Organic Sprouts Inc., Squalo DiTerra [desktop ebook reader .TXT] 📗

The year, 2019. The location, a dystopia not unlike any other modern day metropolis in the West. Devoid of community, character and culture. People just live to produce and consume and live meaningless atomized lives. Noise pollution, light pollution, water pollution and air pollution are the byproducts of such a civilization and are part of the daily lives of the inhabitants here.
On the east side of the city, in an area designated for industrial use, we find Organic Sprouts Inc. Located inside a non-descript office plaza, this small production facility is where organic seeds are planted in organic soil then harvested, turned into salads and then packaged and shipped off to customers city wide. Sprouted nutrient rich microgreens for the health concious amongst the busy masses.
The three main employees here are the production manager, the director of marketing (who is also responsible for customer service) and the driver. All three are slender grey aliens with slightly larger heads and menacing eyes. They arrived as a team to help with operations. The other three employees are Japanese workers on temporary Visas.
Every morning well before sunrise, the driver is the first to arrive. He is to drive to the back of the building to load up the van and be on his way before the others arrive.

On this dark cold freezing morning, however, on his way to the back of the building to load the products, our driver decided to take the corner at high speed, swerved, regained control only to try to drift to his spot and eventually flip the van over. He managed to climb out of the passenger side and called his two colleagues who assured they would be right over.
The parking lot in the back is strewn with litter and the garbage bins full to the brim. It is dark but the stars are barely visible, only a few can be seen. The moon, however, is bright and crescent in the freezing sky.
The other two greys soon arrived and the three of them decided it would be best to light the van on fire and watch it burn. Soon there was a large black plume of smoke heading towards the night sky.
The production manager called a rental truck prior to arriving. Soon after the van was fully immersed in fire, a man arrived with a box truck to the back parking lot. He was awe struck by what he saw but told them he could have a guy there to put out the fire and remove the van in under an hour. It was agreed that his services would be needed.
The truck that was delivered was spewing black diesel smoke out of the exhaust and the man informed the greys that it burns fuel so be careful. It was also quite loud.
The three greys loaded the truck together and made up for the delay so the driver was on his way.
After a short drive he is on the highway. It is still pre-dusk but the highways are full as the masses have swarmed and spread like a virus. The traffic is moving fast though.

After travelling west he takes the off ramp and heads southbound. After a few minutes the sun rises and it is now light out. He is making good time.
The first stop is to the oldest indoor market in the city. The building is 120 years old and a real tourist attraction. People are drawn to it's architecture and history and it is one of the few buildings with character remaining in the city. It is always crowded regardless of the day.
While stopped at the lights, the driver notices a crowd of people gathered on the corner of the historic building. He notices a fat man wearing a top hat, a tuxedo jacket and an eye glass in the middle of the crowd. While driving by he notices the fat man is promoting a product and the people are listening to his every word. He sounds like quite the orator.
Our driver heads to the loading dock and backs in to the first available bay. He gets out of the truck and pulls out a long, thin, very sharp knife and plans to confront the fat man. He decides to call the office for any last minute advice.

"Wait! Don't harm the fat man" the marketing director advises. "If he's a good salesman he could help us move more product. We would then increase production".

"That's a valid point".

"If he has a card, get it. Or give him one of ours".

And with that, the driver met the fat man and the two of them agreed to be in contact soon. After delivering his order to the produce store inside the building the driver was off to continue his busy day.

Back at the production facility, after the van having been removed, the employees started arriving one by one and got right to work. The boss arrived a bit later.
The boss is a soft-spoken Japanese woman who built the company from the ground up. She pays the bills and oversees everything, ensuring the company is run according to her vision.
That day a big trailer arrived so the production manager helped unload ten pallets of products. The items ranged from stacks of unassembled boxes to plastic food containers of various sizes to jars of sundried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar from Italy, soy sauce and sesame oil from Japan, tin cans of canola oil and rolls of labels. There is a great amount of energy and resources used to get to the end product. And with this delivery all of the supplies have been refilled.
The boss is working on payroll, the staff working diligently and the head of marketing busy making calls. All in all a typically productive day, and in a few hours the driver will arrive having distributed the product throughout the city.

Soon the greys will be home. They live a 10 minute drive away from the production facility and just north of the city's busiest highway. They live on the 19th floor of a generic glass and metal looking highrise condo that is one of five condos on the plot of land. All five are built in the generic, lifeless, soul crushing architectural model that has come to dominate the city's skyline.
Inside their cheaply built, but very expensive, bachelor apartment the greys have the bare minimum. A bunk bed with two single mattresses and a single mattress bed are all the furniture that they have. They have floor to ceiling windows and a balcony.
Only half of the units in the building are occupied. The people who do live there are joyless, cultureless, defeated people who have succumbed to apathy.

Weeks have passed and the greys seem to be doing well in their respective fields. Business has even picked up as the fat man has come through with some new clients and has proven to be a good promoter. He gets his commission and everyone is happy.
One day, however, everything drastically changed as the boss received quite a large bill for a truck rental. When she confronted the production manager and the head of marketing they explained the situation very candidly and without the slightest bit of remorse. She was in disbelief so she arranged a meeting for the end of the day that all employees were to attend as soon as the driver returned.
In that meeting, all three greys were fired. Plus, an internal investigation by the production staff revealed that the marketing director spent most of his time at work calling random people trying to convince them to commit suicide rather than trying to make sales.
So the greys packed their things and vacated the premises.
The boss reached out to the fat man and he assured her he would have replacement workers for her in less than a day. He also had an idea to run by her.
The next day the fat man arrived with his workers, but the boss declined them due to them looking like trash and the fact that she found replacements amongst her Japanese community that would be by later on. She was very interested to hear what ideas he had though.
He informed her that he has connections to a large supermarket chain.

She was thrilled beyond words but didn't show it. She kept cool but this is the goal she always strived for since starting the business.

"I could have your product on their shelves and your production would increase to untold heights".

"I am very interested. Let's work together on this".

There was just one caveat.

"In order to sell your products in a national chain you will have to get HACCP certification".

"What is HACCP?"

"It's a government organization that standardizes food production, quality, safety etc. The big stores require it and it can be expensive".

"It sounds like a scam".

"Think of it as an entrance fee that gets you to the next level. If you want to operate within the State, you have to pay the State".

"How much will it cost"?

"There are many variables but I can put you in touch with an agent tomorrow and he can explain everything and help you decide if this is the route you want to take. Do you want to continue dealing strictly with independent family owned small businesses, or do you want to reach the next level? It's your choice".

"Ok I will meet with him, thank you".

And with that the fat man excused himself as he had other matters to attend to.

 The next day, as promised, a government agent arrived to meet the boss. After a quick walkaround the two sat at the table and he explained the costs. There is an audit fee, a training fee, an exam fee and a certification fee. The certification fee to be renewed yearly. Plus there will need to be major renovations to the production facility and the production itself.
The boss thanked him for his time and information and took his card.
After a few days of contemplating, she called a meeting and announced to her team that they will go ahead with the plan.
The cost will be upwards of $50,000 dollars with half of that for renovations. Fortunately the fat man has the right contractors for such a job.
Days later, a team of government officials arrived to do a full audit of the facility and the production methods. They