Intercepted by Amber.

"Danielle, ohmygod, there you are!" Amber called out and rushed over to me. We started at one another in equal measure of disbelief for a moment before anyone spoke.

She was wearing what looked like a slutty Halloween parody of some kind of uniform. It was mostly just a long sleeveless vest and panties with garters and stockings. The navy blue pinstripe vest came down to her hips with a W-shaped hemline to show off her matching panties. It featured two sets of large white buttons down the front and a neckline so deep I could see her entire cleavage and a bit of flesh below her breasts. There was a white inner liner of the vest that flared out near the shoulders like lapels.

She wore sexy dark stockings, attached to her vest by garter straps, and stiletto heels that must have been a full 5 inches.

Lastly, she wore a wide choker of some kind of soft looking fabric, like cotton, around her throat. It featured her name in large letters as well as a QR code and the company logo.

"What the f-" I began, but she cut me off.

"You're out of uniform! Oh no, we need to get you out of here." She pulled me towards the locker room and I happily followed, since that was my goal in the first place. "We had no idea what happened to you! I was so scared you'd gone outside and missed the Claiming!" She seemed to have some difficulty walking in such tall heels but she showed no signs of irritation.

We made it into the locker room and I threw myself at the drinking fountain, drinking so heavily as she spoke that I thought I would throw up.

"The what? Amber, I've been in the closet since Tuesday. What's happened?"

She pushed me deeper into the room, towards the showers, not quite focused on listening to me as she looked me over. "You're a mess. Let's get you cleaned up. Mr. Galbraith doesn't like us shirking our hygiene." She pulled my blouse off over my head and tossed it into a nearby bin for laundry.

"Mr. Galbraith, the head of accounting?" I grabbed her by her arms and **** her to calm down. "Amber. Tell me what the fuck is going on."

She took a breath and focused. I noticed she wasn't just being scatterbrained but that she seemed to be dealing with a lot of stress, herself. I had to remind myself that the last time I saw her I was abandoning her to the likely **** at the hands of two of our coworkers. "The company took action. There was too much chaos when it happened." There wasn't any question what she meant by it. The sudden unilateral demotion of all women everywhere was a noteworthy event.

She continued. "It wasn't good for business, and it's not like they had any kind of plan in place for the event this might happen. It was completely unexpected! Several of the big name companies, like ours, came together and made an agreement. They own us now. The company, I mean. They made up a whole new set of rules for how male employees get to interact with us so things can still run more or less smoothly. It's almost like having actual rights again!" She clapped her hands, thrilled. Good lord, what happened to her?

"So wait, they claimed us? Just like that?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation back to the stuff I cared about.

"Oh right! They claimed every female employee on their property at noon yesterday. It's not strictly legal, I think, at least as far as the government is concerned. But then, it's also not particularly illegal?" She scrunched her face, thinking. "In any event, it holds up as far as the other companies are concerned, and I'm told that most people outside will more or less respect the corporate indicators. They might look at us like we're worthless, but they will respect company property. Most of the time."

She shrugged and jumped backwards in the conversation. "That claim includes you, since you were here the whole time!" She looked at me really excitedly. "Yay! Which reminds me, we need to get you your corporate indicator. We'll need to take you to see Mr. Jacobs so he can..."

I stopped listening for a while. This was a lot to process. Given everything else going on, it actually didn't seem like such a bad arrangement...

"...of course, you're going to have to blow him before he'll even hear what you want, but that's not so bad, really. I've gotten pretty good at it. And you know the rumors about you, so I'm sure you are already-"

I dropped my jaw. "Wait what? I have to blow who, again? Why, exactly? Rumors?" It was hard to picture sweet Amber speaking so casually about oral sex. She was, or had been, very conservative and shy.

"Oh yes. Mr. Jacobs. He won't let any of us even speak to him unless we blow him first. Turn around, let's get this skirt off of you."

I swallowed nervously. So maybe things weren't going to be so great after all.

Amber was a great help, taking me to the showers and making sure I had everything I needed to get myself "compliant" as she called it. I had to freshly shave well, everything, and then she helped wax my entire lower region, all the way around to the back. I was no stranger to shaving, but that was a brand new experience.

Then she found me a uniform. How had the company gotten so many so quickly? It occurred to me that half the population of the world was now **** labor, and I tried to stop wondering too much about that.

Freshly showered, shaved, moisturized, and waxed, I was ready to put on my uniform. There were a number of them that fit my C cup bust and narrow waist. For once I was glad I didn't have huge boobs because Amber told me the bustiest girls who had to wait on custom uniforms were just left naked. I felt absolutely ridiculous as it was, but it was better to look silly than to be naked. I don't know what I would have done if Amber hadn't found me.

I looked at myself in the mirror as Amber helped apply my makeup. I looked really hot, admittedly. The idea of walking back out into the office and facing this new and strange world had me feeling anxious and if I'm being completely honest, a little horny.

My stomach pulled me out of my contemplation by reminding me I hadn't eaten in days. "Amber, food?" I asked, trying to appeal to her sympathy.

She pursed her lips. "Well, there is some for us, but you're not wearing your indicator." She gestured to her collar. "If you're caught you could be punished! We should report to Mr. Jacobs for your orientation."