Zoe slowly poked at her eggs as she munched on a piece of bacon. It was a little crispier than she had hoped, breaking easily in her mouth as she chewed. Her mind was adrift, not focused on the food but on a possible announcement today at work. While she had only heard sparse whispers and rumors, there was a chance that her division was up for a promotion. Her toes curled at the thought of being able to finally move up in the workplace. After all, that meant better hours, better workloads, and a better paycheck. She had been putting in the work over the past few weeks in hopes that it would put her in the spotlight. There really wasn’t anyone else better suited for the position than her.

“I can just feel it! Today is the day that everything changes for the better!” Zoe said as she bit down again on some bacon. She wiggled a little in her chair and kicked her legs excitedly. Zoe grabbed her phone and sent another text to her boyfriend, expressing her delight, before realizing the time.

“Shoot! I need to get ready! I can’t be late!”

Zoe finished up the last of her food before she rushed to the bedroom to pick out her clothes. She decided on a nice purple cotton tee that had a bit of a deep V-neck to it and slipped it over the black bra she had on. She ruffled through her drawers before she found a navy blue pair of leggings that she put on over top of her pink satin panties. She grabbed her uniform coat, which was neatly hung up on a coat hanger and put it on.

“Looking promotion ready,” Zoe said as she adjusted her clothes in the mirror. She grabbed her keys and her purse and left her apartment. As she was about to lock up her apartment, a voice called out to her.

“Heading out to work?” asked Juniper, the neighbor to Zoe’s left. She waved to Zoe as she saw Zoe heading out.

“Yep!” Zoe said, the extra pep in her step very visible.

“Well, someone’s energetic,” Juniper said with a smile. “Something good is happening today? Will it be the day that Stanley finally proposes? Has he been dropping hints?”

“No idea, but anything’s possible!” Zoe said, matching Juniper’s smile.

She didn’t quite mind having Juniper as a neighbor. Far better than the grouch of a man called Frederick who lived on the other side of Zoe. There were a few times that Juniper was annoying, such as playing her music a tad too loud or the times that Zoe could hear every orgasm Juniper had and caused through the walls, but outside of those times, Juniper was an ideal neighbor to have.

“Well, I love your energy today.” Juniper walked over and put something in Zoe’s hand. “Here, the spirits say that you’ll need this today.” Zoe looked down at her palm and looked at a small little jade four leaf clover sat in her hand.

“Thanks Juniper!” Zoe said as she tucked it into her breast pocket.

“The winds of change are blowing,” Juniper said as she closed her eyes and began to walk away. “Be wary, Zoe!” Then, she turned a corner and disappeared.

Zoe shrugged, having long given up trying to understand Juniper years ago. At this point, she just accepted the strangeness. She couldn’t deny that she liked the strange energy Juniper had from time to time.

Time.

Time.

“Shit!” Zoe quickly scrambled her way towards her car as she realized that it was getting later and later. If she didn’t hurry, she was going to be late for work. Her car rumbled to life and in a few moments, she was making her way towards SMILK INC.

It had always been her dream to work at such a prestigious place. It was one of the top research labs in the country. There, they researched all sorts of topics, from new robotics to parasites to even space travel. It was through her hard work, as well as her volunteer hours that she had painstakingly put in the effort for, that she had landed a job as a researcher. Even if it was the lowest available, she was still working at SMILK INC.

Sure, it wasn’t nearly as prestigious as being able to coast off of royalties like her sister, nor was she able to live in as nice a house as her. Zoe’s fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel as the thought of her sister, Sabrina. But, then she took a deep breath and was able to unclench the steering wheel.

“No, today won’t be about her. It’s going to be about me. I have been working hard. We are a shoe-in for that promotion!” Zoe said as she pumped herself back up. 

She hummed along to the radio as she finished up her drive, ignoring the signs for Sabrina’s newest book on billboards that she passed by. After a fairly short drive, she reached the employee parking lot for SMILK INC. Zoe reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, excited to see a text from Stanley texting her good morning. She dialed him and held her phone up to her ear. After a few short rings, he picked up.

“Hey babe!” Zoe said, her excitement building up again. “I hope you slept well.”

“Uh, yeah, I did,” Stanley said, with a bit of a light chuckle. There was a bit of extra noise, but it sounded like the TV was on in the background. “What got you so excited?”

“Well, nothing has been confirmed, but, I do want to say that I think there is a really good chance that my division will get promoted today,” Zoe said, hardly able to contain her joy.

“Really?” Stanley said with another light chuckle. “Wow, that’s great Zoe. I’m happy for you.”

“Well, again, nothing has been confirmed, but I have a really good feeling.” Zoe had a wide smile on her face. “So, I will let you know how things go.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Stanley said. There was a bit of a pause before he responded again. “Well, hey, I should let you get to work. Don’t let me keep you. Good luck.”

“Oh, uh,” Zoe said before she heard the sound of the phone call ending, “Uh, bye. Thanks for the good luck. Love you too.” She was a little annoyed, but he was right. She did need to focus on work. She stepped out of her car and made her way into the building. 

She greeted the security guard and headed right to her section of the lab. Zoe worked in the zoology department, helping non-pet animals with different diseases and ailments. As she entered the lab, the animals all gave her a rousing and loud greeting.

“Good morning everyone!” Zoe said as she set down her purse at her desk. She headed over to where her coworkers were all crowded around. “What’s got everyone’s attention?”

Her coworkers turned to Zoe, their faces long and expression drooped down. One of them pointed to a paper that was hung up on the bulletin board, and they moved aside to let Zoe read it. Her eyes scanned over the paper as she read it.

“To all employees of SMILK INC., please report to the main lobby area for an important meeting at 10 AM. Attendance is mandatory. Signed, Head CEO Garrett Young.”

Zoe crossed her arms and her expression matched her coworkers. “Everyone has to be present?” She felt a pit starting to form in her stomach as she set an alarm on her watch. “Oh boy.”

“Someone’s getting fired,” Jamison, one of Zoe’s coworkers, murmured.

“It’s not just one person. It’s gonna be a whole division,” Ashley, a different coworker, responded.

“No way. That couldn’t be possible, could it?” asked Jamison.

“Why would everyone need to be present for that?” asked Barbara, another coworker.

“Duh, it’s a show of dominance. That any division could be cut away. No one is safe,”  Ashley said.

“Everyone, relax,” Zoe said as she turned to everyone. “Relax. I mean, come on. We’re an important branch of SMILK. We’re Division 4, dammit! There’s no way they can cut us with all that we do.” She tried her best to swallow her fears and put on a brave face for the rest of her coworkers. “Now, what do we have to do today? Let’s keep working like we’re not getting fired, okay? Otherwise, we’ll definitely be on the chopping block next time something like this comes around.”

The rest of her coworkers looked at each other before nodding in agreement. They started to head to their designated tasks for today, trying their best to distract themselves from the upcoming meeting.

With a heavy sigh, Zoe got herself pumped up and looked over the posting about what she was supposed to be doing today. “Let’s see what they have me assigned to.” Zoe finds her name assigned to a fringe case.

These were cases that didn’t quite fit for anywhere else. Usually situations where an animal was found and it wasn’t exactly clear what was wrong. It didn’t fit any other known cases or conditions that they were aware of.

Zoe made her way down to Room 159 where she opened up the closet door. She put on a hazmat suit, then headed inside. “What’s the situation?”

Before her was a large brown bear, unconscious on an operating table. Inside the room, there were two SMILK guards, both armed with tranquilizer weapons if something were to go wrong. Two other SMILK lab agents were there with her, both wearing hazmat suits. Across the room, separated by a sheet of reinforced glass, was a man in a park ranger’s uniform watching the whole thing. The park ranger leaned in close to a microphone to speak to Zoe.

“This is Henry the bear. Lately, he’s been acting really weird. I went to check on him and, well, just look at his chest!”

Zoe looked a little surprised, but shrugged. She turned over the bear and looked at his chest.

Rather than the usual tufts of fur that would be expected, there was a hole in the chest and she could see right through to the heart. But, weirdly, the hole around was scabbed over in some strange purple material that didn’t look like scabbing. The heart was still beating and it didn’t look like there was any sign of usual infections despite the gaping hole. As she looked closer, she could see something that looked like worms or leeches around the heart. Zoe picked up a small scalpel and poked at the worms, which wiggled at the touch and caused the bear to shuffle around.

“What the hell?” she said, picking up a small flashlight to get better lighting. “What kind of parasites are these?” She gestured to one of the lab agents. “Get me a syringe of lebentizole, a pair of long thin-neck tweezers, a collection dish, and a sprayer of etheriazen.” The lab agent nodded and quickly gathered up the supplies that Zoe needed. While they did that, Zoe gestured to the armed guards. “Guards, I’m going to try our usual parasite removal process. And that may cause the bear to be agitated. You two, be ready in case something happens. Firing word is LIMO. Got it?” The guards nodded at her and raised their weapons as the agent handed the supplies to Zoe.

Zoe carefully took the syringe and injected it into the mass of parasites. “This is going to loosen them right up. And now, the removal process.” She leaned in close with the tweezers and began to remove the parasites one by one. She dropped them into the collection dish carefully, so as not to disturb them. To an untrained hand, this would have taken several hours to do; but Zoe’s training allowed her to finish in just under a few. 

“And now, the hard part.” She picked up the sprayer and aimed it at the wound on the bear. “Spraying etheriazen in three… two… one!” As soon as she sprayed, the bear recoiled as the chemicals hit its body. Zoe ducked out of the way of the thrashing as the bear flailed wildly on the table, knocking over various pieces of equipment nearby. The guards raised their weapons, but Zoe held her hand up to stop them. “Wait! Not yet!” A few moments later, the bear stopped, going back to a calming rest on the table. “Everyone alright?”

Zoe looked around, seeing the equipment and supplies that had been knocked over. Nothing seemed to be too badly destroyed, at least not to the extent that it couldn’t be fixed. The agents and guards all gave a thumbs-up.

“Great, we’re all good then.” Zoe lifted up the paw of the bear to check on the hole in its chest. To her delight, the etheriazen was doing its job and sealing the wound back up. She turned to the park ranger and gave him a thumbs-up. “We’re all good here.” Zoe pointed to one of the agents. “Escort the patient out of here to monitor and recover.”

The park ranger clapped as Zoe and one of the other agents began to clean up the room. The agent Zoe singled out and the two guards went to transport the bear out of the room.

“So, are you nervous?” the agent asked as it picked up some surgery tools off the ground.

“Nah, that was just a run of the mill parasite removal,” Zoe said as she cleaned up a small spill.

“No, not that. I mean about the meeting.”

Zoe shook her head. “Listen, I think that we’re going to be fine. I mean, we do important work here at SMILK! Take the bear we just had. Imagine if whatever that bear had got out into the world uncontrollably. Who knows what danger that could happen.” Zoe picked up the collection dish of parasites. “I am going to contain these properly. You finish up cleaning here. Alright?”

“Yes ma’am.”

With that, Zoe left the room, holding the collection dish. She made her way down a set of halls to the Containment Room.

“Alright, whatever the hell you all are. You guys are going into containment until we can figure out what you are.”

She opened up one of the sterile containment boxes and started to put the parasites in, one by one. As she did, she picked up one and looked at it. The parasites looked almost like worms or leeches, but about an inch long and had a gaping mouth on one end with teeth. They were an odd purple color.

“What are yo-”

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Zoe’s watch alarm startled her, causing her to drop the parasite.

“Shit! Is it time already?” Zoe quickly glanced at her watch. “Okay, let’s just get you all in there quickly!” She picked up the collection dish and poured the rest of them into the box before shoving it into an open slot in a set of boxes. “I’ll worry about filling out the paperwork after!” She quickly rushed out of the Containment room and scrambled to get to the meeting.

Zoe rushed her way to the main lobby, where all the other workers had gathered. She panted, out of breath as she joined up with her division.

“There you are, Zoe!” one of her coworkers said. “What happened?”

“I was down in Containment dealing with a case. Did I miss anything yet?” Zoe asked as she finally caught her breath.

“Not yet. The CEO is about to start,” another coworker said as he hushed and pointed to Garrett Young, who was standing up on a balcony.

“People of SMILK INC!” Garrett said, causing the crowd of employees to hush down. “As I am sure many of you are aware, I come bearing both good and bad news. Firstly, the good news! I have been watching and monitoring the reviews and progress of all the divisions. And, it is with great pleasure that I announce that this year, the Division Promotion will be given to…” Garrett opened up an envelope before reading the contents. “Division 16!”

Zoe’s heart sank more than before. She had tried her hardest to make Division 4 earn that promotion. Despite all the hard effort and all her gusto, Zoe couldn’t help but feel deflated after hearing the news. Still, she clung onto hope as she clutched onto the small jade four leaf clover that Juniper gave her. Even if they didn’t get the promotion, things weren’t all bad.

“And now for the bad news. Due to changes in the economy and new policies that come from the government, we do have to make cuts. So, it is with a heavy heart that I announce that Divisions 4, 13, and 25 will be closed down. You have until the end of the day to pack up your belongings. And, of course, we will know if you take anything that doesn’t belong to you.”

Things were all bad.

Zoe fell to her knees. As much as she wanted to, tears didn’t fall from her face. She didn’t even know why. She wasn’t putting on any brave face, but at the same time, everything felt like it was crumbling around her. The rest of whatever Garrett was talking about was a complete blur to her as she dissociated. She turned to see her fellow coworkers in Division 4 consoling each other and crying on shoulders. Some people she recognized from Division 25 had come over give them hugs and comfort as best as they could.

Zoe’s body felt heavy. It felt numb. She didn’t feel anything as she picked up her lunch from the break room. Her desk trinkets might have well as been as light as air the way she packed them without thinking. All sound was muffled to her, in one ear and out the other. She couldn’t tell whether coworkers were upset at the choices made, or at her for giving them hope. Zoe didn’t care. It felt like nothing mattered right now.

Zoe didn’t snap back to reality until she realized she was sitting in her car, holding her phone with her boyfriend’s number at the ready. Absent-mindedly, she dialed him to tell him the tragic news.

“Stanley… I… got let go from work today. They just announced it and… I finished packing up all my stuff. I just…” She sniffled, still feeling incredibly numb. “I know you’re probably busy right now, but… I need you dear… So, can I come-”

“Shit! Did you accidentally accept the call? How long has this call been going?” Stanley said, clearly not directing his voice to Zoe.

“Oops, sorry! Maybe she didn’t hear anything.”

The call hung up as Zoe stared beyond the horizon. That second voice was none other than her sister, Sabrina. Zoe recognized the out of breath nature of Stanley. Her mind clicked to what happened, but she didn’t want to accept it. No matter how she tried to reframe it, there was no mistaking it. She had called them while the two of them were doing each other and Sabrina accidentally accepted the call. 

How? How long? How long had this been going on? Had she been played like a fool for days? Weeks? Months? Maybe even years? Zoe clutched her chest as she breathed shakily. Had she angered some sort of divinity? Did she accidentally piss off a witch and was cursed? Was she just doomed to the worst day imaginable?

The next thing Zoe knew, she was back at the parking lot at her apartment. Her body had autopiloted its way back home. She slowly got out of the car, leaving her belongings inside. She shuffled to the door, going through the keys to find the one to her apartment.

As she was inserting the key, the door opened up on its own.

Confusion quickly turned to utter fear as she creaked open the door, seeing barren floors and walls. There was nothing. No furniture. No valuables. Anything remotely expensive had been taken.

Her mind flashed back to this morning. Juniper. She had talked to Zoe before Zoe locked her door. She left her apartment unlocked.

Zoe walked from room to room, looking at the barren spots where valuables and little trinkets had been, collecting dust. The only thing that had been left behind was the bed that couldn’t fit out of the doorframe.

She had no job. No boyfriend. And now, nothing in her apartment. Not even mind-numbing trash TV was an option for her.

She faceplanted down onto her bed, utterly limp. She kicked off her shoes and stared into the darkness. It was at this moment that tears finally fell from Zoe’s eyes. She had nothing. Everything was just gone. All her hard work, all her efforts, all her life was taken from her in a single day. Zoe rolled over and stared at the ceiling as the tears continued to stream down her face.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “There’s no way that this day could get any fucking worse!”

Then, she felt something. Something crawling on her leg. Zoe looked down, seeing nothing at first. Then, she sat up to try and get a better angle. There was one of the worm things from earlier.

Unknown to Zoe at the time, when the watch alarm startled her, the parasite she was holding didn’t drop down back into the collection dish. Instead, it hit the rim of the dish and bounced off, and landed into a part of her shoe that she couldn’t feel. It had stuck with her the whole time.

Before Zoe’s mind could comprehend anything more, after being beaten and battered all day with bad thing after bad thing, the parasite arched back. It let out a horrific scream before it suddenly lunged at Zoe.

That was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

Zoe groaned awake as her eyes fluttered open.

“What happened?”

She looked around, finding herself in her room. As her eyes went over the empty spaces where her things used to be, she began to recall.

“Oh, right.” She slammed her fist on her bed. It hadn’t been a nightmare. The firing. The cheating. The robbery. The parasite.

The parasite.

Zoe quickly checked her body for any sign of the parasite. There was a hole in her shirt, but to her shock, her body looked untouched. To double check, she rushed to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. There was one big noticeable change. Her irises were a vivid purple color now.

“What the fuck happened?”

Zoe felt a strange feeling in her throat. She coughed, then coughed again, then harder and harder until she eventually spit something up. Inside of her bathroom sink was one of the worm parasites. Zoe shrieked and backed away, falling to the ground as the parasite wiggled to the edge of the counter.

“My queen, what is your command?”

Zoe shrieked again. There was no way that thing just fucking talked! Now she had lost her mind. She was crazy. The stress and trauma of everything today made her go insane and now she was spitting up parasites and they were talking to her.

“My queen, what is your command?” the parasite asked again.

“What the fuck is going on!?” Zoe shouted.

“Ah, you are confused, my queen.” The parasite inched a little closer to the edge of the sink. “You are the queen of the Thaviothes. Normally, we take over a host and control them, but, there was something different about you. I believe when we tried to attack your heart, there was something that reacted with us.”

Zoe looked down at her chest, where the hole was. She reached into the breast pocket and pulled out half of the jade trinket that Juniper had given her.

“Ah, that would be it. That caused a chemical and biological reaction in us. Rather than you being subservient to us, we are now subservient to you. Though, we did bond with you, and that shared some of your intelligence with us.” The parasite nodded its head, as if it was bowing. “You are our queen. The legion of Thaviothes is at your command.”

“Legion of Thaviothes?” Zoe said. As the words left her lips, somehow, in some way, it felt right. It felt like a normal fact. She turned to the parasite. “What can you do?”

“The only thing we can do as parasites is infect others by burrowing into them. But, once we do, they become under your absolute command,” the parasite explained.

“My absolute command?” Zoe said as she stared at the parasite.

“Yes. Their mind, their body, and their will will all belong entirely to you,” the parasite explained. “They will never disobey you and be eternally yours.”

Zoe slowly stood up and walked over to the mirror. She looked at herself again. Then, out of the corner of the mirror, she saw her empty room.

An idea came to her. This world had just taken so much from her. It took her life. Everything she had built up and put effort into. All because it could. So… why should she just let it? Why should she accept that this was how things were. She could change things. She could do something. She could control it. A smile drew wide across her face as she laughed to herself. At first a small chuckle, then louder, until finally a full on cackling.

She turned to the parasite. “You. I’m going to call you Thaddeus.” 

The parasite nodded. “I am honored to be named Thaddeus, my queen.” 

She gently picked the parasite up in her hands.

“And together, Thaddeus. You and I are going to take back my life and so. Much. More!”