Mother Earth.

Chapter 5: Reflection.

Lydia Armageddon.

Outskirts of Basel,

The year 2167.

Dark swirls with grey spirals trailed her, consuming her as she floated in a vat of chemical water with injectors driven into her back. Barely open eyes glancing into psychedelic endlessness with only her eyes staring back at her, with a great storm rupturing desert grounds as hurricanes toppled skyscrapers---the tsunamis snuffing out the screams of the dead when lightning crashed and levelled the ground, splitting earth with magma reaching from a fissure down to its core-

A creature with a mane of fire in the center of it all.

Lydia opened her eyes in startled shock, only to see a tarp tent over her, sheltering her. A blanket covering her, a mattress beneath her, and the aroma of food wafting in.

"What is this?"

She pulled the blanket off, revealing folded clothes on the other side of the tent. She rubbed her eyes, blinking and looking again, and sure enough, it was actually there. She felt her ankle; it was bandaged now. To her surprise, it felt easier to move.

"There is no telling where I am or what happened to me while I was out."

She shuffled over to the other side of the tent, taking the clothes in her hands. Lydia unfolded the shirt, it was a smooth, comfortable rose pink fabric. It was a little big for her, and just a little tarnished.

Brown cargo pants came with the shirt, which was something she didn't mind.

"What does that dude have planned, there is no way he is just giving me clothes like this. Who the fuck would?" Lydia thought for a moment.

"I'll take it regardless."

Lydia threw off her ripped jeans and jacket, unlacing her boots and tossing them aside. Then, she tore off the body suit, finally feeling the air on her skin. She sat there for a moment, taking a breather. Looking down at her hands, dried blood still coating it. She ran her fingers through her dishevelled hair, noticing her face had the same blood splattered on it. Her hands reached to the top of her back, feeling the levelled scar tissue, letting her fingers drag across the rough texture. Six holes, now covered. All these reminders raced through her as she reflected on everything that had happened.

"... Whatever."

Feeling the pink fabric one last time, she slipped it over her head and arms, and onto her body. She did the same with the pants, then took her boots and tied them. Lydia stood up as tall as she could, only to crouch in this tiny tent, and slowly opened the flap to peek outside. From the tent, she could only see the daylight and the outskirts of rough jagged rocks like the side of a mountain. Her cybernetic hand ran the tarp between its fingers, slowly opening it fully.

"This is the same area from last night, maybe he is asleep. I can't see him yet." Lydia guessed.

A quiet crackle came from the folding of the tent as she emerged quietly, placing her boots down on the dirt gently. Lydia stood up fully, greeting the slowly rising heat of the new day.

"Good morning."

Lydia turned to his voice in a sudden panic, raising her hands into fists. She stared at him intensely while the man sat in a chair in front of a pot over a fire, with another chair beside him.

"Why'd you do that?" Lydia asked, he answered her question with his own.

"Do what?"

"You gave me a tent and clothes! Why?! What sick thing do you have planned you creepy fucker!" Lydia shouted, the man sighed, he leaned over and stirred the soup some.