Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the lights were bright.

On either side of the long table, executives in suits sat in a circle, their cufflinks gleaming and ties impeccably tailored, as if even their breathing was calibrated by KPIs.

A holographic projection screen floated in front of them, with bright red curves pulsating like a heartbeat.

That was the first report card delivered by the 'AI Intelligent Management System' one week after its launch.

"Please take a look, everyone." The CTO pushed up his frameless glasses, the lenses reflecting the cold light of data, but his tone was burning hot.

"The average daily effective working hours per person increased from 6.2 hours to 8.9 hours, the average focus rate reached 84%, and the positive emotion index remained stable above 0.7!"

"That's fantastic!" The CFO slammed his hand on the table, causing his coffee cup to bounce.

"This alone has reduced labor costs by 18%! And—"

He swiped his finger to bring up another set of charts, his eyes gleaming with the shrewdness of a capitalist.

"The voluntary turnover rate has actually decreased? That's practically a miracle!"

"of course."

The HR director smiled slightly, tapping the tablet lightly with his fingertips. "We've optimized our turnover intention prediction model. Once the system detects an employee's:"

Browsing job websites for more than 30 seconds, sending emails containing negative words late at night (such as 'tired,' 'don't want to work,' 'want to die,' or having a smile with an angle less than 15 degrees for three consecutive days)...

This will automatically trigger the 'three-tiered care and intervention mechanism'.

"For example?" the CEO asked with great interest.

"For example, we can mandate gratitude meditation classes," the HR said with a smile. "Students can wear brainwave devices at their workstations and listen to the ASMR audio of 'The Company Is My Home.'"

Alternatively, a letter titled "A Striver's Family Letter," written by AI, could be sent to the family members' phones.

She paused, then her smile deepened.

Last week, an engineer had already updated his resume, but his 70-year-old mother called at 3 a.m., crying and saying:
'The company has treated you so well, how could you betray it?'

He immediately deleted all job-seeking apps.

The crowd let out knowing chuckles.

“His psychological defenses were just too strong…” she lowered her voice, “so we secretly transferred him to the Hokkaido data center, euphemistically called an in-depth training program.”

The crowd chuckled softly.

At this moment, the VP of Operations frowned:

"However... there's been some activity from the union lately. They say some employees are developing anxiety due to long-term high pressure, and someone even wrote an anonymous letter saying the system treats people like machines."

The conference room suddenly became quiet.

The humming of the air conditioner suddenly became clearer.

The CEO slowly put down his coffee cup, the metal base lightly touching the glass tabletop with a crisp sound.

He gently blew on the steam rising from the rim of the cup and said calmly:
"Every change has its growing pains."

Twenty years ago, when time clocks were introduced, employees complained that they were being treated like prisoners.

Ten years ago, when we implemented the OA system, some people said it deprived people of their freedom and suffocated their humanity.

And now? Nobody mentions it anymore.

He looked around the room and said, "Just bear with it, it will pass. Those who can't stand it will naturally be eliminated by the market."

Those who remain are the talents we need—efficient, obedient, and grateful.

The CTO immediately nodded in agreement: "And the data doesn't lie."

He zoomed in on a bar chart; the red was glaringly bright.

"The productivity of employees on the 'red list' is 3.2 times that of those on the 'black list'! What does this show? It shows that our incentive mechanism is effective!"

"As for those complaints..." The CFO chuckled and adjusted his cufflinks.

"It's just lazy people making excuses. With the economy so bad right now, how many people are lining up to get into our company? They should be grateful they still have jobs."

The HR director then pulled out a PDF: "Actually, the employee satisfaction survey results are quite good—72% of people said they understand the company's good intentions."

No one mentioned that this questionnaire was a pop-up that was forced to be filled out under AI monitoring.

No one provided any options, only: Very understanding, Somewhat understanding, Basically understanding, (grayed out and unselectable) Very dissatisfied.

As the meeting ended, the executives chatted and laughed as they headed for the elevator, discussing whether to go to a hot spring or the newly opened Michelin restaurant for the weekend. Only intern Xiaolin lagged behind, silently turning off the projector.

Before the screen went dark, he glimpsed a line of small print quickly scrolling across the corner, almost unnoticed by anyone:

[New psychological counseling appointments this week: 217 | Actual visits: 3 (the rest cancelled due to work commitments)]

The system notes column also includes an automatically generated conclusion:

"The employee is in good mental health and no intervention is needed."

Because no one seeks advice, no one needs help.

What a perfect logical loop.

Kobayashi recalled the conversation he overheard in the break room this morning.

The two female colleagues huddled in the corner, their voices barely audible.

“Tanaka cried at his workstation last night and was identified as a ‘source of emotional pollution’ by the AI. He was suspended today.”

"Shh...don't say anything, the camera will record your empathy score. Last week, someone lost 5 points in team stability score for comforting a colleague."

Xiaolin walked quickly towards the stairwell, too afraid to take the elevator.

There was 360-degree smile monitoring there, and he felt the company was becoming increasingly unhealthy.

A night breeze blew into his collar, and he suddenly remembered the day he started his job, when the HR handed him a "Newcomer's Mindset Handbook," with a gold-embossed slogan on the title page:

"Here, every effort you make will be seen."

Previously, everyone's hard work was invisible, but now their passive resistance is truly visible.

……

Ai rose from the steaming hot spring, water droplets sliding down her fair shoulders and neck, wisps of steam rising from her hair.

She raised the corner of her eye slightly, then suddenly bent down, scooped up a handful of hot spring water, and poured it unceremoniously over Zheng Yi's head.

"Wow--"

Zheng Yi was caught off guard.

Ai had already taken a light step back, her bare feet touching the cool bluestone, water droplets sliding down her ankles and dripping into the pool.

Zheng Yi shook his wet hair and said helplessly, "When did you learn to make such nasty jokes?"

Xiao Ai tilted her head, a hint of a smile appearing in her eyes.

"This is not a joke, it's revenge."

Zheng Yi raised an eyebrow: "Oh? What did I do?"

"You forgot?" Ai said, "Three days ago, who secretly replaced my matcha powder with bitter melon powder while I was making tea?"

Zheng Yi was stunned, and muttered under his breath, "To seek revenge for something that happened three days ago, how petty."

Ai raised an eyebrow.

You were the one who started this mess, and now you're calling me stingy?

You bastard, you not only recorded my expression after I drank the bitter melon powder, but you also threatened to send it to my sister.

I've already shown you some magnanimity by only splashing water on your head.

Masayuki understood the meaning in Ai's eyes.

He said with a smile, "I just thought your expression was cute and wanted to make a note of it."

"cute?"

Xiao Ai sneered, then suddenly took a step forward, lightly skimming the water's surface with her toes, creating tiny ripples, before raising her hand.

A handful of warm spring water was splashed mercilessly onto Zheng Yi's face.

Seeing that Zheng Yi did not dodge, Xiao Ai wanted to repeat her old trick.

But as soon as her feet touched the water, a hand grabbed her.

Then he was pulled back into the hot spring. (End of Chapter)