......~†*§                                          §*†~......
.......~†*                                          *†~.......
......~†*§                                          §*†~......
.....~†*§@                                          @§*†~.....
....~†*§@¶                                          ¶@§*†~....
...~†*§@¶@       .. ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ..      @¶@§*†~...
..~†*§@¶@# 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.          @¶@§*†~...
..~†*§@¶@#                                          #@¶@§*†~..
...~†*§@¶@                                          @¶@§*†~...
....~†*§@¶                                          ¶@§*†~....
.....~†*§@                                          @§*†~.....
......~†*§                                          §*†~......