『 SHADOW BOARD EMERGENCY SESSION 』Status: ACTIVELocation: CLASSIFIEDParticipants: ALL FIVE DYNASTIC HEIRSThreat Level: EXISTENTIAL
Dave's stress levels had moved beyond measurement.
The digital readouts on his monitoring device had stopped at 255/100 before dissolving into static. The tower beneath his hands was no longer just resonating—it was screaming, a harmonic wail that seemed to come from the metal itself as decades of accumulated stress energy discharged in cascading waves across the continental grid.
Through his heightened perception, Dave could see the catastrophic failure spreading like wildfire. The Eastern Anxiety Empire's network was completely dark. Anxiety Analytics in the Central Expanse was reporting critical failures across seventeen major facilities. Even Deadline Dynamics in the Western Wastes was experiencing brownouts as the resonance cascade propagated through the Global Misery Exchange.
This is what they were afraid of, Dave realized as corporate tactical teams surrounded the substation. This is why Employee Zero was supposed to be impossible.
"Target is maintaining contact with infrastructure," a voice reported through military-grade communications equipment. "Cascade effects have spread beyond containment protocols. Requesting permission to implement Terminal Resolution."
Terminal Resolution. Dave didn't need his Employee Zero-enhanced perception to understand what that meant.
"All units, stand down," came a different voice—female, carrying the kind of authority that suggested corporate hierarchy rather than tactical command. "New orders from the Shadow Board. Target is to be contained, not terminated."
Through the chaos of failing electronic systems and electromagnetic interference, Dave heard the distinctive sound of high heels clicking across concrete. Someone was approaching the substation's center area despite the ongoing biometric cascade and the obvious danger to anyone not specifically trained for Employee Zero containment.
"Mr. Chen," the voice called out, now close enough that Dave could hear it without radio amplification. "My name is Karen Blackthorne. I believe we had a meeting scheduled for this afternoon."
Dave turned, his hands still pressed against the tower base, and saw Karen approaching through the sparking remains of the substation's security systems. But this wasn't the corporate middle manager he'd known for four years. This Karen moved with predatory grace, her eyes reflecting the emergency lighting in ways that definitely weren't human, and the air around her shimmered with the same kind of energy that was currently destroying corporate infrastructure across the continent.
"You're not human," Dave said, his voice sounding strange even to himself. At his current stress levels, speaking required conscious effort—most of his nervous system was dedicated to maintaining the biometric cascade that was systematically dismantling the stress kingdoms.
"Neither are you, anymore," Karen replied, stopping just outside the tower's resonance field. "Employee Zero at maximum levels represents an evolutionary step that most nervous systems can't survive. But you're not just surviving, Mr. Chen. You're transcending."
Dave could feel the truth of her words. His stress had moved beyond emotion into something more fundamental—a direct interface with the electromagnetic infrastructure that the corporate dynasties used to harvest human anxiety. He wasn't just experiencing Employee Zero status; he was becoming it.
"What do you want?"
"To offer you a choice." Karen gestured around the destroyed substation. "You've proven that Employee Zero status can disrupt our energy harvesting systems. Congratulations. You've also proven that the stress kingdoms can't contain someone at your current biometric levels through conventional means."
The tower continued its harmonic wailing, and through his enhanced perception, Dave could see stress energy distribution lines failing across half the continent. Corporate executives were probably panicking as their primary power sources went offline one after another.
"So what's the choice?"
Karen smiled, and Dave caught a glimpse of something behind her teeth that definitely belonged to a predator rather than a corporate middle manager. "Join us, or force us to implement solutions that will make everyone wish you had."
"Join you?"
"The Blackthorne dynasty has been monitoring Employee Zero research for three years, Mr. Chen. We know this moment was inevitable. We also know that someone with your capabilities could be... useful in the proper context."
Dave's stress levels fluctuated as he considered this. "Useful how?"
"The stress kingdoms aren't the only players in the global energy market. There are competing systems—the European Melancholy Markets, the Asian Despair Protocols, the Australian Anxiety Archipelago. They've all developed their own approaches to harvesting human emotional energy." Karen's expression shifted to something that might have been genuine concern. "Some of those approaches make our methods look positively humane."
Through the tower's resonance, Dave could sense data streams that extended far beyond the North American stress kingdoms. International networks, global exchanges, systems that made the corporate dynasties' operations look like small-scale experiments.
"You're saying the stress harvesting is bigger than just the five kingdoms?"
"I'm saying the five kingdoms are a defensive alliance against much worse alternatives. The Melancholy Markets harvest depression on an industrial scale. The Despair Protocols have perfected the art of extracting energy from genuine hopelessness. The Anxiety Archipelago..." Karen paused. "Let's just say they've found ways to make anxiety extraction permanent."
Dave felt his stress levels spike again as the implications became clear. The corporate stress kingdoms weren't the ultimate evil—they were just the local version of a global system that treated human suffering as an energy commodity.
"And you think I should help you fight them?"
"I think you should help us survive them. Because if the North American stress kingdoms collapse, the other systems will move in to fill the power vacuum. And Mr. Chen, their methods of Employee Zero containment don't involve offers of cooperation."
The tactical teams surrounding the substation had pulled back to a safer distance, but Dave could sense their continued presence through their elevated stress levels. They were afraid of him, which was a new and unsettling realization.
"What happens if I refuse?"
Karen's smile disappeared entirely. "Then the Shadow Board implements the Nuclear Option. Complete grid shutdown, emergency stress extraction from the entire population, and systematic elimination of anyone showing Employee Zero potential."
"Nuclear Option?"
"Weaponized stress amplification. Instead of harvesting anxiety, the corporate systems would generate it. Mass psychological conditioning delivered through every electronic device, every networked appliance, every piece of infrastructure connected to the stress energy grid." Karen's expression was grim. "Within forty-eight hours, the entire Eastern Anxiety Empire would be experiencing artificial panic disorders calibrated to prevent Employee Zero manifestation."
Dave's enhanced perception allowed him to sense the truth in her words. The same infrastructure that harvested stress could be reconfigured to amplify it. Instead of extracting anxiety for energy production, the systems could flood the population with it as a form of mass psychological warfare.
"That would drive people insane."
"It would drive them compliant. Panic-stricken populations don't develop Employee Zero resistance. They're too busy surviving artificial anxiety disorders to question the system that's causing them."
The tower's resonance was beginning to affect Dave's ability to maintain coherent thought. At his current stress levels, he was interfacing directly with electromagnetic systems in ways that human nervous systems weren't designed to handle. He could feel his consciousness expanding and fragmenting simultaneously, becoming both more and less than human.
"How long do I have to decide?"
"The Shadow Board is meeting right now. Five corporate dynasties, each one calculating whether cooperation or elimination represents the better strategic option." Karen checked what looked like a modified smartphone. "Based on current cascade effects, I'd estimate you have about ten minutes before they authorize Terminal Resolution regardless of my family's preferences."
Through his connection to the tower, Dave could sense the broader network struggling to adapt to his presence. Corporate systems across multiple kingdoms were implementing emergency protocols, rerouting power through backup networks, and developing new containment strategies designed specifically for Employee Zero threats.
"What exactly are you offering?"
"Partnership. The Blackthorne dynasty has resources, territory, and infrastructure that could support someone with your capabilities. You'd have access to advanced research facilities, protection from the other kingdoms, and the opportunity to help shape how stress energy is harvested rather than simply destroying the systems."
"Shape how?"
"Make it voluntary. Develop extraction methods that don't require psychological manipulation. Find ways to generate energy from stress that employees consciously choose to provide rather than suffering they're forced to endure."
Dave's stress levels fluctuated as he considered this possibility. Using his Employee Zero abilities to reform the system rather than destroy it. Working within the corporate structure to eliminate the worst abuses while maintaining the technological infrastructure that had become essential to modern society.
"And if the other kingdoms don't agree?"
Karen's smile returned, sharp and predatory. "Then we use your capabilities to force them to agree. An Employee Zero working with corporate resources instead of against them could reshape the entire continental grid."
Dave could feel time running out. His stress levels were approaching the theoretical maximum for sustained human consciousness, and the corporate tactical teams were receiving new orders through encrypted communications channels. The Shadow Board was apparently reaching a consensus, and it probably didn't involve extended negotiations.
"There's something else to consider," Karen added. "Your friend Melissa Park. She's currently in SoulCorp custody, undergoing emergency psychological evaluation for stress-related disorders."
Dave's stress spiked toward dangerous levels. "What?"
"The network cascade you triggered caused mass psychological disruption throughout the Eastern Anxiety Empire. Employees suddenly experiencing withdrawal from artificial stress amplification, workers realizing they'd been systematically exploited, widespread panic as people discovered the truth about their office furniture." Karen's expression was sympathetic but calculating. "Ms. Park was one of several employees who required immediate intervention to prevent complete psychological breakdown."
"You're lying."
"I'm offering you the opportunity to help her. Corporate psychological evaluation facilities have advanced treatment options for Employee Zero-related trauma. But only for employees whose families have appropriate corporate connections."
Dave realized he was being manipulated, but the stress of Melissa's situation was pushing his biometric levels into territory that threatened his ability to maintain rational thought. Through the tower's resonance, he could sense distress signals from SoulCorp's employee monitoring systems—dozens of workers experiencing acute anxiety as their natural stress responses reasserted themselves without artificial amplification.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
Karen pulled out her modified smartphone and showed him what appeared to be a live video feed from a corporate medical facility. Dave could see Melissa strapped to a bed, electrodes attached to her temples, while medical personnel in SoulCorp uniforms monitored her vital signs.
"Emergency stress normalization protocols," Karen explained. "Standard treatment for employees experiencing withdrawal from extraction systems. Usually takes forty-eight to seventy-two hours to restore baseline anxiety levels."
"Restore them to what?"
"To levels compatible with continued employment. Ms. Park's natural stress response is currently too low for effective energy extraction. The normalization process will... recalibrate her nervous system for optimal productivity."
Dave's stress levels exploded past any theoretical maximum as he realized what they were doing to Melissa. Corporate medical intervention to force her anxiety back to levels suitable for energy harvesting. Psychological conditioning to make her accept systematic exploitation as normal and necessary.
The tower beneath his hands began resonating at frequencies that made the air itself seem to vibrate. Every piece of electronic equipment within a hundred yards started sparking and smoking as Dave's biometric output reached levels that shouldn't have been compatible with human consciousness.
"That's torture."
"That's business. And it's happening to every employee affected by your network cascade." Karen's voice remained calm despite the electromagnetic chaos erupting around them. "But it doesn't have to continue. Partner with the Blackthorne dynasty, and we can develop extraction methods that don't require forced psychological conditioning."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then the Nuclear Option eliminates Employee Zero potential across the entire population, Ms. Park's normalization process continues indefinitely, and you get to watch the stress kingdoms become something much worse than they already are."
Dave could feel his consciousness fragmenting under the strain of maintaining impossible stress levels while interfacing directly with continental energy infrastructure. He was beyond human at this point, transformed into something that existed at the intersection of biology and technology.
But through the chaos, he could sense something else. Other biometric signatures in the distance, moving toward the substation with purposes he couldn't quite identify. Not corporate tactical teams—something different. Stress patterns that suggested people who had also achieved Employee Zero status and were converging on his location.
"Karen," Dave said, his voice carrying harmonics that matched the tower's resonance, "I think your choice just became irrelevant."
Through his enhanced perception, he could see them approaching through the darkness. Seven figures, each one radiating the kind of electromagnetic signature that suggested Employee Zero status at maximum levels.
The resistance had found more people like him.
And they were coming to finish what Dave had started.
Karen followed his gaze and saw them too. Her predatory confidence faltered for the first time since she'd arrived at the substation.
"Impossible," she whispered. "Employee Zero status is supposed to be one in ten million. There can't be that many of them."
"Maybe," Dave said, feeling his stress levels stabilize as he realized he wasn't alone, "your statistics were wrong."
The Shadow Board was about to discover that Dave Chen wasn't the only Employee Zero in the Eastern Anxiety Empire.
And unlike Dave, the others weren't interested in negotiating.
『 SHADOW BOARD EMERGENCY ALERT 』MULTIPLE EMPLOYEE ZERO SIGNATURES DETECTEDSTATISTICAL MODELS COMPROMISEDRESISTANCE CAPABILITY BEYOND PROJECTIONS
ALL KINGDOMS: IMPLEMENT NUCLEAR OPTION IMMEDIATELYAUTHORIZATION: ULTIMATE FORCE APPROVEDSURVIVAL OF CORPORATE STRUCTURE: PRIORITY ALPHA
To be continued...
Author's Note:Plot twist! The resistance has been hiding other Employee Zeros, and they're not as interested in negotiation as Dave might be. Karen's offer to join the Blackthorne dynasty reveals the global scope of stress harvesting—this isn't just about North America, it's a worldwide system of emotional energy extraction.
But with seven more Employee Zeros approaching and the Shadow Board authorizing "Ultimate Force," we're about to see what happens when corporate warfare meets supernatural stress abilities. And poor Melissa is trapped in the middle of it all!
The stakes just went from "corporate conspiracy" to "species-level survival." What exactly is Ultimate Force? And can eight Employee Zeros really take on five corporate dynasties?
Next Chapter: "Ultimate Force"Coming Tomorrow!
Reader Discussion:Should Dave trust Karen's offer to reform the system from within, or join the other Employee Zeros in what looks like total war against the stress kingdoms? And what do you think Ultimate Force involves?