Not a Duck

If it looks like a duck, floats like a duck and squeaks like a duck... check again.1998. Night shift, Line 3, Puddleworth Rubber Co. Your job is quality control: every rubber duck that comes down the belt gets inspected, and every duck gets a verdict. SHIP or REJECT. Most of them are just ducks. InspectPick units up and turn them over. Squeeze them: a real duck squeaks. Float-test them in the tank: a real duck floats upright.

Check the factory stamp under UV light, weigh them on the bench scale, and follow a rulebook that grows every night. Shred the defects. Ship the rest. Try not to think about where the rejects go. Put them awayShipped units don't just disappear. Carry the tote out into the warehouse, scan each duck and shelve it in the right aisle, bay and level, while the motion-sensor lights stutter on above you one aisle at a time.

Don't look awaySome units breathe when you squeeze them. Some sink, and turn to face you from the bottom of the tank. Some move when you're not looking, and the stock on the shelves has started doing it too. Something is knocking on the exit door. And something at the far end of the warehouse is much, much bigger than a duck.…