Out of Office

By M. J. Alder

"THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED. IT WILL BE CONFLICT-RESOLVED."

Every office has its quirks. A flickering fluorescent bulb, a missing stapler, a door that stays locked from the inside. But at the Zenith Corporation, the architecture itself feels like a corporate gaslight.

Employees arrive, punch in, and disappear into a maze of institutional beige and endless corridors. Efficiency is paramount. Compliance is mandatory. Emotional outbursts are strictly scheduled for the 15-minute afternoon break.

Then a folded paper crane appears on the threshold of a hidden, unmapped crawlspace behind a gray wall panel.

Inside the gap lies a world the company forgot: a warm, shadow-lit sanctuary of string lights, repurposed cubicle walls, and quiet, human rebellion. From this secret vantage point, the mundane absurdity of corporate life takes on a strange, uncanny weight. As the boundary between the sterile office and the hidden room begins to blur, a quiet choice must be made: keep clocking in for a life that isn't yours, or step into the shadows to find something real.

Perfect for fans of Severance and literary speculative fiction, Out of Office is a melancholy, deeply witty, and surreal dive into what happens when we try to log out of the system for good.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H9D2P93P
• ISBN13: 9798187466573
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"