One of the delightfully characteristic things about working at Origin has been the building. Our halls have long been festooned with wonderfully imaginative airbrushed artwork that reflected Origin’s mission and motto (“We build worlds”) in various ways.

Across the hall from my current office stretching around the corner of the hallway is a street scene with office buildings, cars, and traffic lights. From far above the scene descend two giant legs, presumably connected to some fearsome beast in the process of pillaging the city street. The lobby on fourth floor features a green and blue globe resembling earth, with a rectangular plate of surface area being fitted into it. Mechanical fish adorn other walls.

Or they did. I came in this morning to find that most of the artwork had a coat of primer over it, and painters were busy in the hallways. I chatted with the facilities manager, and he said the word had come down from on high Monday that he was to repaint everything as quickly as possible. It’s disappointing to me to be losing this unique bit of Origin’s history and character, doubly so that none of the people working on this floor were evidently included in the decision, and trebly so that I didn’t have a chance to get my camera up here before the painters did their dastardly work.

Harumph.