....;^^### ###^^;....
..~;^¤#@@# #@@#¤^;~..
..~;^¤#@## ##@#¤^;~..
..~;^¤#@## ##@#¤^;~..
..~;^¤#@## ##@#¤^;~..
.....~;;^# .. ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ .. #^;;~.....
..~;;;¤¤@@ 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. @@@#¤^;~..
..~;^¤#@@@ @@@#¤^;~..
..~;^¤#@@# #@@#¤^;~..
..~;^¤@@## ##@@¤^;~..
...~~~^##@ @##^~~~...
..~;^¤#@@# #@@#¤^;~..