Specimen · catalogued monster

The Vanishing Wizard

The only person who understands the pipeline just resigned

A brilliant, softly spoken sorcerer, it built half the platform from spells it never wrote down. When it finally vanishes in a puff of smoke and a farewell email, the incantations stop working one by one.

Symptoms

• Critical knowledge in one or two heads
• No documentation, tests or runbooks
• Work stops when they're on holiday
• Nobody dares touch their code
• Turnover drains know-how

Overheard in the corridor

• “Only one person knows how that works.”
• “Don't change anything until she's back from holiday.”
• “He left and took the pipeline with him.”
• “There's a document somewhere, probably.”