#@&=~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~=&@#
&&==^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^==&&
##@&&==~^¨ ¨^~==&&@##
&=~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~=&
#&&&=~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~=&&&#
@&&=~^¨¨¨¨ ¨^ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ^¨ ¨¨¨¨^~=&&@
##@&&==~^¨ 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. ¨¨¨¨¨^~=&&
@&=~^^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^^~=&@
##@&&==~^¨ ¨^~==&&@##
@&&&&==~^¨ ¨^~==&&&&@
#@&&=~^^^¨ ¨^^^~=&&@#
@@&==^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^==&@@