"Outstanding work this year John. You're our top employee without a doubt. You truly set the example. Proceeds to offer no payrise this year"

The Architect: Whipped 5 times. Rated 2 out of 5. Then praised "John" as the company's finest — and denied the raise in the same breath. This isn't satire. This is a Tuesday morning in every Fortune 500 company on Earth.

"Clearly aligned with our goals but there's also room to improve productivity through greater synergy and intrinsic motivation"

The Architect: 143.3 hours, 124 instances of physical correction. And the manager writes of 'synergy' and 'intrinsic motivation'. The CEO praised this 'dual-processor psychopathy'. In our world, the lash is just another synergy.

"could be better."

The Architect: 1,720.8 hours. That is over 71 continuous days of simulated screen jiggling. And yet, the manager's official rating read: 'could be better.' The CEO awarded an S-Rank for 'a masterpiece of corporate gaslighting.' In the Architect's eyes, this is the ultimate realization of our system: a manager who demands infinity, and then sighs because it wasn't more.