[b]Brown![/b]

"Well, kind of?" said Brown. "Not really. That's just a matter of scale and resources. If we can hit a critical mass of both then we can attrition down society's problems through sheer money expenditure. Like - do you know Venezuela? Yellow's political precursor is Hugo Chavez. You [i]can [/i]run communism off the back of a circus if you do it right. People get their choices removed all the time in ways they can't perceive already, trust me, I work for a newspaper."

"No, I don't think that the problem is taking away people's illusion of choice," said Brown. "I think the problem is that I kind of forgot that smart people work for liberalism. Just, like, genuine true believers with souls like steel wire. They're shitheads with corrupt morals but they've somehow got enough integrity and self respect to stick to their guns despite that. Like, this system [i]is [/i]working as intended, and even though the intentions are shit the system is enormously complex and capable of defending itself."

[b]Tyger![/b]

Why reinvent the wheel?

"We will be using colour coding for this," said Orange.

Orange is still Doing The Bit when she gathers the community leaders together. Between her and Crystal she's got a really good map of who they are, and this is something to be done through cooperative whole of organization teamwork rather than anything top-down or technological. Every node needs to be empowered and directed. 

"I know, some people have augs or disabilities that render them blind or colourblind," she said, raising a hand pre-emptively. "It's still the common denominator and anyone on the wrong side of that will have to buddy up. The system is simple: Everyone prominently marks their head in the colour associated with the district they're heading to - Red for Ares, Pink for Aphrodite, so on, I've got a chart here. Yes," she held up a hand again, "some people are very stylish and have set colour schemes. This isn't negotiable. We've been up all night procuring a variety of hairsprays, fursprays, spraypaints, hats, and even some straight up buckets of paint. There'll be paint dumps all across the convention. No subtle dots or accents, this needs to be the primary colour on the head."

"So. Everyone marks themselves according to their destination. Everyone gathers in their colour cluster. We organize the march in colour formations, people need to stay with their colour group. The first group is heading to Hermes, they all enter the station at once, they all get on the Hermes train, the Hermes train leaves, and there will not be a second Hermes train. If anyone going to Hermes is not on the Hermes train then they go into the station during the next wave, get on the Aphrodite train, and find someone to roommate with for a few days while they're on the train. They can find their way home later when normal service resumes. 

"Understand that there is no flexibility with when the trains leave. The trains will be running due to crime. I will be stealing the trains. The schedule's timing operates according to police and governmental response and not convenience. If anyone falls behind the community must pick them up because I cannot. I will likewise be relying on community volunteers to provide security and rearguard. This number will likely shrink over the course of the day as trains leave, taking defense groups with them. At the end of the day I will be relying on the true heroes who don't care where they end up after today and locals to hold the line."

[b]Red![/b]

"Right, yeah, you're on the run now," said Red. "I can relate. But you know what's great for running? An operational train network, which is the thing that I'm going to try to switch back on. And you know what I'm not going to have enough of after sending out multiple trains full of people? People to defend the train station."

She crouched down. "Look, you're right. You're fucked. You did the crime and now you've got the heat. You got nothing but ugly choices in front of you right now. Option one, you get on the first train that goes out. You lay low, maybe even go to Earth if you're super fucked. You keep your social circle and crime buddies safe. Option two, you work the station defense and fight like hell. You get beat to shit and maybe picked up by the cops, maybe they draw a connection, maybe you go down and take everyone in your org with you. Sucks but honestly I don't think it makes a difference, if they can trace the gun to you they can call you a terrorist regardless of if you're at large."

She doesn't need to talk about option three: sit and get drunk. That's not real.

"So come on, Chaka," said Red. "Gun to your head - er, so to speak: who are you gonna protect?"