To the uninitiated, "glasshouse" simply meant a large building with glass sides and roof for growing plants in. But to those in the know, Glasshouse was a notorious assassin organization specialized in killing heavily guarded VIPs. Once the target had received a red dandelion, they would be killed within two days no matter how much they increased their security or how far they ran away. There was a time when the red dandelion was a symbol of fear among people of the North America continent.

Thankfully, an attack by the combined force of the US military, FBI and various PMCs on Glasshouse's base completely destroyed the organization two years ago. Eventually, its name faded into obscurity, becoming a mere urban legend whispered around by the not-so-decent folks.

"These girls were raised by the Mistress to become perfect assassins." Markus said, "Small, agile and stealthy. You wouldn't notice one of them walking right behind you until she has already slit your throat. Twenty of my men died like that."

"I'm sorry for your loss. But these girls aren't part of Glasshouse anymore. Is there a need to hunt them down like that?" Alan asked.

"Most of them are psychopaths because of the Mistress's brainwashing. That's why my organization aims to take them in before they join the rank of terrorists and the likes. These girls are too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. "

"But my Dande is different." Alan argued, "She's a nice and pleasant girl. Plus I'm here to support her. She won't become a psycho, that's for sure."

"Doesn't matter." Markus shook his head, "Field operators like me are ordered to recover any rogue Dandelion unit encountered in the field, by force if necessary. It even takes priority over our own mission."

"If I don't recover her now, someone else will do it. And the next one won't be nice enough to have a lengthy talk with you like this." He continued.

"Over my dead body, you inhuman bastards!" Alan cursed and drew his handgun, his eyes full of hostility. With lightning reflex, Markus grabbed the gun's barrel and easily bent it downward.

"Calm down, I haven't finished talking yet." Markus chided Alan, "Technically, I'm off-duty right now so I have no obligation to bring her in. I only ask that you two travel together with me to prevent others from recruiting Dandelion, lest she becomes a threat to my organization. This way, you can also avoid trouble when encountering other colleagues of mine. Sounds good?"

"That's too good to be true. What's in it for you?" Alan asked cautiously.

"Nothing. Just don't feel like being the bad guy." Markus shrugged indifferently, "But if it's true that your Dandelion is different from the rest then I'm interested in finding out how she became like that."

"It's not like I have a choice." Alan looked at the broken gun in his hand, "But can I really trust your words?"

"You can trust me as much as I can trust you." Markus extended his hand to Alan. After a brief moment of hesitation, they shook hands.

The two of them spent the next fifteen minutes stocking up on supplies. Everything went smoothly since Markus was familiar with the store's layout. They packaged the goodies nicely and left. Surprisingly enough, Alan also paid in full before leaving, earning him a thumbs-up from Markus.

When she heard Alan and Dandelion would be travelling together with them, Sabrina jumped with joy and gave Markus a tight hug. So tight, in fact, that Markus could almost hear his bones cracking. It made him wonder if Sabrina had always been so strong. But his memory of her was hazy to begin with, so he concluded that he must have forgotten how strong she was in the past. Seeing how hard Markus struggled to get out of Sabrina's arms, the other two, especially Alan, made a mental note to never mess with her.

A moment later, the crew of four set out on their journey together. As the sound of their engines got further and further away, the deserted gas station fell into silence.

Little did they know, a young girl had been keeping an eye them from atop the convenience store. While not as petite as Dandelion, she was still relatively small, looking to be around twelve or thirteen years old. With her small size and weak presence, it was nigh impossible for the other four to notice her unless she showed herself first.

She was the third attendant who hid on the roof during the zombie attack on the gas station. Unfortunately, before she could come down, Markus's group came and she was stuck for another hour. After confirming that no one else was around, the girl jumped down from the roof and landed safely. She seemed to be extremely distressed, as she bit on her nail nervously while walking back and forth.

"They're coming for me. What do I do? What do I do, Mistress?" The girl shouted, calling out to another person. But there was no one else around.

Then she went inside and saw the remains of the other attendants, which caused her to be even more panicked.

"Oh no, the puppets are all broken." She mumbled to herself  in short, broken sentences, "I must flee. And complete the mission. Can't be caught there. Or she will kill me."

The hastily grabbed some food and water and prepared to depart, but was interrupted when a gang of bikers rode into the gas station, forcing her to hide inside the locker room. The bikers head straight for the convenience store and started looting everything inside.

"Boys, come 'ere!" A tall and muscular man, seemingly their leader, called out to the men, "Carry these lockers outside and build a barricade on the road. Sam, you take the fancy rifle and stand watch on the roof."

With incredible strength, the boss yanked out a locker and passed it to two of his lackeys.

"Why are we blocking the road, boss?" They scratched their heads.

"To collect protection fees, you numb nuts. Think about all of those fat rats running away from the zombies. That's a whole lot of dough coming our way." The boss scolded them.

Then he yanked out another locker and passed it to the next pair. It was the locker with the small attendant girl hiding inside. At first, she planned to either run away when the bikers were done looting or silently get out and pick them off one by one. But her plan backfired and she was completely trapped inside the locker when the bikers used it to build a makeshift barricade.

Business was booming for the bikers. Within two hours, they had mugged more than thirty vehicles, stripping the victims of almost all their possessions. When the scenery was dyed red by the blazing sunset, another prey came into their trap, not on motorcycles or in car, but on an electrick skateboard.

She was a beautiful girl around fourteen to fifteen years old with pristine white skin and blonde bob cut. While still retaining a hint of childlike innocence, her face exuded the charm of a mature woman. She wore a short black tank top with sleeveless punk jacket on top and denim hotpants, emphasizing her body's curves in a suggestive way. She also wore fingerless gloves and black combat boots. On her stomach was a big tattoo featuring a stylized swooping hawk and the words "Steel Talon".

To the bikers, she seemed like one of those spoiled rich kids who thought of themselves as hot stuffs. Gave them a scare and they would break down crying. This kinds of girls were easy pickings for them even in normal time.

"Hey there, missy. It's awfully late for a young lass like you to be playing hooky, eh? Why not stay the night with these good uncles?" The boss stepped out to stop the girl and said overbearingly.

"Piss off, old man. I'm working here." The punk girl answered curtly.

"Working, you say? Ah, I see now. That kind of work. No wonder you're looking so lewd." The boss sneered.

"Already selling your body at that age? Tsk-tsk, youngsters these days. Well, are you looking for a sugar daddy?" Someone else chimmed in.

"Stop, you goddamn pedo! That's disgusting. She's not even ripe yet." Said another one.

Then they all burst into vulgar laughter. As if infected by them, the girl also laughed maniacally.

"Now, let me sample these lovely oranges to see if they're ripe or not." The boss before licked his lips and reached out for the girl.

In the next moment, his head landed on the ground with a thud, eyes opened wide in shock and disbelief. The punk girl had drawn two karambits from god knows where and they were dripping with fresh blood.

"Surpriseeee, motherfuckers!" She stuck out her tongue and mocked them.

The gang members hastily drew their weapons and charged at the girl, but she was much faster than them. In the blink of an eye, she appeared behind a biker and slit his throat before he could swing his baseball bat. In the next moment, she jumped on another man's shoulder, sandwiched his head between her thighs and twisted it 180 degrees, instantly killing him. Then she kicked up a knife on the ground and sent it flying over the rooftop, piercing the temple of the man with the rifle as he tried to take aim at her. While her attacks were fast and brutal, her movements were elegant and refined, as if she was dancing instead of fighting.

Seeing that they could not win in solo fights, the remaining bikers tried to surround the girl. That was a most terrible move, allowing her to kill them all in one graceful spin as blood gushed out from their throats like a blooming lycoris radiata. She stood there for a moment, intoxicated by the carnage and bloodshed. 

Wiping blood from her karambits, the punk girl turned the whole place upside down in search of something but was unsuccessfull. That was when the makeshift barricade of lockers caught her interest.

"Hmm, smell like bitch in here." She muttered and pulled apart the barrier. Then she gave one of the lockers a kick, making its door burst open and sending the girl inside rolling on the ground. She laid motionlessly, pretending to be dead. 

"That trick won't work on me, seedling. We're all dandelions here, so stand up and draw your blade." The punk girl came over and gave her another strong kick.

The small attendant girl immediately bounced up from the ground, barely avoiding the merciless kick. Then she drew a stiletto from her boot and lunged at the punk girl. The two of them fought for a while and the attendant girl was able to hold out for much longe than the burly bikers. But in the end, she was still overpowered and beaten within an inch of her life. She laid there barely breathing with bleeding wounds all over her body.

"Mistress, where are you? Please save me. I will be a good girl, so please don't leave me here." Big droplets of tears fell from her unfocused eyes as she cried weakly.

"Foolish! She abandoned us long ago yet you still cling to her like a dog? Then grovel at her feet in your eternal dream." The punk girl mocked and prepared to deal the final blow, "Goodnight, seedling. Sleep tight."

But before she could do the deed, her cellphone rang.

"What a killjoy." The punk girl muttered with annoyance and took out a gaudy smartphone from a pouch on her waist.

"What's the matter, old hag?" She said rudely.

"Aw, don't sulk, Dande. I'm just checking to make sure you don't kill the target." Jane Doe's voice could be heard from the other end of the phone.

"For the last time, I'm not a dandelion anymore. Call me Lycoris. And you'd better pick up that seedling soon or she'll be zombie food. Over and out."

"One more thing, a little bird told me Markus was around there somewhere. Go check on him for me, would you?"

Lycoris ended the call without saying anything else. Then she picked up the attendant girl by her collar.

"Wake up, seedling. Did you see a man with a grim face like he had killed a whole village passing through here today?" She asked.

"They...went northwest...Don't know where." The other girl answered weakly.

"Good. Is he alone or with someone else?"

"Three...One man, one woman...and a dandelion."

"Quite a nice team this time, and with a dandelion to boot? Excellent. Let's go pay Dead Man a visit." Lycoris tossed the attendant girl aside like a piece of garbage and rode away on her electric skateboard.

But after a while, she returned with a syringe of regenerative drug in her hand and threw it at the girl lying on the ground.

"Here's a small parting gift. Don't tell the old hag I gave it to you though."

This time, Lycoris departed without looking back.