Sara wasted little time gathering her things and setting out.
The Federal Revenue Institute had an office in the next county over. Sara ordered a cab to bring her to the office. She planned out everything that she wanted to be seen in the video. She made sure that her makeup was done spectacularly, made sure she dressed conservatively and respectably, even if a bit plainly. She wanted to emphasize the fact that her family was just a normal labor family that was powerless to the tyranny of the F.R.I.
Her phone rung, letting her know that her cab was outside.
Walking up, she stepped to the front and sat in the empty "drivers" seat. She didn't have to input her destination into the gps, as she'd already done that when she ordered it online. Cab's were most people's preferred method of transportation in the current day and age. The only cars that were legal to drive were self-driving and most people that worked in the labor force couldn't afford to buy one. Cheap ones cost more than a labor workers entire years worth of pay. The expensive ones…a labor worker couldn't dream of making enough in their lifetime to pay for one of those….
Regardless, they still weren't cheap. The only reason she was able to afford this one was because she hadn't bought much with her pay since her schooling had ended. She was saving up for a new camera and mic, but it would take almost a year for her to make that with her current follower count and if this video worked out…she might make enough to buy it earlier.
She tapped the screen on her phone absentmindedly, not paying much mind to the traffic around her. There wasn't much, as stated before, most people couldn't afford the vehicles. There were a few delivery trucks, but not many, as most packages were delivered via the air and not the ground. Most of the delivery trucks were for markets and stores. The cabs on the road were ones that were older models, less expensive than others. Most families that could afford the cabbing service were ones that still didn't meet the required fame to get out of the labor force and instead were only able to spend their money on small luxuries. Sara's family wasn't one of them. Her father was relatively inept when it came to gaining fame, and her mother gave up on it a long time ago. She still posted, but she only posted a video a week at most. Usually, she posted a video a month.
It took almost thirty minutes for Sara to reach the F.R.I. When she did, she was greeted with a pleasant surprise. The street outside of the office was quite busy. She might even be able to get a few people filming her when she confronted the office.
Sara wasn't too familiar with the practices of public confrontation. She knew that she couldn't go too overboard, or she herself might be arrested. Any sort of physical contact had to be the offices personnel doing it. After all, she was not an influential person in the least and couldn't exactly argue her case well if it came down to it.
Her plan was to go in filming, start questioning and eventually screaming. Hopefully, the office personnel would make her leave and then she could argue that they were forceful and exaggerate how terrible they had treated her.
Sara stepped out of her cab and walked a few blocks away. She didn't want people to see her climbing out of a cab and then think that she was some spoiled "rich" girl that just wanted to cause trouble. After all, most people couldn't afford a cab. These people would find it hard to feel any sympathy for her if they thought her life was better off than their own.
She waited a few minutes around the corner of a building, making sure that no one had been paying attention to her getting out of the cab and walking over. She wanted to try to make sure that everyone that was around when she had stepped out of the cab had left and that new people were in the vicinity instead.
Her phone vibrated. The cab would repeatedly ask if she was ready to leave if she wanted it to drive to her location every fifteen minutes after reaching the destination. It also gave the amount that would be owned if she chose to extend the time she was using the cab. Sara tapped to extend the time, glancing at the amount due. She felt her chest constrict at the amount, but told herself that this was worth it if everything worked out.
She waited another few minutes and then began to make her way toward the F.R.I. office.
Sara stomped forward, contorting her face in a mask of anger as she did. Most people on the street ignored her; too busy to pay her any mind, but some took notice of her distressed mask and watched her walk by with curiosity.
Sara could feel their eyes on her and smirked internally. Yes, she wanted as many eyes on her as possible.
She marched up the stairs to the offices. More people were watching her, as she made her way. A couple people were coming out of the office; they gave her a questioning glance before shaking their heads and continuing on their way.
They had seen many people just like Sara. People wanting to try to "fight the system", or worse, to cause a scene.
As Sara stepped into the artificial lights of the F.R.I. office, she paused, her mask of anger falling. The office was not what she had expected.
The ceilings were high, with a grand chandelier hanging down to give the space an opulent feel. The walls had art hanging, with wall lights spaced regularly throughout. The wall sconces were made to look wooden. They looked expensive. There were people inside, more than she expected. They were dressed in suits and spoke with each other in hushed voices. The floors appeared to be marble, eighteen by eighteen inch tiles. There was a desk in front of her, it was large and circular and sat three people that were speaking with people as they called them up over a loud speaker. People were signing in and waiting in plush chairs as they waited to be called.
She wasn't entirely sure what she expected, but this wasn't it.
She almost lost her nerve as a man in a uniform, a security officer, stood off to the side. His gaze swept over her, and seemed to linger for just a moment before continuing to take in the rest of the scene.
Sara steeled her resolve, thinking about the followers that this could bring her, then replaced her mask of rage and continued forward.
A woman sat behind the large desk smiling at Sara as she approached.
"Can I help-" The woman stopped short as she saw the phone in Sara's hand, pointed in her direction.
"Yeah! I want to know how people like you get off taking advantage of simple Labor Force workers!?" Sara had a script that she wanted to stick to, but most of it had flown out of her head as soon as she walked through the door. Her mind went blank, causing her to just wing it. After all, she just wanted to cause a scene.
The woman that Sara had yelled at's smile vanished slowly. Her eyes raked over Sara before resting on the phone in her hand. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sara didn't give her the chance.
"Hey! I asked you a question, and you can't answer it?! This is why people are upset with the current situation in this country! What?! Am I not worth the time of some big shot? What?! Can't stand to even answer a lowly Labor Force worker's questions!?"
If Sara had thought before she spoke, she probably wouldn't have said the last part of this. All of the workers in the F.R.I. were in fact labor workers. They received the same treatment as most others, though their hours were a bit better. Not by much, but a bit. The so called "big shots" that Sara spoke about wouldn't be working in an office of the F.R.I.
Sara's mind was completely blank at this point. She felt someone coming up from behind her. Her adrenaline had already kicked in. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her thoughts were scrambled. The presence that she felt reminded her that the security officer was close by, making her think that now was the time that the officer would be trying to make her leave. Not wanting to be brought out without making as big of a scene as she could, Sara decided to take it a step further.
She reached out with her free hand and threw everything in front of her onto the floor. Paperwork, stapler, pens and pencils, everything went onto the floor. The woman jumped as Sara did this.
Though Sara wouldn't be able to tell, the fear that had begun to take over her had caused her eyes to bulge out in a very manic way, causing her to seem crazed.
Sara, afraid that the security guard would be grabbing her at any time, started reaching for more things to throw. She stopped paying attention to the camera angle on her phone, and began using both hands to throw things. She ended up on her stomach for the most part, reaching and scattering things onto the floor. As she did this, she screamed out curses and unintelligible rantings. She really looked like a crazed woman who had only come here to cause trouble and vent her anger.
After a few seconds of reaching and throwing things onto the floor, Sara realized that she was not being grabbed. She paused in her furious reaching and screeching to turn around. Behind her, the security guard stood. He stood watching her with hesitation.
Seeing this, Sara began to scream out in apparently fear and pain.
"NO! Don't touch me! Don't hurt me!" She screamed as she stepped toward the security guard.
Confused, the guard kept his hand up as Sara ran into him.
"Miss, calm down, please. I'm not hurting you."
Sara continued to scream and thrash around.
"Help! Let me go!"
Sara continued to scream and thrash around. If she has paid attention, she would have seen that most of the people in the office, both workers and non, were watching her antics through the cameras on their phones. Sara's wish that others would film her act had come true.
The security guard stepped away from Sara, causing a rather comical scene. While he stepped away, Sara continued to thrash about, as if she were fight against being thrown out. She had been so expectant towards the guard that she had effectively convinced herself that after she threw the things to the ground, she would then have to fight with the guard. Because of her heightened anxiety and excitement, it took her a while to realize that what she thought was happening due to the fantasy and script she had thought up in her mind and what was actually happening, was very different.
After finally realizing that she wasn't being restrained, Sara paused in her apparently crazed thrashing. She looked around to find that most people were filming her, and that the guard had backed away, leaving her with ample space to put on her show.
Sara's pause lasted but a moment before she realized that things hadn't gone the way she wanted. She felt blazing embarrassment in the next moment. Her face and neck flushed as she did the only thing she could think of.
She ran.
Her phone vibrated as she pushed against the door to leave. Glancing at the screen, she tapped the icon for the cab to come around, and bolted.
Many of the people filming her jumped up and followed her out. Sara rushed forward, trying to get away from the crowd of people taking enjoyment in her embarrassment.
They started mocking her as she rushed down the steps.
After reaching the sidewalk and not seeing her cab, she turned toward one of the more vocal people in her audience.
She walked backwards as she sneered at him.
"Why don't you shove it up your ass, b-IYAH!"
Not paying attention, Sara walked straight into the street. If she hadn't been so distracted, she would have seen that her cab was in fact on its way towards her.
That day…a new internet trend was started.
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