When that security officer dropped the wanted list on my counter on day one, I saw Juan’s face and thought Great, another name to memorize so I don’t accidentally call the cops on a regular customer. Then he actually showed up, and the math got interesting.
Rest of the Text:
Who Juan Actually Is
Juan is a Lower Level laborer who deals in cheap, stolen processed food. He walks in like any other supplier, offers you a lot of Peat (the synthetic meat stuff), Pilk (that carbonated milk-drink that somehow isn’t terrible), and Puice (juice), and acts like this is completely normal business.
Anyway he doesn’t have some elaborate revenge arc or a secret recipe for you. He’s just a guy moving extra food that fell off a truck. Or a freighter. Point is, the goods are hot, the prices are good and he keeps coming back if you let him.
The Real Question: Report or Keep?
The bounty is small. Reporting him gives you those 125 credits and a little Security reputation bump, then he never shows up again. You also get a short plea the first time you hit the alarm, which is either guilt-tripping or just him realizing his side hustle is over.
If you let him walk, he turns into a recurring supplier. After the first random visit (possible from around day 14, or earlier if you skipped the intro), he starts showing up on an eight-day cycle. Each visit is a discounted lot, about 20% off, with at least one of each food type guaranteed and more copies becoming likely as the days pass. By the later stages of a run he’s basically handing you a steady stack of food you can flip to regular customers.
My Take After a Few Runs
I’ve kept him on every run where food was part of the plan. The one-time 125 credits never felt better than having a reliable source of cheap stock that helps me empty out other buyers’ pockets. Some of the Pilk and Puice even arrive with little to no heat, so you can sell those without waiting. The Peat usually needs a night or two in the smuggler’s bay, but that’s just the cost of doing business when the business is probably stolen.
If your plan is make money, stay flexible, and lean into the shady part of the job, keep him. If your plan is max Security reputation and check every name off the list, report him and move on. Just don’t pretend the 125 credits are life-changing either way. They’re not. The steady food is.
