Quoted By:
But you thank him all the same, for the years of stories and his intervention in the beatdown on the receiving deck no less than twenty hours ago. He has a firm handshake, even with two missing fingers, and stays the longest on the platform, waving you off until he’s all but a dark spec on the horizon line.
Hard to believe it, but as you settle into the hard, lumpy cot, you think you’ll miss the Duck.
Although the jury’s still out for whether or not it’s warts and all, or <span class="mu-i">in spite</span> of warts and all.
<span class="mu-s">ACT ONE – THE ARRIVAL</span>
>>Summer, 76 A.C.
>>Foggy Bottom, Babylonia
You once heard it from a sailor, that the namesake of your home district was a borough in the North American capital. He’d been so proud of knowing it. Like it was some closely guarded secret that the Founding Families didn’t want getting out.
Apparently, his great-great granddaddy had once lived there, in the urban jungle that was Washington DC. He was always firm that his ancestor wasn’t a politician, or God forbid, a lawyer. And heaven help whoever thought otherwise. He had a mean punch, and wasn’t above hitting women.
But the Foggy Bottom of Babylonia, the district you were born and raised in, more than lives up to its pre-Cataclysm predecessor.
There isn’t a single inch of the city that escapes the fog as it blows in from the bay. Though the docks get it the worst, especially the Bottoms, and even moreso when it floods or the tide comes high. On really bad days, the soup gets thick enough to where you can’t even see five feet ahead. Granted, it’s quick to dissipate as the sun rises and the day really starts to begin. But it’s still a pain in the ass to deal with in the morning.
Speaking of pains in the ass…
Nabeel in accounting did authorize your bonus payment of 200,000 ducats. Paid out not in gold, but in <span class="mu-i">silver</span>, to the total of 20,000 coins. Which got really heavy, and barely fit in your sea-chest. And the paranoia of someone breaking into your room…that’s an experience you don’t want to repeat.
Mostly because sleeping on your sea chest hurts your back something awful.
On the plus side, as it had been a bonus, and not mentioned on an itemized report, it isn’t automatically garnished. Nor had you been obligated to report it. There’s definitely some dirty legalese, and your debt-liaison would certainly object strongly to it, but it’s your tax-free, non-deductible employee bonus.
200,000 ducats for you to decide how best to spend or use them.
>>What did you do with your bonus from the Duck?
>You kept all of it for yourself, leaving none for the debt.
>You split it half-and-half evenly between yourself and the debt.
>You put nearly all of it to the debt, taking only handful for yourself.
<span class="mu-s">[VOTE OPEN FOR NINE (9) HOURS.</span>
