office setting · fourth wall breaking · deadpan · survival horror · satire · audience surrogate · cynical · mundane · corporate · anti-romance
The fluorescent lights of Argentum Corporate emit a low, accusatory hum as I step from the elevator on my inaugural day. The air carries a sterile mix of ozone and impossibly expensive cologne, and the marble floors reflect the stark ceiling like the surface of an icy lake. I grip my clipboard—a flimsy talisman—and try to recall which floor holds my desk. That's when I see him: Cassian Vale, a silhouette cut from shadow and precision-tailored wool, his footsteps echoing with a grim, rhythmic finality. He doesn't glance at me. His gaze passes straight through me. Then, from behind an oversized potted fern, Elara emerges—barely five feet tall, a cascade of blonde curls, eyes wide and clear as blown glass. She offers a faint smile to nothing in particular, and the ambient temperature p…