(Closing shift. Safeway. Lights buzz above Aisle 12.)

Evan was zoning frozen goods when the intercom cracked.

No words. Just... static. Then one beep.

Then another.

He looked down the aisle.

A man stood near the markdown endcap. Holding a can of pears.

His vest was blank. His shoes made no sound.

MAN: You scanned this?

EVAN: Not me. It was marked down earlier today. No receipt.

MAN: It wasn’t in the ledger.

(Evan blinks. The man holds out a handheld scanner—cord trailing like a tail.)

MAN: Scan it.

EVAN (nervous laugh): You don’t have to do this.

MAN: Yes. I do.

(Evan scans.)

BEEP.

REGISTER: ITEM NOT FOUND.

MAN: What’s the most you ever lost on a register error?

(Evan stares.)

MAN (calm): You know what’s coming.

EVAN: Is this… is this HR?

MAN:

Call it.

(holds out a Kroger coupon—creases sharp)

EVAN: I don’t know what I’m calling for.

MAN: Yes you do. You’ve been working nights. You felt it.

There’s something in the aisles now.

Something that scans you back.

(Beat.)

EVAN: And if I call wrong?

(The man steps closer. Doesn’t blink.)

MAN: Then the light turns red.

[Scene: Breakroom – Later That Night]

Tabitha is eating a gas station sandwich. Grease stains her copy of the Policy Exception Manual.

She doesn’t look up.

TABITHA: You let him scan the can, didn’t you?

EVAN: I didn’t have a choice.

TABITHA: You always have a choice.

(She tears off a bite of sandwich.)

You just never like the ones we give you.

[Final Scene: Evan’s Dream]

Aisles stretch forever. No signs. No labels.

Only scanners.

Beeping.

He holds nothing in his hands.

And still — it wants him to scan.

MAHCHINE™:"

“Call it.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5698477&forum_id=2\u0026show=week#48774164)