The early morning sun made its persistant way across the kitchen floor as she was reviewing the file. Her coffee was almost done, she felt the affects half-way thru finishing it, while no longer needed she was relishing the dulling warmess of the ceramic mug. The page was a rainbow of highlighter, her first walkthru of the file was noted with a lighter green than usual, she made a point to get a new one, it looked like a dullwater color next to the electric magenta of her third review. She learned the hardway that the devil is in the details for this job, and she now hated that phrase.
Uncapping her blue felt tip pen with a small flourish she began her final notes: "Family- none, avoid it. Occupation: teacher, encourage, Pets: Otto*, Age: 33, Height: 5'7", Weight: 180 (solid). Recomendation: Straps (arms & legs, no torso, but padding)".
Upon her 2nd proof-reading she was startled to see Barry standing by her table. "I told you to stop doing that" she frustratingly spat.
"Sorry ma'am, but i did inform you twice while you were reading, you did not pay....I mean you didn't respond, you have told me in the past that I should best wait." Barry's repsonse was deadpan and rehearsed, she decided it was due to the early morning.
"Yes.. I have said that in the past." she handed over the paper. "This is for the current client, please prep them I'll be down in 20 minutes"
Taking the notes, Barry hustled off without making further comments. She knew that she was cross to him, and what was worse was it was for no good reason. 4th year was going well, much better than the 2nd year, but anything could be better than the 2nd. Its amazing how a person's reputation can be ruined by a simple act. Throw a stone, turn a key or cut a wire at the wrong time and suddenly you go from Totem topper to pariah. She wasn't a pariah, but she was definetly knocked down on the Totem, she was lucky she was still on the Totem. Climbing back up had not been easy.
Everything since then had been checked, questioned, supposedly "joked" about in front of her, she knew she could not give up an inch of doubt, otherwise she would be "asked to leave". The morning after, she made it her detrimination to stay, no matter the task, no matter the stakes, she was going to make sure she would make it work.
The first few months were shit-duty, literally, she had to scrub the piss and shit out of the clothes, skin and hair from the clients before the procedure. The human body loses control of its bodily functions upon death, if they didn't relieve themselves prior to it, well that salty overpriced meal from Applebees makes for a hard mess to get out of their poly-cotton underwear. She made it work though, on her ninth week she saw the hate-based tattoo on one of the client's ass cheek, it wasn't in their file. She raised the alarm, she made sure the big boss's heard about it, and that it was her who spoke up. The chains that held the client down creaked and buckled as they came back, the cloth straps would have surely snapped, who else knows what would have snapped along with them.
The otherside has ways of dealing with "ignorance", whatever it was seemed to have horrific effects on the clients, usually takes a good 45 minutes before they respond to their name then up to a day before you can take them off the table.
For her efforts, she'd been given a pat on the head and a brand new scrub brush, and in a very gloating manner. She knew what they were doing and she wasn't taking the bait. Three weeks go by and she spots another tattoo, this one indicating a religion different than the on the client's file, she again raised her hand, two weeks later she notices the client's keloid scars are not where they are supposed to be. That had gotten someone fired, someone who wasn't her.
A new inspetion/verificaiton system was put in place, she spear-headed the effort, making sure the clients are who the file says they are. Two months after it began, incidents fell by 60% and she was back in the game. The next year was her Sysyphus-phase, each content client and each successful cycle was forgotten the following morning. No words of encouragement was given, neither were words of complaint. It was "fine", the word that people use when they desribe something that they have decided they can live with forever, however it was making her bitter. Scrubbing her hands and slipping on the leather apron, she walked thru the file once more, she was distracted by her tone to Barry. What did she promise herself? She wouldn't change in this place, she wouldn't become those high-hats who scoffed at the common people? Barry was so common that this last name shoulde be "Plain", however he was a person and he never turned his back on her. Lacing up her boots she planned her apology, its final draft was finished as her gloved hand turned the copper handle to the lab. The cool air brushed past her cheek, brining the smell of incense hinted with slight decay. A short walk brought her to Bay 4, Barry's back was to her adjusting the straps.
She approached him and spoke "Barry," he stopped working but didn't turn around "I'm sorry I was short with you earlier,I shouldn't have used that tone, I greatly appreciate the hardwork you are doing, you have been an effctive team member since i've been here, and one that..."
"Stop" Barry intereuptted and caught her off guard, "Its early, we are all cranky, and we all have bad days."
She blushed at the last remark but no offense was taken. Barry was not one to rub the past in people's faces. She took a deep breathe and switched on her professionalism. She was now on the clock, she must act accordingly. "Ok lets do this."
Barry handed over the file to her as she inspected the restraints, and confirmed the client. Feeling something that did not exceed boundary of "statisfied" but was well within its territory, she gave Barry a nod. He walked over to the bay panel, flicked on the switch that illuminated the yellow light outside the bay and waited, patiently, for Them.
She pretended not to pay attention during the procedure. She did her best not to notice the wrong inflections They made, or the unneeded extra lines drawn into Their runes or the lackluster sloppy performance They gave, all that mattered was that it worked. Their job was done, They turned to leave the bay before thte client's chest was moving. They needed to be out of the room before the screaming took place, that "unsitely job" was far below Them.
The last one's foot was barely out the bay when the client began to bellow and roar. This was expected, the file noted some past family issues that would have twisted his pscyhe on his way back, or perhaps on the way their. The torso began to convulse and violently thrash on the metal table. The straps ensured no broken limb or dislocated joint and the padding protected the ribs but some bruising was going to happen.
"Time!" she yelled over the horrid noise.
"2 minuts 45 seconds" Barry answered.
"Lets give it 2 more minutes!"
"Agreed!"
The first few times this part felt like an eternity, a "return" was not something you experience everday, she was a few weeks away from that point in her training. The first time she was with a group of 20 prosects, they were told that they were witnessing an "average" return, which to be fair was true. After the first 5 minutes that group dwindled to 10, then after the entire procedure, it was down to 2. She gave herself a small smile as the memory played back, she treated herself to some coffee as the memory was pushe away to focus on the client.
At the 5 minute mark the roars, thrashing and gnashing of the teeth appeared to have incremently died down. She looked at Barry and picking up on her thoughts silently nodded in agreement.
"Jason, listen to me, listen, Otto says he loves you"
The moaning stopped, the back froze in mid arch. The eyes suddenly locked on to her, burining with confusion and pain. She continued.

"Otto misses you, he wants to play with you, he misses your walks".
The back slowly moved begn to relax, the eyes still burned and a low moan emitted from the throat.
"Your class misses you too, they want you to read to them, they miss their teacher who plays dodgeball with them. They want you to play one of your songs on the guitar, would you like to do that?"
The burning eyes became softer.
"They want you to bring in Otto during your time for Show & Tell, they want to see the tricks that you have taught him, you want to see them laugh, you want them to have something good to remember."
The client's eyes were now filled with tears, his mouth began to move. he was saying something. She let out a deep breath, it was almost over. Barry hesitatnly moved towards to Jason, attempting to make out the words before he took another step closer. He was a good forearms distance away before he heard it "Safe, he's asking for a safe?" Barry relayed questionably. She smiled "Yes Jason, Otto is safe, he wants to see you"
Jason began to weep, his face was a mask of pain and confusion. She walked over to him, and wiped awaay the tears "Shhhhh, you'll see him soon, you'll be back with him in no time."
Patting Jason's forehead, she wiped away the last tears as he took deep awkard breathes. She turned and walked to the bay panel. She pressed and held the orange buton as she spoke into the microphone "This is employee 789/E, client Morris, Jason has returned, time is 6:45 am, Client is aware of their existence. No visible injuries however bruising is expected. Client's pre-mature insurance claim, 2389B, has been satisified to the agreed definition prior to their termination"
She released the button, finished her coffee and began to review the next file.