Cold out tonight, ain't it, son? First time out? Down on your luck? Get yourself closer to the barrel. You got plenty of company. Got any newspaper? No, not to read, it's for the fire. Yeah, like that.
So what's your story, kid? Got the sack? Lost your job? What was it, Shinra? Yeah, they been taking all the jobs. That woman, what's her name? The one with the big titties? Lavender or something, she keeps cranking out these robots.
Same thing happened to me, few years back. Had a good thing going. Construction, you know, they always need hands. Then Shinra comes along and buys up all the firms, mechanizes the shit out of it, and us? Goodbye, plate permit. It was stay down here or get outta town. Shoulda taken that ride.
Yeah, I thought I'd get some other work and get back up on the plate too. Round here it's nothing but picking through the scraps. Metal sells well, and old electronics. Plus there's always a buyer for booty magazines. There's plenty to go around, you can join in, sure, but don't step on nobody's turf, got it?
Say, where you bedding down tonight? Got yourself a dry place? Naw, kid, stay outta the pipes. They look big and comfortable but they drain something awful from up top. Don't know what, but there never was a one went in those pipes and came out proper afterwards. What you'll be wanting is a doorway, or an eave. The pillars aren't too bad either, if you just want a place to lean up on.
No. No, kid. You stay the hell away from those houses. They ain't what they look like. Yeah, they look great. Nice and small and cozy. Great for those cold nights and hot days. But you'd be better off in the pipes.
Look, get in closer. There's Turks around here sometimes. You never know who's listening.
Those houses, you see. Some years back, probably before your time, Shinra decided to 'do something about the homeless'. So they made houses. Lots and lots of little houses for all us poor shits under the plate who didn't have no place of our own. Seemed like good idea at the time. Shelter for us. The big shots up on the plate feel like they done something good. All their fancy bitches in diamonds and fur coats have a prettier city to shop in.
And for a while, it was great. We were making whole villages out of those little shacks. We had neighbors and clothes lines and everything. And then the switch flipped.
It was carnage, kid. Those houses, they the devil's work. I seen a woman and her three kids crushed to a paste where they was playing hopscotch. Couple of my old buddies got burned real bad. Real bad.
Yeah. That's from then. Ugly, ain't it? There was lotsa fire. Everybody got hit. And who was still on their feet, we just ran and ran, and the houses ran after us.
They hide in the back alleys now, mostly. They kinda just… wait. For people like you, you know, who don't know better yet. My backyard neighbor from before, he tried to get the word out about how it went down. Last I heard he was due to talk it over with the Mayor. Never saw him again.
I ain't saying nothing. Just that Shinra's real good at what they do.
Bring that old box over here, kid. It'll keep the fire going.
