They figure out what's going on

After leaving the café, the three girls decided to walk to the park. It was not very far from where they were currently at, and the warm weather made it desirable to be outside in the fresh air. As they walked, Johanna began to contemplate why each of the girls had been experiencing harsher and stricter punishments in recent days. Evidently, the other girls were also pondering this question because Quinn eventually spoke up.

"I wonder why everyone has been so quick to criticize us," she said. "I don't think I've been behaving any differently than I have in the past."

"Same!" added Amber. "But there has to be something that has changed that made everyone hate us."

"Isn't it obvious?" said Johanna, solemnly. "It is because of the protest. They do not like that we are challenging some of the notions that society has accepted as normal. Even if we are right to protest for our rights, it doesn't mean everyone is going to agree with us."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Quinn, a glum look rolling across her face. "It sucks that we're getting punished for speaking up for what we believe in."

"I know," said Johanna, "but we have to stay strong. Maybe we should organize another protest or something. We need to make sure that our cause is heard by more people."

"I don't know, Johanna," said Amber, hesitantly. "I'm not sure I'm ready to go through these sorts of torments for much longer. I think we might want to consider backing off or something."

"I agree with Amber," said Quinn. "I am not good at taking numerous punishments, and it seems like that's what we're going to get by following this path."

"Come on guys," said Johanna. "We can't give up now. If we do, then what was the point of everything we've already endured. They're already trying to take away our rights. They won't stop if we don't make them. Have you heard that the society is trying to decide whether there should be a threshold of disciplinary punishments that a women have to be under in order to have certain rights for the year?"

"That's ridiculous," replied Quinn, dismissively. "They would never let a law like that pass."

"Maybe, but it hasn't been thrown out of the government debates yet," countered Johanna. "I think its another ploy by the government to try to control the voters or something."

By this point, the conversation had begun veering off from the starting topic. Additionally, the women had arrived at the park. None of them had made the effort to replace their bottoms after leaving the café, but they quickly did so before entering the park. In general, the park was a pretty normal part. It had a few additions, however, such as pillories and whipping posts.

Each of the women had some experience with those contraptions, but they were not very worried about that today. Most of the people around were unconcerned by the young women. They were busy relaxing under the sunny sky. Johanna knew that she had to do something to motivate her friends to rejoin the cause. They were on the edge of quitting, and she knew that she could not keep the movement alive without them.

She pondered this conundrum as they came across a peculiar sight that was happening near the pond in the center of the park. A crowd had begun to gather, but there was still room for the girls to see what was at the center of the commotion.