The emergency broadcast horn inside Blood-Tax Mega-Mall Number Seventy-Five crackled with static.
Then, the shrill, grating voice of Chief Financial Officer Mordecai tore through the empty aisles.
[ATTENTION ALL BLOOD-TAX RETAIL EMPLOYEES!]
[DUE TO CATASTROPHIC OPERATING DEFICITS IN THE PRICE-WAR THEATER, THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE BOARD HEREBY ENFORCES EMERGENCY DECREE NINE!]
[ALL WAGES, RETIREMENT CREDITS, AND HEALTH INSURANCE ALLOWANCES FOR ALL TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND FRONT-LINE CLERKS, PHARMACISTS, AND RECEPTIONISTS ARE DOCKED BY ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS!]
[ANY EMPLOYEE WHO LEAVES THEIR STATION BEFORE COMPLETING THEIR MANDATORY EIGHTY-HOUR OVERTIME QUOTA WILL BE CHARGED WITH WILLFUL COMMERCIAL SABOTAGE!]
Silence fell over the five hundred cash registers.
A young sales clerk named Lin Xia clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. A single hot tear rolled down her cheek, splashing onto the cold glass counter.
