I liked this one better than the previous.
The title threw me a little -- Crimson has the freedom to do what she wants as long as she also does what the Union wants, and I get that. But... I dunno, I'm not any good with titles myself.
The comment from "Michael King" is funny to me because in about eight hours, he'll be sitting at the desk next to mine. (We work in the same department at the same TV station.)
Contrariwise to what others are saying, I don't think we need a supervillain in the Unionverse. (See what I did there?

) If the Union had a supervillain to rally against, they would by nature have to be the good guys, and the Union itself... not so much. The people, yes; the organization, no.
The references to money, more than anything, really brought the story home. The last time I had to use a laundromat, I spent $5 total on all my laundry, and that was like six or seven loads through washer and dryer. The cost of pizza and soda, not so out-of-line. Does laundry really cost that much these days?
I think the author did a great job of getting into this character's head, especially her misery. I might have appreciated a short paragraph about how she decided to start using coke. Drinking is an easy one to fall into, but coke? Coke takes effort. And it's illegal.
For a short time I thought Crimson would be a vigilante. Then I thought the Union would disavow any knowledge of her existence and sacrifice her for the greater good. Which they did, but not in the way I expected.
A nice touch: how Alex Nova dehumanized her in the limo by not referring to her by her real name, just her Union name and her stripper name. The Union is a dehumanizing organization, which is part of what makes them that much more evil. And not just that low-grade evil that rubs off on everyone who touches it. You know, like British Rail. (Thank you, Terry Pratchett and perhaps Neil Gaiman; I don't remember if that's from Good Omens or a Discworld book.)
My favorite Union story was probably "Clowns", but this one is close to #2, if not already there.
I think we need a Union story that hearkens back to "Clowns", to the Union interacting with themselves, instead of one Union member out there in the world.
Whoever said "one every six months is good, one every six weeks not so much", I agree with. They're not serialized enough, I think, to justify such a quick reappearance. Unless there really isn't anything good out there that can trump U.D., in which case, I understand the selection, but that in itself depresses me.
Finally... deep down, I know JRD is just ITCHING to write the "Union members go on strike/rebel against the Union/take it down" story. If it's not written already. Maybe that'll be the novel... or the green-screen movie shot by Areakt/Rob Caves productions...
(CFL bulb appears above head.)
PS: I liked the reader. Use her again please.