Midian City Tober's Diary #9

Tober's diary is composed in a small, hardbound book that she keeps with her.

I've been here in Midian for a week or so now, I think. It's hard to keep track because of the perpetual darkness here. Things aren't going so well for me...I'm living on the streets now, maybe for good. I spent my remaining few credits last night on booze. Sometimes I can find drugs and bags of catnip in the alleys or on the rooftops that people have dropped. I still won't touch dope though.

I haven't had too much trouble getting food, but I do usually have to work for it. If I can't steal something from the sushi stand, I will go hunting. I've found a few places around the shore where it's relatively clean and I catch fish or crabs with a stick I sharpened on a rock or with a broken bottle. Then I take my meal-on-a-stick and roast it over a barrel fire. I try to do this in a secluded spot, because it's embarrassing. But it does taste pretty good, I have to say.

Getting extra clothes to wear hasn't really been an issue either because I've simply been stealing clothes off the clotheslines here. I even got a nice pair of boots that someone left on a fire escape to dry out.

I don't know what I'm going to do for money, though. I'm going to need it for some things, I know that for sure. I really don't want to be a pickpocket, but I might have to be one if I'm stuck here. Whatever gets me by, right? My friend Rein wants to "take care" of me, but I think he wants me as a pet. I swear, I think every human male that's really friendly to me or flirts with me just wants me for a pet. Anyway, I'm not quite that desperate yet, and I have my pride. My dad always told me to hold onto my pride, and not be a servant, slave, or pet to anyone.

I've found out some interesting things about Midian: such as, there seems to be well-organized "gangs" here (for lack of a better word). One of the largest groups of nekos is called the Catwalkers. I've already encountered several of them. But not every neko is a Catwalker...some refer to themselves as simply strays, and I guess that's what I am right now. There's also a dangerous gang of humans known as the Hounds. They're kind of like a 20th-century motorcycle gang...but worse. I try to avoid them. There also seems to be a mafia here; maybe two actually. It's difficult to tell.

There's a derelict subway system here and of course a series of tunnels. I don't go in them, but I have heard voices and noises down there. I use the restroom in the subway station to clean myself up, and I try to be down there as little as possible. It's quite scary.

So, this is what it's come to for me right now: hunt, eat, sleep, get drunk, get high, try to stay alive. That's it. I'll write more again soon...it really helps for me to get it out of me and on paper...it's therapeutic.