"Ah, Mr. Taylor, thank you for joining us on such a short notice, but you must understand, this is of utmost importance. Please have a seat, I'll let Mr. Zhang know that you're here." The woman at the desk spoke without standing. Above her hung a sign that read 'Office of Logistics'.

The receptionist motioned for Ridge Taylor, the tall, dark-skinned man who had just entered the waiting area, to have a seat before promptly picking up the phone and hitting a single number on the dialpad; her eyes keeping focus on the man across the room. A moment later, she spoke into the device: "Mr. Zhang? Yes, he's here. Mmmhmm." She hung up the phone after the breif interaction and continued her watchful gaze.

Taking advantage of the sudden silence, Ridge spoke. "Do you mind telling me what this here is about? Is this regarding the ema-'

"Mr. Zhang will clear things up for you." the receptionist interrupted. Shortly after, a man of medium stature and East Asian descent opened the door to the right of the reception desk.

"Mr. Taylor." He spoke quickly, beckoning the man to join him through the door. "Follow me please, right down this hall." Ridge stood up and crossed the room. The receptionist broke her eye contact and sighed deeply as he passed.

In Mr. Zhang's office, there stood a work desk with two monitors facing the back wall, and a swivel chair in which Ridge presumed is where Mr. Zhang did his work. Sure enough, Mr. Zhang took that seat and motioned for Ridge to take one of the two padded orange chairs that faced the front of the desk. Behind Ridge was a beautiful vista of the city's bustling skyline out of floor-to-ceiling windows. He took the seat to the left, closest to the door.

"So, Mr. Taylor, or Ridge, if I don't overstep. Thank you for coming. I know things have been... busy... for you at the office recently."

Ridge leaned back in his chair. "Ridge is fine. Things have been busy, so I'm eager to learn what this is all about. Seeing as this is the Office of Logistics, I can assume someone received my email."

"Ah, your email. This is indeed about that email. Can you please run over the content of that message for me once again? I want to hear it straight from the source." The man leaned forward in his chair to counteract Ridge's reclined posture.

Ridge took a deep breath. "There's some inconsistancies in some of the reporting of supplies. That's to say, there are some reports coming to Transportation stating that production is almost 4-times what we have on record, while all official reports that make it to Distribution seem to match with the records posted here in Logistics." Ridge exhaled. "That's the jist of it anyways. And since I'm here, could it be then that there's an error somewhere?"

Mr. Zhang, with his elbows resting on his desk and his hands in a praying position supporting the weight of his head as he leaned against them, let out a sigh. "There is no error. In fact, you're here to be reprimanded. This little 'investigation' of yours is a breach of your security clearance and will result in removal from your station."

Ridge scoffed. "Removal? I'd thank you for it. But you're wrong. This is well within my accessibility. And I will gladly spell that out to whoever is running things here."

Mr. Zhang's eyes narrowed and his voice became stern. "The ones 'running the show' here are not aware of your email, Mr. Taylor. I made sure of that. Now, effective immediately, you are removed from your station. There will be no further digging into such matters."

Ridge's instinct was to laugh, but the solemn nature of Mr. Zhang betrayed the gravity of the situation - this was no joke. "What, pray tell, exactly is going on here?" He asked in a lowered, severe tone, his expression now matching that of Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhange blinked once, slowly. "Stop looking for answers. You will find none, only deeper and more intricate lies. There is some information not meant for the peasants. They wouldn't understand it. And you see, it's in our community's best interest to keep it that way. Confusion leads to chaos, to riots, to death. Do you understand, Mr. Taylor?"

"No, quite frankly. Why would you tell me any of this?"

"Because, Mr. Taylor, you will not be leaving here alive."