People mostly don't hang around the red tent city. But reds have been taking recordings of Macalaurë singing, and some of them have video. It's not common for clean castes to frequent the same bits of the Internet that reds are liable to post videos on but it's not unheard of.
Some people - a couple greys, not in uniform, and a half a dozen purples, go up to the edge of the tent city. Katin has learned to walk, and run, and is tearing up and down the aisles of tents with Peka laughingly chasing her, only bursting into a sprint when the toddler gets close to the fence and needs to be scooped up.
"Hey pink," says one of the purples.
...Peka looks.
"You the one who seduces Elves? That seemed like a good idea to you?"
...she doesn't answer.
"You speak Oahkar, pink?"
Oh an excuse - she reverts very deliberately to Tapap phonemes, turning anything like a T into a T and devoicing voice things and sharpening up all the vowels - "I no speak, sorry -"
"Speaks it well enough to talk an Elf into, not even bed, it was a van -"
"That kid's got orangey hair. I think she likes fucking people who are better than her."
"Polluting them."
"I'm a people pleaser, I could wash it off."
"She's got an Elf."
"Elf's not here. He's not coming back, won't want to wash his hair. Hey pink c'mere."
Peka swallows. "I no speak."
"She's not bowing."
"You know, you're right, she's not."
"Too stupid to learn Oahkar and too uppity to bow."
- she bows.
"Maybe she does know how to talk. Hey pink. C'mere."
"I - I bow, I -"
"Come here."
"I no speak Oahkat -"
One elbows her friend. "Hey, I think I saw that kid go under the fence."
"I think so too."
"Come here, pink."
Katin is struggling in her arms, too tightly held. "I," says Peka.
"Put the kid down," he says with exaggerated slowness, "and shoo her back into your garbage pit, and come here."
Peka puts her down and tells her to go find the babysitter. Katin dithers and Peka pleads and finally shouts at her and slaps her to make her run back into the tent aisles.
"Step one success!" says one of the greys. "Is it smart enough to figure out step two?"
Peka reaches for her everything.
"I wouldn't," says a purple pleasantly, inclining his head towards the greys. She doesn't see guns but they might have them hidden.
"Come here. I don't want to tell you again," another says.
Peka goes.
Most everyone is at work, it's a skeletal neighborhood with people disappearing to Endorë and the only people in the tent city those who moved there for jobs. The babysitter is probably home but Katin can't deliver a coherent story, maybe six or seven other people are in their tents sick or asleep in prep for the night shifts - the red cop is driving a woman up to the jail for swiping people's food, miles away -
- nobody sees.
They take her pocket everything well before the time they spit on her and one of the greys puts her in cuffs and calls in a plastic-lined police car. Trespassing, pollution violations, assault, resisting arrest.