“Please, take a sit.” says the middle aged man. A young man walks in, his shirt and jeans slightly crumpled. There was no seat, simply a cushion on the tatami mat. Unsure of what to do, he simply knelt down on it.

Pearl shoji screens line the walls, a large white paper lantern mark the center of the room, the quiet softly punctured by the flow of water from the tsukubai fountain in a corner.

“Alex Foster,” he starts, reading from his laptop. “26, three years with the company, hardworking, takes initiatives. Good.”

“Er…yes…thanks, Mr. Rowland sir.” Alex answers hesitantly, forcing a grin.

“Why are you here Mr. Foster?”

“You…mean HR? Here this office?”

“Yes, why?”

“I don’t know, actually”

“Well, unfortunately we have to ask you to leave.”

“Excuse me?”

“Resign. Before I’m forced to give you a pink slip.”

Alex is momentarily stunned, eyes fixated to the ground. He sighs and mutters an OK. “You’ll have my letter tomorrow morning…”

“Actually, you have to leave now.” Rowland interrupts. “You will be compensated as per your contract. Lisa will take care of everything.”

“I…”

“That is all.”

Defeated, Alex shuffles to the door and let himself out. Lisa, Rowland’s secretary was already standing by with the paperwork. “Sign here and here.” she gestures to the contract on the clipboard. “Your personal effects are in that box over there. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.”

An oddly chilling sensation washed over Alex as she offered her hand. Actually, it was more of a mix between disgust and awkwardness, like she was the very personification of the corporate world, full of false niceties and professional sounding jargon. What she’s really saying is - Bye! Thank goodness I’m not seeing you again.

“Thanks” was all he could muster. Alex removed his tag, picked up his box, and that was that. He was free.

“Here you go Mr. Rowland.” Lisa says as she hands him the documents.

“Thanks Lisa. Oh yes, Kelly will be replacing Alex effective immediately.”

“Kelly the new girl?”

“Yes. She’s been involved in most of his projects over the past few months. So it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why Alex?”

“His time has come.”

“How do you mean?”

“My…vines… stretches to the very edges of this company. I see and hear everything. Every keystroke, every email, every byte from every workstation.” boasts Mr. Rowland. “Foster. 11 October 2014. Communicated dissatisfaction and undermined the authority of his superiors. Foster. 16 January 2015. Replied to an unknown recipient regarding a freelancing gig. Beginning February left company early with increasing frequency. You might think they’re unrelated but these are signs are clear as day.”

“That he’s planning to move on?”

“No, that he’s increasingly a threat to the wellfare of the company. We couldn’t afford to let him hold on to much responsibility any longer, nor could be afford to renew his loyalty. They all think they’re the key, but in fact they’re just a cog in the machinery.”

“I see.”

“Sometimes I see timers above people’s heads. I know when their time is up. My data never lies.”

“And me?”

“Haha…You’re good Lisa. Don’t worry, you’re not in an M2 level position for nothing. Now could you get Margaret in? Margaret from Marketing. Thanks.”