A day in the life.

Time continues to flow...

After Aiden finished his conversation with Olek, he hurriedly made his way back home. He wanted to explore Sylvanwood a bit more, but was tired out of his mind. Night was already slowly descending, and a light snowfall began. Aiden finally made it home, and he quickly got ready for bed before he laid down on a mattress placed on the floor. He ordered a new bed frame, but it hadn't still arrived. The cold wind was rustling through the tree branches, a lingering scent of the energy drink Olek had given him earlier filled the room. He turned on the heating, but this unit had no one living in it for quite a while, and the cold wasn't going to go away easily. But still, Aiden fell asleep promptly, with such a fast-paced day tiring him out.

He woke up early next morning, ready for his first work day in Sylvanwood. Opening the window of his bedroom and lowering the curtains, Aiden was relieved that there was no snowfall. The air didn't seem that cold either, so, working conditions were good. He got ready before heading out and catching a bus to his job, since he wanted to arrive before the rest, feeling a sense of responsibility in his newfound shift manager position. Despite his expectations, the powerless life didn't seem so bad. "Maybe Midori is right, a civilian lifestyle is great. Dad and his group of friends can take care of the 'keeping us safe part', it's their job after all." Thought Aiden to himself. Walking in through the main entrance to Sylvanwood Commerce, Aiden was immediately hit with a strong smell of dirt and leaves. He looked off to his right hand side, only to see Olek waving at him from a room, with a door marked 'Storage'.

"Silvius! Come here, this is really important for you!" shouted Olek across the empty room. Aiden walked in, and was greeted by a shelf filled with hundreds of little saplings. "Birch and pine, that's what we're cutting down today. Got a big job over by Lake Zenith, though we're not gonna be re-filling completely. They're building some sort of fishing shack, so we've gotta leave some clear for them. Got it, Silvius?" said Olek, without even looking at Aiden. Instead, he left the storage room and headed over to the main desk. As he approached the desk, the phone began ringing. "Ah, right on time, these city boys never miss a beat do they?" said Olek with a glance at Aiden, smiling. "Hello, hello? Yeah, yeah, it's me. Well of course it's me, Midori doesn't start working until 8. Yes, yes, I know. Thirty trees, fifteen pine, fifteen birch, just like we agreed? Yeah, sure. Alright, goodbye then." As Olek hung up, he sighed deeply. "Damn, I know they work for the government and all that, but they are so demanding. They're trying to force us to adopt some new chainsaw design they've come up with, and that'd mean I'd lose an entire inventory of electric chainsaws, and I ain't about losing that much money." As Olek kept rambling on about saving money, and how the government isn't allowing him to run his job the way he sees fit, Aiden's attention shifted to the main entrance, where a group of people was walking in.

"One, two, three, four… five people." Counted Aiden in his head. By their slimmer physiques in comparison to Olek's, he figured these people were the replanting team he is overseeing.

"Damn, the replant crew got here before my guys? They really need to step up their game, especially when we're doing the heavy work!" Olek was laughing like crazy by the main desk. Aiden couldn't help but notice this man laughed way too much, and way too hard. Alas, his focus wasn't on Olek, but on meeting his new colleagues.

Aiden took a few steps forward, now already dressed in working gear. He stood in front of the five crew members, trying to steady his nerves. The chill of the winter morning was biting, even inside the building. He took a deep breath, adjusting his gloves before talking.

"Morning, everyone…" Aiden began, his voice a bit shaky but growing steadier as he continued. "…I'm Aiden, your shift manager from now on. This is my first time in this role, so I'm just as new as some of you might be. We should start by getting to know each other." He looked around at the group, meeting each person's eyes briefly. "I feel as if it's the easiest if you each introduce yourself, yeah?"

A tall woman with a confident stance spoke up first. "I'm Sarah. I've been working in replanting for a couple of years now. I'm a big nature lover, so this job was a no brainer for me."

Next, a short man with a serious expression nodded. "Name's Mark. Been with the company for a while, mostly on the cutting side though. This is my first year replanting, so I'm here to learn and help where I can."

A young blonde man with a friendly smile chimed in. "Hey, I'm Jake. Pretty new to all of this, but I'm eager to get started. Looking forward to working with all of you, to the best of my ability…"

A woman with short hair and a determined look stepped forward. "I'm Mia. I have a background in forestry, so I know a fair bit about trees and the proper way to do everything. If Olek's words about you were true, then you're someone who can appreciate a job well done." She said as she smiled a bit.

Finally, a man with a calm demeanor introduced himself. "I'm Tom. I've done a bit of everything in this line of work, but can't seem to find what I'm best at. So, I'm hoping this is the one."

Aiden nodded, feeling a bit more at ease after hearing from his team. "Thanks for the introductions, everyone. I'm really looking forward to working with you all, even though I'm not really experienced either, but, let's do our best."

As the team evenly divided themselves between two pickup trucks carrying the equipment, and one truck to carry the lumber, they headed out to Lake Zenith. The morning fog was still present, although it was slowly clearing up, as bright sunshine seeped through cracks in the clouds. The coldness of the morning air had a pleasant sharpness to it, and it was weirdly comfortable to be in, despite still being rough. For Aiden, at least, since Olek clearly didn't enjoy the cold. He had an oversized ushanka on, as the ear flaps were moving up and down as he walked. To Aiden it seemed almost comedic, that such a muscular and rough man couldn't handle the morning breeze. After arriving, Aiden and his team made their way to a picnic table not too far from the workplace, where they brewed some coffee and placed some cookies they brought for the cutting team, but in all honesty, they intended to eat them all alone. After about 2 hours, the first team were done, and so the replanting began. Aiden had everyone split into pairs, with Jake, Tom and him digging, and the rest were planting in the dug holes. As they worked, he exchanged some words with Sarah.

"Nature lover, huh?" said Aiden, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with his hand. "I can't say I don't understand it, but I'm surprised you picked a physical job like this one. You seem like you could've been an ecologist, or maybe a wildlife biologist, something a bit less intensive."

Sarah smirked a little, clearly finding the question amusing. "Yeah, it would've definitely been easier, but I wouldn't be in nature as much. Biologists are always cooped up in their labs doing their research and all that, I could never work in those conditions." As she went back to the truck and picked a new sapling up. "I've always been a country girl, nature is my home, and always has been."

"You know, I never looked at it from that angle. I guess you're right, it's just like me realizing how much cleaner the air is in Sylvanwood than in Emberfell, once you get used to this clarity you can never go back." Said Aiden, repeatedly striking the ground with his shovel. He already was quite tired, he wasn't in the greatest shape, and it'll definitely take some time to build up durability. "Let's take a breather, yeah? Everyone, five minute break!" Aiden's voice was already much more commanding than this morning. I guess leadership truly runs in the Silvius' blood, huh?

As the workday was slowly ending, Aiden couldn't help but be in awe just how barren the area around him is now. The saplings were in place, yes, but the grand pine trees and the lowly birch was replaced by nothing but empty space. To him, it seemed like a lumber firm was so out of place in Astarea, especially considering how much they focused on sustainability nowadays. After the War, they began preservation efforts to keep safe the little bit of what they had left. The same cities they destroyed not even months ago, were now sacred and needed to be preserved to the best of their ability. The irony was palpable, how a human mind could change so easily. How a man's bloodlust for power could be suffocated just the lack of said power. Sorry, we're following Aiden, I got ahead of myself there...

Aiden his team packed up and hit the road, the forest now in the rear view. After arriving, he stuck around the Commerce to help Olek fill out some paperwork. Yet again, he was mumbling on about the government and their strict rules. He finished as quickly as he could, before rushing out. He was focused only on getting something to eat, his stomach was growling like a rabid cat. As he swung open the double doors of the building, a sudden shouting stopped him in his tracks, the door almost hitting him in the face. It was Midori, waving her hand at Aiden telling him to stop. She grabbed a bag off of the main desk and headed towards him.

"My shift is over," she said with a light smile. "Want to go grab something to eat? I'm starving. My breakfast was a granola bar and a cup of coffee, that's not healthy in the slightest". Aiden couldn't help but laugh at her words.

"It's funny how you talk so much about sustainability, yet you can't sustain yourself. A granola bar, seriously? No wonder you're so skinny." He said as he stepped out the door and gestured with his hand for Midori to follow him. "Come on, you're the local here. Show me a good place to eat, no bakeries or food trucks. My treat, so we're going to a nice restaurant."

And so, Aiden went out for dinner with Midori. Afterwards, he drove her home with the company pickup truck Olek had let him borrow, and returned to his apartment. As the workdays were slowly passing by one by one, Aiden grew fond of his team, and settled in quite nicely in the shift manager position. Midori and Aiden grew closer by the day, and Olek was as gruff as ever. And so, a month passed…

Once again, Aiden was at Sylvanwood Commerce, filling in paperwork. Olek was typing away on his computer, placing an order for a new batch of saplings. Aiden made a deal with Midori that they're going to spend the day by Lake Zenith on Friday, so he had to make sure he had a day off. Aiden finished up the last of the paperwork, trying his best to make his sloppy handwriting somewhat legible. He tucked the forms into a folder, gently placing them in a shelf sitting in the corner. 

"You botch that up any worse and we'll have the auditors ringing at our necks," Olek grumbled without looking up from his own stack of files. "Government boys do what they do best, and that 'best' would be screwing us over every chance they get."

"Very funny," Aiden smirked. "At least mine don't have coffee stains all over like a certain someone." He nodded at the dark ring staining the corner of Olek's desk where his mug sat. "That much coffee isn't healthy, you know. I wouldn't want to inherit the place of boss just yet, yeah?"

Olek took a sip of his coffee, before letting out a clearly worn out sigh. "You get too mouthy, I'll put you back on sapling patrol, wiseacre."

"Save it, old man," Aiden shot back easily. They had been trading these kinds of barbs constantly for the last month, Aiden realizing Olek hates being formal. It wasn't hard to notice, especially looking at how much he despised going down to the town hall. "Actually...I had a favor to ask," Aiden ventured. "Any chance I could work a double shift tomorrow to cover for whoever's off? I'll take Friday instead as my day off."

Olek raised an eyebrow. "Friday, huh? That's Midori's day off too. That girl that's got your head spun around lately, ain't that right, Silvius?" he said as a grin spread across his face. "City boy and country girl, a tale as old as time."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Aiden replied innocently. "But hey, you know me - I'm an upstanding, model employee focused on nothing more than giving my best effort." Said Aiden, placing his hand on his neck and looking down at his feet. He was surprised at just how easily Olek figured him out, it was almost embarrassing to him.

"Sure you are," Olek said as he got up from his desk, walking over to the binder-filled shelf behind Aiden's back. "All right, all right. I suppose I can spare one of the replant crews if you're willing to take their hours on."

"You're the best, Olek," Aiden said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I owe you one." And so Aiden walked out of his office, intending on grabbing something to eat with Midori before heading home. But, when he got to the main lobby, she wasn't at her desk. Looking at his watch, Aiden realized her shift ended half an hour ago. He bolted out of the door as he mumbled a few curse words under his breath, quickly catching the first taxi he saw and headed straight for Midori's house. When he got there, all he saw on the door was a sticky note that said 'Sorry, I'm out of town today. I have urgent business in Sorveil, I'll be back tomorrow'. Aiden was weirded out, as Midori never mentioned going to Sorveil. Maybe it really was urgent, but she didn't even send him a text. Chalking it off as purely coincidental, he figured he'll see her tomorrow either way, and so he headed home. The double shift wasn't going to be light work…