Section 1.1: Responsibility and Routine

Edgar contemplates whether it's fair to credit Corey for his newfound seriousness. The extra responsibilities seem to have curbed his usual antics, much like how the holiday rush leaves little room for frivolity. On a related note, when repetitive errors arise from the same individuals, it inadvertently levels the playing field, making the workplace slightly more manageable. Edgar anticipates that Pat will be the first to submit missing invoices, and when Universal Foods sends their weekly summary of late invoices, he instinctively checks Pat’s submissions first. The same scrutiny applies to Sam from Liberty, who constantly miscodes items, making Edgar wary of anything with Sam's signature.

Yet, while familiar personal quirks are expected, some employees remain perplexingly unaware of their responsibilities. Edgar has withheld complaints about Pierre for a variety of reasons—his character, lack of time, and a strange amusement in Pierre’s blunders. Despite his best efforts to assist Pierre, company priorities take precedence. However, after eleven months on the job, Pierre’s latest baffling phone call leaves Edgar struggling to comprehend how he could still be so confused.

Pierre attempted to change the preferred vendor for several items from Universal Foods to Harmony Hill by manually inputting data into Orchestra and printing tags. Yet, he is bewildered, believing this action should automatically adjust retail prices based on Harmony Hill's last Excel file—an Excel file that remains stagnant on his desktop.

If Pierre had at least uploaded the file into Orchestra, it might have made sense to think this would keep Harmony Hill prices on standby, ready for action. But he didn’t do that. Moreover, the SRP pricing is not even what Healthy Shopper Market is supposed to utilize. It’s astonishing that someone in charge of such matters believes that an idle Excel file on one computer can influence prices in a POS system on an entirely different server.

This is your boy, Corey, Edgar thinks, reflecting on the situation. Nearly a year into the role, how can he still be this oblivious? Adding another layer, Edgar realizes that Pierre likely wouldn’t have noticed the pricing discrepancies himself; someone else must have pointed it out to him. The person—or persons—who brought it to Pierre’s attention must also have been misled, believing the process would work as Pierre described.

Section 1.2: The Unraveling

As Edgar has long maintained, reality is inescapable. The next twist in this comedic tale inevitably leads to chaos. A few days later, as Edgar sits at his desk, engrossed in invoices, he tunes out the noise until he hears Jack’s voice nearby, conversing on the phone.

“Umm…okay…,” Jack chuckles, “maybe…why, what's going on?…mmmmmm…mmm hmm…well, alright, I don’t know, I can give it a shot…yeah, just send it over to me and I’ll see what I can do…”

Jack’s mention of the word “Orchestra” piques Edgar’s interest. As the conversation unfolds, Edgar’s initial skepticism transforms into disbelief—could it be that Corey has contacted IT about uploading a price change file for Harmony Hill?

“Hey, what’s the vendor number for this file?” Jack asks. “It’s telling me I need to know the vendor number.”

Not having the information handy, Corey promises to call Jack back. The Orchestra system requires a vendor number to mitigate potential errors in naming, ensuring that a single vendor doesn’t get duplicated due to misspellings. It’s reassuring to know that such safeguards exist.

If only all impending pitfalls were so easily avoided. Moments later, Edgar overhears Jack asking for a department number, “Hey, what about the department number? It says I need a department number?…Oh two? Like zero two, you mean?…okay, cool,” before hanging up.

It’s only a short while before all hell breaks loose. Jack, who has been on the job for less than a month and is part of the IT team, has no way of knowing that the correct department code for accounting is 10002, not 02. The system’s failure to block an incorrect department number while enforcing vendor number checks raises questions, yet that’s precisely what occurs.

Edgar is taken aback by the unfolding disaster. A series of urgent calls confirms that the situation is dire. Liberty Avenue, in particular, requires immediate updates, so Jack uploads the Harmony Hill file and synchronizes it solely with that store. Unfortunately, the department code is incorrect, resulting in tax collection issues, compounded by Jack’s lack of knowledge on column arrangements. Half of the fields are accurate, some are forcibly aligned due to system prompts, while others are horrendously misplaced—the most critical being that the cost field has replaced the retail price.

The complications continue to pile up. Although the incorrect department code doesn’t trigger a catastrophic failure, Liberty's sync with the main server causes a communication breakdown, preventing Jack from sending over a corrected file. At this juncture, Edgar can only imagine the tension as Corey suggests the move that should have been made from the beginning.

“Edgar?…uh…yeah, I think so,” Jack says, “okay, I’ll go ask him.”

Moments later, Jack appears beside Edgar, a grin plastered on his face, unsure of how his upcoming request will be received.

“Edgar? You’re Edgar, right?” he inquires.