Finally after getting through my interviews, I lounged about on my couch recuperating from the three straight days of interviews. It was nice not to have to cook with gluttony making my meals but I felt a little uneasy with so little control over my life. While I was contemplating my own usefulness, I received a call from the software firm, I landed the job! Kicking my feet in the air with a slight grin on my face, I scrolled through the email and wrote down the address and my working hours, thankfully this place seemed to have a business casual dress code with casual allowed on weekends. From over my phone I noticed Greed sitting beside the couch with a calculator and a piece of paper in his hands, mumbling something about Gluttony and Lust going over their spending limits. I’m glad that he’s doing his best to keep my bank account in check.

On my way to work I noticed that Greed was now the one floating above the crowd, although he still had that calculator and paper in hand, still mumbling. I found it peculiar everytime someone in a fancy outfit passed by I noticed Greed look up from his paper and would either frown or almost drool at each one before going back to his work. Upon opening the doors it was quite a feeling to see such decor just for a lobby. While I was gawking at the display the receptionist called me over, “Good afternoon sir, are you the new-hire Joseph.” I nodded in response. “Good, your cubicle is on the fifth floor and there should be your name tag attached to it. While you get acclimated with your cubicle and location, your mentor will come by and show you the ropes. You’re in a group of six new-hires so I hope you all get along.” He smiled upon finishing and waved me towards the elevator. On the second floor I witnessed what could be best described as a beehive. Several employees were making calls towards clients and trying to explain the software, even more were almost furiously typing away at their computers, some were rushing back and forth between printers, but most employees were silently going over the lines of code on their screens. It seems that this will be my new life.

While I was observing the office space it seemed that greed was as well, the amount of working people seemed to awaken something almost carnal within him. “Look at this place kid, everyone here doing their work to make some bucks, it’s a wonder of the capitalist regime and I love every bit of it.”

“Oh yeah, what was with those faces you made at those expensively dressed people in the streets?”

“Listen here kid, my ability is that I can see the flow of money in every person, past, current, but not future. I see all these people who have scraped through their lives for the money they’ve earned and all the spoiled brats who’ve earned their fortunes through overly doting parents or criminal means.” I glance accusingly at the sin who hates criminals. “Don’t you start kid, just because I’m a sin doesn’t mean I don’t have a sense of justice. Anyways seeing a work environment with money flowing around like honey, it’s such a work of art it brings tears to my eyes.” He explained as he wiped off his glasses.

When I stumbled upon my cubicle among the sea of others I was greeted with a desktop computer, my own personal landline, an overhead cabinet, and several filing cabinet drawers. I better keep this place tidy as well lest Pride begin nagging my workplace as well. Shortly after I started up my computer I heard a short knock on my cubicle wall and turned around to see a skinny, bald, bespectacled, and slightly hunched man at my cubicle introducing himself, “Hello, you’re Joseph right? My name’s Brad Clayson and I’m going to be your mentor for the next two weeks.” He stuck his hand out and I as well for a formal handshake. “Well Joseph lets get you started on your new job, as you saw in the job description what we do here is analyze software from various software developers around the country. While you likely aren’t ready to handle that just yet, I’ll be here to help you get ready for that position.” He seemed like a really nice guy and Greed seemed to nod at him and his finances. “So for your first day I’m just going have you go over our company manuals and guidelines, you’ll find them in the rule folder in your documents folder.” I spin around in my chair to face my screen and go to where he directed, and my eyes widened at how many files were there. “There’s no need to worry, all of these files are rather short and easy to read. Lunch is at 12:30, where you’ll get to meet all of the other interns.” As he finished speaking he gave a slight wave and left. Time flew by as I read the manuals, generally encompassing client management etiquette, finding bugs in code, time management, company guidelines, and lots of guides on reading and managing the code from the client. While I was reading through the documents it seemed as though greed was out and about hovering over my coworkers and analyzing their financial histories, I shrugged and went back to reading.

At 12:25 Brad came to pick me up and we left with the six other new-hires, 2 female and 4 male. The restaurant we went to was a little sushi bar on the streets. Once we all sat down and figured out our orders we began introductions. The four male workers were Chase, Jim, Alex, and Shawn. Chase seemed almost like a chihuahua with how energetic, small, and excited he was, I was surprised at how such an energetic guy accepted a job stuck in a cubicle. Jim seemed like a tall mellow fellow with a slight southern accent in his voice, he reminded me of my father and it almost saddened me a bit thinking about him. Alex seemed to be permanently tired, I’m sure sloth would have a field day with him. Shawn seemed somewhat shy as he introduced himself, almost whispering when he spoke. The two female workers were Tiffany and Taylor. Taylor seemed slightly arrogant but overall was nice and a tad nerdy, while Tiffany seemed somewhat motherly yet also nerdy, and it was almost a surprise to hear that they were twins seeing how different their personalities were.

After we all had our meals we did some light chatting on the way home. Chase was bounding amongst the group and asked everyone why they decided to work here; Tiffany, Taylor, and Shawn were fascinated with computer software, Jim worked here because his dad did as well, Shawn was here because his father recommended he work here, and Alex was here because he couldn’t find work anywhere else. Not wanting to ruin the mood by bringing up my father’s coma I told the others my reason was also because I was fascinated with software. It seemed like Greed had a slight fascination with the twins, disliked Jim, and didn’t really bother with the other new-hires. I could understand Jim, but I was curious about the twins.

Upon returning to the office I turned around to ask Greed about the twins, but it seemed he was already hovering around looking at the other coworkers again. Throughout the rest of the day I spent looking back over the manuals and our software analyzing guidelines. Near the end Brad stopped by my cubicle again with his slight knock on the wall. “So what do you think of our work so far?”

“It seems somewhat difficult, but I think I’ll be able to manage after a bit.”

“That’s great! I’m sure you’ll be able to get the hang of it.” Giving me a smile and a slightly awkward pat on the back he walked me out of the office chatting about workplace etiquette. I was quite glad that Pride went about teaching me those manners while I was on my interview marathon.

On my way back I asked Greed about the other new-hires. “Well you could probably tell but I was only interested in the twins and Jim, the others were pretty average. Jim had an easy life and was doted upon by his father and easily received the job through recommendation, however the twins seemed to have been… abandoned.”

“What?”

“Yeah they had absolutely no money when they were born, even less than orphans. It seemed like they were raised on the streets by other homeless people. They got dirty money as they grew up, pickpocketing bypassers just to survive. It seemed like they were regulars at the library as they always spent a lot of their money on books. My guess is that that’s where they found their first computers and from then on it seemed like they took on part-time jobs just like you to earn some money. It’s good to see people earn money the proper way instead of thievery, clean money looks the best.”

I was shocked at the revelation, the girls seemed so cheery compared to their dreary past, and I almost cried out of sympathy. I suppose life dispenses hardships without mercy, and everyone has to surmount them. At the end of the day I ate my dinner, checked my email and declined the other positions, paid off the hospital bills online, and drifted off to sleep thinking about the twins.