Meanwhile, in the factories where Alys had grown up, the situation was getting worse. Companies continued to exploit workers, paying them in shitcoins whose value plummeted as soon as they tried to leave their posts.

These factories, controlled by traders who manipulated crypto prices, created a suffocating internal economy. Workers lived in housing connected to the factories, unable to escape the cycle.

The managers of these companies saw in the human token model a new way of controlling their workforce. Some proposed generalizing the system, turning every employee into a stock market asset whose health and productivity could be monetized.