&%;~,,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,,~;%&
#%%;;,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,;;%%#
###&%=;~,¨ ¨,~;=%##
#&%;,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,;%
####&%;~,¨ ¨,~;%###
#%;,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨, ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ,¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,;%#
###&%=;~,¨ 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. ¨,~;=%####
###&%=;~,¨ ¨,~;=%##
#&=;~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~;=
###&%=;~,¨ ¨,~;=%##
#&====;~,¨ ¨,~;====
###&%=;~,¨ ¨,~;=%##