dualislogs | [Player Event] It's time to rally behind a cause

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[Player Event] It's time to rally behind a cause

WHO: Anyone
WHAT: Avocado Uprising
WHERE: Premium Foods
WHEN: Oct 12
WARNINGS: Chaos

Since the start of this month's NAPs, there have been an increase in advertisements with eye-catching imagery and phrases such as "Get Your Guac On!" and "Life is the Pits, Take One with You.". Baskets of squeaky light-up avocados are there for the taking, each one with the Premium Foods logo on it. A message is sent to your phones when you pass by an ad: "Come join us at our very first Avocado Festival!" with a date and time that's automatically added to your calendar apps (you're welcome).

A) The Festival
On the day itself, the eastern branch of Premium Foods is looking grand and spiffy with balloons and a flashy neon banner boasting 'Avocado Fest' at the entrance. There's even a robot avocado mascot! How grand.

Inside, the various spaces have been taken over by, you guessed it, avocado-themed decorations and booths. The highlights are the various food sampling tables manned by overly-pleasant individuals who smile too much and are a little too pushy. You'll be directed to all the ingredients in the relevant aisles the moment you express any interest. Surely you'll buy ten of each? Various carnival-like game booths are open as well: Avocado Toss, Guacamole Race, Pit your Strength (punching machine), etc.

The most popular attraction is the Avocado Maze, taking up massive amounts of floor space and built in the shape of an avocado. It's confusing, it's huge, the walls are too high, it's a little claustrophobic, and there aren't enough emergency exits or helpful staff should you start to panic. But hey, you have this song on repeat to keep you company.

Items are going on sale! Avid shoppers might notice they just marked up the original price to make it appear like there's a discount. Some items (re: avocados) are even more expensive than normal! Don't fret! If you're feeling faint from the amazing prices, there are roombas wandering about with samples of free drinks on their backs. Taking one will ping you phone with the name of the drink and where to find them. The roombas motor about cleaning up messes, especially the ones they make when their drinks inevitably spill.

B) It Begins
The atmosphere begins to change around noon. A slow steady sense of ire creeping through the store. Shoppers may find their friendly Premium Foods staff becoming less friendly. Entitled customers are getting yelled at in return. Displays are getting knocked over. Small fights are breaking out. Festivities are grinding to a halt. And it's punctuated by an announcement over the PA system.

"Attention, shoppers. My name is Squall Leonhart. I think I speak for all Premium Foods employees when I say we've had enough. We won't take management's abuse anymore. All workers should stop working immediately. Shoppers can--"

A more excitable voice chimes in. "Yeah! Lock the doors! Close the shutters! We're going into lockdown, baby! We'll riot till they give us better pay!"

"--hey..."

"Seriously! It's fine! Squall's got our back. Have you seen this guy fight? And he says he's a commander or something. We've got this! ANARCHY!"

The announcement cuts off but the damage is done. Enjoy that abrupt chaos as employees start to turn against you...

C) Coup
The rest of the day dwindles into semi-organized chaos. All exits and windows are shuttered or barricaded. Panicked shoppers trying and failing to escape, some employees trying to flee themselves or hide, others rising to the occasion for the cause, others just really wanting to see Premium Foods burn. It seems efforts are being coordinated through employee headsets used for the festival. But Squall's only one man and Premium Foods is huge. Chaos is about to reign.

Food fights are starting everywhere, aisles and festival booths are getting trashed or claimed as territory, shoppers and employees alike have taken up makeshift shelter here and there, children and confused adults are lost around the store, increasingly-creative makeshift weapons are being used (have you ever been threatened by a french loaf?), oblivious and panicked shoppers are trapped in the maze, faction wars are established (meat vs produce, frozen vs fresh), managers and premium shoppers are taken hostage, petty and serious fights are breaking out, small fires need putting out, people are looting what they can, lights are flickering, someone is trying to start a bartering economy using guacamole, water and snacks are becoming currency, some entitled customers are still trying to shop for some reason...

And someone strapped knives to the roombas. They seem to be coming after you.

Watch out for that olive oil slick in aisle 5.

D) Media coverage
Social media is abuzz since the chaos began. There's footage of Squall punching a middle aged man n a suit. A livestream of events within the store is up on DualisTube. People are reporting from inside and outside the store. Memes are afoot.

Official news coverage is surprisingly absent until late afternoon. Should you be lured to the store because your phone notifications are blowing up, there may already be a small police presence outside the store. They seem more intent on keeping people out for now. Negotiations appear to be underway. Iterations will show up late in the afternoon for crowd control. Strangely, no one is forcing entry.

Meanwhile, there are still ways in and out of the store if you look hard enough.

E) Aftermath
The coup continues into the night. Some people have escaped, most are still inside. Things have quiet down due to exhaustion though the mood is still tense with the iterations outside. At 4am, an announcement comes over the PA system, it's Squall again.

"Management has agreed to meet our demands in writing. Stop what you're doing and lay down your weapons. Open all exits. It's over."

Arrests will be made and people rescued. Fines and community service issued to anyone caught with evidence of involvement. It's a hard-earned victory.

((OOC: Go wild. Feel free to come up with your own chaos scenario. I only request that you ping me OOC if explosives are going to be involved so I can inform the mods. There's a summary of what the aftermath/consequences are in the OOC event post linked above.

shirobiro, Discord: Shirochu#4072, journal PM))

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A. The Set-up

Connor only stopped in to buy beer and batteries.

Now he's in a maze with the worst song he's ever heard for company and the only drinks he's even seen have been those on the backs of roombas, and he has a feeling his whole night tonight is going to be spent drying out delicate machinery and he's not happy about it.

And far more importantly than any of this...

"Do you really peel avocados?" That doesn't seem to accurately describe what you do with them. Not that Connor's an expert, he's never seen one before today.

D. The Punch Line

Connor vividly remembers telling somebody not very long ago that traffic cops don't get 'called in'. Now his job has made him a liar. The parking lot is utter chaos and apparently that's a tenuous enough connection that somebody thought a traffic cop just like Connor was the best person to take care of this.

You can find him at the entrance, patiently telling someone, "I'm not allowed to let you in, ma'am, there's been a...minor staff shortage. Would you like directions to the closest Trader Jim's?"

She would not.

As she storms away, grumbling, Connor meets the eye of the next person he sees with the most long-suffering look he's ever given anybody who wasn't his partner.

E. Pause for Laughter
It's 04:34, basically the middle of the night. Connor has a smear of guacamole on his cheek and he has no idea how the hell it got there, and things only started to die down about half an hour ago.

He's been given temporary authority to arrest anybody involved and dole out punishments, but...

"I don't think I have any evidence that you were involved in this..." Even if the evidence is so incredibly obvious a child could see it, much less an android detective. "...So I'm afraid my hands are tied."

There weren't any really bad injuries that he knows of, except to the avocados and a lot of people's dignity, and this is not going to be his first time disobeying orders to help out a Revolution, even if this is more of a lower-case-r revolution.

A lower-case-r revolution run by a rather unsuspecting person. Or maybe not so surprising if one knew what Squall did before arriving in Dualis.

The teen is folding his arms, staring back at Connor unamused. He's still dressed in his employee uniform, rumpled and covered in sauce, soda, and guacamolee stains. It's been a long day.

"They'll need a scapegoat."

He's not that naive and he'd rather be the one to take it.

He didn't think anybody would so unwilling to not be arrested.

"Maybe," he says quietly. "Or they'll try to write this off as not a big deal - like the bombing."

He grimaces all the same. "I don't think it matters who gets arrested. We're giving out fines and community service to anybody we catch, but they know who was here. If they want to make a scapegoat, they'll find their own."

Maybe he's developing an active imagination - but he's remembering the vans back in Detroit, picking up androids off the street or just plain shooting them down. People just plain disappearing - being made to disappear.

But that stopped - it was stopped, by a revolution. Connor's frown deepens.

"If something's going to happen to you, I don't want to make it any worse."

Squall looks at the cluster of people beyond the police barricades. People have been recording on their phones, streaming online. He'd love to see how the Head or the city officials cover this up. It wouldn't be difficult to spin.

But if he gets taken in and disappears... or get replaced, people will know. Right?

Still, the knowledge that all this is only leading to fines and community service is concerning in its own way. He shakes his head.

"If that's all they're doing, that's more reason to arrest me." What better way to test the system than when it's 'safe', right?

Connor’s good at blocking things out when he doesn’t need to pay attention to them, a skill that goes back to being a machine and not having any interest in things that didn’t concern him or his mission. That skill serves him well now, surrounded by shouting and talking and flashing lights not only from police and ambulance sirens but from various camera flashes and bulbs. It lets him focus on the only thing that matters right now.

“If you really want the punishments, sure.” He reaches into his belt for the handcuffs he was hastily given an hour or two ago. “It sounds like they just want to cover this up as fast as possible.”

But here he is, doing what literally everyone wants him to do, from his employer to the regime to the owners of the store to Squall himself and Connor still doesn’t feel right about it. He reaches out to turn Squall and cuff him - one last chance to back out.

Squall eyes the cuffs and leans back a little, instantly leery. It's not enough to make him back out though, so he just turns around, putting his hands behind him. Stoic as ever though the tension will snap right in once he's cuffed.

"Why would I want the punishments?" Maybe he's just being overly stubborn but he feels like it's a good opportunity to figure some things out. "A slap on the wrist won't hurt me and I can handle it if they try anything."

"I'm doing this because you want me to, so you tell me," and he almost sounds amused, but not quite. He can't quite make it. He took this job, and as time's gone on he hasn't quit. He worries. If he quits, they'll replace him. What would his hypothetical replacement do at a time like this?

Connor's never cuffed someone before. Squall tenses instantly, and Connor's more tense in turn as he locks the cuffs, brow furrowed.

"Back home, I'd read you something called your Miranda Rights," he mutters, turning Squall in the direction of one of the police cars. "But you don't have the right to remain silent, you have no right to an attorney and even the things you don't say will be used against you in a court of law. So I guess you'd call this a reverse Miranda."

It would be funny if it wasn't so very not.

"I'll do the paperwork myself, it'll be fine."

He's not sure if he's reassuring himself or Squall.

"Connor?"

David hears his voice as the guy is talking to some potential customer, and he moves toward it. It's the best thing he can do. And all he wants to do is move closer, hoping to find answers.

"Connor. What's going on?"

Please, he needs to find out what happened to his friends. He can't even get in touch with his roommate.

He nods in recognition at David...and immediately doesn't know what to do exactly. It was easy to move along random angry people who just wanted avocados, but this is somebody he actually knows, and probably didn't just come to buy expensive, strangely versatile berries.

He watches the woman to make sure she's out of earshot, then turns back to David to speak quietly.

"I'm not sure anymore. There was a festival going on in the store, then sometime earlier today the employees refused to keep working. There are shoppers still inside, but nobody's allowed in or out and a lot of us don't know what's happening."

He's seen the negotiator, and is privately convinced he could do better. But he doesn't want to do that job when he doesn't know what's going to happen when the doors open. He doesn't want to have to lie.

"Do you know anybody who might be in there?"

Given how employees at this place were treated, David frankly wasn't shocked. Hell, he didn't really know Cloud's chocobo-co-dad very well, but the guy had clearly been miserable there. Very miserable.

"I think I do. There's... there's a good chance my roommate is in there. His pet is missing. And the pet also belongs to an employee here. And I sent another guy here for groceries for cooking tonight."

Which clearly wasn't going to happen.

"Is the negotiator any good?"

Connor doesn't know much about the store except what he's gleaned from other cops - but they're pretty taciturn about anything possibly negative. One of older, jaded ones looked very sardonic when he said the working conditions were perfectly standard, and that's all he's got to go on.

It sounds like at this point, knowing three people in the store, David might know more than he does.

"There might as well not be a negotiator," he says quietly, tersely. "You have to create empathy, you have to know what the perps are going through and really communicate that to them, but the negotiator isn't allowed to admit that conditions are bad for the workers."

"Do you know the employee? What's he like?"

"That place is miserable. I've seen how they treat their people," David sighs, shaking his head. As for the employee, he doesn't know that he knows the man very well.

Or that knowing him would help.

"He was cleaning aisles and I helped him. That's all."

"I don't come here much, but I saw enough," Connor says, barely paying attention as the handheld receiver radio on his belt crackles - although a moment later his mouth twitches as one of the cops tells the channel at large, perfectly audibly to the both of them, that she's just seen a Roomba...with a knife attachment. "Anyway, nobody riots when nothing's wrong, right?"

Something crashes from inside the building as if to punctuate his words, and he grimaces.

"What's your roommate's name? I can listen out for it over the radio and keep you updated." He taps the radio on his belt, then adds, "I'll probably be here until this is over."

A roomba with a knife? Okay, David can't help but laugh. That's just the worst idea ever, and he's loving it. It's driving him mad.

"Typically riots do have an inciting factor. And that place is bad."

He does frown when Connor asks.

"Cloud Strife. Please, if he's in there, it's not because he's making trouble. I also sent a man in for groceries, something my group does. His name is Nida Nomura. Him? He'd definitely get himself into trouble, he's the sort."

At David's laugh, Connor outright grins before stifling it quickly, glancing around like one of the other cops might see him.

He's nodding at the name, making a mental note to keep an ear out for it - he's already shamelessly eavesdropping on everything he can whenever he gets the chance, after all - but at the sound of Nida's name, he blinks sharply.

"Nida's in there?" He shakes his head and backtracks a little. "Nida's--He's a friend, I didn't know he was in there. I haven't heard anything."

He's never actually said anything like that before - that someone is his friend. It's a strange moment, and he can ponder that later. For now, though, he just looks worried.

"I'll keep you updated on both of them, I promise." He already looks like he's thinking about this, momentarily looking around towards the main front doors. "I'll try to get moved over to where the negotiator's working. Maybe I can hear something about them."

He looks back at David. "Look, you can't help them here. All that'll happen is that you'll get escorted off the lot or arrested for obstruction."

A friend, huh? David doesn't look... particularly impressed by that revelation. They have their own bad blood between them, and all of it happening without David ever, you know, really talking to the guy much. Not his concern, if the guy was going to be an ass, that was his business.

"I'm glad you have a friend, then. And I hope he isn't causing trouble. Thank you very much for the offer to listen out for them. Sadly, I don't think I can just walk away. That isn't the sort of person I am. You work enough emergency response and going home and sitting by isn't... it isn't possible. But I am a nurse. I don't suppose the officers here have set up somewhere with medical treatment? I mean, I'm technically a doctor, just... not here."

David doesn't look impressed by...something. Connor's not totally sure what, but he makes a note of it all the same. Maybe he can ask later.

"I understand that." His desire not to leave, that is. "I'd be the same. Uh..."

He glances around. "There's no medic station yet... One minute."

He picks up his own walkie-talkie and steps back to have a brief conversation. A medical professional just arrived to man the medical station. What do you mean we don't need one - didn't you just hear about the Roombas with knives? It's a parking lot, there's plenty of space for one. Yeah, I'll help get it set up, don't worry about it.

"Thanks - over and out." And he puts his radio away. "There is one now. It's going to have to be completely makeshift, but... It's what we've got."

That's good. At least he can be useful here. If he didn't know Connor well, he'd probably shake the guy's hand in his thankfulness.

"Thank you so much. If you could maybe show me where to set up I'd be grateful. And since you have access to the police walkies, maybe let them know where I am."

He'd brought his medical kit just in case, so he can help that much. All he cares about is helping.

"That's really all I ask for. I want to make sure people have a choice. Riots can lead to weird injuries."

"Don't worry about it." He shakes his head. "I'm glad somebody thought about it.

"You should be pretty close to the entrance, but not too close just in case. See that cruiser over there?"

He gives some brief directions, including to ask the guy at the cruiser to give him space and not to stop bothering him until he does. And, after a moment of consideration, he holds out his own walkie-talkie.

"I'll get another one. You should hear what's going on if you're going to help the people inside, right?"

It's not like they're going to talk about anything classified - not even in front of Connor.

"And let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you," David grins, taking the walkie-talkie. Part of him wants to ask if it's really okay to have this device. Except he trusts Connor. The man wouldn't give him something if it would truly get him into trouble.

This is all done in good faith and he smiles and nods at Connor.

"I'll let you know. Good luck with all of this mess. And if you get hurt, I can probably help to some small degree as well. Don't hesitate to ask."

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[Player Event] It's time to rally behind a cause

Connor | Detroit: Become Human

E!!

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D - Punch Line

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