........¤. ..¤....¤¤.
.........¤ ¤..¤...¤¤¤
¤......... .¤..¤..¤.¤
¤¤........ ..¤..¤...¤
.¤¤....... ...¤..¤..¤
.¤¤¤...... .. ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ .. ....¤..¤..
.¤.¤¤..... NICK WILDE IS A RED FOX AND A CONMAN. .....¤..¤.
...¤¤¤.... .. ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ .. ......¤..¤
¤..¤.¤¤... .......¤..
.¤...¤¤¤.. 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. ¤.........
..¤..¤...¤ ¤¤........
...¤..¤..¤ 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. ..¤..¤....
.....¤..¤. ...¤..¤...
......¤... NONE OF THE EMPLOYEES KNOW THIS.) ....¤..¤..
.......¤.. .....¤..¤.
........¤. ~~~ ~~~ ......¤..¤
¤........¤ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ .......¤..
.¤........ ~~~ ~~~ ........¤.
..¤....... .........¤
¤..¤...... 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 .¤...¤¤¤..
........¤. BRAIN, WHICH IS USED TO EXTRACT ..¤..¤.¤¤.
.........¤ RECEPTORS THAT DETECT PHEROMONES) ¤..¤...¤¤¤
¤......... .¤..¤..¤.¤
¤¤........ ~~~ ~~~ ..¤..¤...¤
.¤¤....... ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ...¤..¤..¤
.¤¤¤...... ~~~ ~~~ ....¤..¤..
.¤.¤¤..... .....¤..¤.
...¤¤¤.... 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. ........¤.
..¤.¤¤.... ¤........¤
¤...¤¤¤... ~~~ ~~~ .¤........
.¤..¤.¤¤.. ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ..¤.......
..¤...¤¤¤. ~~~ ~~~ ¤..¤......
...¤..¤.¤¤ .¤..¤.....
....¤...¤¤ NICK IS UNCOMFORTABLE AROUND ..¤..¤....
.....¤..¤. THE "WILD FLESH" VATS. ...¤..¤...
......¤... ....¤..¤..
.......¤.. .....¤..¤.
........¤. ......¤..¤
¤........¤ .......¤..
.¤........ ........¤.