3 3 301 DialogEnable Huainan enters his room to find Changyu sitting cross-legged by his bed. A map covered in scratches and marks is laid flat on the table, its folds smoothed out by a pencil-chewing Changyu, buried in thought.
4 4 201 1 500227
5 5 301 1 Huainan Hey, what's up? 1
6 6 201 1 500216
7 7 301 1 Changyu What took you so long? And where have you been lately? 1
8 8 301 Changyu ...Forget it. Check this out first. 1
9 9 203 1 0.25 400
10 10 201 2 500227 4 -400
11 11 301 1 Huainan What is it—is that the plan of the Nighter? 2
12 12 301 Changyu Drawn by yours truly! I've marked every inch of the boat that I could set foot on, so this should be pretty accurate. 1
13 13 301 Changyu takes his pencil and circles the spot marked "Trade Fair," then continues drawing along a series of crooked passageways all across the deck until it reaches the edge of the Nighter.
20 19 301 AniZhuanchangEnd Changyu and Huainan follow their guide to the dimly lit laboratory underground.
21 20 301 Shabby as the place may be, the constant humming from the equipment and the rows of test tubes filled with colorful liquids have made this already tiny space uncomfortably oppressive.
22 21 201 1 500236
23 22 301 1 Guide It's up ahead. You can talk to the doctor yourself. 1
24 23 201 1 500227
25 24 301 1 Huainan Thanks. 1
26 25 203 1 0.25 -400
27 26 201 2 500216 400
28 27 301 1 Changyu Didn't think you'd know a place like this... 2
29 28 301 Changyu takes stock of the strange surroundings and mutters to Huainan.
30 29 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Changyu And I thought you were going to stop me. 2
40 39 301 Changyu Fine, I just wanted to know how you'd react. You've got a history with them, don't you? 1
41 40 301 Huainan ...I'm not ready to talk about myself. 2
42 41 301 Changyu That's alright. I wasn't probing. 1
43 42 301 Changyu But I'm serious about Adeilek. I've done some digging—they're looking for live bodies on the boat, those that can be refitted into Constructs. I think I can make a score from it. 1
44 43 301 Changyu And now's your chance to stop me. 1
45 44 301 Huainan Will it work? 2
46 45 301 Changyu Of course! 1
47 120 204 1 1
48 47 301 Changyu We are partners! 1
49 48 301 Changyu's eyes glinted with fervency and sincerity.
50 46 301 Huainan saw himself reflected in them. He paused for a moment, then pushed his hair aside, revealing a horrendous scar on his neck.
51 49 301 Even concealed behind his collar, the swollen crimson mark on his neck was still clearly visible. It wound and weaved on Huainan's skin, crawling and slithering.
52 50 301 Huainan This is my quarrel with Akdilek. 2
53 130 204 1 5
54 51 301 Changyu ...?! 1
55 52 301 Huainan straightened his coat and hid the awful scar.
56 53 301 Huainan I'm not stopping you. 2
57 54 301 Huainan But I need to know where your information's coming from. Can you trust them? 2
58 55 301 Changyu Their reputation precedes them in the black market. Spend a little money and grease some wheels, and nothing's hidden under the sun. 1
59 56 301 Huainan Meddling right under their noses, huh? 2
60 57 301 Changyu Here's my plan—I'll pretend to be one of the merchandise, and after Akdilek purchases this remarkable body, I'll escape with their money and leave them empty-handed. 1
61 58 204 1 1
62 59 301 Changyu Just trust me. 1
63 60 301 Huainan Akdilek wants bodies that are suited to be Constructs. Do you even fit the requirement? Or are you forging your data? 2
64 61 301 Changyu The secret to a well-planned scheme is to not plan everything. You have to follow the ebb and flow of the plot, manipulating it the way you do water, guiding it just enough so it flows where you want it. 1
65 62 301 Huainan What are you... Is this your third lesson? 2
66 63 301 Changyu What? No! The third lesson is "don't trust strangers." But—you must trust your partner unequivocally. 1
67 64 301 Huainan ...I know a place. They can check if your body's suitable to be refitted. 2
68 65 204 2
69 66 301 Huainan Doctors like that are a dime a dozen on the black market. I happen to know one who'll do anything for the right price. 2
70 67 301 Changyu So you... 1
71 68 301 Huainan Let's go. 2
72 69 204 1
73 70 301 Changyu Huh? 1
74 71 301 Huainan I never said I'm sitting this one out. 2
75 72 301 Huainan Maybe I can tell you something about me after this. 2
83 80 301 AniZhuanchangEnd 1 Huainan Are you listening? Changyu? 2
84 81 301 Changyu What is it? I wasn't paying attention. 1
85 82 301 Huainan ...Sigh. Focus this time. 2
86 83 301 Huainan Now, you should be familiar with our damn collars. Everyone on this boat has one around their neck. 2
87 84 301 Huainan It serves two functions. First of all, it's a way to remotely control us. Even if it's only indirectly, the two primary commands coded in the collar mean we can't leave the Nighter, and we can't harm it. 2
88 85 301 Huainan It's also our ID. The collars on this boat have records of all bodies onboard the Nighter—living, Construct, mechanoid. 2
89 86 301 Changyu traces the collar on his neck. Of course he knows of it, but he has never really considered what its existence means.
90 87 301 He has lived the same routine on this boat as far as he can recall, for... three months, a year—or three? He has no recollection, and he can never quite put his finger on it. Everything just... happened.
91 88 301 Huainan One human, one set of corresponding data. Including that person's Tantalum-193 affinity. 2
92 89 301 Changyu Tantalum-193 affinity? 1
93 90 301 Huainan Only those with high enough Tantalum-193 affinity can be refitted into Constructs. 2
94 91 301 Huainan Assuming somewhere on this boat is a person with the desired Tantalum-193 affinity, someone who's not associated with the "official merchandise" from the Kowloong Crew— 2
95 92 301 Huainan That's who Akdilek is after. That's the leverage we need. 2
96 93 301 Changyu So, we have to figure out if we are merchandise-material to begin with... 1
97 94 301 Huainan That's right. It'll be so much easier if we can just be a part of the wares on display. But if we can't do that, we can still get what we're after here. 2
98 95 301 Changyu How come you know all of this so well? 1
99 951 204 1 5
100 96 301 Huainan The worst thing we can face on this boat is uncertainty, don't you think? 2
101 97 202 1 2 1
102 98 201 1 500138
103 99 301 1 Black Market Doctor Are you the one? 1
104 100 301 The two young men are interrupted by the approaching surgeon. His face may be concealed by a mask, but it is clear that his eyes are keenly examining Changyu.
105 101 301 Black Market Doctor Follow me. 1
106 102 201 1 500216 5 400
107 103 201 2 500227 -400
108 104 301 1 Huainan They're doing our examinations simultaneously to save time. You can head in first. Mine's also about to start. 2
109 105 204 1 5
110 106 301 1 AniZhuanchangBegin Changyu ...I'll see you later. 1
