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As expected, there's a BEER VENDING MACHINE towards the back of the room. On the front of the machine is a cartoony illustration of a scantily clad lady with red hair, wearing only a bikini. It's a bit crass for your tastes.
Your gaze is locked onto her red hair. Wait, why are you doing this, Vincent? Stop it. You snap out of it, and you shift your focus elsewhere.
The supplies you ordered are all here. More food, more spare parts, more cleaning supplies, the works. You also have your MAN-MADE SALTS and your PISTOL AMMO; all that's accounted for.
There's a cage resting right by the BEER VENDING MACHINE. You can't quite make out what's inside from this distance, but you can certainly hear it.
A low, threatening hiss comes from the cage whenever your eyes linger on it. Something is just <span class="mu-i">wrong</span> with whatever's in the cage in a way you can't quite describe.
>EL FELINO has been obtained.
A loose pile of clothes lies by your computer. There are three sleek grey parkas and thermal pants, presumably the 'EXTREME WEATHER' clothes, but what's underneath them is what catches your eye.
You pick up a flowing, pitch-black cloak with a dull, dark orange trim. It shifts uncomfortably in your hand, as if it were alive, but it stops moving after a second or two. Underneath it are four flower pins, like what you'd wear on a tuxedo during a wedding, each of which is in a different color.
Interesting. You'll have to experiment with those later, but those have to be the STATIC FLOWER and STATIC BLOOD items you purchased.
There's one last thing that catches your attention. A thick, iron metal box with three padlocks locking it rests on one of your tables. You carefully approach it as if it were about to explode right in front of you. You place your hand on it, and, as if by magic, the three padlocks fall off of the box.
You open the MYSTERY BOX.
Inside is something quite small for the amount of money you paid. It's a tiny little clockwork mechanism with five nixie tubes attached to the top of it. There's a small wind-up key attached to the side of it. Two notes are inside the box, and you quickly skim them.
"ACCUMULATED PAST: Humanity has conquered disease and nature. Now we have come far enough to harness time itself. Creates a strong, localized temporal field when wound up. Normally only sold to Level 4+ personnel. Use wisely."
"NEW QUOTA: 0/4250. 7 DAYS TO COMPLETE IT. ENJOY YOUR NEW TOY."
>ACCUMULATED PAST obtained! (Has one charge. Heavily alters time in your favor for a short duration. While active, you and two other targets will gain a +17 bonus to all rolls, no questions asked.)
Jesus Christ. You feel like you shouldn't have this thing. It is positively fuming with POWER. You stuff it into your satchel right as you hear the door to your lab opening up.
Lucy's the first to enter. The blonde-haired researcher flashes a sheepish smile. Her face hasn't re-melted, so it seems the healing sandwich did partially heal her condition.
