Work Period

Jane Stidwell, an accountant, calculated with her neural interface—some of the time.

She also spent a lot of her ‘work period’ addictively generating holograms to gain followers.

One day, her monthly performance review stated:

‘Jane, we’ve observed your derelictions—retrain or face termination.’

Jane entered virtual rehab:

In every group, she was praised for teamwork and scorned for individuality. In every conversation, any language giving herself attention, such as ‘I’ and ‘me,’ was actively discouraged.

“You’re done, Ms. Stidwell. How do you feel?”

“I … I.” Jane cringed and shuddered. “It was excellent!”

“Good, Jane, you may resume working.”