Douglas appeared around the corner, his ever-present scowl in place. “Alright, what gives?”

Jim raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Douglas crossed his arms. “It’s been quiet. Too quiet. No random memos, no bizarre directives, no Karen running around with a ruler. I’m starting to think you two have gone soft.”

Jim snorted. “Soft? Us? Please.”

Douglas narrowed his eyes. “So, what’s the excuse this time? You two in some kind of prank hibernation?”

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Jim glanced at X017, then back at Douglas, already spinning his next excuse. “We’ve been, uh, recalibrating. Fine-tuning the chaos machine. Trust me, Douglas, the best is yet to come.”

Douglas tapped a finger against his chin. “Fine. But if you two don’t deliver something brilliant by next week, I’m out. None of this half-baked stapling ties nonsense again. I want real chaos.”

The three of them leaned closer, voices dropping to conspiratorial whispers.

“Behavioral benchmarks…”

“Uniform cubicle wall height adjustments…”

“Surprise compliance inspections…”

“Work Journal font choices…”

“Microwave audits…”

Karen and Worker #42 walked into the break room for coffee, blissfully unaware of the chaos brewing at Pranking HQ.