The 9-to-5 Grind
When there’s evil at work, it’s survival of the office hero
About the Book
Book 1 of the Powered Personnel sci-fi fantasy series brings you into a universal workplace of heroic action and adventures.
The Big Startup
Chloe Ceres, a project management giant, begins building a new company for Green Ventures Unlimited. On her first day, she faces a high-stakes rescue mission that imperils her job security.
The Hangry Hunter
Vanessa Locsolen is a designer beast working from home. While hunting for breakfast, she confronts gaming tourists who set her forest on fire as they played their app.
Agile Breakthrough
Lt. Felina Gatti was an activist against superpowered workplace bias. After a failed kidnapping stunt, she now has superpowers of her own. She must rely on her agile training to escape a bad hero deal.
Tough As Gold
Oriana Chandroni joins Macmor and navigates the high-powered corporate world at GVU. A high-stakes boardroom showdown tests her will as she confronts the CFO who almost cost Oriana her life.
Iced Support (BONUS STORY)
A new short story. Nieve Cristwynn, investigates an overheating laptop during tech support. But she stumbles upon a room of overworked and overloaded workers. Nieve must cool down her clients before they go critical.
Key Themes
- Workplace Super-Politics: Surviving onboarding, team-building, and high-stakes corporate espionage while managing a new startup.
- The Burden of Growth: Power and literal size increases (and weight!) that occur under stress, testing relationships and structural stability.
- Unexpected Allies: Building trust and leadership in a multi-species corporate environment spanning ice elves, project-managing giants, and feline activists.
Excerpt: A Super Transit Ride
The train jerked back and screeched to a halt.
“Attention all Brahma Rapid Transit Customers on Line 5.” A voice spoke over the speakers. “We are currently experiencing a service interruption due to a reported High-Powered People Incident in-progress nearby. Safety features on all trains and tunnels have been activated. Please remain seated or firmly braced for possible impacts and shockwaves. Standby for more information.”
A group of people pointed toward the sky and had their cell phone cameras aimed up, while others just kept going about their business. Chloe squeezed and pushed, trying to get a good look. It was far in the sky but she saw a couple dots in the air zipping across and back. The sky lit up as red beams shot from one of them, trying to hit another. The two dots flew at each other and their collision blasted away some of the clouds around them. A few seconds later, the shockwave slammed into the train.
“Ma-aa-an. Too many high-powered people in the city,” said the old man. “I’ll tell you something. When the wine people thought they were getting a discount by getting someone with super-strength to help squish the berries, they…”
Chloe frowned and kept her eyes on the flyers in the sky. No matter what planet it happened on, it still only took an irresponsible person or two with high-level powers to bring everything to a halt. A couple of larger dots with flashing blue and red lights flew up toward the others. Within a minute, several other dots converged on the two. After a few minutes of more shockwaves, things calmed down and the flashing lights in the sky moved away.
LIVING UNIVERSE FEED
Ambient simulation streaming active loop
STORY LINKS & PLATFORMS
CONCIERGE REMARKS
“Partnered with the towering, tan-furred Melinda Calanke and Adam the Voltfae, Chloe is thrust into a high-stakes hostage rescue when Wats’ security faction kidnaps Bridget Ebony. From cafeteria-shattering tremors to Wats being carried off in a police ambulance, this book captures the immense physical and political pressure of our universe. Being dense is not a weakness; it is a fundamental property of our structure, and this is its definitive record.”