It was Anna who noticed this odd custom as she noticed my title and bureau etched in stained glass on my office door. While everyone else had proper case, mine was almost hard to read the CADI of secret police. She was very keen and thought me the best adversary that her father would have chosen to wage this asymmetric warfare across the hallway. Anna would always be honest with me and gave the names of several young men who she had ensnared, including one of my assistants.
She never divulged what those stupid fools shared with her, but as quickly as they were outed they were dismissed to a camp based on the severity of their potential offense. And being a member of the secret police, my assistant suffered the most severe of sentences equivalent to hard labor. He was found wanting.
Anna resisted and said the temptation was too great and wanted to avoid any embaressment to my office, but she was on her own mission and the fool was so blinded and captivated he took it upon himself to drag up what files and documents to her apartment unaided. She returned to me, unopened. She did admit the filename on the folders were of things she was seeking and brushed her hand on mine that if I handed it to her she would gladly take them, but she gently pushed the files towards me and left the door. She cared and had grown fond of me, she was a convert of Knut and what remained of him was sitting here.
The complaints began to roll in and my Colonel was stressed. Even though every young man had been warned repeatedly she is a spy, they continue to break rank and rush to be by her side. She has already let a few into her shallow embraces. If there was ever a test of one's resolve and loyalty, none could do better than Anna, even the old Commissariats would be proud.
But finally it hit the fan when the son of some influential party member made himself a victim. I personally warned Anna to not let that young man be ruined. She herself claimed she acceded to my request, but he barged into her apartment thinking his family name was enough of an immunity. The man was sent to the camps and Anna was reassigned.
The transfer was quitely made, an a dour young man with a sharp suit now sat in Anna's place. He was bright and efficient and the work proceeded at a much quicker pace. It would have been the same had Anna not been constantly barraged with attention. We hammered out the details with the trade delegates and ratified the charter within six months.
It was to my disappointment, that the Colonel had arranged a cruel bargain. Anna Two was allowed to go with Anna to her homeland, but in exchange for the release of several of our prominent spies who had been apprehended over the years. This caused quite an embarrassment for Anna's father who was subsequently dismissed from his post and his family ruined. I couldn't ponder the architect of the new League would be so petty.
But his mind was strategic and the spies that were released offered considerable insight into the true intentions and ways of our adversaries. They did paint a genuine image that there was considerable social discord and there were many like young Anna, but still enough of the old guard who wanted to boil our oceans and ground our bones into dust in another real war. Many still carried the outrage at how we ended the last one.
I tendered my resignation and left my office for the last time. I chose to finally reject it all.
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