......~*^£ £^*~......
.......~*^ ^*~.......
......~*^£ £^*~......
.....~*^£§ §£^*~.....
....~*^£§# #§£^*~....
...~*^£§## .. ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ .. ##§£^*~...
..~*^£§### 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. ##§£^*~...
..~*^£§### ###§£^*~..
...~*^£§## ##§£^*~...
....~*^£§# #§£^*~....
.....~*^£§ §£^*~.....
......~*^£ £^*~......