When Edmund opened his work email at his desk that morning, he saw an email from Carrie Smalls in HR. Please come see her as soon as possible.
He put his hands in his face and sighed. This could not be good. He literally could not remember a conversation with human resources that had made his job easier or improved his life in any way. But, they’re part of the corporate hierarchy. What are you going to do?
Edmund left his desk in his cubicle, poured a paper cup of coffee from the pot over in the corner, and headed to HR’s office. It still seemed weird to him that he, who wrote the software that was the entire point of this company, worked in a cubicle while Carrie had an office of her own, not big, but an actual office. What did she actually do, besides arrange for those weird diversity training sessions?
He leaned his head around the office door. “Hey, you needed to see me?”
“Yes, come in. Sit down…and close the door please.”
Edmund did so. He could not make sense of her hairstyle. It was shaved on the sides, then gelled up in a point slightly to one side. It looked like it was deliberately intended to be off-putting and ugly.
Carrie bared her teeth at him briefly in a “smile.”
“I called you in because we’ve heard complaints from a few of your coworkers. They say they’re not entirely comfortable working with you.”
Edmund just stared at her. After a moment, Carrie continued, “Considering your recent prominent role in the news, we have to take these complaints seriously. ViaTech pride ourselves on creating an inclusive and welcoming environment.”
“So…am I being assigned to some kind of diversity training? How many hours is this going to take? I guess I could probably have this done by the end of the day.”
Carrie produced that “smile” again. “I’m afraid you don’t understand, Mr. Dantent. This is a much more serious issue.”
Again, Edmund just waited and looked at her.
“We’re going to have to let you go, Mr. Dantent.”
“Are you—?!?” he shouted before he caught himself and lowered his voice. “Are you joking? I’m the best programmer here. I won the Carolinas Coding Competition 3 years running. You can’t—”
“That may well be, but you are also very expensive. ViaTech could hire two programmers with H1-B for less than what we’re paying you.”
Edmund sat there opening and closing his mouth several times before he finally got his thoughts together. “And two of them together would still not be worth my pay. Have you seen Vihaan’s code? Half the time, when he sends me a project—“
“Mr. Dantent, this really isn’t—“
He continued over her, “it’s such a bowl of spaghetti it’s not even worth debugging and it’s easier to write the whole thing from scratch! Yeah, replace me with two of him! Great plan!”
Carrie glared at him wide-eyed for several seconds before saying, each word careful and distinct, “Be that as it may, Mr. Dantent, your words and actions have contributed to a hostile environment here at ViaTech, and you are considered a liability. So you are being released for other opportunities.”
Edmund turned his head and stared at the little tree in a pot in the corner. He clenched and unclenched his jaw. He muttered, “Hostile fucking environment. This whole place is going to go to shit.”
Carrie smiled, a real one this time. “Security will escort you to your desk and help you collect your personal effects.”
A demented little part in the back of Edmund’s head suggested “accidentally” spilling his hot coffee on Carrie as he stood. The thought vanished as quick as he noticed it.
“ViaTech wishes you good luck in your future endeavors,” she said as he left. Edmund gripped his coffee cup just a bit tighter.
The Mayor of Christ Mountain 
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