Quoted By:
"If you can get me some C-Extract right from the source? No having to pay a massive upcharge for it? I'll give you a shit ton of store credit if you can do that. Consider it the payment for the bed and breakfast."
"Then a deal's a deal. For every 4 or 5 A-Energy you give us, we'll worry about the details later, you get a C-Extract for free." The two of you shake each other's hands. It's not fully solidified but it's close enough. "We'll discuss how long you'll work on the PARADIGMs tomorrow. See you around."
"See ya later, chump! Hope I helped!"
You leave the shop, bags of goodies in hand. There's one thing that's still on your mind...well, discussion on the City and a bit more scope on it aside. There was that one fucking weirdo you saw.
[HOPELESS WRECK] HE LOOKED LIKE HE COULD CARRY FIFTEEN BODIES WITH ONE HAND. YOU SURE YOU WANNA FUCK WITH 'EM?
The coat gives you a nice, warm hug. Like an old grandma giving her grandson a comforting embrace before going to bed. You let out a breath, calming down a little. You slowly creep back to where you last saw it. Maybe it's already gone and you can just go back inside.
Dozens of slow steps on the slippery ice later, you managed to get back to where you last saw him. And he's still there, staring past you and to the City. This time, he's chewing a wad of something in his mouth. Black and red juices pour down his chin.
[HOPELESS WRECK] HE ISN'T IGNORING YOU. IT'S A FUCKING AMBUSH, SIR! RUN! RUN UNTIL YOUR LEGS ARE JELLY!
A parka rests comfortably on his bulky body. A bright gold "W" is stitched on his breast pocket, alongside a blade piercing through a vaguely demonic blob.
[BOUND BY DUTY] It's rude to stare at someone minding their own business. Leave them be or talk to them.
"Hello?"
"I can hear you. Yet I can not see or smell you." Before you can even react, it leans its head over the window, showing you its face in all of its detail. Gnarled tusks are growing out of the top and bottom of his mouth.
"How are you tricking me?"
"Uh." You try to suppress a nervous laugh. "A...magic coat. I am an Administrator. It's something I got from an anomaly." You remove OWB (placing it in the bags) and fasten on the parka you bought yourself. It's not as good as OWB but your mind feels clearer now.
The creature huffs when it can apparently 'see' you now. "Trickery. Common in this rotten City. Yet you don't stink of it. Stink of Lack." Each word is slow and deliberate, as if it doesn't know the language it is speaking too well.
"Mind clarifying?"
"You must feel it. Do you not?" You have no idea what it is blabbering about. "Regardless of your denial. What do you seek, human?"
"A...chat, as you call it? Right, word, I think. For occasion."
[DYING LIGHT] He's not an anomaly but he's foreign to this City. He is not a breathing, living part of it.
[DYING LIGHT] Yet he might know more than he lets on.
[HOPELESS WRECK] A LOT MORE. HE REEKS OF BLOOD AND DIRT.
