ooc:Ok, general outline of the park cleanup project:

Mutants are expected to spend their entire time cleaning up within the park. This could be as simple as picking up trash, shoveling snow, laying down salt, or as complicated as climbing up a tree and sawing down some branches to keep them from blowing into powerlines or falling down. Be creative. The cleanup can last all day and the area of the park that the mutants are cleaning up is generally blocked off. In some cases however they can be escorted by two guard to specific areas of the park that are not blocked off. This is up to the players discretion. Stalkers are cloaked and constantly surveying the area. There are 4 guards for every 6 mutants.

During the threads feel free to have NPCs interact, protestors, etc. Outside mutants are welcome to contact but remember anything too suspicious may set the stalkers off that the other people are mutants. The guards dont have too much weight under the public eye but be sure that any misbehaving will be dealt with in the most extreme way back at the camps. Any other questions PM me and we'll add to this.

Ic:

The group of guards and police officers were lined up waiting for the bus that would unload the mutant workers for the park. Despite being sectioned off from the park as a whole -protestors (pro and anti) were waving their signs and shouting their statements behind the rope that seperated the two groups.

Many of the guard were rolling their eyes feeling very much like they wern't getting paid enough to do this. At their waists they had clubs and cuffs. Each guard was equipped with a remote that controlled the collar of each mutant.

As the bus pulled up reporters started to appear waving their cameras and mic's while the mutants were quickly escorted off the bus.

Neena slept for most of the ride to the park, with her hat pulled over her eyes. Her less-that-cheerful mood deviated from her usual MO, but she hadn't snapped yet. She probably wouldn't, but she wasn't going to be as pleasant of company as usual.

Every now and then she'd reach up and scratch her head; she still couldn't figure out where the lice had come from, and she hadn't seen Doug lately to ask for a treatment delivery. Yet another irritation in an already annoying day.

The bus pulled up to the park.

"Everyone up! Single file, eyes on the ground. No talking allowed, unless you're addressed!"

<"Pfft! Yeah right....">

Neena yawned, and took her place in line. She was glad she had her sunglasses on; even then the white snow blanketing the park glared in her eyes. She looked up and noticed the picket circus going on on the sidelines. Both anti- and pro-mutant groups were present. She wondered how much provocation it would take to get a riot going between the segments.

She saw a new camera, and just couldn't help herself. She grinned and waved, and shouted, "Hi Ma!" A wave of chuckles passed through the crowd.

"No talking!" a voice hissed in her ear. But that was it; no shock, no hit, no yelling.

<"Hmm.... no public discipline, eh? I wonder....">

An ice chopper was shoved in her face, along with a guard's face ordering her to began clearing away the edges of the jogging paths. With a shrug, she started where instructed, raising and dropping the chopper, basically a wooden broomstick with a weighted metal blade at one end, and breaking the ice into small enough chunks that a shovel could handle.

<"Lovely.... Just lovely...."> she grumbled silently. <"So much for staying warm.">

Raina was in awe to be sitting on the bus and looking out the window. It was indeed winter and NYC reminded her a bit of her home with the dusting of snow. Her eyes were wide as she watched the cars passing- liek they were some strange animal.

The bus came to a stop and she listened to all the orders. As she stepped off the bus into the cold air her lungs filled with surprise. She followed behind Neena watching everything with wide eyes. Though some of the mutants were already cold Raina was striding around as if on the beach.

A strange looking tool was shoved into her hand. "Garbage cleanup." said the guard handing her a bag.

She looked back at all the people- some waving, some uttering threats, some looking at her with utmost pity and yelling that she didnt look fed.

Ruby was pushed from the buss rather roughly, causing her already wide eyes to widen just a bit more. At that moment the Fox girl felt as if she was the most terrified person there and she most likely was. Right now Ruby was not shielded by Emerald, she could now fully see the extent of what these women had been put through.

The fox girl was surprised at how skinny they had gotten and how weak they looked. She didn't even want to see herself at that moment, she most likely wouldn't look any better than those women did. Ruby glanced at her tail, the fur still growing back from her encounter with the horrible guard, she wrapped her tail around her body in a feeble attempt to keep her trembling legs warm.

Suddenly, a push broom was shoved in her hands and she looked at it with a confused look and then looked back at the guard who handed it ot her.

"You seem a bit small to be doing the other work so you get to sweep off the walkways of the various pieces of snow. Just the bothersome ones, but don't worry you will have as much work as your friends do." The male chuckled and slapped Ruby on the back causing her to almost topple foward. The Guard laughed again before walking over with the other guards, all warm and content as they watched the work begin.

Ruby took the broom and began sweeping behind the shovelers begining her long days work.

Shya had been helped more then she really needed to be helped into her community service cloths. It hadn’t been the worst but definitely not the most pleasant experience of her life. The thoughts hadn’t left her even when the bus came to a stop and they had been told to get up, get out, and, basically, shut up.

Standing, the girl next to her was nice enough to hold the line on the bus, for Shya to get in the walk way. A moment later, they were off of the bus and Shya could hear the crowd around the outside of the work area.

Once off of the bus, , her cane was taken away from her by one of the guards. He promptly put a snow shovel in her hands in the cane’s place. Then a familiar oily voice filler here ears. “Watch that you don’t scrape up the grass.” James’s voice had a clear laugh to it. “I’ll have you replanting the place seed by seed if you do.” He warned Shya.

She nodded, walking past him setting the shovel down in front of her toes here and there so that she could feel where the side walk was. Also using it to break up the thicker chunks of ice, then shoving the ice to where she had found the side of the side walk.

Raina was picking here and there at the garbage when she saw Ruby. She glanced about to see if any of the guards would make a fuss if she approached her. They seemed pretty content in their own little world. She walked over to Ruby glancing at the protestors an arms length away. She put her hand on the little ones shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. She looked scared, but Raina knew it would be better for her out in the public eye than behind closed doors at the camps.

"Let the mutants go free!"
"this is slave labor!"

Raina made a small snow ball and tossed it at Neena to get her attention, then pointed to the people protesting to show they had support. There were people with signs, photos, and even a few guitars and hand drums moving about. She smiled to the girls and got back to her work.

Without realizing she was whistling. It was nice to be outside in the sun and the cold wasn't bothering her. She was making great progress too. She figured out she was whistling and stopped a moment to really relesh in it. She'd forgotten she could make noise that way! It didn't use her vocals chords so it didn't set off her collar. So she kept whistling a beautiful tune! Even the guards started to notice and become enticed by the melody.

Neena had a hard time getting the hang of her ice chopper at first. She came from a country where ice was found in the mountains, not the city. A born klutz, she was finding it a bit difficult to walk on the slippery stuff, let along chop it up. She slipped several times before adopting a penguin-like shuffle-shuffle-balance-shuffle gait, using the chopper like a walking stick.

Something cold and wet connected with the back of her head, and she wobbled. "Wha--ah--oof!"[/i] She landed on her butt in the snow. She turned to see Raina giggling, and pointing to the protesters. Neena stuck her tongue out, then grinned widely and gave her a thumbs up. She gathered a handful of snow to toss back at Raina and Ruby, then got back to her feet, carefully.

Shya came behind Neena, shoveling the snow and chopped ice out of the way, and Neena figured out that she could walk easier on the snow-covered grass. She cracked the ice at the edge first, hopefully giving Shya a boundary to go by, then moved inward once the walkways were less dangerous.

She looked up as someone began to whistle. Raina! Neena's grin widened even further, and she added her own. She didn't recognize the tune she was whistling. Instead she listened to what Raina whistled first, then repeated it, waited and listened, and repeated again.

A commotion began on the edge of the crowds lining the sidewalks. Neena didn't pay too much attention at first, concentrating on the tunes instead. But the tension was growing between the two factions.[/color]

Raina smiled back at Neena with a wide grin. She bent down to pick something up when something came flying across the barrier and hit her in the back. It hurt. She thought it was a snowball at first until she realized just how much it hurt.

It was a stone. Who threw rocks? She stood up and turned to see an ungly fat man yelling at her. "That's right you mutant tramp! we want you back in the camps!" Raina stood curiously looking at him. She took a step toward and a gaurd took a step toward her but the man took a step back. He was afraid.

"What the hell you doing buddy!" yelled a man who slugged the fat man in the face. "FREE THE MUTANTS, PEACE FOR ALL" that was a bit of a hypocritical statement,

Raina watched with the others as fights began to break out.

ooc: we got any guys joining us?

(OOC: Okay, its been a few days, so I'm going to go ahead and post again.)

Neena shook her head as the fight broke out.

"And they call us the savages?" she muttered under her breath.

Using her ice breaker to lean on, she glanced at Shya, to see what she was doing, then looked around for Ruby. Honestly, they hadn't done anything but whistle. So why all the commotion?

"Hey!" She nearly toppled forward into the snow as someone hit her on the back of her head. "Keep working!"

Neena frowned and rubbed the back of her head. "I can hear just fine without the special effects."

James sneered at her. He looked rather like a disproportioned snowman in the winterwear guard's uniform. Such an annoying little man..... With a sigh, she continued her ice breaking, ignoring the riot on the sidelines.

It wasn't long before the section of the park was looking squeaky clean. The mutants including Raina were all standing around now enjoying the break and the sun. It wasn't long however before a guard came over barking orders till he realized there wasn't anything left for anyone to do. He radioed central control at the camps and got his new orders.

"All right, round up everyone. Looks like they'll be sending you to the Rural project for the rest of the day. Nothing left to be done here. Pile into the bus... NOW!"

Raina heaved a sigh. At least they could sit on the bus until they got across town. She waved to the girls and headed out first to board the bus. She wondered who else would be working at the rural project.

ooc: jumping since we didn't really get many participants in this thread!

Neena inhaled deeply, then let it out in a huff out of one side of her mouth. "Great," she mumbled. She was cold and wet and tired, she was cramping and her arms hurt, and growing steadily more irritable. Climbing back on the bus she promptly pulled her hat over her eyes, and folded in on herself to nap and try to regain her usual easy-goingness.