The Bread Jester meets with Bernie and Ert. An unusual pair of strangers who are unlikely friends. They claim that in another universe they are famous puppets on a TV show. But in this universe they are merely puppets. Bread Jester indulges their delusions, as he is used to the ethereal ramblings of back crack addicts and halfway home sentient folding tables. The merchandise is dispensed. Bernie and Ert look upon the stuff with the same excitement and longing of a golden retriever waiting for his food to hit the bowl. Bread Jester felt a tinge of empathy and pity, but he quickly buried it underneath the aged mound of dirty socks that was his guilt and shame, a quick and instant reflex long ago honed and cooked to perfection. He sees their hungry eyes begin to narrow and their eyes water. Bread Jester snaps them out of it, "hey guys, hand me the cash and lets get this over with". Bernie and Ert look at each other in shock as if awakened from some deep slumber and then leave into the poorly lit rear of their run down apartment. Bread Jester watches them disappear into the dark as they turn down some hallway and open a door. He waits, alone with his thoughts, he ponders the nature of his work. "The best part of this job is the customers and their digs" he thought to himself. In his time, this line of work had showed him the most absurd kind of people, those who spoke as if they came from another world, alien like personalities with strange rituals and neurotic cultural quirks. He knew this was just an attempt to hide, deep down he knew. They were destitute individuals who were clinging on to life, their brains haywire and rewired by the many thousands of wizard chemicals, not to mention impurities and additives, the substances they craved delivered into their systems. He felt that tinge of pity and empathy again. Then he remembered why he was here. Bernie and Ert emerged from the darkness, holding a stained paper envelop. They handed the thing to Bread Jester, who inspected the contents to make sure payment was in full. The money was all there. "We're good. You guys take it easy with that stuff" he said with a touch of concern in his voice, but Bernie and Ert had raced back to some darkened room laughing hysterically hand in hand. Bread Jester turned and headed for the door, he opened it and the evening light hit just right. Just a few hundred more to go.