With Hong Kong's student-led protests dwindling and rally leaders in talks to end their 12-day campaign, a small number of demonstrators are threatening to ignore any call to abandon their posts.
Pro-democracy protesters still on the streets of central Hong Kong increasingly don't answer to the leaders from various student groups. As people drift back to school and jobs, those who remain pose a challenge to police under pressure to remove blockades and open roadways.
"These people come on their own, they make their own mind up, they don't respond to anyone's appeals," said Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at City University of Hong Kong and democracy advocate. "The police understand this very well," he said, and know the protesters are "unpredictable."