The Vitamin Protocol

The corporate pyramid rose forty floors above Chicago, each level a different circle of hell. Elena had reached level thirty-two before her hands started shaking.

"You need to take your vitamins," Sarah had said during their morning running sessions around Lake Michigan. They'd been friends since onboarding, two bright-eyed analysts who'd promised to never become like them—the ones who sacrificed everything for the golden tier.

Now Sarah sat in the director's office, through the glass wall, through the borrowed time Elena hadn't realized was running out.

The spy camera Elena had found in her apartment—disguised as a vitamin D supplement—blinked on her desk. She'd nearly swallowed it yesterday.

"How long?" Elena asked when Sarah emerged, buttoning her designer blazer.

"Two years," Sarah said, not meeting her eyes. "Since before we met. HR planted me to monitor rising talent. Identify potential threats."

"And I'm a threat."

"You're running too close to the truth about the embezzlement scheme." Sarah's voice cracked. "I'm supposed to report you, Elena. I'm supposed to destroy you."

The air between them felt heavy with all those shared lunches, late-night coffees, conversations about dreams and fears and whether they'd ever find love in a city that chewed people whole.

"But?" Elena whispered.

"But you're my friend." Sarah reached for her hand. "And I'd rather blow this whole pyramid to hell than lose the only real thing I have here."

Sarah pulled a flash drive from her pocket. All the evidence. Every dirty secret spanning ten years.

"Running together tomorrow?" Elena asked.

"If we're not in jail," Sarah smiled, and for the first time, it reached her eyes.

Some pyramids were meant to crumble.