Ed winced as he woke up, an overwhelming headache swept through his mind like a hurricane. As he looked around the room, he saw flashes of it being soaked in blood and bits of brain matter, before it quickly changed back to normal. His entire body felt like it was on fire as low unknown whispers battered his ears. For a brief moment, he looked at his body from above, before being forced back in. His head spun as everything started to calm down, leaving Ed confused as to what had happened.

“Good morning, Ed. To protect you from your actions last night, I have wiped your memory of what happened. Currently your body and mind are still facing some side effects from the incident, but those will eventually fade with time. I can tell that you are confused, but right now your best course of action is to get some rest. I will wake you when the file comes in”

Alright. His eyes closed as he went back to sleep.

~

In a large office building, a group of employees hurriedly moved around, completing their work. Along one wall was a large open window spanning the entire length of the building, looking out towards the night sky. Animals flew in and out of the window, dropping off an assortment of papers, parchments and USB drives, before flying off again. These items were then sorted before being handed to the relevant workers for filing. At their desks a group of workers typed away at their keyboards, organising the constant inflow of information. Quickly, files of varying lengths were created, each one portraying a person’s entire life. When the file was completed, the worker would put their hand through the screen and pull out a bundle of paper.

Occasionally, workers walked up to one of the walls with a bundle of paper in hand. Along this wall was a series of large pipes. They opened a hatch on the pipes and sent the papers off to where they needed to go.

In a private office on the floor above, a woman sat quietly, casually reading through some files whilst enjoying a cup of tea. A new piece of paper appeared from a pipe in her room. This better be good. Placing down her cup, she walked over to the pipe and pulled out the piece of paper. Sitting back down, she got to reading.

Name: Ed Armitage

Age: 19

Occupation: intern for the production, research and development department

Information: An extraordinarily calm man, Ed has worked for 4 days for the company and has just started on his 5th. For his first 2 days he argued with Buddie and refused to do his work and was adequately punished. For the next two days he complied with Buddie, and successfully completed two projects which both resulted in the death of a sinner. At the end of his 4th day, he tried to read a completed file. Despite Buddie warning him about the dangers he continued. This resulted in his body being overloaded with information, inducing several misfires in his brain, and resulting in his head exploding. Throughout this time, he also asked Buddie a series of questions related to the company and his situation.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

-End of document-

Placing the paper down, she picked up her tea while smiling a little. Interesting. Not many interns are curious enough to ignore Buddie’s warnings. He’s also a defiant little one. I wonder what traps he designed. “Kieran, get me the information on the traps made by the intern Ed Armitage.” She called out to the other side of the door.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. In walked a handsome young man with pale skin and slicked back, wine-red hair. He looked nervous as he respectfully handed a paper to the woman before disappearing. Ignoring Kieran, she read through the papers with slight interest. Crude, but effective. I guess his work is acceptable considering the limitations of an intern. His disobedience will impede him from getting the job. Maybe I should provide him with a bit of help. Hopefully he can make my work a little less boring.

Pulling out a quill she wrote a note on a piece of paper before placing it in an envelope with the earlier information. Sealing the envelope, she walked over to her window and held it outside. “Send this to the HR department.”

An ethereal owl grabbed the envelope from her hand and disappeared through dimensions.

~

“Wake up Ed, today’s file is here.” Buddie’s voice echoed throughout the room, waking Ed up. Still feeling tired, he struggled a little to keep his eyes open. The pain from earlier played on repeat in the background. Turning his attention to the screen, Ed started reading the file.

Name: Sarah Lyndsey

Age: 21

Occupation: Cashier

Biography: Born to parents Bob and Kendall Lyndsey, she grew up in a working-class family alongside her two brothers, Paul and John. She graduated from high school last year, and has been working as a cashier at her local supermarket to earn money for when she moves out... She is passionate about music, and has started her own band, where she is the drummer... She vapes, drinks, and smokes weed regularly ... She works 30 hours a week and is always in a rush to get back home to work on her music, because of this she will regularly jaywalk to get to her destination...

-End of document-

Still tired and feeling dizzy, it took Ed a while to read through the biography. Is it the alcohol and drugs that makes her a sinner? He didn’t make any mention of alcohol being a problem with Anthony, but that could just be because the cheating was more prevalent. He slowly ran through the possibilities. “Buddie, is it her use of drugs that is sinful?”

“No. The drugs she is using is completely legal for her to obtain and use, thus it is not sinful. Her sin is jaywalking.”

Jaywalking? That’s it? This is just another innocent person... Well, she is technically breaking the law, but clearly this hasn’t caused any accidents or hurt anyone, otherwise Buddie would have mentioned that. I wouldn’t consider this a sin, but I can determine that anyone that breaks the law is considered to be a sinner in Buddie’s eyes. Now, how does this treatment extend to incredibly niche and weird laws. Would Buddie consider me a sinner if I was to ride a cow while drunk in Scotland? What is his criteria for what counts as a sin? Flashes of pain from his past punishments stacked on top of the pain he woke up to, causing Ed’s mind to slow. I can barely think right now, I need to rest, but I don’t think Buddie will let me until I create the trap. I don’t want to hurt an innocent person, so I’ll accept another punishment; it can’t possibly be any worse than what I’m feeling right now, and maybe I’ll be able to get some rest before I die. “Buddie, I don’t consider jaywalking as a valid sin, so I’m going to accept whatever punishment you have ready for me.”

“Are you sure? This can severely impact whether you will get the job after your internship.”

Ed’s mind raced for a moment before he calmed down. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Okay, Punishment initiated.”