『 RESISTANCE SAFE HOUSE NETWORK 』Active Locations: 12Compromised: 0 (LAST 30 DAYS)Corporate Surveillance Penetration: <5%Current Occupancy: 23 INDIVIDUALS
The safe house looked like every other suburban home in the neighborhood—two stories, modest landscaping, the kind of place where middle managers lived when they couldn't quite afford the executive subdivisions but didn't want to admit they were closer to their entry-level employees than their bosses.
Which, Dave realized as Marcus parked in the driveway, was probably the point.
"Sarah Mitchell's place," Marcus explained as they gathered their equipment. "Former corporate wellness coordinator for Anxiety Analytics. Figured out what the wellness programs were really designed to do and made some... modifications to her home."
The front door opened before they could knock, revealing a woman in her early forties with the kind of intelligent eyes that suggested she'd seen through more corporate bullshit than most people could imagine. Her smile was warm but cautious, the expression of someone who'd learned to be grateful for allies while staying alert for threats.
"Marcus, Jeremy." She stepped aside to let them enter. "And you must be our Employee Zero."
Dave was getting tired of that title. "Dave Chen. And I'm not sure what I am yet."
"None of us are," Sarah said, closing the door behind them. "But you're safe here. My house is what you might call 'aggressively analog.'"
Dave immediately understood what she meant. The interior looked like it had been decorated in the 1990s and never updated—no smart home devices, no networked appliances, no corporate-standard furniture. Even the lighting was incandescent bulbs instead of the LED arrays that had become standard in every office building.
"Faraday cage wiring in the walls," Sarah explained, noticing his inspection. "Signal jammers in the basement, copper mesh under the paint. Any electromagnetic signal from corporate surveillance equipment gets absorbed or deflected." She gestured around the living room. "As far as the outside world knows, this house is electromagnetically empty."
"How did you know to build all this?"
Sarah's expression darkened. "Because I spent three years designing corporate wellness programs for Anxiety Analytics. I know exactly how the biometric monitoring works, how the stress amplification algorithms function, and what data they collect on employees."
She led them into a living room where several other people sat in mismatched chairs, each one looking like they'd recently escaped from corporate employment. Dave counted six people total, ranging from early twenties to late fifties, all sharing the slightly shell-shocked expression of people whose reality had been fundamentally altered.
"Everyone," Sarah announced, "this is Dave Chen, our first confirmed Employee Zero."
A younger woman with purple hair and the exhausted demeanor of someone who'd worked too many startup death marches looked up from her laptop. "You're the one who crashed seven floors of SoulCorp's network?"
"Apparently," Dave said, feeling awkward about the attention. "Though I'm not sure how I did it or if I can do it again."
"That's what we're here to figure out," said an older man Dave recognized as someone he'd seen in the SoulCorp elevators. "I'm Tom Rodriguez. Accounting department, floor twelve. Been tracking anomalous energy consumption patterns for six months before I figured out what they meant."
Dave remembered the name from the employee monitoring data he'd seen. "You were listed as one of the top stress producers. 'Overtime marathon entering week 3.'"
Tom's laugh was bitter. "Sixty-seven hours of overtime in three weeks. They kept giving me 'urgent' projects with impossible deadlines, then more urgent projects when I somehow finished the impossible ones. Turns out it wasn't about the work—it was about keeping me in a constant state of panic for energy extraction."
"How did you figure it out?"
"Started noticing patterns in the utility bills I was processing. Energy consumption that didn't match any known building systems, power distribution that made no sense for normal office operations." Tom pulled out a tablet showing spreadsheets full of data. "Then I cross-referenced energy spikes with employee overtime schedules and stress-related sick days."
Sarah sat down across from Dave. "Tom's analysis was the first hard evidence we had that stress harvesting was happening on a systematic scale. Before that, we just had individual suspicions and anecdotal observations."
"How many people know about this?"
"Actively know? Maybe fifty people across all five stress kingdoms," the purple-haired woman said. "I'm Lisa Park, by the way. Former software engineer for PanicTech Solutions before I realized I was coding stress amplification algorithms into social media platforms."
Dave's stress levels ticked upward. "Wait, Park? Are you related to Melissa Park from SoulCorp accounting?"
Lisa's expression shifted. "Melissa's my sister. Why?"
Dave felt his stomach drop. "She was one of the top stress producers in this morning's monitoring data. The system listed her as having 'family issues plus audit pressure' for optimal stress maintenance."
"Family issues," Lisa repeated slowly. "Our mom's medical bills. Melissa's been working overtime for months trying to cover the costs." Her face went pale. "They're using mom's cancer to keep Melissa stressed?"
"According to the corporate data, they specifically timed an audit to coincide with her family situation to maintain optimal anxiety levels," Jeremy confirmed quietly.
Lisa stood up abruptly. "I have to get her out of there."
"Lisa, wait," Sarah said firmly. "We can't just walk into SoulCorp and extract employees. Their security is designed specifically to prevent that kind of rescue operation."
"But she's my sister!"
"And if you get caught, you'll both end up in corporate psychological evaluation," Tom added. "Or worse."
Dave watched Lisa pace around the living room, recognizing the helpless fury he'd felt when he realized how systematically he'd been exploited. "What if there was another way? Something that didn't require breaking into the building?"
"Like what?" Lisa asked.
"The system identified me as Employee Zero because my stress levels broke their equipment. What if we could trigger that same kind of overload remotely?"
Sarah leaned forward, her expertise in corporate wellness systems suddenly very relevant. "You mean create an artificial stress spike that would crash Melissa's workstation?"
"Or her whole floor," Dave said, the idea taking shape as he spoke. "If I could somehow synchronize my stress response with the corporate network while I'm outside the building..."
"That's... actually theoretically possible," Jeremy said, pulling out his tablet. "The extraction equipment uses standardized frequencies across all SoulCorp workstations. If Dave could match those frequencies with his biometric output..."
Marcus was already shaking his head. "Too dangerous. We don't know what kind of feedback effects that might cause, or how the system would respond to external interference."
"The system would respond by implementing containment protocols," Sarah said. "Emergency lockdowns, employee isolation procedures, possibly even building-wide evacuation depending on the scope of the disruption."
"Which could give Melissa a chance to escape during the chaos," Lisa pointed out.
Dave felt his stress levels climbing as he considered the possibilities. "How would I even connect to their network from here?"
"You wouldn't connect directly," Jeremy explained. "But the stress kingdoms are all linked through the Global Misery Exchange. If you could overload the local network node, it might cascade through their entire system."
"Local network node?"
Sarah gestured toward the window. "There's a PanicTech substation about three blocks from here. Handles stress energy distribution for this entire neighborhood. If you could get close enough to it while experiencing Employee Zero-level stress..."
"I could crash the local grid," Dave finished. "And if that cascades back to SoulCorp..."
"It could trigger emergency protocols across multiple buildings," Tom said, studying his spreadsheets. "According to the energy consumption data I've analyzed, the stress kingdoms prioritize system stability above individual employee monitoring during network emergencies."
Lisa's eyes lit up. "Which means security attention would be focused on technical problems instead of tracking specific employees."
"It's still incredibly risky," Marcus warned. "If Dave's stress levels spike too high near a distribution node, he could cause permanent damage to his own nervous system. The equipment isn't designed to handle Employee Zero-level biometric output."
"What about the other people in those buildings?" Dave asked. "If I crash the stress harvesting network, what happens to all the employees who are plugged into it?"
Sarah's expression grew thoughtful. "In theory? They'd experience rapid withdrawal from artificial stress amplification. Sudden clarity about their work environment, reduced anxiety, possible psychological liberation from corporate conditioning."
"In practice?"
"Mass confusion, possible panic as people realize what's been done to them, and corporate damage control on a scale we've never seen before."
Dave considered this. Forty-seven floors of SoulCorp employees suddenly waking up from years of systematic psychological manipulation. The chaos would be enormous, but it might also be exactly the kind of disruption needed to expose the stress harvesting system to the broader public.
"How long would I need to stay near the distribution node?"
Jeremy consulted his tablet. "Based on your earlier readings, probably ten to fifteen minutes of sustained Employee Zero-level stress. Long enough for the feedback effects to propagate through the network."
"And what are the chances this actually works?"
"Unknown," Sarah admitted. "You'd be the first Employee Zero to attempt external network interference. We're in completely uncharted territory."
Dave looked around the room at the faces of people who'd escaped corporate exploitation, each one hoping he could somehow help the employees who hadn't been lucky enough to figure out the truth. Tom with his spreadsheets of evidence. Lisa desperate to save her sister. Sarah with her intimate knowledge of the wellness systems designed to harvest human suffering.
"What's the worst-case scenario if I try this?"
Marcus's expression was grim. "Best case, you crash the local stress network and create an opportunity for people to escape. Worst case, you suffer permanent neurological damage from biometric overload, the corporations trace the attack back to this location, and we all end up in corporate psychological evaluation facilities."
"And if I don't try?"
"Then Melissa and thousands of other employees continue being systematically exploited for energy production until they either achieve Employee Zero status themselves or get stressed to death," Lisa said quietly.
Dave felt his stress levels climbing just thinking about the decision. Outside, the suburban neighborhood looked peaceful and normal, giving no hint that it sat in the middle of a corporate energy harvesting operation that treated human anxiety as a commodity.
"There's something else to consider," Sarah said. "If this works, if you can actually crash part of the stress kingdom network from the outside, it proves that Employee Zeros represent a genuine threat to their system. They'll escalate their response accordingly."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning the corporate dynasties will stop treating this as a minor security breach and start treating it as a war."
Jeremy's tablet chimed with an alert. "Speaking of corporate response, we've got incoming problems. SoulCorp security just expanded their search to include this neighborhood. They're doing door-to-door wellness checks."
"Wellness checks?"
"Corporate-sponsored mental health assessments," Sarah explained. "Perfectly legal way to enter private residences and scan for Employee Zero biometric signatures."
Dave watched through the window as a SoulCorp van pulled up across the street. Two people in corporate wellness uniforms began walking toward a house, carrying equipment that looked suspiciously like the biometric scanners he'd seen in the server room.
"How long before they get here?"
"Maybe twenty minutes if they're being thorough," Marcus said, already gathering his equipment. "We need to move."
"Wait," Dave said, an idea forming. "What if we don't run? What if we use this as an opportunity?"
"Opportunity for what?"
Dave pointed to the PanicTech substation visible in the distance. "If I'm going to attempt external network interference, I need to be close to a distribution node anyway. And if corporate security is already in the neighborhood..."
"You want to crash the network while they're actively searching for you?"
"I want to crash the network because they're actively searching for me," Dave corrected. "My stress levels are already spiking from the proximity of Executive Response Teams. If I can get close enough to that substation while they're closing in..."
Lisa caught on immediately. "You could use the stress of being hunted to overload their own distribution system."
"It's completely insane," Marcus said.
"It's also our best chance," Sarah pointed out. "Dave's biometric readings are probably already elevated enough to attempt network interference. If he can reach the substation before corporate security contains this area..."
Jeremy was typing rapidly on his tablet. "I can create a distraction, draw their attention away from the substation long enough for Dave to get in position."
"What kind of distraction?"
"Remember, I still have administrator access to several corporate networks. I can trigger false alarms, redirect security resources, maybe even make it look like Employee Zero signatures are coming from multiple locations."
Dave watched the corporate wellness team finish their scan of the house across the street and move to the next residence. In about fifteen minutes, they'd reach Sarah's electromagnetically shielded safe house and discover that they couldn't get any biometric readings from inside.
Which would immediately mark it as a priority location for detailed investigation.
"Okay," Dave said, surprising himself with the certainty in his voice. "Let's do it. But if this goes wrong..."
"If this goes wrong, we're all fucked anyway," Lisa said bluntly. "At least this way we go down fighting."
Sarah handed Dave a small device that looked like a modified fitness tracker. "Emergency beacon. If you get into serious trouble, press the red button and it'll send your location to all resistance safe houses in the area."
"What then?"
"Then we try to extract you before corporate security figures out what you just did to their network."
Dave clipped the device to his wrist, feeling the weight of responsibility settle on his shoulders. Three hours ago, he'd been a corporate drone worried about productivity reports. Now he was about to attempt the first deliberate attack on a stress kingdom's energy infrastructure.
"One last question," he said as they prepared to leave the safe house. "If this works, if I actually manage to crash part of their network—what happens next?"
Marcus and Sarah exchanged a look.
"Then," Sarah said quietly, "we find out whether the resistance is ready to become a revolution."
Through the window, Dave could see the PanicTech substation humming with the energy extracted from thousands of anxious employees across the neighborhood. In a few minutes, he'd either help some of them achieve freedom or become another cautionary tale about what happened to Employee Zeros who pushed their abilities too far.
Either way, the corporate wellness team was getting closer, and his stress levels were already climbing toward the threshold where his biometric output could damage electronic equipment.
It was time to find out what Employee Zero status could really accomplish.
『 CORPORATE NETWORK ALERT 』ANOMALOUS BIOMETRIC READINGS DETECTEDEMPLOYEE ZERO PROXIMITY TO INFRASTRUCTUREPanicTech SUBSTATION 47-C: ELEVATED THREAT LEVEL
EXECUTIVE RESPONSE ESCALATION AUTHORIZEDLETHAL FORCE PROTOCOLS: ACTIVEBURNOUT PROTOCOL: STAGE 3 IMMINENT
To be continued...
Author's Note:The resistance is more organized than we initially thought! Sarah's safe house is a high-tech fortress, and we're meeting other refugees from the stress kingdoms. But the revelation about Melissa Park being Lisa's sister adds personal stakes to Dave's potential network attack.
Dave's plan to use his own stress from being hunted to overload the PanicTech substation is brilliant and terrifying. If it works, it could free thousands of employees. If it fails... well, the corporate response teams are already authorized for lethal force.
The pieces are all moving into position for something big. Dave's about to attempt the first deliberate attack on stress kingdom infrastructure, and no one knows what the consequences will be!
Next Chapter: "Network Interference"Coming Tomorrow!
Reader Discussion:Do you think Dave's plan will work? And if it does, how do you think the corporate dynasties will respond to proof that Employee Zeros can damage their infrastructure from the outside?