text: She knew what she was about to do was against the rules. In fact, she was about to break the single, most important rule instated for her to follow. Yet, she insisted. “Nobody will find out,” she told herself. She went on, believing the lie. Nobody had attempted to do what she was about to do, or if they had it had been kept secret. It was dangerous and irresponsible, but most of all, it could cost her her job. A job she had worked so hard to secure. Her hands trembled as she typed the message, each finger hesitating as it landed upon the keys with a familiar clack. The message she typed out was short, yet it was powerful, not in the sense of meaning but in the sense of defiance. She sent her message, a simple “Hello,” and with it she gave up everything she had worked so hard to uphold. He heard a familiar ding accompanied by a small, but intense, vibration from within his pocket. He reached in and fished out his sleek, elegantly crafted smart phone. He had received a message from an unknown number. A number that he could never recount seeing before. A number, unbeknownst to him, that was not in service to any individual. He opened his phone. As he read the message he was met with a small sense of confusion. The simple “Hello,” displayed itself upon his screen. It’s small gray bubble broke the silence of the otherwise white background. “Who is this?” he thought to himself. He considered disregarding it, writing it off as simply being sent to the wrong number. Yet for some unknown reason, the message entranced him. He dismissed the thoughts of ignoring the text and typed a reply. A reply just as simple, and just as short. As he typed on his small, digital keyboard, a small phrase appeared in the white space above. “Who is this?” and with the completion of the message he hovered his finger above the blue arrow and delivered his response, appearing in a little blue bubble, once again breaking the silence of his screen. The message immediately displayed itself upon her screen, and with it, came a sense of panic. He had responded. The reality of what she was doing began to set in. In an instant she wished to undo what she had done. To go back just five, short minutes, to go back to before she had violated the law of her work. Her wish was not granted. Instead she was left staring blankly at her bright, unblinking screen. She didn’t have an answer to the question she was being presented. Who was she? In a short instant she considered telling him the truth, yet she knew she couldn’t. All she could do was stare. The brightness of the screen engulfed her, she was suddenly lost in the artificial, unnatural light. She had not thought this through. Without contemplation she typed at her keyboard. She wanted to stop herself, but the thrill of what she was doing urged her on. She sent her next message, “A friend.” This was a lie of course, although she knew him, she was not a friend. A friendship couldn’t come from what she was doing to him. She was watching him, unknowingly and against his will. She was not a friend. A response came quickly, “Do I know you?” The answer of course was no, but could she tell him that? Her question was quickly answered for her as her computer was shut down. She herself was being monitored, a fact that she was unaware of. A tall man, slender in figure and heavy in presence entered her office space. He looked at her with a grim scowl, a scowl that dug deep into her soul. She was commanded to follow him, and she complied. He led her to the office of her employer, an office she had only entered once before for her initial interview. She was ushered in and the door was closed behind her. As she stepped into the office she was met with a menacing stare. A stare that shook her to her core and chilled her down to her bones. She took a seat without being instructed to do so, and calmly waited until her boss addressed her. “Do you know what you have done?” his deep, sullen voice, echoed through the small room that they shared. “Yes sir,” she was met with silence. She knew that she made a mistake, and she began to tremble in her seat. “Please sir, I can’t lose this job,” she spoke again. “You won’t,” there was a hint of disappointment in his voice, “not unless you do what you are about to be told.” She was simultaneously relieved yet frightened at his statement. She waited for further instruction. He reached into the drawer of his desk and pulled out a small handgun, placing it on the surface of his wooden workspace. Fear welled inside her, she contemplated running, anything to get away from the object that was just placed before her. “Tell me why,” he spoke. She then broke down and began to tell him everything. How she had fallen in love with the man the day she was assigned to him. She explained that after watching him for two years she could no longer bear being apart from him. She just wanted to meet him, she wanted to be able to fall in love with him away from her computer screen. She was hysterical, hot tears falling from her eyes, carving out rivers down her cheeks. His expression did not change. He looked at her with judging eyes and began to yet again fill the room with his cold voice. “You are to kill the subject that you have been assigned to.” These words were deafening, she was in that moment hit with the severe reality of her situation. Hit with the realization that mistakes like hers are why people disappear. She took the gun into her hands, feeling the weight of it. It weighed her down, and she felt as it was growing heavier with every second that passed. He gave her the address of the man she was to kill and had her removed from his office. He checked his phone again, he was overcome with curiosity and wished to know who the messages had came from. However, his day went on, and he quickly pushed his mysterious encounter to the back of his mind. He went on to mindlessly complete his daily tasks. Every day was the same, variation was rare and accepted as unlikely. This day was no different. It was as if he had no control over his life, as if everything he was to do was predetermined for him. It was as if he was an actor preparing for a role by living as the character, a character that he would meld with and soon forget who he was before. With this dull repetition, his day quickly turned to night, and he soon found himself meeting his large, lonely bed. She now trembled before his doorstep. She knew what she was about to do was illegal, but the law didn’t apply to her. In this instance she was above the laws set for those who simply exist in a world that she has a hand in controlling. She had no issue getting past the heavy, locked door. She was trained for situations like this, yet only now was the necessity of her training apparent. She shook as she made her way through an unfamiliar space. It was as if she stepped into another world, a world that she had no business entering. A world that she was about to destroy. She easily found her way into the bedroom of the man she had been assigned, and crept near his bedside. Upon seeing him laid out in slumber, she froze. She had long wished for this moment, to be able to see the man she loved in person. As she gazed over him a sense of panic set in. She had already come too far, and could no longer reject what she was told to do. She lifted the gun and pointed it towards his head, it’s weight now apparent more than ever, as if not only did it carry the weight of the materials in which it had been crafted, but also the weight of the sinister act she was about to commit. Her finger slowly wrapped itself around the cold trigger of the weapon she held, pointed at her target. A target was all he was now. He was no longer a human being that she had watched day after day, he was no longer a man that she had fallen in love with. He was a target, a target meant to be destroyed. As she reduced his humanity in her mind his eyes fluttered open, and his humanity returned for a short fleeting moment. A moment that seemed to last an eternity and in that eternity lie another in which their eyes met. An eternity in which she wished to live, staring into his eyes, into his soul. An eternity that was interrupted by the loud bang of a bullet being forced into his brain. Once again turning him into nothing more than a target. A target that had been eliminated.