Sitting alone at a small diner was a man, his only company a cup of coffee he hadn't touched, an empty glass of water, and a plate with a half eaten sandwich. He checked his watch and took another bite, washing it down with water as another man came and sat down without a word. The two nodded to each other and stared for a few moments. The one who'd been sitting was clean shaven, younger looking and had very short, brown hair while the other was a bit older with longer blond hair and a full, albeit slightly short beard. 

Finally, the younger one spoke up. "[color=7ea7d8][color=7ea7d8][b]Hey man[/b][/color][/color]." The other responded, "hey," and there was another minute silence. The bearded man spoke up again. "You uh. We need to talk. Can you..."

He stared at the bearded man, raising an eyebrow. He'd known him for some time, even done a few missions together. He also knew what he was, and what he heard in his voice wasn't supposed to be there. Something was wrong. "[color=7ea7d8][b]Yeah. Sure man.[/b][/color]" 

The older of the two sat and stared at the table, the fingers of his hand tapping in some random patterns that he couldn't figure out as he watched him. Everything about this screamed "wrong" to him as he watched. Finally the other man spoke up, confirming his thoughts. "Man...I. Something's wrong."

"[color=7ea7d8][b]I can see that,[/b][/color]" he responded, taking a sip of his water.

"It's that I've been. I don't know man. Thinking. Have you ever thought about what we do?"

"[b][color=7ea7d8]Every time we have to do it.[/color][/b]"

The man gave a frustrated sigh through his beard. "No. Think. Like. Look at that couple there, what do you see." 

He looked over, there was a man and woman sitting together at a table. "[color=7ea7d8][b]They are intimate and exclusive, but they haven't been together long. They didn't sit across from each other, they sat closer so that their knees were almost touching. They're laughing and flirting and don't seem to pay attention to anything going on around them. It seems as if the only thing in the world is each other[/b][/color]." 

"[color=7ea7d8][color=7ea7d8][b]They're a couple, they're in love[/b][/color][/color]." 

"And them?" The bearded man motioned to the couple across from them. He looked over, took it in for a fraction of a second. "[b][color=7ea7d8]Friends. They go to school, out for lunch. Plutonic. He's single, she's involved with someone, but he wants something with her. Not going to happen though[/color][/b]." He could have gone on, mentioning other things about them, but he looked at the man across from him, sipped his water and asked, "[b][color=7ea7d8]what are you going on about[/color][/b]?"

"Damnit man. You just see, you don't feel. What the fuck. I'm out man, I'm done. I can't just go on like this anymore. I stopped seeing and started feeling and I can't do this."

At this point, he didn't know what to say, how to react. He assumed this was some kind of test. The Agency had never done anything like this, but this was to see how he'd react, check if he was unraveling.  He looked around suspiciously at this point, now wondering who in this diner was who...

It had to be, because there was no other excuse or reason that this could be happening.  East West Six training doesn't allow this.

"Don't you ever want that? Any of that?" 

"[b][color=7ea7d8]Look, I don--[/color][/b]."

The man interrupted him, "Just. Listen. Because I can't tell anyone, but I have to tell someone. And you can tell them, tell them everything, I don't care. I can't just do this. I see that, that couple. And I know exactly what's going on, I probably know more than they do about what's going on. And I don't know shit. Nothing. Not a fucking thing. But lately, it's different. I want it. I just want other stuff."

He watched and listened staring at the man, studying him. What he saw and heard made him more nervous. He furrowed an eyebrow and tried to make heads or tails of this. He wanted to think it was a test, that this was something he was supposed to see and recognize. 

But he could tell that everything that was being said was genuine.  That was more disturbing than thinking this was some kind of test or set up.

He adjusted in his chair and took another sip of water, finishing the glass. "[b][color=7ea7d8]What do you want? What're you gunna do?[/color][/b]"

"I don't know. What can I do? I don't know what I can do. I just. I want to feel something. I can see everything. I see people, families, love, hate, desire, fear. I see all kinds of stuff, and what do I have? It's empty. It's nothing."

He watched and listened and had no idea how to react. It wasn't about the situation though, not anymore. He simply had no idea what to say--which was ok because the bearded man seemed to be talking to himself more than anyone. He wasn't even looking at the young man across from him anymore, he was staring at something on the table. 

There was another 2 or 3 minutes of silence before he continued speaking his thoughts. "You. Me. We're going to die some day. Maybe here. Maybe old age. Maybe in some sandy desert. Or some city. Or the jungle. Shot, stabbed or blown to shit. And we're not going to have anything. Not a fucking thing. Not even a god damn name.  It'll be like we never fucking were." 

He tugged at his beard in thought and stood up, exhaling deeply. "Look. Not sure what I'm going to do. But, you tell them whatever. I know you will tell them anyway. I hope you're better than me, I hope you never deal with this. Seeing is easier than feeling." He stood there as if he toyed with saying something else, saying more--or maybe he was hoping for the other man to say something. 

Instead he nodded to the man as he stood there and without another word, he turned around and left. 

The next morning, he was pulled into an office and interviewed by 4 other people and asked a myriad of questions regarding the meeting. He told them everything, exactly as it happened. Exactly as he was trained to do. Exactly as he knew he should.

The interview was over and the men all nodded and thanked him. He stood, opened the door and as he was about to step out, one of them said. "[i]And by the way, Agent Jacobs committed suicide last night.[/i]"

He nodded and left the office, and walked down the hallway. The only thing he could think is that he was not surprised. He [u][b]saw[/b][/u] this was going to happen.