『 PanicTech SUBSTATION 47-C 』Status: OPERATIONALCurrent Load: 89% CAPACITYStress Energy Distribution: 2,347 HOUSEHOLDSAnomaly Detection: ACTIVE
The PanicTech substation looked like a cross between a cell phone tower and a modern art installation. Sleek metal structures rose thirty feet into the air, covered with arrays of sensors and transmitters that hummed with barely contained energy. Warning signs around the perimeter advertised everything from "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" to "HIGH VOLTAGE" to "BIOMETRIC SCANNING ACTIVE."
Dave crouched behind a maintenance shed about fifty yards from the facility, his stress levels already climbing as corporate security vehicles circled the neighborhood like sharks sensing blood in the water. His makeshift stress monitor—one of Marcus's modified devices—showed readings of 156/100 and rising.
Perfect, he thought grimly. Nothing like impending capture to get the anxiety flowing.
Through his earpiece, Jeremy's voice crackled with static from whatever signal jamming equipment the corporate teams were using. "Dave, I've got three SoulCorp wellness vans converging on Sarah's street. You've got maybe ten minutes before they expand the search perimeter to include the substation area."
"What about the distraction?"
"Working on it. I'm about to trigger false Employee Zero alerts at six different locations across the Eastern Anxiety Empire. Should buy you some time, but not much."
Dave studied the substation's security measures. Motion sensors, thermal imaging, biometric scanners, and what looked like some kind of electromagnetic field generator that probably served as both a security system and a component of the stress energy distribution network.
"Jeremy, how close do I need to get to affect the network?"
"Unknown. Sarah's best guess is within twenty feet of the primary distribution array—that tower in the center with all the dish-shaped things pointing in different directions."
Dave's stress levels hit 167/100 as he calculated the distance. The primary tower was in the exact center of the facility, surrounded by enough security equipment to protect a military installation. Getting within twenty feet would require crossing an open area under full surveillance.
Unless...
"Jeremy, what happens if I trigger all their security systems at once?"
"Probably automatic lockdown, emergency response protocols, and a very quick visit from Executive Response Teams."
"But would that generate enough chaos to mask my biometric signature?"
There was a pause as Jeremy considered this. "Theoretically, yes. If multiple alarm systems activated simultaneously, the facility's monitoring equipment would be focused on threat assessment rather than precise biometric analysis."
Dave's monitor showed 172/100. The approaching corporate security was having exactly the effect he'd hoped for—his natural stress response was climbing toward Employee Zero levels.
"Okay, I'm going to—"
A new voice cut through his earpiece: "Dave, this is Sarah. I'm monitoring corporate communications from here. They just changed their search parameters. They're not looking for a missing employee anymore."
"What are they looking for?"
"A terrorist threat to critical infrastructure. Someone just reclassified you as a potential domestic extremist with capabilities that could damage the stress energy grid."
Dave's stress spiked to 181/100. "Terrorist?"
"It gets worse. They've authorized what they're calling 'enhanced containment procedures' for Employee Zero targets. Military-grade response with shoot-to-kill authorization."
Through the trees, Dave could see the corporate wellness vans being replaced by vehicles that looked considerably more militarized. Black SUVs with tinted windows, personnel in tactical gear, and equipment that definitely wasn't designed for employee wellness assessments.
"How much time do I have?"
"Based on their search pattern, maybe five minutes before they reach the substation perimeter," Sarah replied. "Dave, you need to abort. This has escalated beyond what we prepared for."
Dave's stress monitor hit 189/100. "I can't abort. If I don't do this now, they'll lock down the entire area and we'll never get another chance."
"And if you do this now, you might not survive it."
"Better than spending the rest of my life in a corporate psychological evaluation facility."
Dave could hear Lisa's voice in the background: "Dave, please. If you get yourself killed, it doesn't help Melissa or anyone else."
But Dave was already moving, his stress levels providing a clarity of purpose that surprised him. At 193/100, his anxiety had transformed from debilitating worry into focused determination. The corporate security vehicles, the armed response teams, the probability of capture or death—all of it just added fuel to the biometric fire that was building inside him.
He sprinted toward the substation's perimeter fence, setting off motion sensors that began blaring alarms across the facility. Security lights flooded the area with harsh white illumination, and automated warning systems started announcing "UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL DETECTED" in corporate-friendly voices that somehow made the threat sound even more ominous.
His stress reading hit 201/100 as he reached the fence. The chain link was topped with razor wire and probably electrified, but Dave's Employee Zero-enhanced focus revealed something the security designers hadn't considered: a maintenance access point where utility workers could reach the primary power controls.
The access panel was locked, but Dave's stress levels were now high enough that electronic equipment in his immediate vicinity was starting to malfunction. The lock's LED indicator flickered, sparked, and went dark. He pulled open the panel and found himself face-to-face with the kind of electrical infrastructure that carried warning labels in multiple languages.
Don't think about it. Just do it.
Dave grabbed the main power disconnect and yanked it downward.
Every light in the substation went out simultaneously.
In the sudden darkness, emergency lighting kicked in, casting everything in an eerie red glow. But more importantly, the electromagnetic field generators that protected the primary distribution tower had shut down along with the main power grid.
Dave's stress monitor showed 208/100 as he sprinted across the open ground toward the central tower. Behind him, corporate security vehicles were converging on the facility, their headlights sweeping across the area like searchlights hunting for escaped prisoners.
"Dave!" Jeremy's voice was tight with panic. "The false alerts worked, but they figured out they were decoys. All available response teams are heading to your location."
Dave reached the base of the primary distribution tower and immediately felt the hair on his arms stand up. Even with the main power offline, the tower was still conducting massive amounts of stress energy from across the neighborhood. The air around it hummed with the extracted anxiety of thousands of employees, concentrated and ready for distribution to corporate facilities throughout the Eastern Anxiety Empire.
His stress levels hit 215/100, and something strange began happening to his perception. He could actually see the energy flows—streams of blue-white light connecting the tower to buildings throughout the area. Every office complex, every corporate satellite location, every workplace where human anxiety was being systematically harvested and converted into usable power.
This is it. This is what Employee Zero status actually means.
At 220/100, Dave's biometric output began resonating with the tower's energy distribution frequency. The metal structure started vibrating, creating a low harmonic that seemed to echo from somewhere deep inside Dave's nervous system.
"Dave, whatever you're doing, corporate communications just went crazy," Sarah's voice crackled through the earpiece. "They're reporting 'catastrophic resonance cascade' and 'emergency grid isolation procedures.'"
Dave placed his hands on the tower's base, feeling electricity dance across his skin. His stress monitor hit 227/100—the same level that had crashed SoulCorp's server room that morning—and the resonance between his biometric output and the tower's energy field became so intense that the air around him began to shimmer like heat mirages.
"Grid isolation isn't working," Jeremy reported, his voice tight with excitement and terror. "Your resonance frequency is propagating through the network faster than they can disconnect nodes. Dave, you're crashing the entire Eastern Anxiety Empire."
Through his enhanced perception, Dave could see stress energy distribution lines flickering and failing across the city. Office buildings going dark as their extraction equipment overloaded. Corporate facilities switching to backup power as their primary stress energy feeds cut out. Thousands of employees suddenly experiencing relief from artificial anxiety amplification as their workstations stopped harvesting their emotional energy.
His stress levels peaked at 235/100, and the primary distribution tower began making sounds like a tuning fork the size of a building. Sparks cascaded from the sensor arrays thirty feet above him, and the emergency lighting throughout the facility started strobing erratically.
"Dave, you need to disconnect NOW," Sarah warned. "Your biometric readings are approaching levels that could cause permanent neurological damage."
But Dave could see something through his Employee Zero-enhanced perception that the others couldn't. The resonance cascade wasn't just disrupting the local network—it was propagating through the Global Misery Exchange, affecting stress kingdoms across the continent. Anxiety Analytics facilities in the Central Exhaustion Expanse were reporting system failures. Deadline Dynamics installations in the Western Worry Wastes were switching to emergency protocols.
For the first time since the Great Efficiency Revolution of 2026, the corporate stress harvesting system was experiencing a coordinated failure across multiple kingdoms.
"Dave!" Lisa's voice cut through the radio chatter. "Melissa just called me. She said her workstation went dead, the building's lights are flickering, and half her floor is in panic because they suddenly feel... normal. You're doing it!"
Dave's stress monitor hit 240/100, and the tower began resonating so intensely that he could feel it in his bones. Around him, every piece of electronic equipment in the substation was sparking, smoking, or displaying error messages in languages he didn't recognize.
Through the chaos, he heard the sound of vehicles screeching to a halt outside the facility perimeter. Corporate security had arrived, and they were bringing enough firepower to handle what they now classified as a terrorist attack on critical infrastructure.
"All units, we have visual on the target," a voice boomed through a megaphone. "Employee Zero status confirmed. Implementing enhanced containment procedures."
Dave's perception had become so heightened that he could sense the biometric signatures of the corporate response team members—their own stress levels spiking as they realized they were dealing with something outside their training parameters.
"Target is maintaining physical contact with primary distribution infrastructure," another voice reported. "Recommend immediate neutralization before cascade effects spread to additional kingdoms."
Dave heard the distinctive sound of weapons being readied. Enhanced containment procedures apparently included options beyond corporate wellness assessments and psychological evaluation.
His stress levels hit 245/100, and the resonance between his biometric output and the tower reached a crescendo that made the entire facility vibrate like a massive speaker. Through his enhanced perception, he could see the stress energy grid flickering across half the continent, corporate dynasties scrambling to contain the damage, and thousands of employees experiencing their first moments of clarity in years.
"Dave, disconnect from the tower and run," Jeremy pleaded through the earpiece. "You've done enough. The network is crashing across multiple kingdoms. Time to get out of there."
But Dave realized something that made his blood run cold. His stress levels weren't just disrupting the corporate network—they were also affecting his own nervous system. At 245/100, he was approaching the threshold where Employee Zero status might become a permanent condition rather than a temporary state.
The corporate response team was advancing through the facility, using equipment that could probably track his biometric signature even in the electromagnetic chaos he was creating. His stress monitor hit 248/100, and Dave felt something fundamental shift in his perception of reality.
He wasn't just experiencing anxiety anymore. He was becoming anxiety—a living embodiment of the stress that the corporate system had tried to harvest from him for four years.
"All units, be advised: target biometrics are off the charts," came a report from the advancing team. "Recommend extreme caution. We're dealing with Employee Zero at maximum documented levels."
Dave's hands were still pressed against the tower base, his biometric output creating a feedback loop that was systematically destroying corporate stress harvesting infrastructure across the Eastern Anxiety Empire. He could disconnect, run, and hope to escape with his sanity intact.
Or he could push his stress levels beyond the theoretical maximum and find out what happened when Employee Zero status reached its absolute limit.
The choice was made for him when a sniper's bullet shattered the air inches from his head.
Dave's stress levels exploded past 250/100, entering territory that wasn't supposed to be survivable for human nervous systems.
And in that moment, something extraordinary happened to the corporate stress harvesting network.
Every extraction node in the Eastern Anxiety Empire simultaneously failed.
『 EMERGENCY BROADCAST - ALL KINGDOMS 』CATASTROPHIC CASCADE FAILUREEASTERN ANXIETY EMPIRE: TOTAL GRID COLLAPSEEMPLOYEE ZERO BEYOND THEORETICAL MAXIMUMSSHADOW BOARD EMERGENCY PROTOCOL: ACTIVATED
ALL DYNASTIES REPORT IMMEDIATELYBURNOUT PROTOCOL: STAGE 4 - MAXIMUM RESPONSEAUTHORIZATION: NUCLEAR OPTION APPROVED
To be continued...
Author's Note:HOLY STRESS LEVELS! Dave just crashed the entire Eastern Anxiety Empire's stress harvesting network! His biometric output at 250/100+ has done something no one thought was possible—he's created a cascading failure that's affecting multiple stress kingdoms simultaneously.
But that sniper's bullet suggests the corporate response teams aren't messing around anymore. "Enhanced containment procedures" apparently includes lethal force, and now Dave's stress levels are in uncharted territory that might be dangerous to his own survival.
And what exactly is the "Nuclear Option" that the Shadow Board just approved? That doesn't sound good for anyone...
Next Chapter: "Maximum Response"Coming Tomorrow!
Reader Discussion:Dave's Employee Zero abilities are way more powerful than anyone expected—but are they sustainable? And with the Shadow Board approving a "Nuclear Option," what kind of escalation are we looking at?