#when Sam goes to report Collin and Lena tell him that Collin will either ask for help or eventually quit

[buk-kakyoin]

Magnus Protocol Theory —

(Spoilers up to ep. 5)

I think I've figured out the catch of OIAR staff being able to "quit at any time"

It's not immediately obvious why they can't quit the same way it was in TMA because, well, Teddy quits in the first episode! And he seems quite content with fucking off from the OIAR and never coming back, but he has this exchange with Collin:

TEDDY Colin, mate, you know you’re never getting out of here. COLIN Christ, don’t say that. TEDDY Even if his nibs lets you off the hook, which he won’t, you couldn’t bring yourself to just leave. Not 'til you’ve figured out all these fun little errors. COLIN Or they finally kill me. TEDDY I mean, sure, that too.

What do they know that we don't?

Bear with me on this one, but I suspect it has to do with how the Fears function in this world. I've been seeing quite a few theories floating around saying that the Fears in this world are more likely tied to Desire and I think they're right.

Every story so far has been driven by some kind of want or yearn or need—the yearn to hear a dead lover's voice, the need to understand why a place is marked "cleared," the desire to look different, the need to hide from the repercussion of your actions, the hunger for recognition as the best, the itch to feel real fear. Every time, the supernatural experiences commence after a desire(or obsession) is expressed, and every desire is granted in the most fucked up Monkey's Paw way possible.

How does this apply to our merry band of fucked up civil servants? Why are they still here?

Well, Collin's not gonna quit until he makes sense of the computers, and we're already seeing the negative effects this obsession has on him. Gwen wants Lena's job and to be the best of the department (and possible something else that we're not privy to yet). Sam wants answers to whatever the fuck is wrong with the OIAR/their cases and likely has some personal obsessions involved (*cough cough*the Magnus Protocol*cough cough*)

Alice is a bit of an outlier since she doesn't have any obvious "wants" that we've seen, but she seems way more conscious of what this job does to people than the others. From telling Sam to report Collin's behavior to telling Same this:

ALICE I wasn’t messing with you earlier, you do need to compartmentalize for this job. Make a box in your head and at the end of the shift you dump everything in there and hit the incinerate button okay? You do not want to be thinking about this stuff outside of here. It’s not good for you. I’ve seen people go weird before now.

Alice seems to at least somewhat understand what's going on—she's seen people go "weird" and knows that getting obsessed is dangerous, which is why she herself tries to stay as separate from the work as possible, tells Sam to do the same, and why I suspect she tries to have Collin reported(to keep him from sinking any deeper). But I suspect Alice is ensnared in her own way, possibly by the brother she keeps fielding calls from at work.

It's not a whole lot to go off of yet, but she keeps referencing her next paycheck while talking to him and overall implies than her brother musical career is unsuccessful but that it might turn around soon. Maybe she stays working there because she wants to support herself and support her brother's career?

Tl;dr the fears in his world are based in desires and obsession. Technically, anyone can quit the OIAR and they do—so long as they don't get obsessed. And if they do get obsessed, they won't stop until they either get what they want or, as Collin said, they die.