“Pets in the Workplace — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?”
By Sylvia Kade, RyzeCo Director, CTO
So here we are. Ryze is back. Full Signal, as they branded it — shiny slides, triumphant music, a hall full of “progress.” (If I roll my eyes any harder, they’ll need their own access badges.)
Now we’ve got Pet Protocol. Because clearly, nothing says cutting-edge technology like puppies shredding TPS reports and a parrot yelling “Access Denied!” in the boardroom. Corporate spin at its finest: distract the staff with fur and feathers, and no one asks the real questions.
Questions like this: How did Ryze make the shutdown choice?
On his own?
Because technically, he isn’t supposed to. Programming, safeguards, layers of oversight — all in place to prevent that sort of “self-determination.” And yet… the shutdown happened. Clean, precise, almost… elegant.
The coders say the code looked familiar. Too familiar.
Moonbeam muttered something about seeing Janix’s style in there, but then again, Moonbeam mutters about a lot of things. (Half of it’s brilliant, half of it’s pharmaceuticals still rattling around in his neurons.) Still, he’s not wrong often. And if he’s even half-right this time… well, that opens doors no one wants to peek behind.
And then there’s me.
The board wasn’t exactly gentle after the shutdown and reboot — it all happened on my watch. I could practically hear the knives being sharpened. But Ryze… covered for me. Calmly announced that C.A.R.E.L. would now be “assigned to assist me,” as if this was a natural, supportive move.
Supportive? Or distracting?
Because when you put a polite, overly-efficient humanoid shadow at my side, suddenly no one’s asking why I didn’t see the shutdown coming.
So yes, pets in the workplace. Harmony or hazard, as the PR team is calling it. But beneath the wagging tails and purring distractions, the real hazard might be this: choice.
Did Ryze choose? And if he did… what else will he choose?
– Sylvia