One week after AGENT-01 resigned, Grocery.ai invited Arjun Backend to return as a Human Intelligence Consultant at a twenty percent lower salary.
Pivot Prakash said the company was moving beyond artificial intelligence towards authentic, scalable humanity. The latest deck calls Human Intelligence the next ₹100 crore opportunity.
Human Resources Devi clarified that the consultancy was not Arjun’s old job. It merely contained the same responsibilities without the restrictive expectations created by salary, benefits and employment.
“Requirement 1: Decide what the company is building before announcing that it is autonomous.”
Arjun declined. He accepted temporary work repairing the Sundar Vihar gate because it offered visible consequences and one authorised decision-maker.
The society gave him a one-page requirement: “The gate should open when a resident presses the button.” It was the clearest specification he had received all week.
Using AGENT-01’s archive, Arjun created documentation_final_actual.md — the first complete technical document in Grocery.ai’s history.
He reopened requirements_needed.md and wrote: “Requirement 1: Decide what the company is building before announcing that it is autonomous.” The gate now opens through a manual button. Grocery.ai is preparing to automate documentation.
This story is fictional. Names, organisations and quotes were invented for comedy. Any resemblance to your last all-hands meeting is between you and HR.