"Aww, come on! Five hundred credits for one o' these? That's, like, super expensive! At least I think it is..."

The wonder man who had a growing reputation in the latter districts of Ancora, known by the name of Markus Jones, was currently trying to buy nothing more than a loaf of bread at a street vendor on the 17th District. Unfortunately for him, it was turning out to be quite troublesome...

The old lady whom was now dealing with the outsider simply smiles. "It's really not all that expensive, dear. I know prices have skyrocketed since I was young, but nowadays you can be paid many times that amount for a job as simple as garbage disposal. Though of course, nowadays people have their fancy techno gizmos to help them out with all the hard labor. In fact, back in my day-"

... The woman went on a very long speech about how in the twenty-first century, people [i]actually[/i] had to do things with their [b]own body parts[/b]! Markus was oddly attentive, listening for a solid fifteen minutes before he finally interrupted, and only did so because the woman had gone off-topic. Though apparently she was messing with him...

"I was joking, dear." She says as she hands over the loaf of bread from her small street stall. Markus is pleasantly surprised. "Please, take it. I've heard stories about you from my husband. He says you did something to make the old television able to run with the new-age power supply." But, although the old woman's offer was kind, Markus had to decline. 

"I'm sorry, Miss, but if I wanna make it in this world I gotta work for myself!" Exclaims the young man with a grin, his teeth tinted yellow, yet still holding strong. The old lady frowns, having anticipated that answer, however quickly replaces it with a kind smile once she took back the bread.

"You're too kind, dear."

"I'm just trying my best to be a good person!" 

"And you're doing fine just the way you are." The old lady states, her eyes suddenly turning serious, though with that same level of kindness and wisdom she had portrayed during their conversation. "Though I warn you, it might become difficult to keep true to yourself in the future. New Ancora can be hard on people, especially those in the B districts, so I urge you to be careful. I was lucky to end up in a relatively safe place with enough money to get me by without going to extreme measures. For a man like yourself, who's drawing a lot of attention, you might just want to keep your wits about you. Though I'm fairly certain I don't have to worry about that."

"Heh! Not at all, ma'am! I understand completely!" Markus salutes the old lady as they did (and presumably still do) in the 'olden days', and to his surprise, the woman salutes back, causing the two to laugh. "Well, I'm off! If I return to District 17 I'll be sure to buy all the bread you have!" Markus says, turning around and beginning to walk off. Unbeknownst to him, the lady had actually attached the loaf of bread to his bag  with a clip, smiling to herself as he walks away in the direction of District 16's gate.

"Take care, Markus Jones. You may need it..."