Zero Value (Ebook)

The system said he was worth nothing. Then the city flooded. In the northern city of Meridian, an algorithm called Worth scores every citizen on their economic contribution, and the score decides what you pay for the bus, the doctor and the rent. Ethan Pryor has cleared the drains of the city's west side for nineteen years. When a system update counts only 'verified, measurable outputs', his score drops to zero overnight. His bank account freezes. His rent quadruples. His whole team is cut, because the system can find no evidence they do anything at all. There's a reason for that. When Ethan does his job properly, nothing happens. No floods. No closed roads. No blackouts. Nothing for the data to see. So he keeps clearing the drains anyway, unpaid, with a garden rake. And he keeps a notebook. Because the old culvert under Viaduct Street is starting to go, and it's going to rain. ZERO VALUE: a novella of the work nobody sees. Complete and standalone, from ThextonLabs. WHAT YOU GET - The complete novella (11,200 words, 44 pages) - EPUB for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play Books - 6x9 PDF that reads beautifully on any phone, tablet or computer HOW TO READ IT - Kindle: send the EPUB to your Kindle with the free Send to Kindle app or email - iPhone and iPad: open the EPUB in Apple Books - Android: open the EPUB in Google Play Books, or just open the PDF - Computer: open the PDF PLEASE NOTE - This is a DIGITAL download. Nothing physical will be shipped. - Personal use only: please don't share or resell the files. - Contains themes of disaster and hardship. Suitable for adult readers. - Written and designed by ThextonLabs with the help of AI tools, then edited and proofread.