Robert worked in the Department of Urban Planning. His office was a grey cube in a grey building in a grey city. For twenty-two years, Robert had followed every rule, filed every report on time, and never once disagreed with a superior. He was the perfect cog in the machine.

He believed in the Ladder. He believed that if you were patient, if you were invisible, and if you were absolutely compliant, you would eventually reach the top.

He spent his thirties optimizing his life for the Ladder. He stopped seeing friends who were "distractions." He stopped reading books that weren't manuals on administration. He turned his personality into a series of polite, empty phrases. He became a master of the art of saying nothing while appearing to agree with everything.

The day finally came. The Director retired, and the Board appointed Robert as the new Chief Administrator of the City.

He was led into the top office. It was a vast space with a window that looked over the entire city. There was a large, leather chair behind a desk of polished obsidian. Robert sat down. He felt a surge of triumph. He had arrived. He was the most powerful man in the city.

He opened the first folder on his desk. It was a list of "Essential Responsibilities."

He read the first page. Then the second. Then the third.

The responsibilities were not about planning, or budgeting, or leading. They were about "Ceremonial Presence." He was required to attend three parades a year, sign five pre-written decrees a month, and host a dinner for the Mayor's cousins every quarter.

He looked for the section on decision-making. There was none.

He looked for the budget authority. It had been moved to a committee three years ago.

He looked for the power to hire or fire. It had been automated by a software system in the 90s.

Robert sat in the chair and looked at the city. He realized that the "top" of the ladder was just a decorative balcony. He had spent twenty-two years climbing to a position that had no function other than to exist. He was the Chief Administrator of nothing.

He sat there for a long time, the silence of the office ringing in his ears. He thought about the friends he had cut off, the books he had never read, and the man he had erased to get here.

He didn't resign. He didn't scream. He just leaned back in the expensive leather chair and waited for the clock to strike five, so he could go home to an empty apartment and start the process of doing nothing for the next ten years.

*** OTMES_v2_Code: [M3:7.0, N2:0.9, K2:0.5, I:0.8, R:0.1, S:0.2] Tensor_Coordinate: (M3_Satire, N2_Passive, K2_Rational) TI_Index: 41.2