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###§£$=~.¨ HE'S NOT ABOVE PETTY CRIME, BUT HE ¨.~=$£§###
§$$=~.¨¨¨¨ KNOWS THAT IF HE PUTS IN A BIT OF WORK, ¨¨¨¨.~=$$§
###§£$=~.¨ HE WILL FIND MUCH MORE LUCRATIVE ¨.~=$£§###
§$$$$$=~.¨ REWARDS. ¨.~=$$$$$§
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#§$~~.¨¨¨¨ AND THUS HE'S CURRENTLY WORKING ¨¨¨¨.~~$§#
§$=~¨¨¨¨¨¨ ALONGSIDE HATSUNE MIKU FOR A COMPANY ¨¨¨¨¨¨~=$§
§£$$=~.¨¨¨ THAT MAKES SYNTHETIC MEAL REPLACEMENTS. ¨¨¨.~=$$£§
#§£==.¨¨¨¨ HE'S GOT A VAGUE OUTLINE OF A PLAN, TO ¨¨¨¨.==£§#
#§$~¨¨¨¨¨¨ SCATTER WITH SOME PRODUCT, OR EVEN ¨¨¨¨¨¨~$§#
§£$$===~.¨ BETTER, SOME FORMULA? THESE THINGS ARE ¨.~===$$£§
§£=~¨¨¨¨¨¨ WORTH A LOT TO A COMPETITOR. ¨¨¨¨¨¨~=£§
§££$~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~$££§
###§£$=~.¨ HE'S BEEN LUCKY; THE PLACE IS ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ SURPRISINGLY UNGUARDED. ONCE HE'S GOT ¨.~=$£§###
##£££$=~.¨ HIS PAWS ON SOMETHING WORTHWHILE, IT'LL ¨.~=$£££##
###§£$=~.¨ BE EASY TO JUST WALTZ OUT. UNTIL THEN, ¨.~=$£§###
#§§§£$=~.¨ KEEP DOING THE WORK... ¨.~=$£§§§#
###§£$=~.¨ ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ COME TO THINK OF IT, THE PLACE IS ¨.~=$£§###
§§£$==.¨¨¨ ALMOST EERILY EMPTY. THERE ARE FEW ¨¨¨.==$£§§
§£££==~~.¨ COWORKERS. (IN FACT THE COMPANY IS ¨.~~==£££§
###§£$=~.¨ AI-RUN AND ONLY A FEW KEY ROLES ARE ¨.~=$£§###
§$==~¨¨¨¨¨ FILLED BY ACTUAL PEOPLE. ¨¨¨¨¨~==$§
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#§££=~¨¨¨¨ NONE OF THE EMPLOYEES KNOW THIS.) ¨¨¨¨~=££§#
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#§§$=.¨¨¨¨ NICK AND MIKU ARE BOTH STATIONED IN ¨¨¨¨.=$§§#
§§£$===~.¨ EARLY PROCESSING, HOUSED IN A STATE OF ¨.~===$£§§
§$=~¨¨¨¨¨¨ THE ART FACTORY CLOSE TO THE DOCKS. ¨¨¨¨¨¨~=$§
###§£$=~.¨ THEY CREATE THE EARLY BUILDING BLOCKS ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ THAT ARE LATER COMBINED INTO THE MEALS ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ THAT'S SOLD TO CUSTOMERS. ¨.~=$£§###
§§££=...¨¨ ¨¨...=££§§
#§£=~~~¨¨¨ THE BASES ARE MOSTLY SLUDGES ¨¨¨~~~=£§#
###§£$=~.¨ OR PASTES, SUCH AS: ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ ¨.~=$£§###
##§§£$=~.¨ =~ PLANT MATTER ¨.~=$£§§##
###§£$=~.¨ =~ BLOOD COLONY ¨.~=$£§###
§$$~¨¨¨¨¨¨ (MADE WITH A TYPE OF BACTERIA) ¨¨¨¨¨¨~$$§
##£$=..¨¨¨ =~ WILD FLESH ¨¨¨..=$£##
###§£$=~.¨ (FREE ROAMING ANIMALS) ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ =~ ORGANS ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ (TAKEN FROM A LIVING HUMAN THAT ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ IS WILLING TO SELL) ¨.~=$£§###
##££$==~.¨ =~ MINERALS ¨.~==$££##
###§£$=~.¨ =~ BLOOD COLONY TWO ¨.~=$£§###
§£$=.¨¨¨¨¨ =~ INSECTS ¨¨¨¨¨.=$£§
####£$=~.¨ (WHICH ARE MAINLY USED FOR THEIR ¨.~=$£####
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#§§£=~.¨¨¨ RECEPTORS THAT DETECT PHEROMONES) ¨¨¨.~=£§§#
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###§£$=~.¨ MIKU IS IN CHARGE OF THE BLOOD ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ COLONIES. THERE'S LARGE VATS OF THE ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ ORIGINAL CULTURE WHICH IS FED BLOOD ¨.~=$£§###
#§£££$=~.¨ MEAL, BONE MEAL, WHAT DOESN'T QUALIFY ¨.~=$£££§#
#£$$~¨¨¨¨¨ TO GO IN THE "WILD FLESH" PASTE, AND ¨¨¨¨¨~$$£#
###§£$=~.¨ SOME PROCESSING CHEMICALS. ALL THESE ¨.~=$£§###
#££=~¨¨¨¨¨ INGREDIENTS HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE BLOOD ¨¨¨¨¨~=££#
§$$~.¨¨¨¨¨ WHICH IN TURN AFFECTS MIKU. ¨¨¨¨¨.~$$§
###§£$=~.¨ ¨.~=$£§###
##££$$=~.¨ THERE IS A LARGE TANK BEHIND THE ¨.~=$$££##
#§§§£$=~.¨ FACTORY THAT CONTAINS A VAST NUMBER OF ¨.~=$£§§§#
###§£$=~.¨ AUXILLIARY BLOOD COLONIES. MIKU WATCHES ¨.~=$£§###
§$$~~.¨¨¨¨ OVER THESE AS WELL. THEIR PURPOSE IS ¨¨¨¨.~~$$§
###§£$=~.¨ UNCLEAR. ¨.~=$£§###
#§$$$=~.¨¨ ¨¨.~=$$$§#
###§£$=~.¨ THE FACTORY IS SURROUNDED BY THE BLOOD ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ MEAL FARMS. THERE IS A CONSTANT ¨.~=$£§###
###§£$=~.¨ EXCHANGE OF BLOOD AND BLOOD MEAL. THIS ¨.~=$£§###
#§§$~¨¨¨¨¨ PROVIDES TWO OF THE MAJOR MATERIALS FOR ¨¨¨¨¨~$§§#
###§£$=~.¨ BOTH THE COLONIES AND MIKU. ¨.~=$£§###
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###§£$=~.¨ THE "WILD FLESH" VATS. ¨.~=$£§###
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