...:~%*&££                                          ££&*%~:...
.:~†%*&£@#                                          #@£&*%†~:.
.:~†%*&£@#                                          #@£&*%†~:.
.:~†%*&£@#                                          #@£&*%†~:.
.:~†%&£@##                                          ##@£&%†~:.
.:~†%*&£££       .: ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ :.      £££&*%†~:.
....~~%%&£ 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.          #@£&*%†~:.
.:~†%*&£@#                                          #@£&*%†~:.
.:~†%*&@##                                          ##@&*%†~:.
....:†**££                                          ££**†:....
.:~†%*£@##                                          ##@£*%†~:.
...::~~†%&                                          &%†~~::...