The Sphinx of Human Resources

Maya stood before the wellness pyramid in the company lobby, a glass and steel monument containing three hundred pressed vitamin tablets arranged in perfect geometry. 'Take one daily,' the brochure had promised, 'to unlock your full potential.' She'd been taking them for three weeks. Her full potential remained stubbornly locked.

The new HR director, whom everyone called the Sphinx behind her back, had implemented these protocols. Elena said nothing directly, only posed riddles disguised as performance reviews. 'What walks on four legs in the morning, two at lunch, and three by dinner?' she'd asked during Maya's annual evaluation, sipping an oat milk latte. Maya had said she didn't know. Elena had smiled. 'That's the problem, isn't it?'

Now Maya stood at the padel court, wearing company-issued athletic wear that cost more than her first car. The quarterly team-building exercise. Corporate bonding through competitive racquet sports. Fox, from accounting, served first. His real name was Felix, but everyone called him Fox because of his predatory approach to office politics and the way he'd once stolen a promotion by forwarding someone else's presentation as his own.

'The Sphinx watches,' Fox whispered, ducking behind a potted plant. Maya looked up to see Elena on the balcony above, her face unreadable behind oversized sunglasses, holding another brochure about vitamin supplements and workplace optimization. The company's stock price had tripled since Elena's arrival. Employee turnover was down 40%. The vitamins worked, apparently. Nobody knew what was in them.

Maya served. The ball sailed past Fox, who stood transfixed, watching something on his phone. 'Did you see the memo?' he asked, the ball bouncing untouched behind him. 'They're restructuring the pyramid. Not the org chart. The actual one. They're adding a fifth level.' He showed her the screen. A press release. The company was acquiring a supplement manufacturer.

The Sphinx descended the stairs, moving silently through the recreational area. She stopped before the glass pyramid, removed her sunglasses, and offered Maya one more vitamin. 'The answer to the riddle,' Elena said, 'is human. We're the only creature that makes ourselves sick working, then takes pills to keep working enough to afford more pills.' She smiled, and for the first time, Maya noticed Elena's pupils were dilated, fixed and wide. 'But the real question is: why do we keep playing?'