Nobody was really sure when the stain was first noticed.

“I guess I’ve been walking by it every day and just haven’t seen it there,” the Stock and Inventory Specialist told his supervisor.

“And you’re saying you think it’s getting bigger?” the supervisor asked.

The Stock and Inventory Specialist rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his feet. “I know it sounds crazy, but when it first caught my eye last week, maybe Thursday or Friday, it was no bigger than just your usual stain on the floor. Now it’s probably double that,” he said.

The supervisor leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “What does it look like?” he asked.

“Sort of a light black, maybe dark purple. Looks like somebody dropped some grape jelly on the floor,” the Stock and Inventory Specialist said.

“Have you tried to clean it up at all?” the supervisor asked.

“That’s the thing, sir. Ronnie, one of the other guys working down in the warehouse, he got a paper towel and tried to wipe it up. Whatever it is went through and burnt up his fingers really bad,” the Stock and Inventory Specialist explained.

The supervisor nodded. Now that he thought about it, an all-department email had come through earlier that day. It was from the General Employment Safety Department warning all management to be on the lookout for some possible foreign infestation in the store.

“Do not interact with the substance until a corporate response team has been allowed ample time extract a sample and thoroughly analyze it,” the email had warned.

Later on, another email had arrived in the supervisor’s inbox. It was an Accident/Fatality report from the Health and Workplace Safety Standards Department. The email didn’t list Ronnie by name, instead it made reference to a Stock and Inventory Specialist being run to the emergency room for an injury to their hand which, apparently, had somehow progressively gotten worse after arriving at the hospital.

Stolen novel; please report.

“The employee has lost complete use of their hand and there is fear that the entire arm may need to be amputated,” the email read.

“Well, let me ask corporate what they think we should do with this stain,” the supervisor said. “When I hear back, I’ll come down to the warehouse and make sure we get it cleaned up properly.”

The Stock and Inventory Specialist let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “That whole thing with Ronnie got bad really quick and I wasn’t sure what how we were going to handle that mess on the floor. I’m glad I decided to come talk to you. Thank you so much,” he said.

The supervisor got up and walked the Stock and Inventory Specialist to the door. “Not a problem at all,” he said. “That’s what I’m here for. Stop by anytime.”

After his visitor had left, the supervisor picked up his phone, dialed a long sequence of numbers and waited for his prompt.

“Timothy Raines. Store one thousand, eight hundred and thirty-one. Level C, tier two, supply division,” he said when asked for name, location and clearance. There was always a wait whenever he called corporate so he leaned back in his chair and stared out the window until a series of beeps started on the other end.

“How can we help you today, Level C, tier two, supply division supervisor Raines?” a clipped, nasal voice said. The supervisor tried to determine if he was talking to a male or a female but didn’t have any luck guessing a gender. That was one of the things when you called corporate, you were never sure who you were talking to, let alone if they were human or not.

“It’s in reference to the emails that were sent out earlier by Health and Workplace. An S and I Specialist just came to my office and let me know there’s some sort of mysterious blob on our warehouse floor. It’s the one that hurt that guy’s hand pretty bad when he tried to clean it up,” the supervisor said.

A whirring noise started on the line and picked up intensity for a few seconds before stopping completely. “Yes, we are aware of the situation and are monitoring it closely,” the voice said.

“I appreciate that,” the supervisor said, careful not to sound ungrateful. He had heard stories about what had happened to other supervisors when they accidently offended someone at the corporate headquarters. “The reason I’m calling is to notify you guys the S and I gave me the blob’s location.”

A couple of computerized bells chimed in different tones. “Do you have the exact coordinates?” the voice asked.

“I don’t. Not at the moment. I’m going to go down in a little bit and check it out. I’ll get the coordinates then. The other thing I wanted to ask is what I should do till you guys send someone out to clean it up?” the supervisor asked.

A hum sounded through the earpiece. “Section off the area for the time being,” the voice said, barely audible over the continuing hum. “Keep all employees a minimum distance of ten feet from the substance, regardless of workflow interruption. If there are any developments between now and when our team arrives, please contact us immediately,” the voice said and abruptly ended the call.