Nobody at this firm is real. The payroll is.

A person arrives with nothing. No productivity, no focus, no standing, no seniority. Just a blank record and a number. What they become is entirely a function of what you put them through.

There are three things a person can be doing at any moment, and only three. They can be at a desk, earning tokenized stock and accruing the one thing money cannot buy, seniority, while quietly burning out. They can be on assignment, earning nothing at all while their skills climb. Or they can be resting, which pays nothing and teaches nothing but is the only way to undo the other two.

Because the three are mutually exclusive, training always costs you income. That is the entire game. A person who only ever works earns steadily and stays mediocre forever. A person who only ever trains is magnificent and broke.

Seniority is measured in seconds actually served. It cannot be bought, fast tracked, gifted or rushed, and it gates every promotion. An old employee will always beat a rich one.