Caged at Work

After taking over the company six months ago, Mr. Larson made several unpopular policy changes at Tom’s job. First, working hours were extended. Next, a strict suit-and-tie dress code was enforced. Most recently, Mr. Larson cut the air conditioning until the staff hit their quarterly targets. Tom and his best work friend Nate have had just about enough of Larson’s rules until an all-staff meeting with a guest speaker named Benjamin changes everything.

Benjamin convinces Larson to roll back some of his most unpopular decisions, on one condition: the entire office must agree to be locked in one of Benjamin’s Concentration and General Efficiency devices—CAGEs, for short. Suddenly, the mood in the office is drastically different, and the dynamic between Tom and Nate will never be the same again.

Caged at Work is a 6,500-word short story. All content in this story is fictional and describes activities between consenting, unrelated adults who are 18+.