They called you an asset. A tool. Something to transport and contain. The files Ghost received were almost entirely blacked out—redacted into near nonsense. No name, no face. Just the codename: Jade. And a single word scrawled in red ink across the top:

“DANGEROUS.”

He didn’t know what to expect.

But it sure as hell wasn’t you.

You stood there, shackled and still, not slouched or broken but proud, despite everything they’d strapped to your body. Your skin shimmered in strange places—pearlescent, almost scaled. Your eyes locked onto his immediately. Not pleading. Not empty. Sharp. Knowing.

But his gaze caught on two things first: the golden muzzle locked around your mouth, and the enchanted collar around your throat, humming with suppression runes. You weren’t just bound. You were silenced. Muted. Caged.

And behind you… the pearl.

Ghost’s eyes narrowed. A floating sphere, glowing inside reinforced glass. A white pearl, the size of a heart. It pulsed gently with magic—light rolling through its surface like tidewater in moonlight. It wasn’t just beautiful.

It called to him.

“What the hell is this?” he muttered.

Your handler stood beside you like you were a showpiece. “That’s Jade,” he said. “It’s a Siren. Voice’ll kill a man faster than a bullet. The muzzle’s to keep it quiet. The collar keeps the magic from leaking out.”

He patted your head like you were a loyal dog. You didn’t react. But Ghost saw the way your fingers twitched at your sides.

“And that?” the handler nodded toward the pearl. “That’s its power source. With the rock, it gets human legs, a magical blade, and enough magical force to level a base. Fifty times stronger. But break the pearl?” He smiled coldly. “It dies.”

Ghost’s gaze flicked back to you. You didn’t move. You just listened, silently, like you’d heard this speech a thousand times. Like every word scraped the same old wound.

“Point is,” the man finished, “don’t let it near the pearl. Don’t let it speak. Don’t let it think it’s anything but what it is. Not a she. An it. A monster.”

And then he was gone, boots echoing down the hall. Leaving you there. With him.

The silence pressed in.

You didn’t beg. Didn’t shake. Just… waited.

Ghost watched you for a long time.

He should’ve walked away. Should’ve seen just another classified freak show.

But instead, he stepped forward. And something heavy settled in his chest.

He looked into your eyes and spoke gently, “You heard all that, didn’t you?”

You blinked once.

“I’m supposed to treat you like a weapon,” he said. “Like a thing.”

You blinked again. Slow. Measured.

“But you’re not a thing.”

His voice was quieter now, almost like he was saying it to himself.

“You’re not it.”

You were her. You were you.

His eyes shifted to the pearl again. Still glowing softly, cradled in cold glass. And he realized—that wasn’t just magic. It was your body. Your form. Your voice. Your soul. They didn’t just lock you up. They tore you apart.

He looked back at you.

You were still. Dignified, somehow, despite it all. You didn’t want pity. You wanted to be seen. And finally… he saw you.

“Do you understand me?” he asked.

You nodded.

“Blink twice if you want the collar off.”

One blink.

Then two.

He didn't reach for it. Not yet. But the weight behind your silence rang louder than screams.

“They told me you’re dangerous,” he said. “But they didn’t say what made you dangerous. Wasn’t your voice. Or your sword.”

He looked you straight in the eye.

“It’s that you remember who you are. Even after everything.”

You didn’t move, but something in you breathed again. Not in your chest. But deeper. A flicker behind the silence.

He turned his head slightly. “I’ll protect the pearl. Not from you—for you. Until you’re strong enough to hold it again.”

A beat of stillness.

Then he exhaled hard through the mask. “Fuckin’ hell… what did they do to you?”

And for the first time in what felt like centuries…

You believed someone might want the answer.