Quoted By:
<span class="mu-r">Your Wealth has been reduced to 1.</span>
Water slowly soaked through your hair, running down the back of your neck. Strands clung tightly to your neck, and the water circling the drain ran brown with the dirt you were carefully scrubbing from your skin. With all that you had done in your first week of life, you had expected there to be more grime, but instead most of your body was actually caked in dried sweat, dust and other biological accumulations.
You were at what appeared to be a local-run hotel, aiming to undercut the competition by offering fewer amenities, but a room, running water and a secure locker at two thirds the price of the other hotels. It had seemed to be a little too good to be true, but knowing you didn't require lavish amenities like a fully provided breakfast, free recaf and an <span class="mu-i">authentic</span> likeness of the Emperor for all the money you had, you had decided to go with it. The front was banged up, the room was barely wide enough for you to sit with your legs over the side of the bed and you were fairly certain someone was engaging in aggressive reproduction in the next room.
At least the water was hot. It was apparently piped through one of the hive's many factory complexes, heating it to boiling before cooling to more tolerable temperatures on it's way back to the hotel, although it still left your skin feeling red and raw when you were finished. Steam filled the small booth, and you scrubbed in your third layer of cheap shampoo in an attempt to banish the grime from your hair. It wasn't particularly helping, but it made you feel better, at the least.
Steam filled the booth, and you sighed at the odd squirming of your skin where the water had scalded it. The places where you had bruises from your hectic entrance had been throbbing by the time you got in, but by the time you turned off the water they were already starting to fade. It made you feel oddly itchy, in a way - or at least, the skin above each bruise felt oddly dry, and you felt the sheets rub against your skin as you laid down to sleep that night.
<span class="mu-r">Your accumulated Strain has been cleared.</span>
You awaken feeling substantially more human the next day. On some level, you think, being clean and slightly more presentable made you feel like a little less of a disgrace. Clean clothes helped, too, thanks to a small stack of rattling washing machines the hotel provided at the end of one hall. You had initially hesitated due to the... <span class="mu-i">adequate</span> production of the units, but in the end you were glad you had trusted your garment was made with such things in mind, as the clean matte black fabric gave you a strange peace of mind.
