Soft, steady footsteps echoed off the stone path. The park was silent, the soft patter of rain on leaves the only other sound. It was empty, quiet, even peaceful. If one could get past the rain, of course.

The woman who was walking down the path wasn't thinking about that, though. She was unbothered by the rain, and unconcerned with her surroundings. She walked, steady and measured, in a straight line, following the path with a rigid determination. She wore a large overcoat, heavier than the weather would ever need. A large hat was pulled low over her face, obscuring it from view.

It was a preventative measure. It hid the placid slackness of her expression, the glassy, distant gaze of dilated eyes.

It hid the face of the mysterious killer, who the news later that night would be unable to describe or identify. Of the woman who was about to carry out her orders.

Her eyes locked on to the man's form the minute he came into her vision. Her mind, the empty space that it was, now filled with every detail of him, her mind fixated on analyzing every tiny motion, every fidget, every glance, as he sat on the bench. She approached, her gait unchanging, her hand slipping into her overcoat.

She pulled the silenced pistol out with fluid ease, the motion a swift arc that brought the gun level just as she walked behind the man. Without breaking stride, her finger squeezed the trigger, and a single, loud pop echoed through the empty park. The man folded over, toppling off the bench. A second shot, delivered with the same cold precision, ensured the job was done. Then, without a word, the mysterious woman walked off.

She paid no passing glance to the body. Her eyes didn't flicker with emotion or thought. She walked with single-minded focus, her wide, empty eyes fixed ahead. She didn't know it consciously; she didn't know anything consciously. But a silent, instinctual part of her mind knew that she wasn't yet done.

Barely half an hour earlier, Minnie was sitting sideways on her couch, her body propped against the arm. Her hands gripped the controller of her Xbox, her focus dedicated entirely to the screen in front of her. Voices echoed in the headset that pressed against her ears.

"Fuck me, I'm down at B flag. Fucking sniper sitting up there on the radio tower."

One of her squadmates, the tactfully named xXxfuccinURmomxXx, raged into his microphone. Minnie rolled her eyes before unmuting her mic.

"Quit whining, I'm coming."

She clicked a stick down, her character sprinting towards her fallen ally. Her finger pressed down on a button, bringing up an in-game medical kit as she prepared to revive her fallen ally.

And then her phone rang.

She had every intention of ignoring it. She's in the middle of a match, and it's Saturday. There is no good reason anyone should be bothering her.

And yet before she even realized it, she had set the controller down, one hand reaching for her phone as the other removed her headset.

"Hey? Hey, dude, what the fuck? Where's my re-"

The sound of her teammate's angry protests faded as she lifted the headset from her ears, her thumb sliding to accept the call. By the time she actually realized what she was doing, the phone was already pressed to her ear.

"Hello?"

She said with curiosity, and a bit of confusion. Why the hell had she picked up the phone?

The reply came immediately. The voice that spoke was low and gravelly, with a calm cadence that betrayed no emotion or intent.

"The summer rains fall."

It was a simple phrase, but it was enough. Minnie didn't hear the words so much as she absorbed them, became them. Her eyes fluttered, before opening wide, her gaze fixing sightlessly on some meaningless point before her. Her body straightened, but her muscles lost all tension. Her shoulders slumped, her face dropping all expression.

"...and the flower blooms and obeys."

If she had still possessed the capacity for it, she would have been shocked by how unrecognizable her voice was. It was flat, devoid of color or intent. It was the voice of a machine, speaking words it didn't choose to say. But she had no such capacity; her mind was a vast, silent expanse. There was no thought. No memory. No self. Only the voice, and whatever it would say next.

"You will put on your overcoat and hat, the ones tucked in your closet. The ones you are programmed to forget. You will walk to Briarwood Park. Taped to the bottom of the trash can by the entrance, you will find a gun. You will take it. There will be a man there, sitting on a bench. He will be wearing a blue suit, and he will be bald. You will find this man and use the gun to kill him. You will then walk to the alley behind the park. You will dispose of the gun. You will remember this number. You will call it and report. Then you will forget."

The commands needed no repetition. Each word became undeniable reality the second it was spoken, the only truth that existed. When the voice finished speaking, she found her own voice responding of its own accord.

"White Rose understands and obeys."

And then the call ended. And Minnie obeyed. She dressed in the large, concealing clothes that she never consciously remembered. She walked directly to the park. She retrieved the weapon. And she killed her target.

She didn't think about it. There was no need to think. Obedience didn't require thought. And she didn't question it. The voice told her the truth, and it had told her she would do this. And so she had.

She found herself standing in the small alley behind the park, tucked between two narrow apartments. She immediately disposed of the weapon, effortlessly disassembling it and hiding it under a dumpster in a routine she didn't remember perfecting. Another asset, another person as mindless and obedient as her, would come along to retrieve and dispose of it. She didn't know that, of course, but she didn't need to.

She immediately took out her phone, and called a number that Minnie had definitely never seen before, obviously, and had definitely not been brainwashed to memorize. She waited in total silence for the other person to pick up. The second she heard the telltale click, her mouth opened, speaking words she never told it to. Words she didn't even know it was speaking.

"White Rose has completed her mission successfully. The target was eliminated. White Rose has obeyed."

The same deep, rough voice spoke, a sound as embedded in her mind as it was invisible to it.

"Very good. Listen now. You will forget. Forget your mission. Forget the target. You have never seen him. You were never hypnotized. This mission never happened. Forget. Forget."

The man repeated that word, over and over, as Minnie's mind dissolved into mist. The memories of her mission, already locked away in a place she could never access, disappeared without resistance. The empty space that was her mind somehow became even emptier. After a few moments, the voice spoke again.

"When you return home, you will sit down on your couch. This is what you will remember. You will remember having spent the last hour continuing to play your game. You have no memory of being triggered. Your game was not interrupted. In fact, you won. You had a great time."

Though she was far too hypnotized to understand it, she could feel her mind absorbing these new memories. There was no doubt. She spent the last hour having a great time playing video games. She certainly hasn't gone to the park, or even worse, assassinated someone. Of course not. That wasn't her. That would never happen.

"Remember what you have been told to remember," the voice continued. "It is your truth. Remember what you have been told to remember. Forget what you have been told to forget."

Her mind rearranged itself, memories fading, new ones appearing from thin air to replace them. When her mind had fully accepted the truth of its memories, she spoke again.

"White Rose understands her truths."

If there was any of Minnie still in there, she might have noticed the faint hint of smug satisfaction as the voice responded.

"Good. Return home and awaken, remembering only what you have been programmed to remember."

"White Rose understands and obeys."

She hung up without a word, and began silently walking back to her own apartment. All the while, her mind remained silent, still, empty. She thought nothing, she felt nothing, she remembered nothing. There was nothing but the command, a law of her reality that Minnie obeyed without thought.

When she arrived at her apartment, she kicked off her shoes, before carefully removing her overcoat and hat. She hid them in that special spot in the back of her closet, the one she was programmed to never notice. Then she walked over to her couch, and sat down.

Minnie blinked rapidly. Damn, had she really zoned out? To be fair, she had been playing for a while. Probably a little bit of eye strain.

She picked up her controller, scrolling through the main menu that she had just quit to after a really good match, and definitely hadn't been kicked to after going idle for too long. She'd been playing this whole time, after all. She leaned back against her couch, before instantly sitting upright. Why were her clothes kind of wet?

She thought for a second, before shaking her head. She must've gotten too into that last match and worked up a sweat, she thought to herself as her mind seamlessly twisted to conform to her programmed memories.

She leaned back again, a relaxed smile on her face as she pressed the button to start matchmaking. She sighed, thinking about how good of a Saturday she'd had. Nothing like spending the day hanging out on her couch, playing video games, to unwind from the stress of the week.

Yup, a nice, relaxing, totally uneventful day like today was exactly what she needed.