Chapter Text
Scene 1: A Winter Bug
I open up the apartment and see Phil waiting right across from me. He hasn’t been watered since last month and his soil needs to be changed. I shirk off my coat feeling goose bumps rise upon my skin. The heat hadn’t been on all day in order to save costs and the warmth of my coat left my body. Heading deeper into the apartment Carol had a little bit of frost on her needles. It can’t be that cold in the apartment. Turning to my left I could see the window open a sliver. Must have left the window open last night after smoking. I reach toward the handle winding it till shut. Going about my usual routine I do what needs to be done to Phil and put Carol underneath the heat lamp. After a reheat a pre-packaged meal from the meal service the company provides for me as I take a quick shower while it cooks. Soon after I change into my pajama pants and sports bra as I watch a documentary about the Stock crash a while back. This one was promised to have a new interview with one of the Nobles from the Jont District. I couldn’t help but get excited as I grabbed my manticore macaroni an-. There was a bug on my screen. In winter.
My bedroom is so comfortable. The macaroni is a bit cold now but at least I got the documentary on my tablet. The bright light shined into my eyes as I became fully absorbed in the documentary, finishing my dinner slowly. Soon I was staring at a blank screen and a bug. On my screen.
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“Yes sir, I think I have an infestation.”
“And you're sure it wasn’t the one house spider?”
Was this man stupid? Looking at him, he wore his orange jumper a size too big. It was apparent he had little care for working because it was spotless yet still wrinkled.
“I am quite sure. If you don’t mind, would you be able to give me the bug repellent you have?”
“Ma’am we can’t just give that to-”
“Here’s a hundred Bolas.”
“I understand ma’am.”
He led me out to his truck, and I took the large pack onto my personage and proceeded to thoroughly clean the whole apartment.
Scene 2:
The Mentally Challenged Daughter
Walking down towards the designated cafeteria of Gold, I see someone I would much rather avoid. She was wearing her ‘business suit’ as she called it multiple times when I was working on important documents and trying to avoid her. Her white dress shirt with a matching red tie and dress could hardly be seen as company apparel. That’s not even the color of the accepted suits and-
I’m thinking too much about such a useless individual. I enter the line trying my hardest to avoid any and all contact with her lest she tries to derail my routine. Walking up, I position myself behind Keil, a larger elf man. However Keil very easily sees what’s happening and gladly gives up his spot in line so I can move up right behind…
Shit.
She turns around. Her dull eyes, devoid of thought, glinting with delight as she sees me.
“Llama!”
She approaches, tripping on her too high heels as her chipper voice echoes a bit too loudly right into my face.
“Hello!”
“Hello Miss Gold, I think at this moment in time you are standing a bit too close to me. Is that salmon I smell?”
I move back to get away from the smell which is very clearly coming from something she previously ate. She, however, stupidly looks around as if she is searching for the scent in the air; she looks confused as if I wasn’t talking to her. Oh right. I have to talk in her ‘language’.
“Miss Gold is too close. Miss Gold’s breath smells of salmon.”
I see her mouth open in understanding.
“Ooooh. Okay!”
She continues standing in front of me, in fact moving back to being just a bit too close. She reaches into the breast pocket in her suit that I could tell was prepared for her. I see her reach into her pocket to grab her, her little guide document that the gold family had prepared for her but, in usual fashion, she squinted as if she couldn’t read it clearly. I let out a sigh.
“Is Llama annoyed?”
She looks up at me, clearly excited to hear me reply. As usual, she didn’t understand the carefully prepared guide and was just searching for some semblance of praise. I give her an even stare not breaking my expression. I push up my glasses and take a deep breath.
“What is Miss Gold doing today? Has Miss Gold finished the assignment Llama gave Miss Gold before coming down here?”
I had previously told her to move one box of documents down to the IT team to put into the system earlier that day. If I don’t give her a semblance of importance it would lead to another meeting about how ‘Miss Gold is a valued member and you should trust her with more work’.
She blinks at me a bit too slowly.
“What?......... Ohhh!”
I see her flip frantically through her little guide as she lands on a specific page.
“Aahah!”
She squints at it as if she understands what it says for two seconds before giving up on reading it and just holding it up to me. In big bold words at the top, it reads, IMPORTANT WORK. Below there are many boxes for sticky notes from past ‘important jobs’ I had given her with little checkmarks I gave once she finished. I looked down at the one I had just left there that morning. She was clearly expecting me to give her a little check.
Sigh.
“Did Miss Gold actually complete this task?”
“Eh?”
She gives me a long confused look as I see her look back at her guide. She frowns as she sees the square I did not fill in. Then she flips through it landing on a specific page. She finds it and holds up a page titled EXEMPT FROM WORK. Below I see spaces for filling out days where Miss Gold was given the day off but the last filled out note was… expired. I look up at Miss Gold and give a short smile. Forced. I take the little book from her and go back to the job I had just given her and check the box. I give her back the book.
“Miss Gold did it! Another job well done!”
I take the temporary lull in her brain as she’s overwhelmed by success to go back up to the office and move the boxes myself. As I walk away, I hear her little celebratory chant and then something falling to the floor.
“Yippee!”
Scene 3:
The New Employee
“Alright Momo, Mokot isn’t too hard to use. Let’s start with opening the program. Click on the Black M With the gold accents in the corner of the screen.”
I watch as the taller woman moves her hand gracefully onto the mouse and fluidly moves her cursor to the icon.
“How long have you been working at the company?”
So, she’s a questioning individual.
“Eight years, two months, and 22 days. Now that you’re in the program, you're going to want to select and create a new project.”
I once again watch as she moves towards the goal as I say the words. It seems she had prior experiences with similar programs. It seems I won't have to give much instruction with this one.
“Has the company been treating you well? Eight years is quite a while, and to know the exact date is, I suppose, remarkable.”
“The company pays me and I make sure to do a good job to keep my position. Knowing the term of my employment is just another necessary part of the job in case I need to be transferred. However, they haven’t needed to in a long while. Does Mokot look familiar to you? Similar to previous programs you might have worked with?”
“It’s close enough. Then again, these programs start to look the same when you do them long enough.”
A laugh rolls out of her chest slightly refined. Motherly if I had to pin it down.
“I hear that constant movement is stressful. I hope you took care during those times. You sound a bit… Hmm… How do I put this… Vigilant. Do you worry about being transferred? I hope not. You look… Well enough.”
With the tone of voice, she is using it sounds very much like she is… judging my health. She also appears to be nosey too.
“I must tell you Momo, that this is not a very appropriate topic to speak about at work, but no. I do not worry about my transfer because the houses usually supply everything I need at the next apartment. All I need to do is grab my cactuses, ash tray, and tablet.”
“Of course, of course.”
Her words come out in a placating way but not budging on her… unprofessional nature. She soon looks back at me.
“What next, Lonma?”
I spend the next hour guiding her through the basic forms that come through the office and how to fill them out. She follows along well enough and would be a perfect new hire if it weren’t for her constant personal questions after each instruction I give her. After multiple guiding motions back to the main topic, we soon come to a document detailing specific details for the royal house. These are always a bit tricky to fill out since the Royal Family of Setenia has so many different rules that go above the law.
“Are you familiar with filling out documents for the royal family? They are much less in depth but must be handled with tact, making sure to take into account all of the exemptions for payments.”
“So, it’s like taxes? Hmm. I’ll have to brush up on tax law, then. I do have a question for you, Lonma. Have you been eating and sleeping on time? You should know that taking care of yourself is best for many aspects of life.”
She looks straight at me with soft yet piercing eyes. This question is a lot more personal than if I named Chad Chad because of his greener complexion.
“Momo, surely you can understand how I can’t humor that question.”
I stay silent for a beat for emphasis before I continue talking responding to the first half of what she said.
“Don’t worry too much about brushing up on tax law either. You should but you’ll mainly be doing these documents for small purchases from the crown princes or princesses. Their orders mainly consist of exotic things from out of the country anyway.”
I think of a specific instance when I learned about Princess Ko’s obsession with geo ducks… that was a fact I didn’t need or want to know but cataloged nonetheless.
“I see, I see. I suppose I’ll have to make sure you are eating well. Not much I can do for sleep, but I’m sure you’d prefer some homemade food to the cafeteria’s food. I can’t in good faith let such a well-meaning young...-”
I notice how she pauses for a brief moment and looks up at me focusing closely on my face as if searching for something.
“-Woman go without good food. We aren’t as spry as we used to be, so we must eat well and stretch equally as well.”
I look Momo dead in the eyes as she says these things. Is she… delusional? She seems to think as if she is going to start keeping track of most of my routine. That is not needed.
“I find this constant need to monitor and obsess over others to be unnecessary. I make sure to engage in a morning commute to vesta mono each morning and, upon exiting my bed, I do a simple yoga routine if it fits within my schedule. Food is likewise an unnecessary thing to worry about. The company supplies me with a pre-packaged food delivery service for the morning and afternoon with all nutrients required. The cafeteria also functions the same way.”
“Mmhmm.”
She nods along as I speak but she seems to be ignoring me as she has a more concerned look on her face. The look very much so matching the motherly cadence of her previous laugh.
She stands up showcasing the height difference between us. When she does her head is… farther up than before. She reaches out her hand right over my head not touching as if she were measuring me. I soon see that’s exactly what she's doing as she seems to be observing my whole person. After getting a good look at me her gaze seems to rest right over my eyes which she seems to be just glancing at, her mind deep in thought.
“Do you understand how Mokot works? If so, I'd like to show you down to the cafeteria and get you your lunch card.”
Momo nods.
“I understand it. Let’s go check out the food you’ve been eating for so long.”