"The process has already begun."

A dim gleam of light, shining off of metal where an arm should be.

Cold.

Nothing.

"What is your name?" The short, fat man in the round glasses was smiling at him in a way that should probably have been unsettling, jotting something down on a sheet of note paper. The man at the table wasn't very interested in what should or shouldn't unsettle him.

"Codename: Winter Soldier." He responded, tone flat - nearly monotone.

"What is your objective?" The fat man continued, marking this down as the light from a wheezy gas-lamp caught on the painted red star across from him.

"Obey orders. Terminate targets. Report for further orders." More rote memorization. He didn't really see the point, but then, nobody had asked him.

"Good, good." The fat man slipped his sheet of note paper into a file folder, underneath a few photographs of a man in American military dress, and a copy of a physical examination report. Winter Soldier Project was printed in neat scarlet letters across the top of the folder.

"You are going to do great things for HYDRA, my friend. Great things for the world."

"Hail HYDRA." The Winter Soldier replied automatically.

A man in a black uniform and facemask appeared and handed The Soldier a different folder. It listed mission objectives, names, places, and times. Three photographs, three targets. Three bullets.

His eyes coldly scanned over the data as a sniper rifle was placed in his outstretched hand. He inspected it disinterestedly before slinging it across his back in a fluid, practiced motion. Two pistols received the same treatment. Backup weapons. An unnecessary precaution. The Winter Soldier did not make mistakes. He made corpses.

It was time to complete his mission.