to have the run of the Market District." His expression turns deadly serious. "Though we will be going for others eventually. And I'll hold you to that promise. You'll be punching pigs with the rest of us."

    He looks to Yuna, and lets out a snort. "Violence /is/ the message though! The message is that if people are just gonna look to a machine to do all their thinking, we're going to slap some sense into them!" The crowd erupts into cheers as D-BASE gives Yang a look. "Right, so if you're so eager to try and talk it out, don't fucking do what you did last time. Get in touch with that group you were with when you gave OMNI that lecture. They seem to have a better head on their shoulders for this stuff than you."

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang shrugs. "Sure. Didn't exactly have a lot of time to do what I wanted to do last time." she replies. "I'll give Tomouo a call." She looks around at the group, then back at D-BASE. "So, unless there's anything else, could you call your people off so we can leave?" she asks, tilting her head curiously at the 'gang' leader.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
It's probably just as well that Yuna *didn't* try to say more than that, given D-BASE's response to it. Her expression darkens a little bit, although she tries to maintain something like a poker face - and what the gang leader said about 'the run of the Market District,' and 'going for others eventually' ...

The Watch stands oppressive governments, and those who abuse official power for their own gain. Yuna knew that when she joined the Watch - and she knew that was *why* she joined: to stand for justice when the laws of a place won't protect the people who need protection.

She's still got Ember Celica in her hands, ready to hand the two bracelets back to Yang if necessary. She's still hoping it WON'T be necessary.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    "Yeah, get outta here," D-BASE says. This raises the heckles of everyone watching, who start demanding some kind of recompense. "Hey hey hey! Shut up! She'll be up-front on our next run. And since she's so keen to squeal to pigs... maybe this time, we'll do the same. See how she likes it."

    The air is no longer hostile, but it's cruel. Not only are they going to make Yang fight police, they plan to make her do it alone. But the crowd does part, letting the two leave.