Hard Times Ahead
Changye’s love for building vertically is disturbing sometimes. There are places in Changye, whose idea of innovation is the harvest of animals, and unlike the previous places where I have been.
This place’s idea of efficiency is almost devilish. Vertical farms where each animal is placed on a 1x1 block stacked on top of another where they are harvested efficiently. Tubes automatically milk the cows, and those who are nearing their usefulness are butchered through the use of convenient laser technology, cutting the meat, bones precisely and then packaged, storage, and shipped to their distributions points.
I wonder if it’s really efficient or is it simply more pleasing? I do hear they sell tours for a quick buck.
Further inside this factory’s a place where the cattle’s made depending on the product. First, the cow could be fatty. Second, the cattle’s built to have more muscle than meat, thus providing a more exquisite texture depending on the taste. Most of the animals here are fed through the IV’s they drip on their bodies and are kept dumbed down.
They also do custom-made meat based on the appetite of the customer and is something Kei ordered. It was meat that induces certain flavors, which makes me question Kei’s fascination with this kind of meat.
The discount on ground meat made me think of the mimic for a second. Thankfully my stay in this city has made my stomach into steel. I could eat anything, as long as it isn’t insects, frogs, and god forbid plant-based meat.
“Here is the order, Sir!”
I got the package from one of the clerks. People who work in places like this always have an uncanny smile. I guess spending so much time in farms like this has certain effects to the head.
It’s pretty quiet actually. You can only hear the sound of liquid, lasers firing, and the usual sloppy sound of meat falling into containers and conveyor belts delivering the product to their destination.
I put on my professional smile and took the package with me. As I walk out of the vertical farm, my shadow was on the ground, and the stacks of butchering boxes was towering me. Spaces like this, actually supporting Changye as a whole never stops bothering me.
I couldn’t even remember places where cows are just being normally butchered and Changye seems to be trying its best to be as efficient as possible when it comes to making the worst and most efficient setups. Make no mistake, this crowded vertical farm is much more cost-effective than normal methods. Nothing in this farm is wasted and everything is sold one way or another.
Even the inferior products are sold to places where people will buy them for a good price. We took the idea of being efficient with how we do things so fanatically. We made vertical hells for the animals who we do not find any empathy with and gave them living hell. Most of the cattle here are brain dead meat puppets sold for a good price. And they are the perfect product for the gluttonous people of Changye.
It was 10 AM when I got back to Asobe Street. I smell like processed meat. I put the food in the storage where Kei usually stores them and left it there for her and Eta to do something about it.
Marvin’s not around since he’s accompanying Eta on a trip to the Midway Nexus. Kei, who should be waiting here, wasn’t around so I just did some work while waiting for her to come back.
She got back before twelve. She threw her jacket on the couch, and checked on the package, checking the meat and cooking them inside this portable electric smoker she bought online.
“Nice meat. Exactly as I want.”
“Why not buy in the same place?”
“Heard bad things about the place.”
“All of them are pretty bad. Place sells grounded meat, who knows what cheat they do?”
“Sato recommended the place. He can be a prick, but he knows how to pick places.”
“So you switched after you got a better deal. Saw the discount price.”
She gave away an easy smile.
“Our business has been doing, my assistant. But there is virtue in saving money as much as we can, no?”
“Well, I don’t disagree.”
She starts cooking. I invited myself and waited for the meat to be done while we watched the news. It’s the same crap. Monsters, disasters, and all kinds of strange oddities. Most of it is far from Changye, so it got automatically filtered out of my head.
“Anomalies are starting to repeat.”
“That a bad thing?”
“Yes. Others tend to start to learn through repetition. If people keep facing them, it means they’ll have an idea in their heads and when ideas spread, some asshole starts spreading them.”
True. If you keep on encountering something. You’ll start to naturally understand how to avoid and face it. In the case of an anomaly, you know how to act based on information and experience.
“So we aren’t going bankrupt, right?”
“Anoms are our niche, we specialize in it, but we also take care of other business beyond the usual anomaly-hunting. Finding the cause of what is happening is a lucrative business and before we focused on anoms. We made quite enough money. You’d be surprised how many are so eager to hire us.”
“Guessing the 7S’s the one issuing these contracts.”
“Bingo. They’ll give us tasks so we keep ourselves afloat.”
“Eta did call you Detective one time. Gotta ask though. Do we take on wet work?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I had the mind to write a notice if she said anything. I don’t fancy myself as a hitman nor will I ever make a living killing humans. I have no qualms defending myself, but making a habit of killing folks for money isn’t something I’d want to spend my life on.
“There are times there are idiots who try to stop us. You understand, right?”
“I do. I’m not naïve enough to believe we can always talk it out.”
It's something you’d come to understand if you live in this city long enough. Someone or something will always try to kill if you let it.
“It’s good you are always professional. What gives?”
“It has become a habit. I’m actually not doing it too well since you said to yourself you don’t want it to be too formal, unless we’re in places where it’s best if I call you Boss, right?”
“Yeah. Had to show some ranks since those folks are pretty particular about it.”
“So, are we going to make do with regular monster hunting?”
“Not simple, actually. We’ve been lucky enough to get many calls like this, but Sato told me the 7S’s want to expand our network and if there are any repeated anomalies happening, he will send others to take care of it.”
To be fair, putting all your eggs in one basket is generally a bad idea. I can attest this office has more experience in dealing with anomalies, but we can’t just rule out the OB and the Church has more than what we usually know. There is always someone who notices first and right now we’re the most active. In the case the office gets wiped out, there’s a good chance Sato will have to train more people instead, and take over the business.
I can see why he’d want to train others while Kei’s still active. If Kei’s no longer active, Sato’s going to find people to continue the work. Kei knows it too well; it's what Sato wants to do just in case.
“Surprised you even agreed to it.”
Kei raises a finger to educate me. She used her teaching tone this time.
“Take it this way. If Sato takes care of these anomalies for us. We don’t have to go to this place personally. We’ll have them rely on our information. And if the info is wrong, we’ll get a commission to fix this and then add another variant. You see what I’m getting here?”
“We get them to find out any differences, then we just make a sub-variant and category to the listing, earning us more dough. Not only do we get our associates to find out for us, we’ll also get less hassle from it.”
“But will they allow it? What if they hold back in providing the information?”
“Doubt it. 7S’s is very particular in maintaining a clear job role. Our role is to keep the info about anomalies and maintain it. The deal with the Dreadlord probably made them think again about chasing info about it.”
“Worried about more monsters becoming one with anomalies, I take?”
“Probably. Our Association has a healthy dose of paranoia. I mean, in this era, who doesn’t have worries about the monsters outside of our city? When you have monsters hiding in the fog, cryptids who are hidden somewhere, mutants trying to butcher humans, and finally anomalies that might be different from the usual?”
“You did say this is just the most common.”
“Energy-based anomalies and environmental-type anoms are a pain in the ass to deal with, you know? They are hard to find since most of the time, if we do find them, they already got too many killed and it's not hard to notice them. You already got familiar with environmental-type things like the demon, right?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell me those things throw you in the sky?”
“That was lucky, you know? You do realize if the demon had sent us inside concrete or underground. We’d be squished like a fruit unless we had the augment procedures.”
“Sounds like you met a few or three.”
Her face wrinkled at the thought of something. She took a piece of meat from the smoker and started eating it with a some Japanese-brand she keeps in the food storage unit
“There are certain anomalies who specialize in throwing you somewhere or wearing you down. Most of the time they have certain adverse effects they do to your body. The worst case we got is a mass anomaly of a school. Students, who are expected to be the top achievers, got plugged into this terrifying warped creature who insisted on their studies. Over 357 students were trapped and it took us 2 months to solve the problem.”
“I know. That was City-Soars School, right?”
“Yup. It got afflicted by the mass anomaly. The students got turned into studying slaves who were forced to take on tests. According to the 13 survivors. At first it was okay, but as it lasted, the tests got warped and many of them were forced to make hard choices. The longer they got, the more disturbing the tests and studies were. By the last two weeks, they were studying how to convert bodies into an effective food source that can last them for two weeks. The school had food, snacks, but two months with 357 students made the supply go out.”
“And how did that get solved?”
“We cheated.”
“The anomaly ruled out the school must reach a certain score. So, we had someone with a brain implant cheat the tests, and the monster was so happy about the results, it killed itself.”
“You coordinated?”
She nodded curtly and took another piece of meat from the smoker.
“Sounds like trouble. I don’t know how you’d get out of one if you didn’t have the coordination from the outside world to cheat.”
“There was an option to rush the school and bomb it. Actually was the first option until we realized they just added them to the list of students and they didn’t even pass the second test which had basic arithmetic.”
“Sounds weird.”
“Anomalies are strange. I think we just got lucky for the past few months. It might get harder with Sato taking the easy jobs from us now.”
She says all of this and yet here she was eating meat like it’s nobody’s business. Kei’s composure really is one hell of a thing. Still, it makes me wonder if it’ll be good or bad for us if the Association takes the easy jobs.
“You don’t look worried at all.”
“Hmm, I’ll think about it when the time comes. One step at a time, Akun.”
If all that happened for the last months was her standard of easy.
Then it looks like it’s going to be a hard times ahead.
Hard Times Ahead
Changye’s love for building vertically is disturbing sometimes. There are places in Changye, whose idea of innovation is the harvest of animals, and unlike the previous places where I have been.
This place’s idea of efficiency is almost devilish. Vertical farms where each animal is placed on a 1x1 block stacked on top of another where they are harvested efficiently. Tubes automatically milk the cows, and those who are nearing their usefulness are butchered through the use of convenient laser technology, cutting the meat, bones precisely and then packaged, storage, and shipped to their distributions points.
I wonder if it’s really efficient or is it simply more pleasing? I do hear they sell tours for a quick buck.
Further inside this factory’s a place where the cattle’s made depending on the product. First, the cow could be fatty. Second, the cattle’s built to have more muscle than meat, thus providing a more exquisite texture depending on the taste. Most of the animals here are fed through the IV’s they drip on their bodies and are kept dumbed down.
They also do custom-made meat based on the appetite of the customer and is something Kei ordered. It was meat that induces certain flavors, which makes me question Kei’s fascination with this kind of meat.
The discount on ground meat made me think of the mimic for a second. Thankfully my stay in this city has made my stomach into steel. I could eat anything, as long as it isn’t insects, frogs, and god forbid plant-based meat.
“Here is the order, Sir!”
I got the package from one of the clerks. People who work in places like this always have an uncanny smile. I guess spending so much time in farms like this has certain effects to the head.
It’s pretty quiet actually. You can only hear the sound of liquid, lasers firing, and the usual sloppy sound of meat falling into containers and conveyor belts delivering the product to their destination.
I put on my professional smile and took the package with me. As I walk out of the vertical farm, my shadow was on the ground, and the stacks of butchering boxes was towering me. Spaces like this, actually supporting Changye as a whole never stops bothering me.
I couldn’t even remember places where cows are just being normally butchered and Changye seems to be trying its best to be as efficient as possible when it comes to making the worst and most efficient setups. Make no mistake, this crowded vertical farm is much more cost-effective than normal methods. Nothing in this farm is wasted and everything is sold one way or another.
Even the inferior products are sold to places where people will buy them for a good price. We took the idea of being efficient with how we do things so fanatically. We made vertical hells for the animals who we do not find any empathy with and gave them living hell. Most of the cattle here are brain dead meat puppets sold for a good price. And they are the perfect product for the gluttonous people of Changye.
It was 10 AM when I got back to Asobe Street. I smell like processed meat. I put the food in the storage where Kei usually stores them and left it there for her and Eta to do something about it.
Marvin’s not around since he’s accompanying Eta on a trip to the Midway Nexus. Kei, who should be waiting here, wasn’t around so I just did some work while waiting for her to come back.
She got back before twelve. She threw her jacket on the couch, and checked on the package, checking the meat and cooking them inside this portable electric smoker she bought online.
“Nice meat. Exactly as I want.”
“Why not buy in the same place?”
“Heard bad things about the place.”
“All of them are pretty bad. Place sells grounded meat, who knows what cheat they do?”
“Sato recommended the place. He can be a prick, but he knows how to pick places.”
“So you switched after you got a better deal. Saw the discount price.”
She gave away an easy smile.
“Our business has been doing, my assistant. But there is virtue in saving money as much as we can, no?”
“Well, I don’t disagree.”
She starts cooking. I invited myself and waited for the meat to be done while we watched the news. It’s the same crap. Monsters, disasters, and all kinds of strange oddities. Most of it is far from Changye, so it got automatically filtered out of my head.
“Anomalies are starting to repeat.”
“That a bad thing?”
“Yes. Others tend to start to learn through repetition. If people keep facing them, it means they’ll have an idea in their heads and when ideas spread, some asshole starts spreading them.”
True. If you keep on encountering something. You’ll start to naturally understand how to avoid and face it. In the case of an anomaly, you know how to act based on information and experience.
“So we aren’t going bankrupt, right?”
“Anoms are our niche, we specialize in it, but we also take care of other business beyond the usual anomaly-hunting. Finding the cause of what is happening is a lucrative business and before we focused on anoms. We made quite enough money. You’d be surprised how many are so eager to hire us.”
“Guessing the 7S’s the one issuing these contracts.”
“Bingo. They’ll give us tasks so we keep ourselves afloat.”
“Eta did call you Detective one time. Gotta ask though. Do we take on wet work?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I had the mind to write a notice if she said anything. I don’t fancy myself as a hitman nor will I ever make a living killing humans. I have no qualms defending myself, but making a habit of killing folks for money isn’t something I’d want to spend my life on.
“There are times there are idiots who try to stop us. You understand, right?”
“I do. I’m not naïve enough to believe we can always talk it out.”
It's something you’d come to understand if you live in this city long enough. Someone or something will always try to kill if you let it.
“It’s good you are always professional. What gives?”
“It has become a habit. I’m actually not doing it too well since you said to yourself you don’t want it to be too formal, unless we’re in places where it’s best if I call you Boss, right?”
“Yeah. Had to show some ranks since those folks are pretty particular about it.”
“So, are we going to make do with regular monster hunting?”
“Not simple, actually. We’ve been lucky enough to get many calls like this, but Sato told me the 7S’s want to expand our network and if there are any repeated anomalies happening, he will send others to take care of it.”
To be fair, putting all your eggs in one basket is generally a bad idea. I can attest this office has more experience in dealing with anomalies, but we can’t just rule out the OB and the Church has more than what we usually know. There is always someone who notices first and right now we’re the most active. In the case the office gets wiped out, there’s a good chance Sato will have to train more people instead, and take over the business.
I can see why he’d want to train others while Kei’s still active. If Kei’s no longer active, Sato’s going to find people to continue the work. Kei knows it too well; it's what Sato wants to do just in case.
“Surprised you even agreed to it.”
Kei raises a finger to educate me. She used her teaching tone this time.
“Take it this way. If Sato takes care of these anomalies for us. We don’t have to go to this place personally. We’ll have them rely on our information. And if the info is wrong, we’ll get a commission to fix this and then add another variant. You see what I’m getting here?”
“We get them to find out any differences, then we just make a sub-variant and category to the listing, earning us more dough. Not only do we get our associates to find out for us, we’ll also get less hassle from it.”
“But will they allow it? What if they hold back in providing the information?”
“Doubt it. 7S’s is very particular in maintaining a clear job role. Our role is to keep the info about anomalies and maintain it. The deal with the Dreadlord probably made them think again about chasing info about it.”
“Worried about more monsters becoming one with anomalies, I take?”
“Probably. Our Association has a healthy dose of paranoia. I mean, in this era, who doesn’t have worries about the monsters outside of our city? When you have monsters hiding in the fog, cryptids who are hidden somewhere, mutants trying to butcher humans, and finally anomalies that might be different from the usual?”
“You did say this is just the most common.”
“Energy-based anomalies and environmental-type anoms are a pain in the ass to deal with, you know? They are hard to find since most of the time, if we do find them, they already got too many killed and it's not hard to notice them. You already got familiar with environmental-type things like the demon, right?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell me those things throw you in the sky?”
“That was lucky, you know? You do realize if the demon had sent us inside concrete or underground. We’d be squished like a fruit unless we had the augment procedures.”
“Sounds like you met a few or three.”
Her face wrinkled at the thought of something. She took a piece of meat from the smoker and started eating it with a some Japanese-brand she keeps in the food storage unit
“There are certain anomalies who specialize in throwing you somewhere or wearing you down. Most of the time they have certain adverse effects they do to your body. The worst case we got is a mass anomaly of a school. Students, who are expected to be the top achievers, got plugged into this terrifying warped creature who insisted on their studies. Over 357 students were trapped and it took us 2 months to solve the problem.”
“I know. That was City-Soars School, right?”
“Yup. It got afflicted by the mass anomaly. The students got turned into studying slaves who were forced to take on tests. According to the 13 survivors. At first it was okay, but as it lasted, the tests got warped and many of them were forced to make hard choices. The longer they got, the more disturbing the tests and studies were. By the last two weeks, they were studying how to convert bodies into an effective food source that can last them for two weeks. The school had food, snacks, but two months with 357 students made the supply go out.”
“And how did that get solved?”
“We cheated.”
“The anomaly ruled out the school must reach a certain score. So, we had someone with a brain implant cheat the tests, and the monster was so happy about the results, it killed itself.”
“You coordinated?”
She nodded curtly and took another piece of meat from the smoker.
“Sounds like trouble. I don’t know how you’d get out of one if you didn’t have the coordination from the outside world to cheat.”
“There was an option to rush the school and bomb it. Actually was the first option until we realized they just added them to the list of students and they didn’t even pass the second test which had basic arithmetic.”
“Sounds weird.”
“Anomalies are strange. I think we just got lucky for the past few months. It might get harder with Sato taking the easy jobs from us now.”
She says all of this and yet here she was eating meat like it’s nobody’s business. Kei’s composure really is one hell of a thing. Still, it makes me wonder if it’ll be good or bad for us if the Association takes the easy jobs.
“You don’t look worried at all.”
“Hmm, I’ll think about it when the time comes. One step at a time, Akun.”
If all that happened for the last months was her standard of easy.
Then it looks like it’s going to be a hard times ahead.
