Kate rushed into Sandra’s office without knocking. “There’s a problem at the factory, ma’am.”
“Serious?” Sandra asked.
“I would never joke about business, ma’am.”
“No, Kate. Is the problem serious?”
“Ah yes, no it isn’t, most likely.”
Sandra tugged down on her shirt and blinked a few times in Kate’s general direction. Kate stared back at her with a concerned expression.
Sandra blinked some more, then asked, “Would you care to try that again?”
“Yes, ma’am. The foreman of our earbud factory on Cicero says that the workers are complaining of unexplained phenomena. He’s worried that they will find out that the site was built on haunted land.”
“Haunted land?” Kate said, scrunching up her face. “This is the first I’m hearing about it. What was on that site before that condo we tore down.”
“It was an empty lot, ma’am.”
“A haunted empty lot?”
“No, ma’am. The foreman believes that the haunting came from the condo itself. It was the site of a fire in the summer of 1997.”
“I don’t recall any stories about a fire.”
“A massive Pioneer sound system caught fire at a party. I believe it was a tower of some sort. Three people were injured with first degree burns.”
“First degree are the least serious burns, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“So.”
“The foreman finds the speaker/earbud relationship… ‘creepy.’”
Later:
Sandra awoke to a text from Kate that read:
“Did you read the news?” with a link attached that read: New Earbuds only Play Hanson’s MMMBop.