Ten Hours A Day?

“I’ll see you back at the cube later?” Robert asked.

Voidborn nodded and waved him and Bob goodbye, watching them board the bus that headed in the direction of Black Monocle’s headquarters. He turned and joined Jimin, staring at the union’s building.

“So… what do you think?” Jimin asked.

Elian looked at the building that was just one level tall, and there was nothing above the rooftop with the exception of the union’s signboard that read MACHINIST UNION, which was well, self explanatory.

“It's very silver,” he said.

The building just looked like a normal road side stall that was entirely silver, and it had nothing fancy unlike the glamourous buildings of the core zone’s affluent houses which they had seen on their way here. There weren't even any screws or bolts. Everything looked as if it were just a flawless silver cuboid with a simple swing door.

“Have you been here before?” Elian asked.

Jimin hummed and pondered, trying to think of an appropriate answer.

“Yes and no? My dad did say that he brought me here with mom in the past, but I have no memory of that. Apparently it was when I was still breastfeeding.”

Elian nodded in acknowledgement of her answer.

“Let's head in,” he said, holding on to her hand as he led her in.

The insides was not much different. Unlike Spellbound’s headquarters which had the magnificent and impressive library all around its reception area, the union’s inner atmosphere was mundane. Apart from the silver counter which housed a sole receptionist, everything else — walls, ceiling, floor — was plain silver. No plants, no decoration, nothing.

The only thing that was considered fancy was symbol of the union protruding out of the wall behind the receptionist. An asterisk made out of a wrench, a screwdriver, a hammer, and a pick tool, the tool-like star lied within the inner hollow circle of a gear, with the letters that spelt the union’s name engraved around the gear’s circumference.

“What's the union’s motto?” Elian whispered into Jimin’s ears, afraid to break the sacred silence that was suffocating the building's reception.

“You won't believe it. It's the lamest motto I’ve ever seen. It's literally We can fix it.”

“It's very clear and straightforward,” Elian remarked without a change in expression.

“And it is also boring as hell,” Jimin said. “Compared to Spellbound's which talked about eternal knowledge and what not, ours basically screams I am a repairman.”

Elian smiled and turned to Jimin, adjusting her clothes, making them look as tidy as he could.

“I mean, Derrick seems to be a very good Mechanist and excels at repairing, so I’d say their motto is fairly representative.”

Jimin chuckled and poked Elian’s nose.

“You mean our motto, right? Aren't we part of the same faction now?”

“Right,” he said. “I forgot. It’ll take some time for me to get used to it.”

“No matter,” Jimin said. “I’ll always be here to remind you. You can forget all you want, just don't forget about me.”

“I would never.”

Jimin giggled and blushed, giving Elian the same scrunched nose that seemed to always make his heart skip a beat.

“C’mon, let's look for Derrick,” he said, walking towards the receptionist.

“I wonder if there's any food here,” Jimin muttered, shuffling after Elian like a cat. “I’m hungry.”

The receptionist gave a small half-bow as the two of them walked towards him, before greeting them with a jovial tone.

“Good afternoon, Lady Yoo and Mr Voidborn. We have been expecting you as per Zylos’s Branch Elite Squad Leader Derrick Yoo’s instructions.”

The both of them reciprocated his greeting with a small bow of their own.

“My colleague will guide you to him,” he said, stepping aside as he stretched his arm towards the wall behind him.

The gear of the union’s symbol began to shake and turn clockwise, and the asterisk made from the different tools rotated in the opposite direction.

As if they were a spinning vault handle, the entire wall began to tremble and vibrate, before sinking into the ground.

“Welcome to the Machinist Union’s headquarters,” the male receptionist said as the building’s lobby was revealed.

The newly exposed area was devoid of any human with the exception of a lady standing in the centre, which Jimin squealed in happiness at the sight of.

“Christine!”

She let go of Elian’s hand and ran forward, throwing herself into the open arms of the woman.

“I missed you so much…”

The woman raised one of her hands and patted Jimin’s head, running it down her hair as she hugged her tight.

“I missed you too,” Christine said.

Elian took a good look at her when Jimin finally let go. She was a young woman that looked to be slightly older than Jimin, and she was wearing clothing that was in a similar fashion to the receptionist earlier. Blonde long hair that reached as far as her bottom, a smart silverish grey blazer with the union's symbol was sewn on the area around her right chest, paired with a black pair of trousers and military-esque boots.

She looked smart and proper, and she carried a charismatic aura that needed no evaluation of her inherent emotions. Nevertheless, Elian focused his eyes and peered into her. Her emotions was just as what he expected, but his eyebrows raised with intrigue.

“Elian, meet Christine,” Jimin said, introducing the lady to him. “She's one of my closest friends.”

Jimin grinned at Christine and hooked her arm around Elian’s.

“This is my hugging partner.”

Christine gave a small bow and reached out her hand, to which Voidborn grabbed and shook.

“Nice to meet you, Jimin’s boyfriend~ I’ve heard a lot about you from Derrick. I hope you’ve been treating her well, and I hope she's not too irritating for you.”

“Christine!”

Voidborn let go of her hand and shook his head.

“She's not irritating at all.”