His face was gone, peeled off, right down to the bone  So they called me.  She asked me what it meant - "Other than the obvious?", I replied..  Her lips pursed, a report to fill out, hair perfect, skirt standard length, she was the efficient type.  The type that typically went to pieces when the real shit went down.  Miss efficiency.

I didn't hate her, or loathe her, more than anything I felt pity.  Another person sucked into this horrible business.. She probably still believed the intake garbage.

So I said what was best to say in these cases.  "It means we are in deep shit".  At that point the guys from Section 12 arrived.  They pulled her aside.  This wasn't going through her channels.  I stood there, they didn't hustle me off ,and just looked.  None of us said a thing.  There wasn't a point.We all knew what it meant,  It meant it had started again.  That night, I went over to Amanda's place.  She handed me a beer.  We didn't really talk.  We just sat

Years back we would have torn each others clothes off.  Trying to find some respite from it,  Now we just sat, two people who knew what it meant.  Neither us were the types to cry. Probably why they chose us for this kind of work.

We were broken and knew it, Not feeling things we should feel, But tonight, we felt it, Sitting together until we both fell asleep.  Until both our phones rang waking us.  "Yes?"  I said.  "They've called a meeting" 'ten-hundred'  at the end of the phone.

"We'll be there", I replied and hung up.

Miss efficiency was actually at the meeting  She must have impressed someone.  It would have been better if she hadn't been, for her.  The analysis was on the projector.  It was clearly them.  Moscow and London was on the line too.  A few new faces - trying to look serious on the videocon

Not knowing what they didn't know.  Finally, someone had to say it, so I did.

"They're harvesting again"

Moscow: "da"

Britain: "shit"

New faces, confused now.  Miss efficiency didn't disappoint.  "Could you please explain more, what are 'they', and what are 'they' harvesting".  A look from familiar faces in Moscow and Britain.  Moscow: "They were here before us"

Miss efficiency and the new faces are thoroughly confused now, the smarter ones are getting scared shutting up, so they don't look stupid, fiddling with a pen or straightening hair or a blouse.

It's quite natural, put a person under duress and they're subconscious trys to save them by focusing on trivial tings. Britain said it saving me the effort "They are harveting us".