Oh, didn't really expect the merchant to be fake. Thought she was just setting them up and instead, it seems like one of the Vandals can make some kind of Mud Clones, as puppets. Also:
1. Is the psycho dude with those 2 Vandals? Is he from another group entirely? I'd guess that there are multiple organizations of Janitors and multiple of Vandals as well, so we might be some cool worldbuilding soon.
2. I like how it made sense to send Rudo with Nijik, Griss and Follo. It's not like "wow, sending this kid is dumb, but we gotta accept it for the plot to happen".
3. I also like how casual Janitors are. Like - it really IS their job, they really just pick up the phone and send their folks to help other settlements. Would've liked to see more info about various towns and areas actually. I tend to enjoy this stuff and I like being able to put the events I follow on the map.