The Manager paced back and forth in her office in the back of the Haze building. It was after hours, and the building was empty, save for her and one of the waitresses, Amelia, standing motionless in the corner of the room, staring straight ahead with that glassy-eyed smile all the waitresses have.

As she paced, the Manager found herself plagued with anxiety. Was this really a good idea? She was having a meeting with some prospective investors, businessmen and women with deep pockets, and a vested interest in a successful club with a famously good staff. Impressing them could mean big money for the club. Hell, maybe even franchising.

But the investors had specifically expressed interest in Haze's employee training. And that was what made her nervous. Sure, she could just make something up, but what if they learned the truth? So she had decided to give them a first-hand demonstration of an employee in action. But now, as she thought about it, she wondered if it was really a good idea.

She glanced at Amelia out of the corner of her eye. The waitress hadn't moved a muscle, still standing in the corner, her body frozen in that welcoming pose, her mouth holding a bright, friendly smile, her eyes wide, glassy, and devoid of thought. The Manager let out a small chuckle. At moments like this, she was almost a little jealous of their staff. Not having to make decisions, any decisions, did admittedly have it's appeal.

But she quickly pushed that thought away. No, she was the manager. She was the boss. Haze was her dream, something she'd built for herself. And if she could impress these investors, she could make that dream bigger than it had ever been before. 

She was shaken out of her personal pep-talk by a vibration in her suit jacket pocket. She reached in and saw a text from one of the investors. They were right outside.

Alright, she thought to herself. Showtime.

She straightened her skirt, and walked to the front door, unlocking it and pushing it open. She greeted the investors with a smile.

"Hello! Good to see you all, I'm glad you could make it. Please, come in!"

The investors walked in, three men and two women, all prominent business people. Their faces were nigh unreadable. She had no doubt she was the hundredth business they'd toured before, maybe more. Impressing them would be hard. But, for better or worse, she knew she had something to show them that they'd never seen before.

"Please, follow me. We're headed to my office, right in the back."

She held her hand in front of her, and then began walking. The investors fell in line behind her, wordlessly surveying the main floor of the club. After an agonizingly quiet few seconds, one of the men spoke up.

"Impressive decor," he said, his voice low and stern. "Very modern. I like it."

The Manager did her best to suppress a smile.

"Thank you, I'm glad to hear it. We do our best to keep up with the latest styles, so we have a look that's as appealing as possible."

The man didn't respond as they continued walking, down the small hallway that led to her office. They reached the door, and the Manager took a deep breath as she reached towards it.

Make or break time. Let's do this, she thought to herself. And then she opened the door.

She closed the door behind the group as they walked into her small, well-lit office, taking seats around the small table she had set up. She stood in front of them, and began her speech about Haze's success, how profitable it was, and how she was sure her business would make a great partner for any or all of them. Throughout her presentation, she saw them taking glances at Amelia, who was still standing exactly where she's been left, although none of them asked about her.

In fact, they were uncomfortably silent throughout the entire presentation. As the Manager finished, she wiped a small bead of sweat from her brow, before nervously addressing the group.

"So, does anyone have any questions?"

There was another beat of silence, before one of the women spoke.

"Who is the woman standing behind you?"

Here goes nothing, the Manager thought to herself as she spoke.

"Ah, yes, her. Well, all of you expressed keen interest in the productivity and friendliness of our staff. Rather than giving you a long-winded explanation, I figured it may be better to simply give you a demonstration."

She turned to face Amelia, who still hadn't moved, or given any indication that she was even aware of what was happening.

"Amelia, come stand beside me."

Instantly, Amelia's body sprung into action, as she began walking towards the manager, moving with that same peppy gait she always used. She stopped when she was beside the manager, her smile never once wavering.

"This is Amelia," the Manager said, turning back to her audience. "She's one of our waitresses."

The same woman who had first asked the question spoke up again.

"And...why is she here? And why is she acting so strangely."

The Manager took another deep breath, and swallowed heavily, her throat suddenly feeling very dry.

"Yes. Well, that's the secret to our excellent service. All of our employees undergo a rigorous onboarding process, designed to train them to be the perfect employees."

Another deep breath, as she continued.

"We employ a regimen of rigorous hypnotic conditioning in order to-"

She nervously observed the reactions that immediately crossed all of their faces, eyes glancing between each other in confusion. One of the men spoke up.

"I'm sorry, did you say conditioning? As in, hypnosis? Actual hypnosis?"

The Manager nodded.

"Yes, that's correct."

The man immediately snorted and began to rise from his seat.

"Thank you for your time, miss, but this is ridiculous. If you won't take this meeting seriously then why should I-"

"Ask her anything," the Manager said, cutting him off.

"Excuse me?

"I said, ask her to do something. Anything."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because she'll obey you unquestioningly," the Manager said. "I brought you all here to show you just how effective our methods are."

The man looked at her incredulously, before scoffing.

"Alright, very well. Amelia, was it? I don't know, fetch me a glass of water."

Amelia immediately began moving, walking out of the room and down the hallway. A moment later, she returned, approaching the man and handing him the drink.

"Here you go, sir," she said, with all of her preprogrammed enthusiasm. "Can I get you anything else?"

The man took the glass, before turning back to the Manager.

"Wonderful, she can make drinks. And what exactly does this prove?"

The Manager turned to face Amelia.

"Amelia, please inform everyone of today's specials."

"Of course! Today's specials include our delicious Bourbon Barrel Burger, our wonderful Double Sauced Buffalo Wings..."

Amelia continued on, perfectly listing off the days specials. As soon as she finished, the Manager spoke up again.

"Do tomorrows now, please."

Again, Amelia flawlessly listed all of the specials for the next day. When she finished the Manager again spoke, asking for next week's specials, and again Amelia flawlessly listed every item, her programmed mind automatically pulling the information stored within.

The Manager turned back to the group of investors, and saw as the uncertainty on their faces changed to a quiet awe. She smiled to herself.

Yup. Got them now, she thought.

"That's just the beginning," she said after Amelia finished. "Amelia here, and all the rest of our staff, are fully conditioned like this. Everything they need to know, say, and do is programmed straight into their minds. No mistakes, no hesitation, just perfect service."

"Okay, but doesn't that bother them," the woman from earlier spoke up again. "Surely it must be unpleasant, having agency taken away like that."

"That's the beauty of it," the manager replied. "A significant part of our conditioning involves inducing a state of mindlessness that persists throughout the duration of a shift. She's not thinking or feeling anything right now."

Confusion returned to the faces of the investors.

"Don't believe me? Come look at her."

The group approached Amelia, who never once moved an inch as they all looked her over. One of the men leaned in to look into her eyes. She stared back at him, her eyes wide and glassy. Despite the happiness plastered on her face, Amelia's eyes were absolutely empty. She seemed to stare right through the man as he looked at her, her eyes showing no hint of a reaction, no trace of thought, no sign that anything was happening behind them at all.

"The mindlessness serves a purpose beyond simply keeping them docile," the Manager continued. "It also ensures that they won't react to anything they aren't programmed to. Here, watch."

The Manager pulled out her phone, and began tapping on the screen. A few moments later, a ringing began to sound from Amelia's pocket as her phone went off. The Manager let the phone call run until it went to voicemail, and as her phone continued ringing, Amelia gave no sign that she even heard it at all. Her expression never changed, and she didn't move a muscle. Her eyes continued to display nothing but placid emptiness. Not a hint of a reaction.

The investors began to murmur amongst themselves, clearly impressed now by what they'd seen. After a moment, another of them spoke.

"So what happens if someone asks her a question? If she can't think for herself, how can she respond?"

"We've taken care of that," replied the manager. "Every staff member is preprogrammed with conditioned responses to a wide range of common questions and interactions. Ask her a question, and she'll give you the preprogrammed response."

One of them immediately spoke up.

"Amelia, what would you recommend if I wanted something...spicy?"

"Well, I'm a huge fan of the buffalo chicken wrap! The lettuce inside gives it such a nice crunch, and the sauce is so good!"

Amelia's response came immediately, delivered with a cheeriness that was reflected on every part of her body. She brought a hand up playfully, giving her hair a small twirl, and bounced lightly on her feet. As soon as she stopped speaking, though, she went back to that default pose, standing cutely but motionlessly in front of them.

"She seems so...-"

"Cheerful?" The Manager interrupted. "That's by design. Part of the conditioning process involves implanting the employees with a personality that they use when interacting with customers. It governs their mannerisms, how they hold themselves, the way they speak, their pool of possible responses. Things like that."

By this point, the investors all looked impressed. The Manager smiled to herself. This was going well.

"It's all very modular," she continued. "Any employees programming can be modified to change an aspect of their behavior. Here, I'll show you. Amelia, it's time for more training."

With those words, all tension instantly left Amelia's body. Her hands dropped limply to her side, her cutesy pose evaporating as she stood straight. Her smiling expression vanished, her lips straightening and parting slightly. Her eyes lost all focus, and locked on a point straight in front of her, losing any facade of emotion she may have been putting on.

"Ready for instruction", she said. Her voice, too, had lost all hint of the bubbly personality she had been displaying just moments before. The words came out in a flat, emotionless monotone. She sounded less like a person, and more like a computer giving a prompt.

"Amelia, when you are asked for a recommendation for spicy food, pull the response for our wings."

"I understand," Amelia said tonelessly.

"Give us a demonstration."

Amelia's body snapped back into it's cheerful mannerisms, as she quickly did as instructed.

"If you want a little kick, you can never go wrong with the buffalo wings. The sauce is delicious, and they're always so crispy!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Amelia's body went slack once again, the expression draining from her face.

"Good," the Manager said, smiling. "Back to work."

And again Amelia adopted her conditioned pose and expression, standing the way she had done so many times before.

"One of you want to test it out?"

One of the investors spoke, asking Amelia to recommend something spicy, and immediately she responded.

"If you want a little kick, you can never go wrong with the buffalo wings. The sauce is delicious, and they're always so crispy!"

The Manager could see on their faces that she'd won the investors over. She continued to demonstrate the power of their conditioning for a bit, showing all the ways an employee could be programmed and reprogrammed. After a while, she led the investors out, making sure to shake hands with each one.

Locking the door behind her, she waited a second, just long enough to make sure the investors were out of earshot, before letting out a giddy shout.

"Hell yeah!"

She pumped her fist in front of her. Oh, she'd nailed it. All five had been interested in investing. That meant millions of dollars coming in for Haze, and she definitely has plans for that new budget. With a skip in her step, she went back to her office, where Amelia was still standing right where she's been left.

"Amelia, you did well," the Manager said, though Amelia didn't respond. "I think you've earned a raise. "Increment your hourly rate by a dollar. Associate it with having done a great job on the floor today.

"Yes, ma'am," Amelia said, her simulated personality still active. Her subconscious mind made a note of her raise, one that her conscious mind would be able to access later, and fabricated a memory of a particularly good day of service.

"That'll be all, Amelia. You may clock out and go home."

Immediately, Amelia walked over to the computer, logged her extra hours, and left the office. The Manager didn't bother to walk her out. She was already busy, thinking about all the opportunities that new money opened up.

She sighed contentedly to herself. Who said staying late to work was never worth it?