10

Scarper could be ruthless when he had to be. He told you that people had more than they could ever use—not just stuff, but space, too. Take one wrong step off a busy thoroughfare and you'd find yourself in an illegal dumping ground, a secret glade, or a monster's nest. The People of the Map don't walk like that. They move along roads and corridors; they instinctively fear stepping off the Map into the land of monsters.

You don't. You cut through alleys and forgotten gardens, deliberately violating property boundaries, forcing yourself to ignore the way people ought to move. And among the homeless encampments, abandoned vehicles, and fields touched only by snow, you find shelter: shipping containers, sugar shacks, empty cellars with the doors unlocked. A bit of dumpster diving turns up a fleece blanket that you wrap into a tight bundle. You can survive a night. Maybe two…but not more, not in a New England winter.

You spend the morning exploring. The goal is to memorize every place in town where people leave after eating and the wait staff doesn't clear tables quickly enough. The best places are in the little mini-mall, especially since it's warm in there. You still don't have a place to sleep, though.

I research Daphne Clear and GRC Media.

No use starving to death before I learn anything: I need a job and a place to stay. Maybe even a nice place around normal people.

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