The Permit center

Jessica followed the map, which took her down various different streets. Eventually, the map had lead her to a small building on left side of the street, merged between multiple other smaller shops. A sign above the glass entrance said: "Permit Center!" With a slogan written in neat handwriting underneath saying "Not to be confused with the Permit office!"

With a roll of her eyes, Jessica pushed the doors open. The room inside was large and open, with various office desks scattered along the edges of the room. Behind each desk was an office worker. Some were typing away on their computers, others were on the phone, and some had clients sat opposite their desk. It looked like a bank or estate agent, with a wooden floor and red rugs placed in some areas.

A young woman wearing a black pantsuit with a red tie approached Jessica. "Hello ma'am, how may we be of assistance?" She asked politely with her hands formally behind her back. Jessica stared at her angrily. "I have been harassed! My stuff stolen from me! Told I have to earn a permit but not a single fucking person in this goddamn town wants to help me!" She yelled, furious.

The young woman smiled slightly, she'd dealt with many tourists who were unaware of the permit law. "Ah, I see. I take you're not from around here? And you've been caught without a permit?" She asked Jessica politely. "No of course I'm not fucking from here! I yes that bitchy old lady hooked me up to a weird sci fi ATM which stole my belongings and told me I need a permit to get em back!" Jessica continued to yell at the woman.

The woman made a gesture to one of the office workers at the desks before turning back to face Jessica. "Well unfortunately ma'am you have broken the law here, but do not worry, if you'd like to follow me I'll be able to see what we can do for you." She explained to Jessica. "It's a dumb fuckin law then!" Jessica commented and followed the woman.

Jessica was lead to a desk, which had been temporarily vacated by the office worker that the woman gestured to. They both took a seat on opposite sides of the desk, as the woman began typing on the computer. "Okay, so without a permit you have very limited options, which I will find for you now. These options are designed to completely break you down and remove you as a threat to our society. I shall have a look for you now." The woman explained.

Jessica thought to herself momentarily, still very angry about being mugged by the ATM. She knew she still had a job to do, and that maybe these options would lead her to the missing people. "How long do you think this will last? Just because my company will want me back within a week." She asked, folding her arms to express her frustration. The woman chuckled, as if Jessica had told a joke. "Honey, I can tell you now that this is gonna last whole a lot longer than 1 week!" She laughed.

Jessica's heart sank, this wasn't part of her plan. She needed to contact the CNN, let them know she's gonna be a lot longer. However, her phone had been confiscated along with all of her stuff, so there was no way she get hold of them. The more she panicked about this the more frustrated she grew. "No, no this is unacceptable! I am innocent here! I'm being **** against my will! You can't do this to me!! Just because of some shitty law I broke doesn't mean you get to hold me in this town for longer than I wanna be!!" Jessica slammed her fists on the desk and screamed at the woman.

The woman clutched the phone next to her computer. "As a matter of fact we can keep you here for as long as we like, you broke the law! And the law states that you can only be free once you have obtained a permit! So, if you continue to act like a threat I will be **** to call the police!" The woman lectured, gesturing to her phone. Jessica panicked, she didn't want the police involved, her career would be over in seconds. "Okay! Fine, what exactly am I likely gonna be facing here? 1 or 2 months?" She asked.

The woman went back to scanning her computer screen. "Hmm it looks like there's only one option available to you.." she said. "What is it? Just spit it out already." Jessica snapped, fed up.