Read a Sample

personal & confidential

property of hptm. matthias krüger 

This journal is being initiated as a personal record of my duties and observations for the duration of my posting to this remote location. My official reports will be filed through proper channels and will adhere to the strict protocols of the SD. This document, however, is for my own reference. A tool to assist in the complex psychological and behavioural analysis required for this assignment. It will remain a sealed and private supplement to my official log. 

My directive is clear, if unconventional. I am here to observe and assess the asset. 

codename: leise

birth name: toska adelheit 

She is the sole surviving subject of the wunderkinder programme, a highly confidential initiative with the direct patronage of the Reichsführer-SS. The program's goal is to identify and cultivate individuals with exceptional, borderline paranormal abilities for strategic purposes. Her function is to be the ultimate operative: a ghost who can bypass any shield, a weapon that cannot be defended against. My purpose is to ensure her training is progressing, to evaluate her psychological stability, and to determine her ultimate readiness for deployment. 

According to her file, she is a nineteen-year-old female, born in Tilsit, East Prussia, in 1919. Orphaned at a young age following the death of her parents, she resided in a state-run orphanage until her selection for the program in 1933. 

Psychological profiling notes a high degree of intelligence and independence, but also a marked defiant streak and a tendency toward emotional isolation. Her file is thin on details. It seemed she lived a ghost of a life before the program, but it is clear she is considered the most promising and stable of all the subjects who have come before her, noting she is the only one who has survived the initial experiments in Japan. She is, in every sense of the word, the Reich's ultimate weapon. 

My arrival is via transport to the high-altitude plateau. They say that within a few hours we shall reach the monastery. The air is thin, a constant pressure against the lungs. The monastery itself is an ancient structure of stone and prayer, a strange and incongruous base for a program of such scientific and strategic importance. Yet I was told that the esoteric trainings are crucial for cultivating Leise’s abilities. The expedition leader, Ernst Schäfer, maintains the facade of an ethnological undertaking as a cover for the true purpose of the mission. 

My directive is to be her observer. The man who will judge her fitness to serve the Reich. 

I will maintain objectivity. 

I will remain detached. 

My personal feelings are irrelevant to the success of this operation. 

I will not fail.

12 June 1938

Finally made it up the plateau. A desolate, windswept rock. The air is thin here and bites at the lungs. Every breath is a conscious effort. Schäfer met me with his usual polished charm, already smelling of schnapps despite the hour. He is a man playing the part of an explorer, and he plays it well enough to convince those who may be watching us. 

The monastery is less a fortress and more a wound carved into the mountain. Stone and prayer and an endless, grey sky. The monks move through the halls like ghosts, their chants the only constant sound, except for the wind. They are of no consequence. A necessary inconvenience to maintain the expedition’s cover. 

The purpose of my posting was made clear this afternoon. I was led to the main courtyard and presented with the asset, Leise. 

My first impression: She is smaller than the file indicated, almost childlike in stature. Dark brown hair chopped short at her chin. A worn leather field coat, several sizes too large for her frame, hung off her shoulders, a gift from Colonel Rommel, Schäfer mentioned with a hint of pride. I find it to be a ridiculous affectation. 

But then she looked at me. 

Her eyes are green. A startling, vivid green that seems out of place in this landscape of grey and brown. 

There is no deference in that gaze... no fear. Only an assessing intelligence that felt less like an observation and more like a challenge. Then, a flicker of amusement, as if she found the entire introduction, and by extension, me, to be some sort of private joke. 

defiance

It is the first and only note I made. Her file mentioned it. To see it in person is different. It is not the defiance of a soldier; it is insolent, playful, and utterly unacceptable. Her training has clearly focused on her capabilities at the expense of discipline and respect for the chain of command. A flaw that will need correction. 

Her name is Leise. 

Nineteen years old. 

From Tilsit. 

An orphan. 

A collection of facts on a page. 

Now, she is a weapon.

The file is complete, and now, the observation will proceed according to protocol.

I have written my report. I have arranged my desk. I have performed my evening routine. 

And yet, the image of those green eyes will not leave my mind. 

An irritation. A minor failure of focus. 

It will not happen again.