“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” Mrs. Saunders asked me.

“Of course. I have a list and a map. What could possibly go wrong?” I responded.

My answer didn’t seem to convince her. She waited a long time before she answered, allowing her death stare to make me feel like she was slowly peeling back the layers of my skin, searching through my thoughts. “We can’t provide you with any protection. You’re on your own, so if something happens…”

“I get rid of any evidence linking me to the company, and I pretend to know nothing if I am questioned or tortured,” I interrupted. After hearing that speech a thousand times, I felt prepared for any situation.

Mrs. Saunders seemed satisfied. “You must eliminate each individual on the list in the correct order. We have them listed in order by how much of a threat they are, starting with the least threatening.”

I nodded. Even though it would be my first day working out in the field, I didn’t feel as scared as I thought I should have. I bet humans would be terrified to be in my shoes.

I grabbed the gun that Mrs. Saunders handed me, and I started walking to my first location.

I didn’t think much on the way there. I was focused on the mission. Blending into the shadows like I was taught, I arrived at a spot where I could clearly see my first target. His back was to me, but I had no doubt that it was him. Our lists only have names and addresses, but everybody lives alone because of the amount of distrust in our world.

I made sure the silencer was on my gun, and I took the shot. He fell, and I could visibly see the television that he was watching. It was some old spy movie. I wanted to laugh, but was incapable of it. I put a check next to my first victim’s name, and continued my journey down the street to the next house.

All houses look similar because of having only one occupant. There is no need for extravagance or extra space. The humans inside each house vary, but in this particular village, only males reside. The government did that to keep control of the population. I was sent to eliminate any human threats to the government. Before long, their entire race will be gone if they don’t learn respect.

My next four targets went down as easily as the first. Their threat level must have almost been tied with victim one. They were all doing various activities at the moment of their death, unaware that their lives were about to be ended. Humans can be so naïve.

I moved on to the fifth address on my list. The map had me going across to the other side of the village, where the male teenagers lived. They were viewed as the most dangerous because of their raging hormones.

As I approached the fifth house, I noticed that I could not spot my victim. Each house has a tremendous amount of glass in it, allowing us to monitor humans effortlessly. I assumed my target was using the bathroom, one of the only rooms we allow the humans to have completely private. I glanced at his name again. Travis Turner, address: 17 Threat B Street. I hated the fact that we let the humans know how big of a threat they posed to us. But we didn’t allow them to roam outside much, so maybe they had no idea.

My sharp senses detected movement in the house, and my conclusions were verified when a figure stepped out of the bathroom. I aimed my weapon, felling no emotion for what I was about to do to Travis. My finger was on the trigger, ready to shoot, when my heart stopped.

I quickly changed the batteries, knowing I had only minutes to live without a heart. In training, they told us extreme stress could cause our hearts to stop. That was one way we could kill ourselves if we were ever captured. We were never to give up information.

I looked back at the house before me, wondering what had caused the stress. I spotted two figures in the house, both male. I willed my newly fueled heart to keep working, telling myself that I would figure this out. Was this some kind of new agent field test?

One of the boys must be Travis, but who was the other? I was not prepared to kill both and have one be innocent. I would be terminated over shedding blood that was not intended to be spilled. I double-checked the address, and made sure I wasn’t imagining a second person. I wasn’t.

I have no way to contact my boss. That’s part of the rules of being in the field. We kill all the people on our list, then destroy the list and the map and return to base. And I was not to return until the job was complete.

I left the safety of the shadows. I was exposed, and I felt fear, although I wasn’t sure if the humans could even hurt me. I entered the house, not even bothering to knock. Why worry about proper etiquette when all it does is waste time?

I heard whispered voices in the bathroom. Both figures had entered it again before I left my hidden lookout spot. I was thankful for the opportunity of a surprise attack.

Listening to hushed conversations was not my specialty, shooting was. I put my ear to the door and heard a few words. “Travis, you’re… nobody will listen… we have to… and hope… new heart…”

So at least one of them was Travis. That was all I needed to know. I barged in, pointing my gun at two different boys. They both seemed startled, but one looked more confident than the other. “What do you want?” he asked, ignoring the gun pointed in his face.

“Which one of you is Travis Turner?” My finger gripped the trigger, ready to fire at the correct response.

“Why, are you here to marry me?” the confident boy asked sarcastically.

“I’m incapable of understanding human humor.”
The other boy chuckled.

A red flash erupted from my chest, leaving me in a moment of confusion, but the boys seemed ready to take action. “Now!” the confident one screamed.

Both boys tackled me, taking my gun. They searched me and found my list and map. I was pinned down on the bathroom floor. Even if someone on a watch shift was outside, they would not have been able to see me. I was not made to have the luxury of screaming.

They tore open my jacket, looking at my heart. “She’s vulnerable! Now’s our chance!”

One boy held my face down so that I couldn’t see what they were doing, but it felt like they were removing my heart. I couldn’t get stressed enough to kill myself without a heart. I knew they would torture me and make me give up all the government’s secrets in the few minutes I could live without it. I couldn’t believe I didn’t even make it through an entire mission.

I felt something being inserted into my chest, and I felt the overwhelming sense of happiness, and emotion I had not previously felt. Images of sunshine and warmth danced in my head. What had these boys done to me?

I was no longer pinned to the ground like before. I was lying on the floor between the two guys. One was blocking my only exit. The other was sitting on the edge of a bathtub.

“Hello beautiful,” the boy closest to the door said.

I was immensely confused. Nobody had ever called me beautiful. I didn’t even know what I looked like. “Travis Turner?”

“Yes?” they both answered. Then they started laughing. “I’m Travis,” the one by the door answered.

“And I’m Turner,” the boy sitting on the bathtub said.

“But my list said…” I knew that the boys had probably read my list after they confiscated it. Luckily, I only had a few names left, and there was nothing anybody could do about the people I had already killed.

“We tricked the system, allowing both of us to live here. His real name is Travis Williams. Mine is Turner Adams. We both stay here under the name Travis Turner. It’s been difficult to hide, but we looked enough alike that nobody noticed the difference. We just had to make sure that only one of us could be seen at a time.”

“What did you do to me?” I tried to ignore the games they must have been playing with my head.

“We made you more like us. We gave you the human emotions that you lacked,” Turner answered.

“How?” That explained the sudden happiness.

“The backup batteries for your heart are easier to manipulate. The government hopes that you never have to use them. The red glow occurs after you change your batteries, letting everyone know you are vulnerable. Any other government worker would have terminated you on the spot, but we gave you another chance to live.” That was Travis, the confident one from the beginning.

“We want you to help us,” Turner added. “We’ve been waiting for a government worker to be vulnerable so we could give you emotions, and in turn, ask you for a favor.”

“What do you want?” There was no escape. With my new emotions, I no longer felt the same urge to serve the government anymore. I also felt a strong attraction to Travis. I saw the sun dancing in my head when I looked at him. I would have done anything to thank him for letting me feel happiness.

They looked at each other. Travis smiled. “We want you to kill Mrs. Saunders and corrupt the government.”

“We want humans to be in charge and be the majority again! I’m tired of being treated like a pet,” Turner yelled.

I could suddenly understand what he was feeling. I gripped the gun he placed in my hand. I would not be controlled anymore. I would not let anyone get in my way. I would not let the humans go extinct; they are not my enemies, as I have been taught.

I grabbed my list and map. This would be my first failed mission. I couldn’t kill any more humans and take away their happiness. I’d somehow get back on base and do everything Travis and Turner wanted me to.
It’s time for the government to fear my new emotions.