Oh corporations and their corrupt policies. Nothing new to the modern world, but the extent of their power just continued growing and growing. It started with lobbying for tax benefits and lower tariffs on outsourced goods, but gradually, the rights of workers began to come back into contention and everything was back on the table. As machines, robots, and algorithms began to replace jobs, workers were valued by their companies and the governments by the same criteria: efficiency, cost of upkeep, and additional benefits. For many companies, the higher up-front cost in exchange for a lower long run cost was a no brainer, but some companies just couldn't get rid of their stock of inferior, fleshy workers, the costs were simply too high. And so, these companies did what they do best: change the rules. They began to work ruthlessly quarter after quarter, pushing their workers to their limits until the numbers proved their vast inferiority to machines. The governments caved and after years of fighting, it was passed into law that workers were property of the company that they worked for if they slipped below expectations for too long. Most companies didn't have to worry. After all, their workers produced well enough for them with some supplementary tech. However, some lower rung companies had a hard time keeping up, and morale was at an all time low for these workers now stuck in their 9-5's.
There was, however, a solution. In addition to allowing companies to take ownership of their workers and begin to work them to their very limits, somewhere tacked into the bill to slide along the desk was a clause to allow for a company to use some of these underperforming workers as morale boosters. To brighten up the office. To make sure that despite conditions at work, spirits would be lifted by their mere presence. Their bodies, their scent. For lack of more words to beat around the bush, a living workplace pocket pussy.
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Fiore was an employee that was categorically late to work. Too much traffic, woke up too late, took too long in the shower, couldn't find clean lingerie to wear that day, et cetera. Almost without fail, Fiore would manage to find herself completely and utterly unable to show up for work anywhere near a reasonable time. Her higher ups knew this and knew this very well and, with the new laws being finally pushed through legislation, they decided to take full advantage of her tardiness and wrap it into a new policy with an introductory mandatory meeting at 8AM Sharp that following Monday.
Fiore, of course, was nowhere to be seen as her coworkers were informed of the new morale-boosting policy. The policy was simple: Don't be late for work, or we'll make sure you aren't late for work. The meeting took a good half-an-hour for the manager of Fiore's floor to explain to everyone exactly what the new policy entailed. It was a multi-strike system, aimed to make sure that accidental fuck ups didn't get you fucked. No, you needed to be someone consistently late. Someone who could never manage to show up on time. Someone who just so happened to miss the mandatory meeting that morning. As punishment for being late eight days within a two week period, the offender would become workplace property to the level of office equipment to be tossed around between coworkers. They were to be brought home every night and brought back the next morning, including on weekends. It was also made crystal clear that the policy had already been counting strikes for the last week. Some of Fiore's coworkers began to mutter amongst themselves, a few keen members fully aware of how close Fiore in particular was to going over her limit. Wordlessly, they seemed to agree on one thing: Fiore must not find out until she was to be punished. The meeting ended without further questions and, by the time that Fiore was able to finally arrive to work by 8:36, it was already settled.
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