It was subtle at first. A friend who lost a friend. Others who saw. What happens to the body, any body, when the most vital parts refuse to keep going? Fewer workers were showing. Fewer willing to go to the Machine. More vanishing. What happens to The Machine, when its lifeblood chooses to stop flowing?
https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04576-l192-sacrifices-for-the-cargo-cult -- Anon Guest
There was a fine, fine line to tread. Keep up the expected minimum, avoid the ideal maximum. Waver between the two extremes and never say anything that might gain the wrong kind of attention. The Machine, after all, was everywhere. The signs on Raune's soul showed all the same. The haunted look in their eyes. The way their performance score had hit its peak and would not rise to meet it ever again.
Their friends noticed.
The only place to really talk was on the transits. Mina made sure to ride the same carriage. "You haven't been okay for a while," she said. "What's happening?"
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