Mother Earth.

Chapter 19: I'll Be Here For A While.

Lydia Armageddon.

Russian Bastion: Tsentr Stali,

The year 2173.

"Look, girl, you're lucky I can speak your language at all! You want a job, but you don't know any Russian? You serious?" The man behind a metal desk bent and dented. A coffee mug with pens was by his side, and a stack of papers piled high was at the corner of the desk, Lydia's was in front of him now. He seemed annoyed to even have to look at the application, let alone her.

"What does it matter? I would be working at an assembly line thing anyways, what Russian would I need?" Lydia asked, leaning back in her chair as she waved her hand, her nose scrunching up with her rising frustration.

Tsentr Stali: 'Center of Steel.' This was the owner's office, a place manufacturing steel, cutting steel, and exporting steel. The name was self-explanatory, so Lydia chose this place, not knowing how difficult the owner would be. His office was dreary, broken windows to her right where the sprawling center of assembly line machines clanked and whirred. The shoddy incandescent lightbulb above them was the only light in the room, besides the sunlight peaking through dirty windows, shining off the owner's cybernetic eyes.

"Communication, the manuals are all Russian, the trainer only speaks Russian, and all the equipment labels are all Russian-"

"Ya' can't show me anything? It's cutting steel, I pull a lever as it comes through, and it cuts the thing. Seems easy enough." Lydia interrupted, and the man leaned back in his chair, pushing his short brown hair back, light shining off the smooth silver discs on the temples of his head.

"You are pushy, way too fucking pushy. You've never done this before I can tell." The man commented, and Lydia stared with her mouth open, confused.

He lifted his arms, his black suit folding and rippling on his arms, just slightly revealing the tattoos on his arms peaking on his wrists. With a flash of the glimpse of green neon light from the lines of his eyes, a projection formed above him where he stared, made of the same lime green light. Graphs, numbers, people's names and employee lists, budgets, and a bunch of 'shit' Lydia didn't care about or understand.

"Look at what I have to deal with, and you tell me you want to just work you into something already full? You get that, girl?"

"Uh-huh."

"I don't need another line worker to cut some metal, we are already full up-"

"Just promote one and shove me down there. Boom, easy, man." Lydia interrupted again, pointing at him with her cybernetic hand, letting her head rest on her right.

The projection closed, and his head went back down to look at her.

"Yeah, I don't understand you." He said, picking up her application in one hand, and reading it. His fingers tapped against the desk, and a slight breeze came through the office.

"You have no previous experience, you come in here and argue with who would be your boss, and tell me how to run my business. What kind of idiot would I be if I hired you, Ms. Lydia-"

He stopped, tilting his head.

"Lydia."

Looking down to his right, then back up at her, he squinted his eyes.

"What's your last name?"

"Don't have one."

He placed down the application, breathing in, and out quietly and quickly.