,^~^†§¶@##                                          ##@¶§†^~^,
,^~^†§&¶@#                                          #@¶&§†^~^,
,^~^†§&¶##                                          ##¶&§†^~^,
,,,^~~~†§&                                          &§†~~~^,,,
,^~^†§&¶@#                                          #@¶&§†^~^,
,^~^†§&¶@#       ,^ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ^,      #@¶&§†^~^,
,^~^†§§&&@ 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.          &&††~~,,,,
,^~^†§&¶##                                          ##¶&§†^~^,
,,,,,~†§¶¶                                          ¶¶§†~,,,,,
,,,,~^^§&&                                          &&§^^~,,,,
,^~^†§&¶@#                                          #@¶&§†^~^,
^~^†§&¶@##                                          ##@¶&§†^~^